Google’s latest update aimed to improve search result quality by reducing unhelpful, unoriginal content by 40%.
So, what kind of content does Google deem high quality these days?
How can you ensure your content performs well on search engines in 2024?
The simple answer is to focus on user experience rather than the search engine itself – in other words: make human connection the priority.
While many businesses are taking advantage of AI tools to populate their sites, those who still see the value in human-created, user-centric content will ultimately win out.
In this guide, we’ll break down the key steps to creating high-quality content that ranks on Google in 2024.
Step 1: Align Your Content Strategy With Campaign & User Journey Goals
Delivering the right content to the right audience at the right time is crucial for SEO success.
And with Google’s latest core update, it’s more important than ever to provide a seamless and personalized experience for your audience throughout their user journey.
Here’s how you can use audience research and user insights to create content that drives results:
Identify Your Target Personas: Start by defining your ideal audience personas. Understand their demographics, preferences, pain points, and behaviors.
Map Out Your User Journey: Visualize the various stages your customers go through, and identify the touchpoints where they interact with your brand.
Tailor Your Content To Each Stage: Meet your audience at each stage of the user journey, and address their specific needs with content that’s relevant, targeted, and effective.
Pro Tip: Don’t have the time or bandwidth to tackle these tasks? You can still move your business forward by hiring a professional SEO strategist to help plan your campaigns and keep you on track.
Image created by Fiverr Pro, April 2024
Step 2: Analyze Real User Data & Identify Content Gaps
As you’re building your content strategy, you’ll need insights into your audience’s behavior, preferences, and engagement patterns.
Utilize analytics tools to gather valuable user data and track key metrics such as website traffic, click-through rates, and conversion rates.
With this information, you can conduct a thorough audit of your existing content and identify gaps and areas for improvement.
Here’s how you can adjust your strategy to a more user-centric approach:
Build credibility by honing in on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness).
Try leveraging real experts as content creators, elevating their first-hand experience to create truly helpful content from a trustworthy source. (This is particularly helpful for subjects such as finance or medicine.)
Be sure to display the writer as an experienced, authoritative figure in your post, with a link to an author archive page.
Maintain relevance by keeping your content up to date and checking frequently for possible revamps.
Get started by outsourcing your audience research and content auditing needs to a Fiverr Pro freelancer.
Step 3: Plan Content That Matches User Intent
Once you gain a deeper understanding of your customer touchpoints, it’s time to plan your content accordingly.
Start by developing detailed outlines for each piece of content that match user intent and meet their needs and expectations.
“Understanding and aligning content with user intent is crucial for SEO success. With Google’s algorithm updates, it’s essential to create content that is not only helpful but also answers specific questions your target audience has. Focus on crafting content that resonates with your audience, addresses their needs, and communicates your message clearly, while ensuring it’s relevant, engaging, and directly addresses the concerns and interests of your readers.”
It’s also important to establish your own unique voice, as authentic and original content tends to rank higher on SERPS.
And make sure to avoid fluff and keep your content to the point – searchers want to see their questions answered and needs addressed with as little fuss as possible.
If content is not exactly your specialty but you’re ready to start laying out the process, try Fiverr Pro’s professional services to get the help you need.
Image created by Fiverr Pro, April 2024
Step 4: Write Content With Proactive Engagement In Mind
When you create content, the goal is to encourage interaction, discussion, and sharing among users, which boosts your brand awareness organically.
One effective strategy is to craft compelling headlines, introductions, and calls-to-action that prompt users to engage with your content.
You can also use interactive elements such as polls, quizzes, and surveys to encourage participation and feedback.
If you’re looking to maximize user engagement, a multichannel approach is key.
Choose the most appropriate content formats and channels for each stage of the user journey, and consider using blog posts, social media, email campaigns, etc. based on where your audience is most active.
Pro Tip: User Generated Content (UGC) can be beneficial for your overall search strategy. With Google favoring human insights, comment sections and other forms of human interactions are helpful for discoverability.
Ready to start getting the most out of your content and utilizing the multitude of channels available?
Whether you need a social media manager or an email marketer, Fiverr Pro has you covered.
Step 5: Analyze Performance & Pivot
Once you’ve implemented your content strategy, it’s essential to regularly monitor its performance and be prepared to make adjustments as needed.
Keep an eye on key performance indicators (KPIs) to gauge the effectiveness of your content, and pay attention to user feedback and comments to understand how your audience is responding.
Are they finding it helpful and engaging, or are there areas where you could improve?
Take note of any trends or patterns that emerge and use this information to inform future content decisions.
Image created by Fiverr Pro, April 2024
Embracing Human Talent In The AI Era
The human touch is essential to SEO success in today’s landscape, and Google’s latest update supports that.
As it stands, content that’s created for and by humans will outperform generic, AI-generated content every time.
So if you’re looking to set your website apart, it’s best to pivot away from sheer search volume and more towards what will resonate deeply with your target audience.
After all, the more value you provide to users, the more likely you are to beat the algorithm and boost your rankings.
But let’s say you’re a small business owner with a small team and limited hiring capacity.
How do you compete with organizations that have the in-house expertise necessary to implement this kind of content strategy?
How can you access the human talent needed to form genuine connections with your audience?
Whether you’re seeking an SEO professional to help you target your users, or a writer/artist to help you create content, it might help to start bringing on freelancers to fill in any talent gaps.
Fiverr Pro, for example, is a great solution for matching and collaborating with top-tier, pre-vetted freelance talent.
You can use it to find people with the right set of skills to help you execute your projects and add that much-needed human touch to your content.
In the meantime, use these tips to build out your content strategy, so that as you begin to expand your team, you’ll know which tasks to prioritize, moving forward.
Elevate Your Content Strategy With Fiverr Pro
With Google’s updates constantly shaking things up, the key to staying ahead is staying true to your audience and their needs.
While AI may be able to churn out content at lightning speed, it’s the authentic, user-centric content that truly stands out these days.
By creating content that connects with real people on a human level, you can ensure sustained SEO success in 2024 and beyond.
So if you’re looking for the right talent to bring that human touch to your content, Fiverr Pro is the ultimate solution.
Whether you’re a small business owner or a seasoned marketer, this subscription-free service offers a wealth of talented, pre-vetted professionals ready to elevate your content strategy.
Get started with Fiverr Pro today and let their experts find talent, plan, and manage projects for you.
Plus, you can hire with confidence, knowing that you’ll get a full refund if you’re not satisfied with the results.
The information in this article is not intended to and does not constitute legal advice. Only your attorney or your organization’s counsel can provide assurances that the information contained herein – and your interpretation of it – is applicable or appropriate to your particular situation.
Images are an essential component of online content – and it’s obvious why. Images aren’t just pretty—they’re powerful marketing tools that help you stand out.
They pique your audience’s attention, enhance your messaging, and significantly enhance the appeal and effectiveness of your content.
Whether you’re creating a social media post, a webpage, an ebook, a blog post, or something else, adding visuals goes a long way in improving the overall user experience.
However, you can’t just pull images off the internet and use them – and it’s your responsibility to determine if and how you can use the image without breaking the law.
If you violate copyright law – even accidentally – you can face serious consequences. Many online platforms, such as Google and YouTube, have copyright policies that streamline copyright claims and enforcement actions. Often, a minor violation will result in receiving a DMCA notice and the content being removed or demonetized. However, if a violation is egregious or impactful enough, you could face heavier consequences such as hefty fines, court trials, and, in extreme cases, even jail time.
In this article, we’ll explore how you can navigate these murky waters to ensure that you’re using images impactfully and legally online.
What Is Copyright Law?
Copyright law is complex and dynamic, and it requires a careful approach to using images online – especially in the wake of tech advancements like generative AI.
Every image – whether you find it on Google, social media, or a stock photo site – gains copyright as soon as it’s created, and it’s up to you to discern whether or not you have the legal right to use it.
Copyright is designed to protect the creative works of authors, photographers, artists, and other creators. It gives them the exclusive rights to use, distribute, and modify their creations.
Without such laws, creators would have few defenses against individuals and corporations alike simply stealing their work and using it for whatever purposes they desire.
And while the foundational principle of copyright remains unchanged, the landscape around these laws is always evolving.
A recent example of this is the CASE Act of 2020, which created a small claims solution to make it easier for creatives to make copyright complaints without the need for long, expensive legal battles.
This goes to show how important it is to understand and respect copyright law, as its goal is to balance the interests of creators with the need for the public to have access to creative works.
What Is Fair Use?
Another thing you should be familiar with if using images online is the fair use doctrine.
The doctrine of fair use is a legal principle in U.S. copyright law that allows limited use of copyrighted work without requiring permission in certain cases and circumstances. Some of these cases include commentary, criticism, news reporting, or educational purposes.
“Transformative” use of an image can also constitute fair use – which means altering the original visual in such a way that it takes on a new meaning, message, or expression and can include parody.
A search engine showing an image you searched for is an example of fair use.
Teachers and news organizations also have certain protections under fair use for how they use copyrighted material.
Fair use is very nuanced, but the main factors involved in determining whether something is fair use are:
The purpose and character of the use: Do you want to use the image for commercial or non-commercial purposes? Are you a non-profit organization, a customer packaged goods (CPG) brand, or a journalistic organization?
The nature of the copyrighted work: Is it a photograph or an art piece?
The amount and substantiality of the portion used: Are you using a small piece of the work or all of it? Is what you’re using considered the “heart” of the image or whatever it represents?
The effect of the use on the potential market: By using this image, are you potentially negatively impacting the market value of the original?
Given all of these factors, you should carefully consider whether fair use might apply to an image you would like to use online.
Fair use is not guaranteed protection and you may want to consult your general counsel before relying on it. If a policy for using copyrighted works doesn’t already exist in your organization (for example, editorial guidelines for a news organization) and the stakes of using a copyrighted work don’t necessitate the expense of consulting a lawyer, then you should not use content you don’t have explicit rights to.
General Guidelines For Using Images Online
As we’ve already established, anybody using images online has a responsibility to abide by copyright laws in order to avoid legal issues.
As part of this, you should understand that even if images online seem “free,” they might have hidden restrictions based on how they’re used, where they’re shared, and the purpose of using them.
When using images online – especially for commercial/marketing purposes – you should always:
Obtain proper licenses or permissions where required. As part of this, make sure to get signed releases for any images using trademarks, logos, identifiable people, or other private entities.
Respect any terms of use associated with said images.
Be careful when making fair use determinations. If you’re unsure, seek legal advice.
When in doubt, seek permission directly from the copyright owner. This is the safest way to use an image, and we would recommend taking this path whenever possible.
And, of course, ensure you stay informed on the latest developments in copyright law, especially as it pertains to your own activity.
Now, let’s get more specific on the types of images you can use online, and best practices for how to put them to use (or not).
1. Public Domain Images (a.k.a. ‘No Copyright’ Images)
Images in the public domain are free to use without any copyright restrictions.
This is because one of the following things is true:
The copyright has expired.
The work never had a copyright, to begin with.
The copyright holder released the work into the public domain, thereby waiving their right to copyright.
The image is a U.S. work published before January 1, 1929.
That last bullet is why you’ll often hear about certain works “entering the public domain” each year.
Generally, public domain images don’t require citation or permissions, making them a very useful resource when you’re looking for easy-to-use visuals.
But be careful; make sure you verify that the image is indeed in the public domain before using it.
Copyright-free images will have the Public Domain Mark 1.0 or the CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Mark, and you can obtain them on sites like Wikimedia Commons and Flickr Commons.
2. Creative Commons Images
Another great (and free) source of visuals is images with Creative Commons licenses.
Creative Commons is a non-profit organization that provides licenses allowing creators to make their works available to the public while retaining some control over their use.
This means, images under Creative Commons licenses are available for use, but with specific conditions based on the license type.
While some licenses allow for commercial use and even modifications to the original image, others do not – and often, you’re required to provide attribution for the original creator.
There are six different types of Creative Commons licenses that range in terms of how permissive they are and their requirements – but for marketing purposes, they essentially fall into two categories:
Those that allow commercial use.
Those that don’t.
Commercial use is defined as use that is “primarily intended for commercial advantage or monetary compensation.”
That compensation, however, can be direct or indirect. So, if you’re using an image in a blog post or on a webpage affiliated with a for-profit company, the use is considered commercial. This would also apply to social media content.
To that end, we would recommend only using Creative Commons photos that are allowed for commercial use – especially if you work for a for-profit company.
Beyond that, photos with a CC license can have other stipulations you must adhere to, including:
Attribution: This license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the creator’s work as long as they credit the creator for the original creation.
Attribution-ShareAlike: This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon the creator’s work as long as they credit the creator and license their new creations under the identical terms.
Attribution-No Derivatives: This license allows for the redistribution of an image as long as the image remains unchanged and is credited to the creator.
As you search through the Creative Commons website, you can filter your search to find images that can be used commercially and/or modified.
3. Stock Photos
Stock photos have long been a favored image resource for marketers, and it’s not hard to see why. They’re a high-quality, convenient solution that often caters to commercial use cases.
Stock photo websites give you access to a massive offering of professional quality images that address almost any need or situation you can think of.
Creators can partner with stock photo companies to license their works to anyone willing to pay their licensing fee.
Buying a license for a stock photo (or paying for a subscription to the stock photo service itself) gives you free rein to use the photo in any way prescribed by the licensing agreement.
That last part is important. Stock photos still come with stipulations, and there are different licenses that apply to different images. These include, among others:
Royalty-Free (RF) – The most common license type, this gives you the ability to use the photo multiple times across different platforms with just one initial purchase.
Rights-Managed (RM) – With this license, you get more specific usage rights based on the duration, geography, and how you’re distributing the image. Typically more expensive than RF, but it can be possible to secure exclusivity, meaning you’re the only one who can use that image in that way for a specific period.
Editorial Use – This license applies to images that are intended solely for journalistic or newsworthy purposes – not commercial use. So, while a writer could use this photo for a newsletter or a blog, a brand could not use it for a Facebook ad, or a corporate homepage. This is typically reserved for images that feature recognizable products or brands, celebrities, events, etc.
Stock photos are a great option for using images online – just be sure to always read the licensing agreement thoroughly.
4. Your Own Images
As far as using images legally online, this is always going to be your best option.
Creating your own images is a straightforward and simple way to avoid copyright infringement and ensure you’re not upsetting any creators out there.
If you’re the photographer, then there’s no danger of violating any copyright – because you own it. You have the flexibility to use the image as you wish, alter it, and distribute it anywhere, for as long as you like.
Plus, the photos will be entirely original, which can go a long way in engaging your audience and setting you apart from the crowd.
Don’t have a fancy camera on hand? Don’t worry. Thanks to advances in smartphone camera technology and accessible photo editing apps and software, you can easily create high-quality photography without spending a bunch of money on a DSLR.
To make your pictures look professional, make sure to consider lighting and background framing.
Alternatively, you could hire outside help like a photographer or designer – just make sure the contract grants you exclusive rights to ownership, use, and distribution of the photos.
And don’t forget to get signed releases from any individuals who might appear in your images.
5. Social Media Images (Only With Permission)
If you’re looking for compelling visual content, chances are you’re looking at social media. With a wealth of imagery to choose from, social media presents tempting opportunities for marketers looking to spiff up their brand messaging.
But beware: Images posted on social media platforms are copyrighted by the original creator who uploaded them – and they require permission from that owner to be legally used.
It’s vital to act responsibly and secure explicit consent from creators if you plan to use their content.
Giving credit to the original owner via a tag or comment is also best practice – and while some consider that to be enough, I recommend always seeking explicit permission first, especially as a brand.
If you use social media content without permission, it could result in legal action – and the legal fees and final judgment could be crippling.
Always err on the side of caution, and research the terms and conditions of the platform you’re using.
Let’s say you have a customer who posted an amazing image of your product on Instagram, and you’d like to use it – sending a simple direct message (or leaving a comment) asking for permission is quick and easy and will protect you – and chances are you’ll get a yes.
It’s worth noting that using native tools to reshare images in-platform is typically okay. That means that you can go ahead and retweet something, or share a photo to your Instagram Story that tagged your brand, just make sure to credit the creator.
Similarly, remixes and duets on platforms like TikTok are more flexible, as the creator implicitly gives permission for their content to be adapted when they enable those features.
But remain mindful of the content itself, the terms of the platform, and the intentions of the original creator.
Now, you can use tools like DALL-E, Midjourney, and ChatGPT to create visual content using only a simple prompt – and this brings up a lot of questions (and debates) around the legality, copyright, and authorship of AI-created content.
There’s no crystal clear answer for you here. This is an issue that is actively evolving, and regulations and policies are certain to keep developing.
[Editor’s note:] SEJ does not recommend publishing content outputs from generative AI models, including images. Some platforms may offer liability protection, such as Shutterstock, which trains a specific model on proprietary images. But always read the fine print, understand how the models are trained, and consult a legal professional.
But while GIFs abound throughout online content, that doesn’t mean their use is legal. In reality, it’s a confusing landscape without clear guidelines.
For one thing, it can be argued that GIFs fall under the doctrine of fair use, which I covered above.
You could claim GIFs are used for commentary, criticism, or parody.
You could also argue that GIFs are a “transformative” use of the original work, as a brief, looping clip of something is not representative of the entire piece of content – and, therefore, doesn’t undermine the value of the work as a whole.
Still, this does not constitute blanket permission.
Technically, if you wanted to be operating entirely without risk, you would need written releases from the copyright holder of the original work and the people who appear in the GIF. That sounds like a lot of effort for something that will probably amount to a dead end.
You could get away with it, but why risk it?
Our official recommendation is to simply avoid using GIFs. That way, you can avoid the possibility of getting slapped with a cease and desist order – or worse.
That said, if you insist on using GIFs, here are a few quick tips:
Create your own GIFs from content you own or have permission to use. With some simple design work, or help from online tools, you can convert your existing content into custom GIFs that you can use to your heart’s content. This is the only way I would confidently recommend leveraging GIFs in your marketing.
Understand copyright law and fair use. Before deciding to use a GIF, consider the four factors of fair use – purpose and character of the use, nature of the copyrighted work, amount and substantiality of the portion used, and the effect of the use on the potential market for the copyrighted work.
Source from reputable platforms. Some platforms like Giphy have existing licensing agreements with content creators and copyright owners, making their GIF libraries generally safe to use. However, you should still review each platform’s terms of use and licensing agreements before making the call.
Proceed at your own risk.
In Summary
Images are an essential part of online content.
As such, marketers will inevitably need to use them in their digital marketing efforts – and it’s important to understand how to do so legally and responsibly.
By keeping yourself informed on the latest legal developments, developing an understanding of copyright licenses, and practicing due diligence before leveraging images online, you can create compelling and engaging visual content without the risk.
If you need a refresher first, let’s look at what a webinar actually is.
What Is a Webinar?
As you may have guessed (or already know), a webinar is an online seminar.
It has all the necessary elements of a seminar: a moderator, a presenter who is an expert on their topic, a slide deck or other visual media, and an audience.
The main difference between webinars and online videos is that webinars offer live interaction between the presenter and the audience through live chats, interactive Q&As, and even video chats with attendees.
Why You Should Use Webinars
So, you’ve never run a webinar before – why should you start now?
Here are five reasons.
Your ideal audience can be found anywhere in the world. No plane tickets, no booking a room. You can engage with new and existing audiences no matter their location.
You can interface with your audience directly and in a more interactive way. You don’t have to wait to catch up with interested audience members after the presentation. You can respond to their questions and see what their focus is live on air, thanks to a moderated chat and Q&A.
You establish yourself as a thought leader in your space. By hosting a free webinar that’s powerful and enticing, your audience will believe your paid content must be even better. (Conversions!)
You gain tons of qualified leads. Registering for a webinar requires email addresses, and since they’re expressing interest in your webinar, you can count on qualified leads.
You gain a huge source of evergreen content. The live webinar is only the beginning. With some extra work after, you can repurpose it into blogs, video content, infographics, and more.
What Do You Need For a Webinar?
To present a webinar, you’ll need a few elements working together:
An online webinar application, like BigMarker or GoToWebinar, to have a place for your audience to watch the hosted webinar.
A compelling slideshow presentation or other visual media designed to educate and entice.
An expert or thought leader in your field to present the information and field questions from the audience.
A good headset or microphone, with a high-quality camera for the presenter.
You also should build a promotional schedule in advance to ensure your audience is aware of your webinar with plenty of lead time before the presentation. This should include:
A landing page detailing what the webinar will present, along with a form for registering.
Social media posts hyping up the upcoming webinar.
A blog post or other similar content pointing to the landing page and elaborating on what the audience can expect.
We’ll go into more detail on these elements below.
Ready to create a webinar that stands out above the rest? Use these 41 tips when crafting your next webinar.
41 Tips Only The Greatest Webinar Hosts Know
Worried about being ignored or abandoned by your audience? Follow these tips to make sure it doesn’t happen.
Webinar Strategy
1. Know Your Attendees
Ask yourself:
Who will be attending?
What challenges/problems are they facing?
What are their goals?
Answering these questions will help you plan a webinar that’s laser-focused on improving your attendees’ lives.
For instance, Teachable does a great job with its webinars because it knows that its audience:
Is composed of people dreaming of creating their own profitable online courses…
…but don’t know where to start.
Screenshot from teachable.com, February 2024
2. Think About Visual Branding
Be consistent and try to align everything with your brand’s visual tone.
For example, be sure to insert your logo where it makes sense, such as the opening animation or the main slides.
You also need to use fonts, colors, and other visual elements that match your brand’s overall style. These small details are essential to creating a cohesive experience for your webinar attendees.
Also, they’ll make your brand more recognizable, especially if you utilize the same visual style in your other content.
For example, check out how Search Engine Journal links its promotional image to its branding style.
Screenshot from searcenginejournal.com, February 2024
3. Keep Mobile In Mind
Not everyone who views your webinar will do so on a desktop computer.
25% of webinar viewers prefer mobile over desktop, so it’s important to ensure they’re taken care of during the webinar.
Choose a webinar platform that supports mobile. A great example is ClickMeeting. (You can download its app if you want to run the webinar on your phone.)
Screenshot from ClickMeeting Webinar app via Google Play Store, February 2024
4. Offer Your Products Or Services As An Add-On
Offering your product in the middle of a webinar won’t turn the whole thing into an ad.
As long as your webinar delivers everything it promises, your audience should be more receptive to whatever you pitch.
There are only two things you need to remember:
The rest of the advice presented in the webinar should still be useful with or without your product.
Make sure to present the product when it makes sense.
5. Consider A Paid Webinar Series
Webinar marketing can be costly. A paid webinar series could pay for itself.
Asking attendees to pay for a webinar raises their expectations that the quality will be top-shelf. Make sure you deliver on that promise.
Once you’re confident in the value and quality you can provide, consider producing a paid webinar series for extra income.
Just remember to wait until you’re absolutely sure your target audience is willing to pay for your webinar content.
Test different price points until you find one that’s right for your audience.
While a paid model might keep your numbers down, you will likely get a more engaged audience.
Webinar Planning & Preparation
6. Get Help
Hosting a webinar by yourself is possible, but it can drive you crazy.
To avoid this, consider getting someone (or a team) to work with you to make sure things go smoothly – from the planning and the promotion to the webinar itself and everything that follows.
They don’t necessarily have to be knowledgeable about the webinar topic, but they should be able to troubleshoot issues and moderate interactions with attendees. (An assistant who knows about webinar equipment and software is great.)
So, you need to make sure you are offering topics they find interesting.
One of your goals is to demonstrate your authority as an information source. You must show that you know your stuff and that you’re in tune with what’s going on in your space.
For a powerful webinar, you need to narrow it down to a specific topic that will be informative to your target audience.
For example, a webinar about content marketing would be a broad and vague topic to discuss in a webinar.
Instead, try to pick one area of content marketing, such as visual content. This will help you plan the webinar more efficiently and stay focused on a topic.
Here are five ways you can find a webinar topic your audience will be interested in:
Search Google Analytics for top traffic pages: You can pick a topic by seeing what content is being discussed and shared the most on your site.
Ask sales or your social team: Ask your team members what topics they discuss with customers daily. These may be areas where more information may be needed.
Poll your audience: You can also ask your audience directly for topics they would find useful.
Competition:Look at your competitors to see if there are any topics or ideas you can adapt and make your own.
8. Write An Attention-Grabbing Title
Your webinar’s title is your first interaction with your audience.
When they see it, they’ll decide whether to sign up.
This means the first step toward crafting a magnetizing title is to know your audience and their pain points.
For instance, you learn that your audience struggles to find share-worthy topics to write about in their blog.
To excite their interest, give your webinar a title like this.
Screenshot from searcenginejournal.com, February 2024
Remember:
Don’t be too fancy. Simply identify your audience’s problem and craft a title that promises to solve it.
Use power-punching words. “Fill” and “ease” spark up your audience’s imagination. Think about how much less engagement you’d get with a title like “Know What to Write About.”
Never be misleading. Your title shouldn’t make promises your webinar content can’t keep.
9. Find A Great Speaker
You can either use speakers from within your company or industry experts or influencers.
Regardless of your route, the key is making sure the speaker has the proper knowledge and experience to talk about the topic of your webinar.
Your speakers should be credible and demonstrate authority.
If your webinar is sponsored, and the sponsor will choose or provide the speaker, make sure to maintain editorial control.
Insist on an executive or subject matter expert who knows the topic well and is a polished presenter.
Work together to define a topic that balances the sponsor’s messaging with the needs of your audience.
Wednesday and Thursday emerge as the strong days for holding webinars; the optimal day ultimately depends on your goals and audience.
10 a.m. GMT is the best time for webinars.
Remember to keep time zones in mind. If you’re based on the West Coast, then starting a webinar at 6 p.m. PT is probably too late for attendees living on the East Coast.
11. Decide On Your Webinar Format
Once you know what topic you want to cover, break it down into more specific topics and plan the webinar formats you will use.
Here are some of the most popular formats you should consider:
Single expert presenter: One expert shares their insights or tips.
Dual presenters: Instead of just one presenter, you have two presenters. This helps engage and educate the audience and may allow you to share more information.
Panel: Like a live panel, you could host a group of experts discussing a specific topic.
Q&A webinar: A Q&A webinar is a great opportunity to maximize the engagement of attendees. An expert (or a panel) simply answers the questions asked by your audience via chat or social media.
Interview webinar: Having a popular influencer as a guest speaker is a great way to boost attendance and build your authority. You just need to be up for the extra work of influencer outreach, which can be time-consuming and tedious.
Product demonstration: If the goal of your webinar is to promote a product, then you can choose the product demonstration or tutorial format.
Test different formats until you find the one that works best for your audience – then stick to it.
You can also do a mix of formats. For example, you could have a mix of a single expert presenter and Q&A.
12. Do A Dry Run
Before the day of the presentation, get everyone together to do a dry run of the webinar, acting as if it were the real thing.
Ensure all the equipment is working properly, the slides are all in order, and the speakers know what they’re doing.
Remember, things will go wrong on a dry run.
Every.
Single.
Time.
(I’m saying this from experience.)
To avoid glitches and embarrassing gaffes during the webinar, conduct a complete “dress rehearsal” a few days before going live.
13. Document Your Webinar Process
You may need to craft dozens or even hundreds of webinars to reap the full benefits of this amazing marketing tool.
That’s why you need to document your entire process.
Doing so will streamline your webinar production in the future.
Create an editorial calendar where topics, speakers, and dates are tracked and planned weeks in advance.
Also, list every task and to-do item for every stage of your webinar so nothing gets forgotten.
Make sure to keep separate records for different webinar formats.
Over time, you’ll be able to identify what works, what doesn’t, and what you can do to fine-tune your process.
Technical Requirements
14. Choose The Right Webinar Platform
Worried that technical problems will lead to poor feedback and ratings?
You don’t have to be – once you pick the right webinar platform.
Here are four questions to ask when selecting one:
Does it fit your budget?
Does it include the features you need, such as the ability to offer surveys?
How many attendees does it allow?
Can you record?
Search Engine Journal uses BigMarker as the webinar platform for its SEJ Webinar series. Its easy interface allows for a seamless user experience.
It is also easy to schedule and configure the settings of each webinar.
BigMarker also provides automated polls, the ability to load supplemental handouts, and follow-up emails to promote attendee engagement.
It also has chat capabilities that allow for more engagement and a live Q&A function that allows the audience to upvote their favorite questions.
The webinar reports generated by BigMarker are segregated by what metrics you wish to see – whether it’s about attendance, registration, performance, a poll, Q&A questions, or just the overall webinar analytics.
It gives a good measure of what you did well and what else you can improve on.
Other webinar platform options include:
Zoom.
Demio.
EasyWebinar.
WebinarNinja.
Webinar Jam.
GoToWebinar.
15. Invest In A Great Headset Or Microphone
You don’t want your audience to be straining just to catch every word you say.
You want them to sit back comfortably as they listen to your crystal-clear voice.
To achieve this, stop using your laptop’s built-in mic for webinars.
Upgrade to a high-quality headset or microphone. You’ll notice the difference in no time.
This doesn’t mean you need to shell out $500. You can get excellent microphones for under a hundred dollars if you know where to look.
Now imagine this: getting kicked out of your own webinar!
Yup, this can happen if you have an unstable internet connection.
To avoid the embarrassment of this webinar gaffe, test your internet connection first.
Remember, this is true for both the host and the presenter.
17. Test Your Gear
Be careful not to overlook the basic stuff.
Make sure you are equipped to deliver a high-quality webinar that people will remember.
The best way is to set up a test webinar including every feature you wish to use, starting with your audio and video recording equipment.
You don’t need to have an elaborate plan. Just record a test clip and ask for someone’s opinion regarding your sound, video quality, or any other elements your audience will notice.
If you use a particular webinar platform, familiarize yourself with all its useful features (e.g., interactive features like polls that can help you improve engagement).
On the day of the webinar, be ready 10 to 15 minutes early to ensure you’re prepared and that all of your gear is working.
Bonus tip: Never use new equipment on the day of the webinar. Use the equipment you’re familiar with so that if there is a problem, you can troubleshoot.
18. Eliminate Any Potential Sources Of Noise
Here’s a short checklist of the things you should do right before the webinar to prevent any distracting noises:
Mute every other device that isn’t necessary for the webinar.
Inspect your room for anything that produces noise.
Make sure your webinar area is inaccessible to pets and children.
Close applications running in the background of your computer.
Marketing Your Webinar
19. Create A Webinar Landing Page
Don’t forget to create a landing page for your webinar.
Use this page to drive registrations and provide important information, including:
The topic.
Speaker information.
Date and time.
What attendees will learn.
Remember, you don’t need to get super fancy.
A simple page like this will work.
Screenshot from searcneginejournal.com, February 2024
20. Write A Blog Post About Your Webinar
Write a blog post to help promote the webinar in advance.
Even if you don’t have a huge blog following, you can share this on social and email.
21. Promote Your Webinar On Social Media
Promoting your webinar on social media is one of the best ways to boost attendance.
Naturally, you need to promote your webinar through your existing social media channels, but you should also leverage the power of hashtags.
A branded hashtag can also work well as an interaction tool during your webinar.
For example, you can have a contest requiring viewers to tweet using a specific hashtag. The winner can then be chosen live by performing a quick hashtag search.
A more straightforward strategy, however, is simply encouraging attendees to use your hashtag when asking questions or discussing the webinar.
Not only will this strategy heighten the audience’s sense of involvement, but it will also further extend your brand’s social reach – introducing more people to your brand as a result.
22. Promote Your Webinar Via Email
If you already have an email database, make sure to promote your webinar to your subscribers.
Keep it concise, and make it easy for people to register.
Also, make sure you send out email reminders to people who have already registered for your webinar.
For example, you can email participants one day before the webinar or perhaps one hour before it starts.
Test what works best for you.
Bonus tip: Keep promoting after the webinar is over through all these channels as well, especially any content you publish based on it. You want to squeeze the most value out of your webinar.
23. Promote Your Webinar Via A Pop-Up
Do you say “ewww” whenever you think of pop-ups?
Those don’t work, right?
Wrong.
The top-performing pop-ups have a conversion rate of 9.3%. (Compare that to the average click-through rate of paid display ads – a meager .35%!)
So, no, pop-ups aren’t dead.
It may be that you’re simply doing them wrong.
To turn things around for your webinar invitation pop-ups:
Be clear about what you’re offering (and ensure your audience desires it).
Don’t show your pop-up immediately (show it when your visitor has been on your page for at least 15 seconds).
Be unique and let your brand’s personality shine through.
Here are examples of pop-ups we’ve used in the past.
Screenshot from searcenginejournal.com, February 2024
Screenshot from searchenginejournal.com, February 2024
Tips For Webinar Hosts
24. Start On Time
Your attendees are busy. Don’t waste their time.
If your webinar is scheduled to start at 1 p.m., then make sure that everyone is all ready to go at 1 p.m.
There’s nothing more frustrating than being kept waiting on a hold screen.
You’ll lose attendees – and potential customers, clients, or subscribers.
25. Preparation, Preparation, Preparation
First impressions matter.
When the webinar starts, you set the tone – so you will need to keep everyone engaged by welcoming them.
Know the bios of your speakers so you can introduce them without shuffling through papers or stumbling.
26. Hook Them Quick
You need to capture your audience’s attention immediately.
Remember, it only takes a couple of clicks to leave a webinar.
To keep your audience around:
Avoid banter. People have better things to do, and if you bore them with your childhood story or your favorite ice cream brand (or any unnecessary, irrelevant details), they won’t stick around.
Get straight to the point as soon as you can.
Outline your audience’s pain points…
…and make it clear you’ll solve them by the end of the webinar.
List everything your audience is going to learn.
Show them your enthusiasm and excitement.
27. Have Questions Ready For Q&A
Although attendees will likely ask plenty of questions, it is always a smart idea to have a list of prepared questions ready, just in case the audience isn’t as engaged as you expected.
28. Accept That Things Might Go Wrong
No matter how prepared you are, always remember that some things are out of your hands.
You could lose electricity.
Your WiFi could go down.
Or, your laptop could choose today to die.
Usually, the problems won’t be that dramatic. They’ll be more like hiccups.
But things can – and will – go wrong.
Tips For Webinar Presenters
29. Write A Great Script
Just like any other type of live event, whether it’s a talk show or podcast, a script can do wonders for your webinar.
Your script is essentially your road map.
These notes will keep you on course.
Do you have to pre-plan every word you’re going to say?
No.
But no matter how knowledgeable or passionate you are about a specified topic, trying to present or conduct an interview for an hour can be extremely challenging if it isn’t (at least slightly) scripted.
30. But Don’t Be Afraid To Go Off Script
Preparing a well-written script may be an essential step in webinar planning, but that doesn’t mean you have to follow it to the letter.
Sometimes, you need to go off script and elaborate to keep your audience engaged and entertained.
Always remember that your goal isn’t to go through everything as fast as possible – rather, it should be to convey your message as comprehensively as possible.
31. Practice Your Presentation
There is no such thing as too much rehearsal.
Some people can just “wing it.”
But these typically result in “OK” presentations, not fantastic or memorable webinars.
Whether you’re reading your script word for word, or following cue cards, you need to rehearse in order to inject proper tonality and personality in your words.
If not for that, at least make sure your sounds and slides are working well.
Sounding like a robot is bad. Sounding like someone confident and personable is good.
Your goal is to be remembered.
People typically only remember great speakers.
The rest is quickly forgotten.
32. Develop Visual Slides
What’s the point of using slides in your webinar if they’re only going to contain bulleted lists or lengthy paragraphs?
This is lazy and a mistake.
Some presenters even make it worse by reading what the viewers can clearly see for themselves.
If that’s been your plan all along, then you might as well forget about it – your webinar is probably going to be boring and fail.
When developing your slides, think of more visuals and fewer words.
Getting more visual isn’t too hard to do, as there are plenty of free and affordable design tools available.
33. Use Different Media Formats
Instead of just relying on slides and video of the presenter speaking, use different forms of media.
For example, you could add a video or animation to illustrate your points further.
If you’re demonstrating how a product works, walk the attendees through the process in real time instead of just showing previously taken images.
It breaks up the monotony of the standard webinar and can keep your audience interested.
34. Plan For Interaction
You may think that holding a webinar, which uses video, text, and audio content, is a surefire way to maintain engagement.
But after listening to someone talk for 20 minutes or longer, your audience may get bored or distracted.
To ensure they pay attention up to the end of your webinar, you need to encourage them to participate.
Ask poll questions, provide challenges, and just try to be conversational as you divulge the contents of your webinar.
Fortunately, most webinar platforms provide a handful of interactive tools – the most common of which is a chat area where attendees can communicate freely.
You should have no problem finding a platform with everything you need to carry out your ideas.
35. Are You Inexperienced?
If this is your first webinar – or your first attempt at public speaking – you can expect to be nervous.
It’s perfectly fine. Just about everyone does.
Cracking a joke and acknowledging your nervousness is acceptable, but just don’t let your nerves affect the flow of the webinar.
If you’re ever in doubt, steer the conversation toward the host or another guest speaker to take the lead.
Also, mind your use of pauses to control the pace and learn to prevent fillers like “ummm,” “err,” and so on.
Ultimately, your speaking abilities can only improve with practice.
36. Teach & Sell
You should teach and sell at the same time.
Most people make the mistake of teaching and then selling.
This mistake leads to a very awkward transition when it’s time to make the offer.
Throughout the webinar, you need to teach your audience what to want.
When you get to the offer, your product or service will be exactly what they want!
After The Webinar
37. Offer A Call To Action
Make sure the audience knows what next step you want them to take.
For example, if you want them to download a whitepaper or sign up for a free trial, let them know and provide links in the webinar and the follow-up email.
If you offer something to attendees, make sure it is:
Clear and easy to understand.
Easy to use and saves them either time or money.
A great deal that they can’t get anywhere else. The price should be a no-brainer.
Solves problems.
Only available during the webinar promotion. If they wait, they’ll miss out completely.
Easy to buy.
38. Ask Attendees To Decide On The Next Webinar Topic
How can you keep attendees coming back for more?
Simple – let them decide what the next webinar will be about.
You can run a poll, ask them on social media, or tell them during the webinar to comment on what they want to see next.
This also makes it easier for you to come up with engaging topics.
Giving your attendees a voice and letting them influence the direction of your webinar strategy also builds brand loyalty.
39. Survey Your Attendees
Want to know whether your attendees loved or hated your webinar?
Ask them!
Ask attendees to take a brief survey so they can provide feedback that will help you improve moving forward.
40. Send People More Content
After the event, follow up with participants by sending them additional content. This includes:
People who registered but didn’t show up.
Attendees who left the webinar early.
People who converted.
For example, you could email the participants a full recap blog post, a SlideShare of the webinar, or a link to the video recording.
Remember: Your audience likes to consume content in many different formats, so repurposing content isn’t about being lazy or rehashing the same old thing. It is about creating strong, standalone pieces of content that your audience will find useful.
41. Track Your Results
Some webinar metrics you can track include:
How many people registered?
What were the top sources of registrations?
How many people actually attended?
How much time did they spend watching the webinar?
Summary
As you can see, webinars are a highly effective way to reach your ideal audience with educational content that lasts.
The first step is deciding what your goals are and then choosing a platform and format that meets those needs.
Creating a webinar takes a lot of planning, coordination, and follow-through – from settling on a specified topic and finding an awesome speaker to preparing for the live event.
The topics, content, and speakers should provide true value to your target audience.
This concise yet powerful guide is full of exclusive insights from high-profile experts, while drawing on our own internal expertise in delivering leads across multiple media types.
Here’s a peek at what you’ll find inside:
Using content innovation for lead generation: The oversaturation of content is a big issue in B2B today – and standing out isn’t just a challenge; it’s an art form. In order to elevate your brand and leave a lasting impression, you need the right combination of innovation and strategy. The key is in surprising your audience with content that feels fresh, speaks directly to their needs, and keeps them eagerly awaiting your next move.
Building sustainable and scalable lead programs: Remember, it’s not just about acquiring leads; it’s about making sure they feel valued and guided, and cultivating long-lasting relationships. To build a strong lead program, you must properly qualify and score your leads to determine how to best engage with and nurture them. Be sure to map out your customer journey, tailor your communication, and provide valuable touchpoints at every step to guide your leads from curiosity to commitment.
Mastering the knowledge exchange: Your goal should be to “add value before you extract value” – as Curtis del Principe, Sr. Marketing Manager at Hubspot, puts it. It’s all about crafting a win-win scenario between you and your audience. When you manage to address their biggest pain points and answer their most pressing questions, they willingly share their information in return. Create the kind of content that can captivate, engage, and inspire your leads to action.
Leveraging consumer psychology to forge meaningful connections: At its core, B2B is about humans connecting with humans. Although interactions can sometimes feel transactional, forging genuine connections and building relationships that go beyond the surface is crucial for success in this space. Try to understand why your audience does what they do so you can adjust your content to their unique needs and preferences. Offer value to them upfront and present solutions in a way that resonates with them personally.
This digital handbook is tailored for the B2B marketing professional, whether you work within a specific brand or with an agency.
Whether you’re “extremely online” or just a weekend Instagram warrior, you’ve definitely encountered a meme at some point in your social media life. A sad dog with a hilarious caption; a panel from Spiderman with some perfectly stupid new labels; an overlay of a dancing Bill Hader interrupting a TikTok video.
The more time you spend online, the more familiar you’ll get with popular or recurring social media memes. You might even start to see mash-ups of well-known memes (and that’s probably when you should put down your phone and go outside for a bit).
If you’ve never dabbled in the fine art of meme-ery, maybe now’s the time to consider it. Memes can really help fill your social media content calendar and are pretty much guaranteed to delight your audience. And with fresh memes going viral daily, you’ll never run out of inspiration.
Obviously, memes aren’t appropriate for every type of account. If you run a funeral home, for example, maybe this isn’t the blog post for you.
But for brands that want to come across as playful, personable, and authentic, read on for more meme intel and dozens of viral examples to get the creative juices flowing.
Bonus: Download our free, customizable social media calendar template to easily plan and schedule all your content in advance.
What is a meme on social media?
A social media meme is “a joke or comment made for sharing on social networks. It usually appears in the form of a graphic or GIF with text above the image or superimposed.”
Another way of looking at it: memes are visual or textual media (or, on TikTok or Reels, audio clips!) that have been manipulated by an internet user for the purpose of self-expression.
Often, memes are created from images, video, or audio that existed for another purpose. A screenshot from a movie, a clip from a news broadcast gone wrong, an image from a comic strip that’s used to express a reaction to a current event. Memes can also be text-based though, taking a phrase (like a great line in Succession or a mispronunciation by the Pope) and putting it into all sorts of new contexts.
Memes spread across social media networks, with users taking a format and putting their own spin on it. There are dozens of websites and apps out there that can help you generate your own meme in just a few seconds.
And memes are popular: memes are the second most common type of content for Millennial and Gen Z users to share. Some social media accounts are even exclusively devoted to sharing memes — either re-posting other people’s meme creations or producing their own riffs on popular memes.
They’re so easy to make (even if you aren’t a pro at creating social media visuals), and are basically joke machines: just take the existing template, and put a spin on it that will crack up your specific audience.
That being said, memes can also be used for not-so-funny purposes, too. As the BBC put it, “memes can have a serious side, according to researchers looking at modern forms of communication. They are a language in themselves, with a capacity to transcend cultures and construct collective identities between people. These sharable visual jokes can also be powerful tools for self-expression, connection, social influence, and even political subversion.”
What is meme short for?
“Meme” comes from the Greek word mimema, which means “imitated.” Pretty high-brow heritage for a bunch of goofy internet jokes, right?
British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins coined the term in 1976 as a way to describe replicating and mutating cultural ideas. In his work, cultural memes are parallel to biological genes, which also carry information and have the ability to evolve.
“Memes,” in Dawkins’ original definition, could be applied to ideas, skills, fashions, or phrases, and transmitted through communication and culture — conversations, TV broadcasts, emails, you get the gist. Religious or political ideas, for example, are considered memes in his work.
But internet culture has really claimed the word for user-made and distributed media. Today, if someone refers to a meme outside of an extreme academic context, you can be sure they’re talking about a LOLcat.
Viral memes on social media in 2023
While most memes have a pretty short life cycle, there are plenty of memes that have stood the test of time (we’re looking at you, Confused Math Woman). Maybe these 2023 all-star memes will turn out to offer lifelong laughs? Either way, if they spark some inspiration in you — to either share them or make ‘em your own — follow that instinct. Meme hard! Meme often!
Kevin James Smirking
This Getty Images photo of Kevin James sheepishly smiling with his hands in his pockets makes the perfect blank canvas for adding a sassy caption.
A joke (told by women, for women) about justifying costs. If your audience primarily identifies as women, go on and have a laugh about how the “cost per wear” of an outfit makes a fashion splurge seem like a totally reasonable idea.
During the writing of this story, we saw the rise and fall of Kylie Jenner and Timothee Chalamet, so we’re not getting too attached to the Taylor Swift/Travis Kelce relationship. But the “it” couple of the moment provides a great opportunity for meme-able paparazzi photos. Young love brings plenty of dramatic facial expressions, it seems.
…or hilarious contrasts, as in the case of Justin and Hailey Bieber.
Barbie vs. Oppenheimer
The launch date of two diametrically opposite movies provided a lot of fun for the internet. Obviously, the trend has died down now, but take it as inspiration anyways. What kind of hilariously contrasting pop culture moments are happening right now that you can pit against each other in a meme?
Crunchy Cat
Though this green screen effect cat (eating something very loud and unidentifiable) was first uploaded to TikTok in 2022, it really popped off in 2023 as a hilarious accent to pretty much any situation.
When will funny animals ever go out of style for memes? Relabel this chill chicken, or any other animal, with your own context.
Our fave? These fuzzy besties:
Astrological Signs
No one can resist an astrology meme. It’s… in the stars.
Which Are You?
Encourage your followers to tag themselves (as you simultaneously totally roast them).
Dancing Bill Hader
This clip from an old SNL sketch just brings the feel-good vibes. Layer it on top of a big product announcement you’re feeling smug about, why dontcha?
Kardashian Pregnancy Announcement
Back in the summer, Kourtney Kardashian made a dramatic pregnancy announcement using a sign at a concert… which naturally turned into a blank canvas for meme creators around the world. Look for future celebrity milestones like this to transform into your own memes.
Renaissance Paintings
It’s instant comedy: contrast an image from a Renaissance painting with a modern problem, and you’ve struck gold.
Roman Empire
Though this social media meme started with creators asking the men in their lives just how often they think about the Roman Empire (spoiler: a lot?), it’s now a fun thing to post about what your Roman Empire is: the thing you can’t stop thinking about.
Why is this photo-realistic Smurf Cat trending? We couldn’t say. But the people have spoken, repurposing this cutesy character in all sorts of contexts.
A vintage comic strip that features a blank canvas (the book) and a dramatic reaction (the face)? You really can’t go wrong.
A Scary Halloween House
This spooky Halloween house dominated the meme cycle in October 2023. There’s still time to add your own hilarious caption! We believe in you!
Text-based posts
There’s a wide world of people sharing screenshots of text content to visual apps: Tweets that really make people laugh tend to make their way to Instagram to be repurposed and captioned.
It’s good practice to credit where you find these. Savvy brands might punch up these sort of minimalist posts with a punch of color or by using a branded background, to help them blend in with the rest of your feed.
By their nature, memes are always evolving and changing. Your best bet for keeping up with what’s going on in the world of TikTok, Instagram, Twitter/X, and Facebook is to be active on those platforms.
Explore popular content, and watch for emerging trends and patterns first-hand by getting right up into the action. (Feeling overwhelmed by the endless content? Set up specific Streams in your Hootsuite dashboard to focus your attention on the memes that matter most to your company or industry.)
Save time managing your social media presence with Hootsuite. Publish and schedule posts, find relevant conversations, engage your audience, measure results, and more — all from one simple dashboard. Try it free today.
Do it better with Hootsuite, the all-in-one social media tool. Stay on top of things, grow, and beat the competition.
Your mind is ready. Your body is ready. It’s time to take your first steps into social media marketing. And we’re here to say that we couldn’t be more proud of you.
But whether you’re a budding entrepreneur or a seasoned pro stepping into the digital landscape for the first time, we know that starting a social media marketing strategy from scratch can feel intimidating. The good news? We’re here to help. Think of us as your digital marketing doulas, here to demystify the world of social media marketing and help kickstart your journey.
So read on for everything you need to get started with your brand-new social media game plan, and a list of our favorite resources to help you grow from social rookie to all-star.
Bonus: Get a free social media strategy templateto quickly and easily plan your own strategy. Also use it to track results and present the plan to your boss, teammates, and clients.
Social media marketing for beginners: 10 tips
Understand your audience
Whatever kind of business you operate, you need to know your target audience inside and out to succeed. If you don’t know who you’re talking to, how can you ever say the right thing? So before you even sign up for that Instagram account, you’ve got to do some homework. Identify your target demographic in as much detail as you can, including their interests, behaviors, and preferences. You might even want to make an audience persona: a prototype of a typical follower.
Once you know that your marketing is intended for little old ladies in Michigan or tech bros in New Dehli, you’ll understand just what type of tone and topics will resonate best… setting you off on the right path to earning engagement and brand loyalty.
Not everyone is on social media for the same reason. Some brands use social to offer customer service; others are there to build brand awareness. Figuring out your own brand’s objectives will help guide your game plan.
Are you interested in driving traffic to your ecommerce site, building engagement, or fostering community? Knowing the why behind your social media presence will help keep your actions focused, and allow you to clearly measure success or struggles.
For instance, while we don’t know for sure what Lululemon is thinking behind the scenes, content like this 10K training tweet indicates that one of its goals is to be a source of fitness education and support for its audience.
Level up your training—and your fun. Get access to our 10-week plan when you register for the 10K Tour in Scottsdale or Virtual on Strava. Sign up now. https://t.co/67STZYWVW9pic.twitter.com/wEBkj1l5VS
Here’s a little-known fact about social media marketing: your brand doesn’t have to be on every platform. Each social media platform has its own unique personality, and not all are necessarily going to be a fit for your brand. (And if you’re considering just signing up for everything and cross-posting across all the platforms, we’ll just tell you right now: please don’t.)
A magazine targeting senior citizens, on the other hand, would be wasting its time posting on youth-oriented TikTok… while cool-girl makeup brand Glossier is right at home on the platform.
Where does your target audience hang out online? What feels appropriate for your editorial voice? Be selective about the platforms you want to have a presence on and then give your all—it’s about quality, not quantity.
Create quality content
Okay, we know that’s easier said than done. But the truth is that content has to be interesting or visually compelling, or there’s no point. The whole goal of social media marketing is to capture your audience’s attention, so take the time to craft content that actually offers value.
But! “Quality” doesn’t mean that it needs to be shot with a professional camera, or cost thousands of dollars. In fact, in some cases, a more improvised feel can actually add it the appeal of a post. It’s about being thoughtful and authentic… like this playful Bailey Nelson video that riffs on the glasses-shopping experience. Low-budget, and lots of fun.
Basically, no one wants to be constantly sold to. But sharing a how-to tutorial on using your best-selling products? Helpful! Giving followers a glimpse behind the scenes at your office? Humanizing. Think about what you would want to see, and let that guide your content strategy.
There’s no easy answer for how often to post on social media—every platform has its own best practices. But one throughline, from X to Pinterest, is that consistency is key. Posting regularly ensures you’re appearing in followers’ timelines regularly. It gives your fans something to count on. It appeases the algorithms. It makes your brand seem fresh and timely. Win win win win.
It can seem daunting to keep up with that sort of pace, but if you plan ahead, it’s more than manageable. Pick a few “content pillars” and spend a day (every week, every month, whatever!) when you’re feeling creative doing a big brainstorm of posts that could fit into those key categories. Then plug those posts into your social media scheduling tool to make sure you’re getting them out into the world at a good pace.
Bookmark the best resources
Tragically, not every brand has the budget for a whole team of social media content creators, and content creation is often the work of one brave marketer or solopreneur. But with the right tools in your toolbelt, it doesn’t have to be a slog.
If you’re making amazing content, but no one’s seeing it, it’s going to be hard to hit your social media goals (whatever they may be). To really achieve organic reach with your content, mastering the fine art of hashtagging is key. Research relevant hashtags, understand best practices (stick with 3-5 per caption!) and mix broad tags with niche ones for maximum reach. Here’s our post on how to use hashtags for every network if you want to learn more.
Social listening may sound like an advanced practice, but social media marketers at any level can do it. At its core, social listening is the practice of monitoring social media channels for mentions of your brand or relevant keywords—a practice that offers valuable insights into how customers feel about your products or services, what their pain points are, and what they’d like to see from you in the future. There are plenty of social listening tools out there, but we (obviously) recommend Hootsuite. The listening streams are really easy to set up. Read about social listening here, or watch this video (dealer’s choice!).
Put yourself out there
Successful social media marketing involves more than just broadcasting messages: participation and interaction are key to building connection and community. So don’t just schedule time for posting into your day; schedule time for actively engaging with your audience in the comment section or elsewhere on the site. Encourage conversations, ask questions, and participate in the community. Run polls, answer DMs, host Q&As, and do whatever else you can to give as much as you take.
Hair accessory brand Supercrush created this post to ask its audience to vote on product colors and everyone wanted to chime in.
Dig into the analytics
Just as businesses analyze their performance metrics, social media marketers should be reviewing their data regularly, too. After all, how can you refine your strategies if you don’t know how things are actually going?
Remember the social media goals you set out way back at the beginning of your social media journey? Your social media analytics will reveal if your actions have paid off. Regularly check in on the metrics that are meaningful to you (reach, engagement, click-through rates, and so on)—looking back is what will help you move forward with confidence.
But here’s the thing: there’s always something more to learn about social. It’s a digital landscape that’s constantly evolving, so you’re never going to “finish” learning everything you need to know… which means you kind of just need to jump into the deep end and figure it out as you go.
Top resources to learn social media marketing
Embrace the idea of learning on the job and experimenting. There are lots of resources for advanced learning out there (see below), but real social media education starts with getting hands-on (mouse on?).
Not to toot our own horn, but the Hootsuite Blog is a valuable source for articles, guides, and insights related to social media marketing. We cover a wide range of topics, including social media trends, best practices, platform updates, and case studies… and even do fun experiments. (Hot tip: do not buy TikTok followers.) Stay tuned to deepen your understanding of effective strategy and gain practical skills to help you improve your social media game.
Want to take your social media learning even further? Hootsuite Academy is here to help you really nerd out. This is a self-guided, structured online learning program that features courses and certifications on various aspects of social media marketing. We cover topics like social media strategy, content marketing, social advertising, and platform-specific skills. Whether you’re a beginner or more experienced marketer, there’s something for everyone.
Go ahead and subscribe to Hootsuite Labs on YouTube right now (we’ll wait). It’s a channel brought to you by our own social media team. Each week, we’ll deliver a new video featuring experiments, hacks, strategies, or explainers to help you understand just how social media works… and, more importantly, how to be successful.
Though it’s not focused solely on social media, Google’s Digital Garage offers a free course called “Fundamentals of Digital Marketing” that has lots of interesting info about online marketing and social. There are lots of practical exercises and real-world examples, so it’s a nice foundational resource.
Social Media Today aggregates content from various contributors in the social media industry into one platform, so you’ll have all the hot news from the frontlines of social media marketing in one place. Think: articles, insights, trends related to social media marketing, platform updates and strategic advice.
Former social media manager for Bon Appetit, Rachel Karten, writes a weekly newsletter that is one of Hootsuite’s social media team’s top resources when it comes to news, trends, and brands to pay attention to. By her own description, Karten’s newsletter is “about working in social media, creating clever content, and making sure your boss never asks you to “go viral”. And we highly recommend it!
Here’s another newsletter we love. Lia Haberman has been referred to as the world’s foremost creator economy expert, but her weekly newsletter is about digital marketing more generally (with a strong focus on social media marketing). We read it to stay up-to-date with industry trends (and also for her pithy and wise insights).
Save time managing your social media presence with Hootsuite. Publish and schedule posts, find relevant conversations, engage your audience, measure results, and more — all from one simple dashboard. Try it free today.
Do it better with Hootsuite, the all-in-one social media tool. Stay on top of things, grow, and beat the competition.
In an era of user-generated, human-generated and machine-generated content, mistakes are increasingly costlier to make. Learn the ways to revitalize and future-proof your approach to content marketing with Purna Virji, globally recognized content strategist and bestselling author of “High-Impact Content Marketing”.
She and Loren will uncover the common mistakes content marketers make, and how you can avoid them as you plan your marketing strategy.
Tune in and hear strategies for creating genuinely inclusive and relevant content that audiences will actually want to consume, so your content strategy won’t go the way of the dinosaurs.
What we want to think about is what are we solving for. What roles do we play? How are we engaging with the audience and giving them what they are interested in, what they need, and what would be of value to them? – Purna Virji, 03:00
You always want to give your audience something to do next. It all comes down to this concept called backward design. – Purna Virji, 08:58
We found that we get the most social interaction and the highest quality traffic from social media. LinkedIn has just become the most engaged platform there is within social media, and it’s been a complete 360 over the past three or four years. – Loren Baker, 27:30
[00:00] – About Purna. [02:41] – Strategies for intentional content creation. [08:58] – How to ensure content effectiveness. [14:41] – Best practices for content promotion. [18:01] – How to create content for various audience awareness levels. [20:13] – Importance of company representation in content marketing. [23:41] – LinkedIn’s content promotion capabilities.
Resources Mentioned:
Take an idea before you even create the content and think about different ways you’ll use that idea. – Purna Virji, 17:13
The members on LinkedIn tend to see their time on LinkedIn as an investment in themselves professionally and personally. They’re here to learn, grow, share, and put their best foot forward. – Purna Virji, 30:18
Try to understand what makes you money and for that, who are the types of the cream of the crop? Customers who spend a lot are loyal are referring you to others. – Purna Virji, 03:53
Connect with Purna Virji:
Purna Virji, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a celebrated content strategist and marketer, currently the Principal Content Solutions Consultant at LinkedIn. Her career spans leading roles at Microsoft, and diverse experiences in social media, search advertising, and television, giving her a unique perspective on content marketing.
Recognized as an Adweek Young Influential and Search Personality of the Year, she’s also a top-rated international speaker and an advocate for women in technology. Virji is the author of the best-selling book “High-Impact Content Marketing,” showcasing her expertise and influence in the field.
You can use ChatGPT for enhanced data analysis and even to help with your copy, but there are other tools that you can use to enhance your SEO, including AI image generators.
Here are just a few of the ways that AI image generation can boost your SEO and content:
Unique Content Creation – Based On Your Own Thoughts
Google’s John Mueller already confirmed two things:
Stock images won’t impact your web search negatively.
Stock images don’t perform as well in image search.
By using AI to generate unique images, you can avoid stock photos that may be used on multiple websites, giving your site an original edge.
While you can mix stock and AI images, you can benefit from truly unique images that no one else has on their site if you use a bot like Midjourney.
If your image output too closely resembles an individual’s artwork that was used to train Midjourney, you are open to liability. Midjourney’s terms of service makes clear they will not legally or financially protect you should there be a legal dispute.
For example, I used the prompt: “Create a fuzzy monster eating blog posts with a piece of paper in its mouth with lorem ipsum on the page” to generate the image below.
Screenshot from MidJourney, October 2023
Imagine that the monster is “Google” after the Helpful Content Update, and it’s eating everyone’s great content as rankings tumble for many sites.
What a fun, shareable, and unique image, right?
You can also go deeper into image personalization with AI, adjusting your prompts and having it create relevant images for you.
Image Personalization
Marketers love personas. You can use personas to dig deep into the minds of your ideal customers or segments of customers. AI can help you create images based on user:
Profiles.
Segments.
Image personalization can indirectly influence your site’s SEO with improvements in user dwell time and engagement.
For example, if you were optimizing for a business website and the company focuses on businesswomen in the 2o – 40-year-old bracket, you can use a unique image like the one below:
Screenshot from MidJourney, October 2023
You can also personalize the image further. Instead of a businesswoman, let’s focus on a businessman who is on the phone closing a deal.
Screenshot from MidJourney, October 2023
Sure, you can find many stock photos that look like this, but you can instantly change the photo by asking for a different suit color, a younger or older man, different features, and anything you want.
Your image personalization can really hit on the pain points of your personas to make each image relatable.
Snappy Infographics And Data Visualization
Infographics are still very shareable and can lead to very valuable backlinks.
The problem? They’re tedious and expensive to make.
AI can help you create generic infographics that you’ll need to fill out in Photoshop or something similar.
Visual data is a lot of fun to make with a tool like Midjourney.
However, it is very tricky to get graphs and charts to work out if you’re looking for accuracy because there’s a lot going on. For example, I just prompted Midjourney to create an infographic for me.
See the results for yourself.
Screenshot from MidJourney, October 2023
While the infographic is certainly beautifully made and far better than what I could make on my own, many prompts would need to be added for the graphs and charts to depict the data accurately.
However, if you don’t mind adjusting the prompts or don’t need accurate graphs and charts, you can create fast content assets that attract more links to your site.
Updating Outdated Graphics
Updating content is nothing new. If you’re not updating blog content, you’re missing out on the opportunity to have fresh content. However, updating images on your website can be costly and time-intensive.
You can now use AI to solve this problem in two different ways:
Create additional images for your site and content assets.
Train AI to suggest modern replacements for your visuals.
In Midjourney, you can update your old biography picture and ask it to spruce it up for you. You can even use a URL to prompt the generator. However, the platform will use the image as an influence and not reuse it in 100% likeness.
Automation and advanced applications using API would be a fun experiment. Imagine feeding in a blog URL and having AI create an updated variation of any images that are outdated.
New, better images may help boost your traffic from image search and improve your page’s dwell time – a win-win.
With Midjourney, you can use the “Vary (Strong)” option to create different variations of an image to see how well they perform.
I used this option to create four variations of our fuzzy monster image from above.
Screenshot from MidJourney, October 2023
As you can see, AI is still not perfect – it has its quirks. The monster in the bottom left corner didn’t quite get the paper into his mouth! But you have three other variations you can work with to see which one resonates with your audience.
With Midjourney, you can also choose which region of the photo you want to vary.
Or you can simply use two or three different prompts to get entirely new images to try.
Let’s go with the blog post theme we used for our fuzzy monster image.
This time, let’s go in a different direction and use the prompt: “Imagine a hedgehog writing a letter to a friend.”
Screenshot from MidJourney, October 2023
Both photos convey similar ideas but in different ways. Through A/B testing, you can see which image/copy pairings are the most engaging for your audience.
Create Hyper-Localized Content
If you’re focused on local SEO, you can use AI to generate images that resonate with your local audience.
Not only can you optimize your content for local keywords and use local language, but you can also add imagery that speaks to your audience.
Final Thoughts
While AI can be a useful tool for localized content and for SEO in general, it’s important to remember that it can be biased.
Additionally, it’s worth considering that AI-generated art takes compensation and jobs away from human creators.
While AI can provide innovative solutions and efficiency, it’s crucial to balance technological advancements with the ethical implications and impact on the creative industry.
So, create AI images with caution. The last thing you want to do is offend or alienate your target audience.
But when used with the right approach, you can leverage AI image generation to enhance your SEO efforts and provide your audience with unique content.
Image created by Fiverr Pro, April 2024
Image created by Fiverr Pro, April 2024
Image created by Fiverr Pro, April 2024
