21% of Canadians Would Never Buy From An American Retailer [Study]

Here at Search Engine People, we're always curious about how consumer habits differ between Canada and the United States - and how our clients can take advantage of this information. As part of our ongoing study into shoppers' willingness to […]

Post from: Search Engine People SEO Blog

21% of Canadians Would Never Buy From An American Retailer [Study]

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Written by Alicia Thomas,

The post 21% of Canadians Would Never Buy From An American Retailer [Study] appeared first on Search Engine People Blog.

Customer Co-Production: How one furniture company tested self-assembly messaging to enhance value and reduce frustration

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Self-service and customer co-production of products is everywhere — customers assemble furniture themselves, follow directions on food packages to prepare meals, scan their own groceries at supermarkets and use online banking. Despite its price-lowering and customization value, co-production has a dark side, requiring effort and time from the customer and potentially causing frustration. Today, we’ll look at a study from the furniture industry comparing the effects of two marketing communication strategies to mitigate customer frustration with the co-production process.

The Study

In November 2015, Till Haumann, Pascal Grϋntϋrkϋn, Laura Marie Schons and Jan Wieseke from the Ruhr-University of Bochum, Germany published the results of a field experiment with a multinational furniture company. The company sells furniture that requires co-production from the customer or, in other words, standardized, ready-to-assemble furniture that customers purchase in flat packages and assemble at home.

Depending on customers’ assembly skills, the process can be frustrating to a degree. So the scientists set out to test two ways of alleviating customers’ frustrations with the process (“co-production intensity”) by (1) enhancing the perceived value of the process and (2) reducing the perceived effort and time required in the process.

Method

The study authors asked 803 self-assembly furniture customers to fill in two Web-based surveys. Customers were assigned to experimental and control groups. Participants in the control group were not exposed to any posters, while participants in the experimental group were exposed to one of the two types of company advertising poster messaging:

• Value-enhancing communication strategy
  
  
  
  • Economic value messaging: The effort the customer invests in assembly allows the company to offer lower prices
  
  
  • Relational value messaging: Assembly can be a fun, social activity involving friends or family
  
  
  
  


• Intensity-reducing communication strategy
  
  
  
  • Support service messaging: Company provides a support hotline customers can call if they encounter issues with assembly
  
  
  • Full-service messaging: Company provides help through reputable, reasonably priced service partner that assembles the product for customers
  
  
  
  

The researchers asked customers about the message of the poster, to make sure they understood it.

The first survey asked participants about their general attitude toward assembling furniture and demographic information. Participants who purchased and assembled a piece of furniture after the first survey then filled out a second survey, asking about their satisfaction with the process.

 

Results

Haumann and colleagues found, as expected, that the more customers felt like assembling the product was effortful, exhausting, demanding, time-consuming and costly in terms of time and effort, the less they were satisfied with the co-production process.

However, customers who viewed economic and relational value-enhancing posters conveying the messages that self-service assembly allows the company to provide lower prices, and that assembly can be fun if shared with family or friends, felt more satisfied with the assembly process, compared to customers in the control group who didn’t view any posters.

Similarly, customers who viewed the intensity-reducing support service poster were more satisfied with the assembly process compared to customers in the control group who didn’t view any posters.

The intensity-reducing full-service offer poster did not have a significant effect on customer satisfaction, possibly because using this offer would involve additional cost for the customer.

Summary

Asking customers to engage in co-production can be risky. Customers can perceive co-production as costly in terms of time and effort, and this reduces their satisfaction. However, marketers can use value-enhancing and intensity-reducing communication strategies to increase customer satisfaction with co-production.

Marketers can communicate the economic (price-lowering) and relational (socializing) benefits of co-production to increase customer satisfaction. Communicating that customers can call a support helpline if they experience difficulties also increases customer satisfaction with co-production.

You might also like

Engaging Customers in Coproduction Processes: How Value-Enhancing and Intensity-Reducing Communication Strategies Mitigate the Negative Effects of Coproduction Intensity (from the American Marketing Association)

The Baskerville Experiment: Font and its influence on our perception of truth

Co-creation: The next realization of value-based marketing

Ways of Engaging Consumers in Co-production (By Michael Etgar, Technology Innovation Management Review) 

Which Types of Content do B2B Tech Buyers Respond To Most?

It’s no secret: B2B decision makers have to slog through a lot of information. They need to be on the cutting edge of their industry yet still be adaptable enough to shift as the market’s demands and interests change.

Just getting to the key decision makers is an uphill climb, to be sure, but what if there were a shortcut?

A path you could carve, away from all the “me too” businesses and services aiming for a piece of that company’s profit pie – and still end up at the top?

Wouldn’t you want to know how?

The answer is all in the content.

But it’s not how much of it you produce that matters – it’s what you produce.

And these are the types of content that gets them to move ahead with a purchase.

How Much Content Do They Need to Make a Decision?

The recently revealed Eccolo Media B2B Technology Content Survey Report published by Eccolo Inc., pulls back the curtain on the buying habits of B2B technology decision makers. For example, they found that, on average, nearly half of those surveyed reported consuming only 2-5 collateral assets before making a decision.

Key B2B decision makers only need to consume as few as 2 pieces of collateral before deciding

That means if you’re pumping out lots of content in an attempt to sway them, you may be simply spinning your wheels in the mud. Instead, concentrate on creating less content, but making the content you do create better quality. Don’t just show why your service is a great deal or why your offer is irresistible – show the kinds of results it produces. Show how it performs “in the field.” Go the extra mile and do the research legwork that your competitors are unable, or unwilling to do.

What Kinds of Content Help Propel Their Decision?

Over half of respondents to the study reported reading an equal amount of emails and white papers. But when it came to influencing their decision, white papers were the clear leader:

White papers were more often used as an influence tool than emails

Before you set your staff to churning out white papers, keep in mind that it’s not that simple (it never is!) The study also went into detail on what types of content was consumed across 6 months to lead to a purchase. The results are pretty surprising:

Different types of content have varying degrees of success spurring B2B buyers on their decision

So What Can We Learn from This Information?

There are a few gold nuggets we can glean from the overall buying process of B2B decision makers. But what can we do with our existing content that will put the odds in our favor? Here are a few points to help:

Create a True Apples-to-Apples Comparison Chart

Having product/data sheets is all well and good, but notice that competitor vendor worksheets are also in the mix. Why run the risk of losing a decision-maker’s efforts when you can create your own comparison chart between your B2B service and those of your competitors? The more you can decrease the odds of them having to go offsite to see how your offer compares to others, the more likely you are to keep them engaged on what you do differently – and better.

Make Your Product Data Sheet Enticing

What’s more, a product/data sheet doesn’t have to be some boring overview. Make your best content work for you by bolding key phrases and benefits to stand out. Formulate your headers as questions to create a FAQ-style Q&A.

Make liberal use of bullet points to summarize key features, but include a link where more detailed information can be found. If someone read each of your bullet points and nothing else, would they understand the product enough to be able to make a confident buying decision about it?

Look at your product sheet not as data drivel, but as a way to address the B2B buyer’s key pain points. You have to know what they’re going through in order to present a solution that fits their needs. Talk about features, obviously, but don’t forget to include the benefits of those features in a way that makes sense from the buyer’s perspective.

Writing White Papers that Position You as the Authority

When was the last time you read a white paper that really stood out to you – like “These guys know what they’re talking about!” Never, right? First, don’t call it a white paper. It sounds boring and clichéd. Like a giant sales pitch – which is how many white papers are written. Remember, these are people who are actively looking for a solution. So present your paper in such a way as to address all of their concerns in a way that’s easy to read and understand.

You may want to re-brand it as a “Special” or “Insider” report. Take the time to answer the most common questions and back up your statements with clear, comprehensive proof. This is where the real meat and potatoes of your benefits comes in. Lay out precisely how the decision maker, their team, their company and their customers will benefit from your solution.

Think of your white paper not as a sales vehicle, but as a friendly guide – gently moving the decision maker down through each stage of your funnel in a way that doesn’t feel like a pitch, but more of a mutual understanding. You want the reader to come away with a deeper, fulfilled and complete picture of your solution and how it ties in with their existing needs.

Don’t Forget Your After-the-Sale Content

Oftentimes when closing a client, you’ve poured all your efforts into making their decision as easy and hassle-free as possible. Once they’re all set up and acquainted with your solution – don’t let them simply dry up and wither on the customer vine!

This is the prime time to follow up with upgrades or details on how they can get the most out of your product or service, as well as how to use it to build their business, retain their customers or experience growth faster or more fluidly than before. Remember that no one wants to feel like they’ve been duped or made a fool of. And if communication dries up after the sale, that’s precisely how they’ll feel.

By taking the time to not only write the kind of content that compels them to decide, but walk them through the process and guide them through each step – you’re showing these key decision makers that you’re not “all about the sale”, but rather all about the journey they’re taking to create a better experience for their own customers. And that’s the kind of journey you should take – together.

Do You Sell to B2B Companies?

What have your experiences been with using emails, white papers and data sheets as content to help spur their choice? Have you had different results than those reported on the surveys? Finding that a different method works better? Tell us about it in the comments below and share your story!

About the Author: Sherice Jacob helps business owners improve website design and increase conversion rates through compelling copywriting, user-friendly design and smart analytics analysis. Learn more at iElectrify.com and download your free web copy tune-up and conversion checklist today!

What's it Take to "Go Viral?" 11 Traits to Give Your Idea Wings

Posted by mattround

Before joining Distilled I worked for UsVsTh3m, an experimental Trinity Mirror project, where we created hundreds of games, quizzes and daft "toys." We had unprecedented freedom to try out new interactive formats, learning a great deal about what works… and what doesn’t.

The key to success was "viral" traffic. You’ve probably heard the term bandied about in reference to something popular, and might even have rolled your eyes; it’s a much-abused buzzword.

The idea is that online word-of-mouth can drive exponential traffic growth and broad media coverage with little or no traditional promotional support, but achieving this requires a certain way of thinking. This article focuses on interactive content, but many of the same principles will apply to other formats.

The viral life cycle

It’s useful to aim for interactive content to be…

1. Clickable — When someone sees a link and description (on social media or a site), it seems compelling enough to take a look.


2. Playable — The visitor sticks with it and finds it enjoyable or interesting.


3. Shareable — There’s a strong urge to tell others, often involving the visitor sharing their individual result/score.

You usually need all three aspects to be strong to get a viral hit. It’s easy to focus on one, an experienced team can usually achieve two, but it’s difficult to consistently get the full set.

Crudely, you can think of it in terms of losing potential sharers, ultimately needing to end up with more than one to start the next cycle(s). This image explains it nicely:

Congratulations, it’s going viral! That’s a massive simplification, but a helpful one.

11 ways to make it shareable

1. Attributes

Develop a concept that ties in with the player’s personal attributes: age, location, abilities, personality, etc. For example, measuring reaction time in milliseconds is fine… but if you can correlate it with age, then you’ve immediately got something far more compelling.

2. Tribes

Reinforce a sense of belonging; tribes can be regional, generational, interest-based, political, etc. Perhaps play different tribes off against each other so that your interactive content can address niche groups while having broad appeal overall.

3. Insights

It tells you something about yourself or, more likely, confirms a flattering/intriguing attribute, leading into...

4. Humblebrags

Sharing to make yourself look good… but without it seeming too blatant.

5. “One more go…”

Ensure the player is hooked and will want others to share in that. Although bear in mind that the best games often aren’t the most viral — adding multiple levels and features to a game tends to put off non-gamers and can actually reduce sharing (enthusiasm has a chance to ebb away, and the game will tend to end on a low note when the player finally fails or quits).

6. Topical

People are impressed by fast-turnaround topical content, and sharing it can show you’re up-to-date (perhaps even the first in your social circle to discover something). We regularly developed and launched games in half a day at UsVsTh3m, and more than once within an hour. This obviously isn’t feasible for most commercial projects, but with more agile development and approval processes you can reduce lead times.

7. Delight

Overwhelm the senses: strong use of music, dance, animation, spectacular explosions, anything that’s a straightforward pleasure.

8. Competition

“Can you beat this score?”

9. Comparison

“I got this result, how about you?” This is much "softer" than direct competition and typically more welcoming for a broad audience.

10. Collaborating

Things like global counters, polls, or territorial maps can create the sense of playing your part in a bigger cause. Even just clicking something to increment a number can be made hard to resist with the right "cause."

11. Quality

It’s still possible for something to succeed simply by being good, but in the absence of any other aspects it’d better be really good. Knock-your-socks-off good.

Of course, all of the above overlap and interrelate, and it’s by no means an exhaustive list.

Telling the world

Something that’s strongly viral can actually just be exposed to a few hundred people via Twitter or Facebook. It won’t need a big push; the viral mechanism will ensure it spreads and attracts media attention.

It’s often useful to accompany a launch with relevant press material, perhaps teasing out key angles or supplementary content/data to suit each type of media outlet. Don’t force a story if there isn’t one, though; you don’t want to jeopardize later coverage based around “this cool thing is going viral.”

If the stats are showing it’s strongly going viral (this should be obvious within minutes), you’re then in the fortunate position of planning for success. Keep an eye out for initial coverage that may benefit from additional material, and look to do a follow-up press campaign at a suitable milestone (e.g. at X million visitors, or when you have interesting data to share), broadening the coverage.

If it’s not going viral, stop and consider whether minor changes to wording might make it more clickable. Look at whether it needs to break into a niche audience or broaden its appeal, and retarget accordingly. Although Twitter drives far less traffic than Facebook, it offers more freedom to experiment, target influential individuals, and re-promote over time. If a topical angle may arise, perhaps wait and be ready to repackage and relaunch at a moment’s notice.

Case studies: Two simple games that went viral

The North-o-Meter

UsVsTh3m’s North-o-Meter (sadly, this is currently broken due to hosting issues) used multiple-choice questions to guesstimate how Northern/Southern you are. Despite being entirely UK-focused, within just 4 days of launch it had 3.6 million visitors, 1 million Likes, 1.1 million comments on Facebook, and 41,000 tweets. It went on to get millions more visits, virtually saturating the potential audience. Countless similar quizzes had used this topic before, so why did this one make such a big impact?

• It was clickable because the wording of tweets and Facebook posts worked well, teasing the Northern/Southern cultural identity element in a way that seemed intriguing and non-threatening.


• It was playable thanks to working well on mobile (people were playing and comparing scores late into Friday nights down the pub), being easy to play and giving constant visual feedback, unlike many similar things that simply ape static magazine personality quizzes.


• It was shareable by tapping into attributes (location/origin), tribes (north vs. south), insights (using mundane questions to infer something greater), competition, comparison, and quality (the visual feedback and often surprisingly accurate conclusions).


• Northern/Southern cultural identity is immensely strong in the UK. It’s a key part of how many people define themselves.


• The whole quiz was grounded in honest personal experience. One of our young journalists had written about moving to London, and the way it resonated with people led us to think about how to apply that to an interactive format.


• Naming a specific place to go with the percentage meant it sometimes got the player’s location/origin spot-on, so they were then likely to share it in a very enthusiastic way.

How Old Are Your Reactions?

How Old Are Your Reactions?, produced by Distilled for JustPark, is a simple web game where you stop a car with a tap/click. Your reaction time is then used to look up the corresponding age for that score, based on a survey of 2,000 players.

Our thinking beforehand was that it would work well due to the following aspects:

• It would be clickable by setting an intriguing personal challenge.


• It would be playable thanks to clear, quick gameplay and good presentation, including full mobile compatibility.


• It would be shareable due to attributes (age and reactions), insights (inferring age from reactions), humblebrags (impressively young age result), "one more go…" (few will play it just once), competition, comparison, and quality.


• Age is a key personal attribute, and age estimation prompts a great deal of conversation and comparison, whether the result is accurate or lower/higher than the player’s actual age. Lively conversations on Facebook help ensure visibility.


• Driving is a relevant, relatable way to dress the game up, particularly for this brand. A straightforward, bare-bones reactions test would have been "colder" and less engaging.


• The combination of elements would allow for multiple storytelling angles in coverage, to do with good-natured rivalry between generations, road safety, etc.

This all seems to have been borne out by the stats since launch: Over 3 million unique page views, nearly 300,000 social shares, and links from over 400 domains.

In summary…

Always ask yourself:

• How can we make it clickable, playable, and shareable? Judge your ideas harshly — you need all three.


• Which sharing impulses can it tap into? It should be possible to readily pick out a few motivations, or refine the concept to strengthen this aspect.


• What will be the best way to capitalize on success? Be ready to build a story around it, using popularity as the foundation for broad and varied coverage.

The way people share and interact is constantly changing, and reaching large audiences is always challenging, but the approaches I’ve outlined can help you to devise interactive content that’ll have a great shot at going viral.

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Book Review & Interview: Meaningful: The Story of Ideas That Fly

For every startup that succeeds, many more fail. But what is it that makes the difference between a successful company, and one that just doesn’t quite hit the mark?

Bernadette Jiwa uncovers that and more in her new book, Meaningful: The Story of Ideas That Fly. According to Jiwa, many companies miss an essential opportunity to focus on the customer story and what they want, and instead focus on the story that they want to tell.

The mix of customers and innovation is a key focus for the book and how those two concepts can be used to change the life of the people that use your products or services.

One of the great things about this book is that it isn’t just filled with theories of how these concepts should work in the real world. Instead, the author uses stories and examples of real companies, many of which have become beloved brands, because of their approach to innovation and focus on customers. Additionally, you’ll find a blueprint for understanding the connection between customers and your products or services.

One of my favorite passages in the book is seemingly simple, but something that brands often overlook in an effort to get their company off the ground:  “The best products and services in the world don’t simply invite people to say ‘this is awesome’; they remind people how great they themselves are.”

Building brand awareness is another goal that has long been on the minds of many marketers. However, the approach that we used to take, and the requirements for meeting customer needs today have changed. Below are the old and new rules of brand awareness according to Bernadette.

Old Rules of Brand Awareness:

• Make something for everyone


• Tell our story


• Attract customers


• Build brand awareness

New Rules of Brand Awareness:

• Understand the customer’s story


• Make something they want


• Give them a story to tell


• Create brand affinity

Putting What We Learned Into Action

Below are a couple examples of how the information in this book has reinforced TopRank Marketing’s customer centric approach to digital marketing.

Debbie Friez, Social Media Lead, TopRank Marketing

Bernadette Jiwa uses storytelling to inspire marketers to find a new way to provide meaning for their audience. I was able to utilize her insights for a recent client meeting. I wanted the client to understand we are no longer looking to drive awareness and attention of the brand. The new marketing model looks for audience attraction and affinity. We can’t just think about what the brand wants, but  what the customer sees as useful and valuable to their lives.

Josh Nite, Content Marketing Lead, TopRank Marketing

I found the way Bernadette talks about “seeing customers” to be inspiring. When I’m writing content for a client, it reminds me to write with their customers in mind. Does what I’m saying have value? Does it help them be their best selves?

Interview With Author Bernadette Jiwa

I was so pleased when I was able to connect with Bernadette and she agreed to answer some interview from our book club members. And, she did not disappoint. Below are her answers to some of your most burning questions about Meaningful: The Story of Ideas That Fly.

Q: What inspired you to write this book?

A: My readers and my clients. I’ve been doing this work for a number of years and what is interesting is that every time I write a book I realize that I needed to write the book before that book to fill in some gaps for the readers. What I’m helping people to do is unlock the magic and the value in their story, but the key to doing that is understanding the customer story first.

People wanted to know, how do I get more hits, traffic and customers. What I recognized in working with other companies is that people were starting in the wrong place. It all started with my customer which I believe walks the talk of the book.

Q: One of the concepts that stood out to me the most was when you said “there is a life and a way of being before the product or service existed, and a life and way of being after it.”. What do you think brands can do to not only provide a product/service, but change the way that life exists after?

A: Because we have ideas that we want to get out in the marketplace, we tend to focus on the short-term. If you think about any of the brands you love and think about your life before you used that app or product and your life after, you’ll see the difference it made.



A long-term view focuses on where you want to take your customer and what happens in their life because your product exists. A great example of that is Uber. Think back to what was it like waiting for a cab and not knowing if the cab was going to arrive? Uber thought about all of the ways they can solve problems for the customer and build it into their product.

Your product has the potential to be something that creates value and magic in a customer’s life and changes how they feel, and what they do and how they go about their day.

Q: What methods do you recommend for listening to current or potential customers? What channels would you use for gathering that intel?

A: There are so many ways that we can listen and we don’t take advantage of enough of them. If you think about social media, we have access to resources that only massive multi-billion companies had access to previously. Now, you can jump on social media and start listening. Instead of using it to broadcast which is what we mostly use it for, you can start listening to your customers today.

You can find people in your demographic or whose worldview you want to appeal to and start listening to them on social media, public transport, the places they hang out.

Sometimes we get so stuck on developing what we are developing and we look internally and we don’t actually reflect out to the world and the opportunities to do that.

Q: In your book, you describe how entrepreneurs get stuck focusing on the bottom of the ‘Expectation Hierarchy' pyramid (product, service, platform, access). In an increasingly results-oriented marketplace, how can we break the cycle, and focus business efforts on empathy, while still producing results? Is it even possible?

A: If you just measure business success on the amount of traffic you get or customers on your website, then you stop focusing on the difference you’re creating for those customers.

We need to look at the quality of those numbers. How are you measuring connection with your customer and loyalty? That is the most important thing. I would say what is more important than lots of shallow connections is fewer, deeper connections. A lot of times I try to flip my client’s mindset to how they will deepen connections versus how they will get the most customers to their door.

If you can actually deepen those connections that is how you garner more loyalty and repeat business and create products for them instead of trying to find more customers for the products you have.

Q: What are the top ideas that you want readers to walk away from your book understanding?

• First, focus on the customer. That is the key message in the book.


• Sit down and use the tool in the book. A lot of times we read a book and don’t do anything with it.


• Think about intangible benefits that you provide. There are both rational and emotional benefits that you can provide to your customers.


• Think about the change that you are going to create in your customer with their product.


• Don’t be afraid if you don’t have all of the answers right away, just start.

What Did You Learn?

To me, this book was both inspirational, and actionable. There is much to be learned from companies that have succeeded and failed in meeting customer needs. I’m very curious to know what passages of the book stood out to you and which ones have you already started applying to your marketing?

If you aren’t already a member of the TopRank Marketing Book Club, join now!

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The post Book Review & Interview: Meaningful: The Story of Ideas That Fly appeared first on Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

5 Points Not To Overlook In A Technical SEO Audit

How well prepared are you for a technical site audit? Here are some here are 5 points not to miss. 1. Take Mobile Optimization To The Next Level Mobile is critical for your business. More than half of the search […]

Post from: Search Engine People SEO Blog

5 Points Not To Overlook In A Technical SEO Audit

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Written by Joydeep Bhattacharya, Seo Sandwitch

The post 5 Points Not To Overlook In A Technical SEO Audit appeared first on Search Engine People Blog.

Online Marketing News: Facebook Optimizes Audiences, Bots Cost Billions, Gentrified Google Guidelines

10 Types of Visual Content Your Brand Should Be Creating Right Now [Infographic] – Over the past few years, we've seen content become more visual. Marketers have experimented with infographics, videos, and more — and they've made plans to keep it up this year. To help narrow your focus, check on this infographic from Canva below. From quote cards to infographics, this helpful list is designed to inspire your next visual project. Canva

Facebook Now Tracks Call-to-Action Clicks via ‘Actions on Page’ Insights Tab – Facebook is giving page owners a deeper understanding into how active those call-to-action buttons are. SocialTimes

Parents Spend 1.3 Times More Time on Facebook Than Non-Parents (Study) – Mobile devices have become vital tools for parents, according to a new study by Facebook IQ. The social network’s research arm interviewed parents aged 25 through 65 of infants, toddlers, adolescents and teens in eight markets–Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Spain, U.K. and U.S.—analyzing Facebook and Instagram data with help from Ipsos MediaCT and Sound Research. Facebook

Study: Sophisticated Bots Outwitting Marketers, Will Cost $7.2 Billion In 2016 – Ad fraud is a major problem in digital advertising that results in billions of dollars in annual losses to marketers. While marketers are winning the battle against “basic bots,” they’re losing against more sophisticated bots, according to a new study and report from White Ops and the Association of National Advertisers (ANA). Marketing Land

Report: 60% of Users Unwilling to Vacation Without Mobile Device – Expedia and Egencia, Expedia’s business travel brand, have revealed the results of the Expedia / Egencia Mobile Index, which measured the behaviors and preferences of mobile users while traveling. The study was conducted by Northstar, and gathered data from 9,642 travelers from 19 countries. SocialTimes

Survey: Under 40 Percent Start A “Local Search” With A Search Engine – What we widely call “local search” is only partly about search engines. Finding local content and making offline purchase decisions is a multifaceted process that involves several categories of information and devices. That’s according a new survey and report from IDC and YP. Search Engine Land

The 2016 Facebook Awards is Now Accepting Entries – It’s award season and The Facebook Awards is now welcoming submissions. Formerly the Facebook Studio Awards, the newly-dubbed Facebook Awards launched in 2012 to honor the most creative work on Facebook and, starting in 2015, on Instagram too. Facebook

Report: 61% of Fortune 500 CEOs Have No Social Media Presence – Social media adoption is sluggish among Fortune 500 CEOs; 61 percent are not active on any of the major social networks. Domo found that 195 of the CEOs on the list are active on at least one of the six major networks — Facebook, Twitter, G+, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube — but none are active across all six. SocialTimes

Facebook Introduces Audience Optimization for Publishers – This week, we’re launching Audience Optimization, an organic targeting tool to help publishers reach and engage their audiences on Facebook and better understand the interests of people clicking on their posts. This tool lets you improve the relevancy of your post by indicating who is most likely to engage with it, which can increase engagement at both the post and Page level. Facebook

Study: Quality Backlinks & Comprehensive Content Are Still Biggest Factors In Google Rankings – A new study broke down 1 million Google results. The results show that links & content had the highest correlation with a low Google position. Search Engine Land

Google Updates The General Guidelines Section Of Their Webmaster Guidelines – Google has quietly updated their Webmaster Guidelines document, which is one of the first places webmasters should go when learning about SEO best practices and dos and don’ts. Google

Facebook Audience Network Adds Support for Mobile Web – Facebook announced that its Facebook Audience Network mobile ad network added support for the mobile Web. The social network officially introduced Facebook Audience Network at F8 in April 2014, and it revealed earlier this month that the ad network reached a $1 billion annual run rate during the fourth quarter of 2015. SocialTimes

From our Online Marketing Community:

In response to 8 Digital Marketing Events Where You Can Learn, Connect and Grow in 2016, Thomas Flannagan said, "Nice events! I'll for sure visit stated webinars, thanx for the info!"

On How to Write for People: 5 Ways to Create Connections & Personality in Your Content Marketing Efforts, annhandley shared, "LOL to being your "spirit animal." BlogThis!