On the Responsibilities of Content Creation in an Age of Fake News

Media consumption is soaring in these times, with more people cooped up inside and spending more time online. This is why businesses are shifting to e-Commerce. Advertising and marketing campaigns are also doubling down on digital. But there has also been a rise in disinformation, or fake news. Just like black hat SEO techniques but geared towards the “human/social search engine algorithm.”
And like its counterpart, it has grown prevalent. That is why it is crucial to get an understanding of the phenomenon and its consequences. Anyone dealing with SEO must have an awareness of black hat techniques. Similarly, understanding fake news and why it must be avoided should be one of the responsibilities of content creation.
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How Social Media Ads Can Help Your Business During the Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic imposes constraints on businesses. Measures such as social distancing, lockdowns and quarantines have been enacted to try and diminish its spread and flatten the curve. On our end, VBN proactively shifted to a work-from-home setup for all its Virtual Assistants. Still, life must go on. Businesses – like grocery stores, restaurant takeout and delivery services – are still continuing operations while minimizing the risk of infection. Bottom lines will take a hit, there’s no way going around it. But social media ads can help these companies during the pandemic, especially since customers will now be staying home, scrolling through their smartphone screens for hours. If anything, it’s time to take your social media game up a notch.  So here are a few ways to leverage social media ads for your business as operations shift in light of the pandemic: 
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Creating Customer Personas to Reach Your Audiences Better

What image do you see when someone says “fast food?” What pops into your head when you think “body spray?” How about “search engine?” Or “smartphone?” The most iconic brands have unforgettable imagery that people can instantly recall. These are memorable, whether it’s an earworm of a jingle, a catchy phrase, a logo, or a popular actor/comedian doing some shenanigans. How did these brands hypnotize us and plant these ideas or images in our heads? This is achieved through clever marketing done by pros who think about the customers first, going beyond dry demographic statistics by conceptualizing their marks as personas. They conduct thorough studies on actual customers, ranging from one on one interviews to mass surveys. Then they collate the data, both the personal-level talks to the broad statistical research. From this, they create their customer personas. The customer persona will embody them, complete with personal narratives, hobbies, backstories, even fictitious addresses that reflect the demographics’ localities.

Character Backstories

Are your products or services aimed at Millennials or Zoomers? What’s his or her favorite social media platform? Do they have any pets? What’s their favorite Disney flick? For a Gen X-er persona, how many kids do they have, are they doing yoga to deal with back pain, taking supplements for health, etc.? Where do they live, what’s the weather like over there, and what are their environmental concerns? What’s their socioeconomic bracket? What are their goals and objectives in life? You get the picture. And as you detail your customer persona using these fields, you’ll get a better picture of them too.

Honing Your Message

By knowing who they are, you’ll know what they want. So you can personalize your messages accordingly. Put yourself in their shoes, ask yourself what will interest them, and figure out how your brand can connect with that. This is how you can create a message that will resonate with them, by addressing their wants, needs and concerns. Moreover, you will also know which channels or mediums will work better for certain personas. Older audiences might not be as savvy with Twitter or Instagram, preferring good old fashioned Facebook. Younger customers might go through various social media channels but also delve into niche spaces like Reddit or Twitch channels. Corporate types will have their Linkedin accounts, of course. You can adapt accordingly and craft your message to suit which medium you are pursuing.

Start Crafting

Try it out! Develop thorough personas by talking to your customers. Learn their needs and desires. Get their demographics. Then conceptualize them, and use these customer personas to inform social media campaigns aligned with what your customers are looking for deep down in their hearts.
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