The Intersection of SEO & Influencer Marketing: What B2B Marketers Need to Know

The Intersection of SEO & Influence

The Intersection of SEO & Influence

Peanut butter and jelly.

Milk and cookies.

Steak and potatoes.

Wine and cheese.

Bread and butter.

SEO and influencer marketing.

via GIPHY

All of these exceptional pairings have something special in common: They work together.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. And I get it. From red or white to pungent or salty, there are several incredibly important variables to consider when crafting the perfect wine and cheese combo.

via GIPHY

For real, though. Integration is key for B2B content marketing success. But some tactics and strategies seem like natural fits, while others seem a bit mismatched. If you feel like SEO and influencer marketing fall into the latter category, it might be time to flip your thinking.

SEO is one of the oldest digital marketing tactics, defined by consistency, commitment, and agility over the long-term to see results. And despite the fact that most peg influencer marketing as a campaign-based, social media amplification tactic, influencer success is also tied to that always-on approach.

But how exactly can SEO and influence intersect and support each other? Let’s dive in.

What B2B Marketers Need to Know About Pairing SEO & Influencer Marketing

#1 – Influencers can be an incredible keyword and topical research tool.

Your influencers are experts who are embedded in your niche or industry. They have relevant expertise that can help educate and inspire your audience. They have perspectives and experiences your audience can relate to. They are engaged with their followings and industry happenings. And … they are your audience in many cases.

This means, when you work with the right influencers, there’s an incredible opportunity to gain deeper insights about who your audience is, what they care about, and what they’re struggling with so you can create content they’re searching for and need.

Dr. Konstanze Alex, Head of Corporate Influencer Relations for Dell, said it best when she declared:

« Working with B2B influencers allows our brand to have a constant pulse check with purchase decision makers. Informed influencers who share our vision of the future based on their own experience and expertise provide for independent, third party validation.

« Strategic partnerships with influencers provide for an outside in view when creating content for our customers. We need to constantly ensure that, as a brand, we don’t start talking to ourselves, but keep a keen focus on the evolving challenges our customers have and on language they use to express these challenges. »

With insights gained straight from a reputable source, you can then turn to your traditional SEO tools to validate topics, uncover related queries and opportunities, and refine your integrated content marketing strategy for maximum impact.

[bctt tweet= »Working with B2B influencers allows our brand to have a constant pulse check with purchase decision makers. – @konstanze #B2BInfluencerMarketing #SEO #B2BContentMarketing » username= »toprank »]

#2 – Influencers can help you create the best answer content that your audience and search engines crave.

Search engines are answer engines. They’re built to satisfy searchers’ needs by delivering the most relevant, helpful, and accurate information possible. They’re built to deliver the best content. This is why we believe B2B brands need to strive to be the best answer whenever and wherever their audience is searching.

By collaborating with influencers to contribute original content or co-created content, they can help you put SEO insights into action by providing the answers your audience and search engines are looking for. As Lee Odden, TopRank Marketing’s CEO and resident industry influencer, said on why B2b marketers need optimized and influencer activated content:

« B2B brands that integrate both SEO and influence into their content marketing create a compelling opportunity to be found when it matters most and to be trusted when it matters more.

« With an understanding of keyword demand, B2B marketers can tap into the opportunity to be the best answer for buyers with content at the very moment of need. Even better is that influencer contributions to that optimized content will give it the credibility and engagement needed to inspire action. »

[bctt tweet= »#B2B brands that integrate both #SEO and influence into their #contentmarketing create a compelling opportunity to be found when it matters most and to be trusted when it matters more. – @leeodden » username= »toprank »]

#3 – Influencers can help you send the right signals to search engines.

Search engine algorithms are complex, elusive creatures. For the last decade or so, most marketers have been operating under the assumption that Google’s algorithm considers roughly 200 variables when ranking content.

But as Search Engine Journal points out, a lot has changed in the last 10 years—including RankBrain, mobile-first indexing, and the HTTPS boost—so, it’s pretty likely that number has ballooned. Of course, the rise of influencer marketing has undoubtedly made an impact, too. (More on that in a minute.)

Thanks to some confirmations straight from the source, as well as in-depth research and analysis, there are several known ranking factors—including a handful that can be reinforced with the help of an influencer marketing strategy. A couple of those opportunities include:

Content & Search Intent

A couple years ago, it was revealed that content is one of Google’s top 3 ranking factors. While “content” as a ranking factor is pretty damn broad, marketers know the nuance.

We know it’s all about creating quality, relevant content that resonates with our audience and signals search engines. In addition, thanks to RankBrain, Google is getting increasingly better at handling never-before-seen queries and making correlations with other queries to serve up content that best matches search intent. And influencers, with their unique expertise and knowledge, can help us hit the best-answer, intent-match quality mark.

This insight from my talented colleague Josh Nite captures the essence of all this:

« Quality content demonstrates to your audience that you’re listening to them and you care … When content is useful, valuable, and meaningful, it’s not part of the deluge of content that surrounds us. It’s signal, not noise. »

Plus, when you commit to building mutually beneficial, long-term relationships, you have the opportunity to consistently create fresh quality content, which is also critical for increasing search visibility and domain authority.

[bctt tweet= »When content is useful, valuable, and meaningful, it’s not part of the deluge of content that surrounds us. It’s signal, not noise. – @NiteWrites » username= »toprank »]

Inbound Links

Getting backlinks from reputable, relevant, authoritative websites is a ranking factor that has stood the test of time. It’s simple: When you create comprehensive, insightful, quality content you give others something to “link about”—and search engines see that as a sign of relevance and authority.

Unsurprisingly, influencers can play a massive role in the creation of that link-worthy content. From original research featuring reactions and commentary to a thoughtful listicle featuring top industry influencers to follow on social media, the possibilities are seemingly endless here.

In addition, influencers can be the source of those quality backlinks.

For example, if you partner with an influencer to co-create an article for their blog or another relevant industry publication, there’s likely a natural opportunity to include a link back to your site through optimized anchor text.

But an important thing to note here: If you’re exchanging any sort of payment (e.g. straight cash or free goods and services) that not only needs to be noted in the content, but it’s also recommended that a “nofollow” link be implemented. (You may forfeit the baseline SEO advantages here, but you don’t lose the ability to direct traffic to your site through the link.)

However, if you’ve partnered without payment beyond recognition, thought leadership, or forming an organic partnership, you’re probably safe.

SEO + Influence = The Perfect Pair

Integration is absolutely essential for driving digital and content marketing success in the crowded, competitive B2B landscape. By pairing an old favorite and a rising star, B2B marketers have the opportunity to design a long-term strategy for maximum impact.

For more insights on the intersection of SEO and influencer marketing, check out:

The post The Intersection of SEO & Influencer Marketing: What B2B Marketers Need to Know appeared first on Online Marketing Blog – TopRank®.

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Lever Ayush : Sahi Ayurveda

Brand: Lever Ayush
Company: Hindustan Unilever

Brand Analysis Count: #579

It took Patanjali to wake the giant from slumber. The Rs 36,000 crore HUL has been disturbed pretty hard by the Rs 5000 crore Patanjali resulting in the relaunch of Ayush brand. It seems like a replay of the epic battle between Nirma and Surf, however, the outcome of the current fight remains unpredictable. 
Ayush was launched by Hindustan Unilever in 2001. The brand at that time was launched to tap into the premium space in the Ayurveda personal care market. However, the plan failed and Ayush was sidelined in the huge brand-lines of the company.
Patanjali which was established in 2006, began aggressively marketing from 2015 and virtually ignited the growth of Ayurveda based personal care market in India. But what is surprising is that the multi-national giants like HUL, Colgate etc were probably in a state of Marketing Myopia. They failed to see the rise of Patanjali and could not counter the challenger. The result is that within a short span, Patanjali rose to a higher level of brand awareness and reasonable equity in a certain category of products. 
The reaction of HUL was also on predictable lines, take an old brand, dust it off and relaunch. Thus launched the revised version of Lever Ayush. The next challenge is to counter the source of Brand Equity of Patanjali. Patanjali heavily draws its equity from Baba Ramdev. Lever Ayush chose the celebrity route. Along with the celebrity, the brand has chosen to partner with Arya Vaidya Pharmacy for the development of this product. However, the campaigns don’t really promote this association which is a big mistake. Arya Vaidya Pharmacy has excellent equity and could have given more firepower to the brand in countering Patanjali. 
In the relaunch, Lever Ayush has roped in Akshay Kumar as the lead brand ambassador. The brand is currently running the relaunch campaign across various media. 
For personal care products targeted at the female segment, the brand has chosen Tamanna as the brand ambassador. 
Lever Ayush is positioned as an authentic ayurvedic brand. The tagline of the brand is – Sahi Ayurveda – translated to ‘ True Ayurveda’. 
It has to be seen whether the customer would buy that positioning endorsed by the celebrity. 
In the pricing front, Ayush has shed the premium tag and is taking Patanjali head-on by launching the products in the price range of Rs 30 – 130. According to newspaper reports, HUL is promoting the Ayush brand in the Southern States. 
The fight between HUL and Patanjali in the personal care space would be a good fight to watch for. 

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Why Businesses Should Hire an SEO Company?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and includes the digital marketing tactics which can result in the higher ranking of the website on the search engine result page of a certain type of search engine. If we look at the digital marketing and SEO, both the concepts are inseparable. All the businesses in today’s time need both the digital marketing and SEO campaigning to increase their business growth and make their business profitable and successful.

Why Should Companies Hire SEO Firm? 
Makes the Business Stay Ahead in the Competitive World
  • No matter in which field the business is running in, SEO is needed to stay ahead of the competitors in this highly competitive business world. 
  • But the question arises how can a company attain noticeable improvements and become successful? One of the ways is to hire an efficient SEO company and it will surely improve the company’s website ranking on the search engine result page.
Boosts Website Ranking on Search Engine Result Page
  • But Search engine optimization is something which cannot be learned overnight. Today advertising and web promotions have become highly crucial aspects for all types of businesses. The overall success of a business relies on the effectiveness of the digital marketing campaign which includes the SEO campaigning as well. 
  • Since everyone is using the internet these days so businesses are looking for innovative and unique ways to promote their products and services in the digital world. 
Communicate Message Effectively to Target Audience 
  • By utilizing the services of an effective SEO agency, businesses can increase the number of clicks to their websites and can boost the website ranking on the search engine result page too. 
SEO Agency Increases the Effectiveness of an Overall Marketing Campaign
  • With the help of highly experienced SEO Company, firms will be able to reach millions of the customers worldwide which would not have been possible by other means. Needless to say that the domain of SEO is already evolving at a fast pace and it is essential for the companies to stay attuned to the latest development in the SEO technologies. So SEO agencies keep the businesses highly proactive.
Higher Profitability and Business Growth
Companies can keep their employees up-to-date and thorough about the latest SEO news and the developments that have taken place in the field. The highly effective SEO campaigns push the client’s products and services online and also makes their messages reach to the target audience in an interesting and engaging way which has a greater impact on the buying decision of the customer and increases firm’s profitability.
About the Author

James Wilson is a professional writer, who writes various articles on different niches and now working for industryarmymarketing.com that offer digital marketing, PPC SEO Vancouver, for the business growth.

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Marketing Funda : iPhone 8 and the Osborne Effect

« My iPhone 7 is broken but am going to wait for iPhone X. I will manage with my broken phone till then  » reads an instagram post of a celebrity. IPhone now has an Osborne effect moment. Osborne effect is when the announcement of a future product affects the sale of current product. Osborne effect happens when the future product is announced at the launch of current product itself. 

This September Apple announced the launch of iPhone 8 and 8 plus. Along with the iPhone 8, Apple also announced iPhone X which is a most awaited product launch. IPhone X will be available from November.  The announcement of thr next generation iPhone X will prevent many potential customers from going for iPhone 8 whose flagship status will have a short life of two months. 

The interesting question is how the 8 and X versions co-exist? 

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Building Blocks of a Customer Experience Transformation Strategy

Building Blocks of a Customer Experience Transformation Strategy

Do you know all of the building blocks of a customer experience transformation strategy?

I’ve mentioned the CX Perception Gap before, right? You might know it as Bain’s Delivery Gap, which states findings from their 2005 research: 80% of executives believe they deliver a superior experience, while only 8% of customers agree.

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Digital Marketing is a Necessity

Digital media is inescapable nowadays and online users have access to information whenever, anyplace. Be it for shopping, news, entertainment or social interaction, buyers are currently exposed to an endless range of information; and so, businesses must amp up their digital marketing campaigns to hold client attention. Brands nowadays are required to manage customer relationships across various digital channels. Because they know that properly implemented digital media services will help in customer engagement and business ROI.

Be that as it may, the digital marketing strategies must be apt and of extraordinary quality, in order to draw in potential consumers towards a specific product. 
Digital Marketing A Tool To Boost Business

The typical digital marketing strategies used today are content marketing, data analytics, search engine optimization, social media marketing, and of course the all popular video marketing services. By being creative, innovative and using the latest technology can help boost up the returns of your online business significantly.
These days, there are businesses which opt to outsource digital media services to a professional digital marketing company. Such an agency is furnished with specialists, who are properly trained, to implement efficacious digital tools and techniques for best business results. A good online marketing firm facilitates the activity of big brands by making content that, produces a more profound association with the brand.

Also Read : Marketing Tips For Bloggers in 2018

Following digital strategies are crucial to make digital consumers follow and associate with a brand:
Data Analysis

Just gathering information isn’t sufficient. Brands need to do optimization after data accumulation, which leads to the creation of a powerful impact on the business ROI. Some of the basic digital initiatives that are helpful in online campaigns are mining and analysis. By doing audience analysis, businesses can device marketing strategies centered around people and, attract more customers. Anyhow, its ideal to hire an experienced digital marketing company for this job.
Video Marketing

Online video marketing is a magnificent method to get your product or service out there. Also, there are many advantages of using video to promote business:
  • Videos provide you higher conversion rates when it comes to making sales. In other words, audience who watch your videos will more likely purchase your product or service than, if they’d only read about it on the web.
  • Moreover, websites with a video on them are nearly twice as prone to have customers that make a transaction. Can you believe this? Only by having a video created by a skilled video marketing services provider, you can possibly double your business! That is maximum revenue gain from business! This is partly because people are more likely to sit through the entirety of a video (nearly fifty percent of your audience will do this) than, they are to take the time and read through the entirety of your sales copy (only 10% of the visitors will do that). So, you will spread more information across and your sales message will be heard in entirety.
Conclusion

To conclude, online businesses cannot make ongoing profits if they don’t use digital marketing techniques and tools.

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Brand Update : Is India Post missing out of e-commerce boom ?

Indian e-commerce industry is on a song these days with Big Billion Days and Great Indian Festivals and products flying off from the web-shelves. According to KPMG, on an average, there are 1-1.2 million transactions happening in India every day. Indian e-commerce industry had done business worth $12 billion GMV in 2016. Analysts paint a bright future for this industry in years to come. 
The backbone of the e-commerce boom is the logistics. According to KPMG report (Link), the logistics industry driving the e-commerce is worth $ 0.46 Bn and expected to touch $2.2bn in 2020. 

With all these actions happening, our very own India Post seems to be taking a backseat in the whole festival. While Flipkart and Amazon have already built their own logistics arm, there are scores of entrepreneurs who want a reliable logistics partner who can reach the nook and corner of a vast country like ours.  
Look at India Post, no one can beat the reach and equity of this institution. At the same time, the institution is also not in good shape financially. One year back the department has scaled down its post offices and closed down a lot of unviable post offices. In a country where last-mile connectivity is a bottleneck for many firms, India Post scales down its reach to become financially viable. Irony. 
 According to this report in ET (link) India Post is taking actions to reap the benefits of this e-commerce boom but not enough. By this time, it could have been the largest beneficiary of the boom. But sadly the institution failed to capitalize the opportunity. It could have geared up the infrastructure and technology to match the speed of the market. I think the game is not over yet with many new formats are being explored in the Indian market and lot of small shops are getting on the bandwagon. Hope that India Post can become the preferred partner for those firms who desperately need a reliable last-mile partner. 
Related Post

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Bajaj Dominar : Go Hyperriding

Brand: Dominar
Company: Bajaj Auto

Brand Analysis Count: #580

In December 2016, Bajaj Auto launched a new product line under the brand Dominar. Dominar was Bajaj Auto’s challenger for the market leader in the 250- 500 cc premium motorcycle segment  – Royal Enfield. Royal Enfield commands almost 96% share in this segment. According to reports, Royal Enfield managed to sell 3500 – 4500 units every month. 
And Dominar arrived in style. The launch was marked by a campaign which made fun of the market leader. 
The advertisement had two objectives. First is obviously to create attention and it does with perfection. The second objective is more subtle. The objective is to establish a competitive frame of reference in the mind of the consumer. Dominar doesn’t want to be seen as a sports bike in the same class of the best selling Pulsar. If the customer categorizes Dominar in the same category as Pulsar, it can lead to cannibalization. Hence Dominar wants the consumer to consider the brand as a competitor for Enfield even though the brand looks very different from the market leader. 
Another objective is the create a comparison with the exemplar – in this case, Enfield, and thus make the consumer compare the brand with the market leader thus making an entry into the choice set of the consumer. 
Dominar is positioned on the performance platform. The brand is positioned as a bike which is fast and powerful. The launch campaign  » Not for Babies »  was intended to position the brand as the fastest of the lot. 
The results during the launch were very good for Dominar. It even closed the gap with the market leader in some months, but later the sales plummetted which prompted Bajaj to refresh the product line with new launches. Some decline is attributed to the GST effect. 
Although the initial advertisement campaign was superb, the brand failed to sustain the creative onslaught. Dominar’s current campaign  » Dominar vs Social Media  » is IMHO a dud campaign. 
The campaign totally looks unbelievable and kiddish. From comparison with Enfield, the brand started its comparison with Social Media ?? This hyperbole not only misses the mark but also dilutes the positioning and image built around challenging Enfield. Probably this lack of creativeness caused the decline in the sales of the brand. 
As per the news reports, Enfield continues the dominance in the segment. In a market where one player holds substantial share, there is always room for other players. But whether Dominar will be able to dominate the segment would largely depend on how the brand is consistently positioned against the competitor. 

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15 Business Quotes from Alibaba’s Jack Ma

Jack Ma Quotes

Jack Ma, the mavrick entrepreneur who founded the Chinese eCommerce company Alibaba has a great rags to riches story to tell.

Alibaba has been labelled to be more successful than Walmart and other off line retail giants. Jack Ma is the richest Chinese by networth – USD 40.5 billion as per 2017 data.

Below are 15 Quotes from Jack Ma

1) “The opportunities that everyone cannot see are the real opportunities.”

2) “Opportunity lies in the place where the complaints are.”

3) “When you are small, you have to be very focused and rely on your brain, not your strength.”

4) “Today is cruel. Tomorrow is crueller. And the day after tomorrow is beautiful.”

5) “Never ever compete on prices, instead compete on services and innovation.”

6) “The very important thing you should have is patience.”

7) There’s an examination for young people to go to university. I failed it three times. I failed a lot. So I applied to 30 different jobs and got rejected. I went for a job with the police; they said, ‘You’re no good.’ I even went to KFC when it came to my city. Twenty-four people went for the job. Twenty-three were accepted.

8) “Intelligent people need a fool to lead them. When the team’s all a bunch of scientists, it is best to have a peasant lead the way. His way of thinking is different. It’s easier to win if you have people seeing things from different perspectives.”

9) “Hire the person best suited to the job, not the most talented. This can be a very painful lesson. There’s no point putting in a Boeing jet engine when you need to run a tractor.”

10) “Spending money is much more difficult than making money.”

11) “I wanted to have a global company, so I chose a global name.”

12) “I got my story, my dream, from America. The hero I had is Forrest Gump… I like that guy. I’ve been watching that movie about 10 times. Every time I get frustrated, I watch the movie. I watched the movie before I came here again to New York. I watched the movie again telling me that no matter whatever changed, you are you.”

13) Chinese people, young people, they don’t go shopping a lot in department stores. All department store guys hate me. They say business is bad because of Jack.

14) I like to play cards. I’m not very good, because I don’t want to calculate, I just play by instinct. But I’ve learned a lot of business philosophy by playing poker.

15) You American people worry too much about the China economy. Every time you think China is a problem, we get better, but when you have a high expectation for China, China is always a problem.

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