Platforms Position For The Future

Posted on October 7, 2021March 26, 2022 by liquid

Social Media Updates That Show What’s Next For Facebook, Twitter, & Clubhouse

We’ve talked a lot about how social media platforms have all seemed to meld together in the past year. (Meaning that they all tried to be TikTok.) More recent features are showing us a new picture of some platforms leaning into their strengths while others introduce new features that make sense for them. Sure, there’s still a lot of competition over certain types of content. But this week’s social media updates let us know what to expect from Facebook, Twitter, and Clubhouse.

facebookreels-8793929

Photos by Facebook

More Integrations in the Facebook Universe

When Facebook’s suite of platforms went down for about 6 hours this Monday, we were all reminded of just how often we refresh our Facebook feeds, scroll through Reels, and send messages on WhatsApp. Though we might’ve done a double-take when we realized how much online time is spent on Facebook’s services, the company is happy to give you even more reasons to stay on their platforms. Facebook is continuing to connect its platforms with Reels on Facebook, ads that lead to WhatsApp, and cross-platforming messaging.

With Reels making their Facebook debut in the US, some Instagram creators can choose to have their content suggested to Facebook users. The new feature should enhance discoverability for creators, especially now that Reels can be shared to Facebook groups. Meanwhile, boosted posts on Instagram are now able to be linked to WhatsApp messaging. Your call to action will prompt users to send a message to a connected WhatsApp account, where auto-replies and organizational features will be in full effect. Back on the consumer front, cross-platform messaging, one of a few new Messenger features, makes chatting a breeze no matter what app you’re on. Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger contacts will all be available to chat with no matter which app you prefer.

What does this mean for Florida Businesses?

With all the platforms merging, where does your business really need to be? Number one is Facebook, which is a key platform for business discovery. Maintain your page in a way that someone who searches your name can learn about your current offerings. Instagram can be a bit more fun, especially with Stories, stickers, polls, and hashtags.

WhatsApp gives users an easy way to message your business and buy from you. Many people use this app for group messaging, so having a presence here can be very convenient for your audience. Establishing a WhatsApp presence should be as simple as doing some setup and monitoring messages, while Facebook and Instagram deserve a little more attention with consistent posting.

Photo by Twitter

Professional Tweeters: New Business-Friendly Profiles on Twitter

When Facebook’s platforms are down, where do people go for their news feed needs? For many, the answer was Twitter. And with new Professional Profiles in testing, your business presence is about to get a lot more informative. These new Twitter profiles include an About Module that lets you share information about your business beyond your profile description. The About Module has a dedicated space on your main profile page, above where your tweets begin. Add your location for an easy tap-for-directions function for users, show your hours of operations, and include ways people can contact you.

Twitter has been experimenting with a lot of new features lately, introducing new ways to play with content and have a better experience on the app. Professional Profiles seem like one step towards making the platform more business-friendly. With ad options that lead to your profile, having more information than a URL and a pinned tweet makes a lot of sense.

What does this mean for Florida Businesses?

You can apply to be a part of the Professional Profile test now, but most businesses will need to wait until the feature finishes testing. If you have a Twitter account, adding this information in is a must – it’ll be a lot clearer that the account belongs to a business whenever someone visits your profile. You might also get fewer questions about your hours or location, and users can find their way to a brick-and-mortar location with even fewer taps than before. We’re excited to give Professional Profiles a try when they’re ready for the public!

Photo by Alexander Shatov on Unsplash

Is The Clubhouse FOMO Over? New Recording Features

Since Clubhouse has been around, it’s had an air of exclusivity and FOMO (the fear of missing out) surrounding it. Not long ago, you had to be invited by a current user, could only join on an iPhone, and needed to join the conversation as it was happening to take part. The newest updates from Clubhouse show us that the exclusivity is coming to an end with recorded audio rooms and Clips.

Clips are 30-second audio snippets that any user can download and share to other social channels. This, along with a new universal search feature in the app, is meant to enhance discoverability of conversations and creators. Paired with an upcoming feature for hosts to record their audio rooms, listening to conversations you’re interested in has never been easier. These updates are similar to existing features for Twitter’s audio rooms, Spaces. Twitter has beaten Clubhouse to the punch on the rollout to android, universal access, and hosts being able to download a recording of their chat. It seems that now both Twitter and Clubhouse are looking to enhance discoverability and incentivize creators to use their platform.

What does this mean for Florida Businesses?

With Clubhouse making their content easier to access, we can’t help but wonder: Was the exclusivity part of the draw? Clubhouse specializes in live, authentic audio content that a listener has a chance to take a part in. With recorded sessions, users won’t have the ability to react and will have less FOMO from missing a talk from their favorite creator. Will users still tune in for an hour-long talk when they could just watch a few 30-second highlights? We’ll stay tuned to see how this shakes out – the results might give us a better understanding of whether live content is worth investing in for business owners and entrepreneurs.

Ok, now what?

As we’ve seen, social media works best when you’re providing high-quality content your viewers will enjoy. Liquid Creative is here to help business owners with all their marketing needs, including managing your social media! We can also help you turn those views into sales with a beautiful website, produce ultra-engaging video content, or brand your business from the ground up.

We’re a full-service marketing agency ready to craft the perfect solution for your business goals. Our talented team can pick up your marketing strategy without missing a beat, help you out with a one-off project, or get your business on the digital map. Call, email, or leave us a message to let us know how we can help you!

Digital Advertising Costs: How much does it cost to advertise on Facebook and Google?

Posted on September 24, 2021October 10, 2023 by Matias Raby

As a marketing agency, we’re a go-to source for digital advertising information for our clients. One of the most common questions we get from clients that are ready to invest in their online marketing is “how much does it cost to advertise on Facebook or Google?”. The answer, like the answer to so many digital marketing questions, is that it depends. A number of factors affect how much you’ll pay for a digital ad. However, with the right frame of reference, you can decide on an appropriate online marketing budget and know what return on investment to expect from your ad spend.

To get the best results on your digital ad campaign, you’ll need to take time to develop a strategy, plan your campaign, and then implement it accordingly. You’ll also need to monitor your ads and act on suggested changes or feedback while your campaign is running.

In this article, we’ll guide you through the most frequently asked questions about digital advertising to help you get started!

How do digital ads work?
What is the average cost of digital ads?
How much should I invest in digital ads?
What influences the quality and final cost of a digital ad?

How do digital ads work?

Digital ads work as auctions

Each time someone scrolls through social media, goes into a website, or searches the internet for a keyword, it creates a space that is available to display an ad. Many ads that you see across the web are from Google – including those sponsored links at the top of your web search, ads you see before a YouTube video, and even graphic display ads across the web. When it comes to social media, Facebook dominates the scene with digital advertising across their network of products – Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

These advertising giants have millions of companies using their services to advertise. So how do they choose which ad to show you?

Both Google and Facebook use an automated, real-time bidding system to select the ads you see. This is a complex process that happens lightning fast, sifting through all the ads available and selecting the perfect fit for that viewer.

The process for choosing the right ad to display takes these factors into account:

Your budget: How much you’re willing to spend
Your competitor’s budget: Your budget will be weighed against the budgets of other businesses that are trying to reach the same audience.
The quality of the linked website: Your website speed, mobile-friendliness, and website design all factor into how often Google or Facebook will display your ad. Google and Facebook prefer not to serve ads that take their audience to low-quality websites.
The relevance of the website: Your ad needs to accurately reflect what will happen when someone clicks on it. Make sure your ads are relevant to your website or the link you’re promoting.
The quality of your ad: Google and Facebook will keep track of whether people are clicking or skipping your ad. When you have good graphic design and interesting content, your ad is more likely to be displayed.

Skip to the end to learn more aboutmore factors that influence your ad campaign.

You might be interested in: Marketing Money: Where, How, & How Much to Invest

What is the average cost of digital ads?

The price of digital ads is based on your end goals for the campaign. Because ads can be used for many different objectives, from brand awareness to specific user actions, the cost of an ad is measured by how much you have to spend for each view, click, or conversion. Some goals have a clear return on investment (ROI), like when you’re measuring sales coming from a Facebook ad. Other objectives, such as awareness, are harder to track because they don’t trigger a measurable action.

Here are the most common results used to measure the effectiveness and cost of your digital advertising:

Clicks: how many times someone clicked on your ads
Impressions: how many times your ad was shown
Reach: how many users saw your ads
Conversions: how many intended results you got from your ad. This can include sales, contact forms, phone calls, newsletter subscribers, etc.

Average cost per click (CPC)

One of the most common metrics used to measure a digital ad campaign is cost per click (or CPC). This takes your ad spend and divides it by the number of times your ad was clicked to determine the cost of your ad. Your cost per click is how much you spent to get one person to visit your website one time.

There’s no fixed cost per click for digital ads. You can run the same campaign with the same budget and end up with a different CPC. Factors like your target audience, competitors, the time your ad appears, and more can influence your cost per click. Because you need to set your budget at the start of the campaign and you have no way to know how many people will click your ad, you won’t know your final cost per click until your ad campaign is running.

Based on past data, we have a general idea of how much digital advertising can cost. From our experience with digital advertising for our clients and reputable online sources, here’s an idea of what you can expect when running digital campaigns:

Digital advertising costs change

Your campaign’s CPC will vary monthly, weekly, or even daily based on a number of factors. Because the cost is based on how many clicks you get, even 1 click changes your CPC. Since users decide whether to click on your ad or not, there’s no way to guarantee your CPC. When running a digital advertising campaign, you should monitor your cost per click and make changes accordingly. It’s best practice to tweak your ad at least monthly and compare results to find the winning combination of design and copy.

How much should I invest in digital ads?

If you’ve already run digital ads campaigns, you should already know what CPC you can expect from your Google or Facebook ads. If you’re new to digital advertising, use the average cost per click numbers above as a reference for your first campaign.

Knowing the average CPC of digital ads allows agencies and businesses to set realistic budgets for their intended results.

Let’s look at an example. A company is looking to make sales online through its website. After some analysis of their metrics, both online and off, they determine that an average of 1 in 50 product page visits converts to a sale. That sale will then net the business $100 in profit.

So we know that 50 clicks are equal to $100 in profit from 1 sale. We can divide that $100 by 50 to determine that each click can cost $2. If the CPC rises over $2.00, the business is not making a profit off of its digital advertising. In this case, the business needs to monitor their campaign, and their cost per click, to keep that number below $2.00.

If that same business continues running ads and finds that their average CPC is $1.00, they can estimate that investing $500 will net them about 500 clicks. That should lead to about 10 sales for an expected profit of $500.

This example doesn’t take into account the many factors that can affect your digital advertising. But it does demonstrate just how important monitoring your CPC is. To keep your CPC low, you need to create quality advertising aimed at your target audience. Business owners should also evaluate their ads regularly and adapt their future strategies accordingly.

✉ Subscribe to our Newsletter
Monthly, easy-to-implement marketing tips to improve your website, social media, digital ads, cyber security, and more.

What influences the quality and final cost of a digital ad?

Not all ads are created equal. Digital advertising platforms like Facebook and Google evaluate the quality of your ads by considering different factors of your campaign. In turn, this can influence how often your ads are shown to viewers online. If your ad is deemed to be high quality, it’ll show more often with the same advertising budget, decreasing your cost per click.

So what makes an ad high quality? Here are some of the factors that come into play:

Quality of landing page: Most ads are only as good as the landing page they lead to. Facebook and Google rank landing page quality as one of the biggest factors in determining your ad’s quality score. To be considered high quality, your landing page needs to load quickly, be closely related to the content of your ad, and encourage users to take actions or browse your website.
Relevance and ad design: An ad should be both attractive and relevant. Both of these qualities will make it more likely for a user to be interested in, and therefore click, your ad. Communicate your message in an interesting, concise, and well-designed way. This will earn you clicks and let your ad show up more often for users.
The right target audience: Online audiences can be targeted using location, sex, age, interests, keywords, search intent, and more. Creating the correct target audience for your ad is key. Finding the right audience means your ad will be more relevant to them and get more clicks.
Size of target audience: If your target audience is too big, your ad spend could easily be diluted among too many individuals that aren’t as interested in your business. If your target audience is too small, you risk not reaching enough users and oversaturating the users you do reach. No one wants to see an ad that doesn’t apply to them or see the same ad over and over again.
Campaign objectives: Campaigns can have very different objectives: awareness, website traffic, leads, video views, and more. You can tell Facebook or Google what your objective is to have it correctly calculate your cost per intended action. The closer you get to making a profit, the higher your price per objective. In our previous example, the cost per click could go up to $2 while the cost per conversion (in this case, a sale) could be as high as $100.
The right keywords: Google ads rely heavily on keywords that users search for. Doing keyword research and evaluating your keyword performance during your campaign is very important. Some keywords are too expensive or too common to create cost-effective advertising. Adding specific keywords or long tail keywords (3 to 5 words together) can improve the effectiveness of your campaign.
Direct competitors: You’ll be competing with similar businesses for the same target audience or keywords. Finding out about their ad campaigns and understanding their strategy can help you understand how to stand out.
Indirect competitors: Your competitors aren’t the only ones trying to reach the same target audience. You also compete with different companies that don’t offer the same product or service as you, but that target the same target audience.
Seasonality: Many businesses have more popularity during a particular season. External seasonal factors have a direct impact on your campaign success as well. For example, November and December are more competitive (and expensive) because of Black Friday and Christmas. Industries like landscaping are more popular during warmer months when homeowners have to spend more time on their lawn. You’ll see keyword usage, and therefore how much you need to bid, change seasonally. Other issues – national news, global events, or even local trends – can affect keyword popularity and cost.
Not enough ad spend: Ads should generate enough results for Facebook and Google to intelligently understand your audience. As with a scientific study, you need a certain sample size to have accurate results. With too small of an ad spend and audience, these platforms can’t get a good read on what works or who they should be showing your ad to.
Too much ad spend: On the other hand, there is such a thing as too much ad spend. Especially if your target audience is smaller or very specific. If you have a large advertising budget, you should diversify by launching campaigns on different platforms and using different messaging to see what’s most effective. This way, you can spend your budget and know that your audience will see a few different ads for your business in a few different places, instead of uninterested viewers having you pop up on Google for keywords that are barely related.
Restricted categories: Most ad platforms have prohibited or restricted content. You have to be pretty careful when making ads related to categories like healthcare, political advertising, sexual content, alcohol, and gambling. Some categories, like housing, credit, and employment opportunities, are restricted to promote equal opportunity and avoid discrimination. For restricted categories, you can’t narrow your target audience based on age, sex, interests, or specific locations.
Expense of industry: Some business services are more expensive than others, which means most viewers will have to consider their purchase longer. Finances and insurance tend to have the highest CPC, while apparel and retail have the lowest. You can expect a lower cost per click if your industry doesn’t require a high level of trust, sells physical products, and has an affordable price per item. Meanwhile, keywords related to insurance (such as “auto insurance price quotes”) averaged a CPC of $54.91 CPC, and keywords related to loans (such as “consolidate graduate student loans”) averaged a CPC of $44.28 in 2020. These ads have to do a lot more work to get users to click – establishing their experience and trustworthiness while selling a specific service.
Type of industry: Some industries are just more interesting to consumers, giving them an advantage when it comes to getting engagement and clicks. Fashion and clothing ads are very likely to get more engagement than an industrial service.

Ready to jump into the world of digital advertising?

There is no simple answer when it comes to the cost of Google and Facebook ads. In fact, your cost per click is likely to change every day that your ad is running. As we’ve seen, getting the most profit from your digital ad campaign is determined by your cost per click, conversion, view, etc. To keep that cost down, ad quality and strategy can’t be beat.

That’s where we come into play. Liquid Creative is a full-service marketing agency experienced in launching digital advertising campaigns for businesses. Our team can create a digital campaign for your business based on our existing knowledge of what works. As your campaign runs, we’ll continue optimizing it for the best results and the most profit.

Contact us today to start your strategy-driven digital ad campaign on Facebook, Google, or anywhere else you’d like to be heard online!

Sources
https://www.wordstream.com/articles/most-expensive-keywords
https://www.webfx.com/social-media/how-much-does-it-cost-to-advertise-on-instagram.html
https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2015/05/21/how-much-does-adwords-cost
https://www.oberlo.com/blog/facebook-advertising-cost
https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2016/02/29/google-adwords-industry-benchmarks
https://revealbot.com/facebook-advertising-costs/cpc-cost-per-click
Results from Liquid’s clients ads

Strategic Social Media Always Wins!

Posted on September 20, 2021March 31, 2022 by Matias Raby

The Strategy & Execution Behind Our FPRA Golden Image Award

The team at Liquid Creative is thrilled and so, so honored to have received two awards at the Florida Public Relations Association’s 82nd Annual Conference. Our work for Red Door Homes of North Central Florida earned us FPRA’S 2021 Golden Image Award and Judges Award in the digital tools of public relations division in the social media category. We’re proud of every campaign we create to further our clients’ goals, but it feels extra special to see our hard work recognized by FPRA!

“Winning this award was a complete team effort. It was incredible to see all the different elements of the work we do at Liquid Creative highlighted through the entry for this award. From the research – what we call ‘discovery’ – to the creative and implementation on social media, our team knocked it out of the park. The award is a testament to the strong partnership we’ve with built with our client at Red Door Homes.”

– Jen Pagh

What Is the Florida Public Relations Association?

The Florida Public Relations Association is a network for professionals in public relations throughout the state. FPRA provides opportunities for continued learning, chances to connect with others in the industry, and recognition in the form of state and local awards. At Liquid, Jen and Scott are members of FPRA, continuously adding to the public relations knowledge we use for our clients.

What Is the Golden Image Award?

FPRA’s Golden Image Award recognizes and promotes outstanding public relations work in our state! The competition contains 4 divisions that contain more specific “categories”, each with their own winner. Liquid’s award was in Division C, Digital Tools of Public Relations, in the Social Media category. The judges look for the best in every aspect of the campaign, from research to evaluation of results.

What Is the Judges Award?

The Judges Award focused on the return on investment a campaign achieves for the client. Similar to the Golden Image Award, entries for the Judges Award are divided into categories and expected to meet quality standards for research, planning, and process. Our social media campaign for Red Door Homes won both the Golden Image and Judges award for its category!
Our Social Media Campaign or Red Door Homes

Research

Starting with market research is essential to having a successful campaign strategy. For Red Door, we looked into everything from who our target audience should be to what market disruptions we should be on the lookout for. Here’s a brief summary of what we found before implementation began.

About 58% of Facebook users are 25-34 years old.
Millennials and Gen-Z home buyers were found to be most likely to be purchasing their first home.
Millennials are looking for affordable homes, with the highest percentage looking at homes in the $100,000 – $199,000 range.
A majority of millennials find owning a home to be a core part of the American dream.
COVID-19 wasn’t found to disrupt our local real estate market. In fact, the market was looking busier than normal.

This research helped us solidify a target market, make sure we were reaching them on the right channels, and confirm the timing of this campaign.

Facebook Posts

Take a look at the organic social media we created for Red Door Homes! This is a sampling of what we did over the last quarter of 2020, based on our research and strategy for this client. Liquid Creative handled this campaign in full – from topic selection to posting!

Facebook Posts

We also used paid Facebook advertising to reach our target audience. Here’s a look at some of the ads we created during this 3-month campaign!

Ready for Award-Winning Social Media?

We love being able to bring quality creative to our clients! Our all-inclusive social media services include everything from strategy to copywriting to design, so you can sit back and admire your profile. Contact us to hear more about how we can help you with all your marketing needs!

How Your Social Strategy Needs To Change This Month

Posted on September 1, 2021March 26, 2022 by liquid

The social media platforms we’ve come to know and love keep flip-flopping and imitating one another. With new players shaking up the game, the established channels are changing so quickly it’s giving us whiplash. This week, TikTok is looking at boost-like advertising while Facebook commits to vertical video. Meanwhile, Instagram is finally ready to be linkable – in Stories, that is. We’ll give you all the details on how these new social media features should impact your digital strategy.

Photo by TikTok

Advertising on TikTok Just Got A Whole Lot Easier

After building a huge user base, TikTok is ready to cash in. The platform has focused on revenue by appealing to small businesses, adding new business tools, and making advertising easier and easier. Now, they’re taking a page out of Facebook’s book by incorporating promotions for existing organic posts. Their new ‘Promote’ option feels a lot like Facebook’s ‘Boost’ – with just a few taps, you can turn content into digital advertising.

So what do you need to Promote a post? Most importantly, an existing TikTok video. In fact, you should make sure your profile doesn’t look too bare before sending viewers to your page. Then, just select your goal, set a budget, and choose a time frame. And that’s it! You’ll get to watch the analytics roll in for your new Promoted post.

What does this mean for Florida Businesses?

TikTok isn’t going away. The platform has proven that it has the original thinking and strategy to turn its audience into revenue. With the platform already favoring content that feels real, the Promote option might be the way to go when you’re ready to start advertising. Start out with your best-performing post – it’s doing well for a reason – and run a promotion to see what results you get!

Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash

Links, Searches, and Trends on Instagram

Instagram is giving businesses a little insight into how to use their platform while continuing to tweak their product. First off, social media consultant Matt Navara reports that swipe-up story links are out and link stickers are in. We’re guessing this change might help links stand out and encourage clicks, so be sure to experiment with the new format if you can! These new story stickers are only available to those business accounts that could already use swipe-up links in stories – those with over 10,000 followers – but we’re keeping our fingers crossed that Instagram continues rethinking links.

In other Instagram news, the platform is letting us in on how their search function works. Results that appear during a search are based on (1) the text entered, (2) the user’s activity, and (3) popularity of search results. This means that post and profile engagement boosts your visibility in searches, so be sure to make quality posts that promote clicks, likes, and shares. Instagram also recommends making your profile search-ready with a relevant username, using keywords and locations in your bio, and hashtagging your posts appropriately.

And finally, the latest Instagram Insider shares a few tips on using Reels. Start with content that will inspire or educate your audience, such as tutorials or product videos. Film and design using a vertical 9:16 space. For mobile editing apps to create Reels, check out InShot, Unfold,

or VideoShop. Use relevant hashtags to appear among similar posts. With a little research, you can find emerging hashtags that are less saturated to boost your content. Finally, make sure your content doesn’t carry a TikTok watermark, post it, and share it to Stories and your Feed!

What does this mean for Florida Businesses?

Instagram has admitted that it isn’t a photo-sharing app anymore. With new features being successful, it’s worth trying new strategies to increase your discoverability online. Even if it’s as simple as posting more Stories and strategizing how you can use link stickers, take some time to experiment with your Instagram strategy!

Photo by Facebook

Facebook Gets Reeled Into Vertical Video

The reigning king of social media is hoping to keep its crown by adapting to the latest trends. The trend started back when Instagram introduced Reels, a vertical video that felt very similar to up-and-coming social media star, TikTok. Now, Facebook’s latest earning call confirms that they’re doubling down on video within its portfolio of platforms. According to TechCrunch, that begins with Facebook launching a test of Reels on its Facebook app in the U.S.

So you might see a Reels icon pop up in your News Feed sometime soon. The format has been very successful on Instagram already, so much so that Instagram declared it’s no longer focusing on photos. Combined with Facebook Watch increasing screen time and revenue for the company, it sounds like Facebook is ready to throw its weight behind Reels.

What does this mean for Florida Businesses?

While this is just a test at the moment, it seems likely that this is the next step for Facebook. Vertical video is becoming a must-have for businesses that want to capture attention online. Even if you’re new to shooting videos, this style is meant to be beginner-friendly. Make yourself some Reels and get ready to be discoverable all across Facebook and Instagram!

Ok, now what?

Now that you’re up to date with the latest industry news, it’s time to invest in a team that specializes in all things social media and digital marketing. We can help! Liquid Creative is a full-service marketing agency ready to help your business operate to its fullest potential without missing a beat.

The State of Social Media: What You Need to Know about Pinterest, Snapchat, & TikTok

Posted on August 18, 2021March 26, 2022 by liquid

With weekly changes to social media, we’re always glad when platforms give us a guide to connecting with their audience. This week, we’re taking a look at just that. Pinterest’s Q2 overview, Snapchats Friendship Day guide, and TikTok’s Creative Solutions are giving us more insight on how to use these platforms effectively.

Photo by Stephen Phillips on Unsplash

Pinterest Focuses on Shopping From Home and Staying Inspired

In their Q2 Letter to Shareholders, Pinterest recognized that they didn’t grow quite as much as they hoped they would. They chalk up the difference to people going back to in-person shopping. The platform sees themselves as a place for viewers to browse multiple shops in one place and be inspired by the content they see. We can expect to see Pinterest continue to focus on promoting e-commerce and making online shopping easier.

Pinterest also notes that it expects short-form video to fuel engagement in the near future. Idea pins, which functions as click-through video stories, got off to a great start. Adding product tagging to this new feature made them even more inviting, helping both influencers and brands alike. E-commerce businesses should definitely keep their eye on Pinterest in Q4 – we can’t wait to see what they come up with next!

What does this mean for Florida Businesses?

Not sure if Pinterest is right for you? This platform is a great place to host content that holds up to the test of time, inspires your viewers, or advertises your products. Repurpose your blogs, product shots, case studies and more to get started on this platform.

Photo by Snapchat

Snapchat Is For Connection and Friendship

To celebrate National Friendship Day, Snapchat took a poll of its users to see how they use the app to connect with friends.The survey shows that most Snapchatters are using the app to chat with their friends, which has been even more important since the pandemic began. It also reports that 77% of users are using more features within the app than they were a year ago.

The usage of new features is good news for local businesses. After Snapchat’s recent introduction of My Places and business profiles, businesses feel a lot more native on the app. Gen Z has been dubbed ‘The Snapchat Generation’, so maintaining a presence on the platform could be an interesting way to reach that age group.

What does this mean for Florida Businesses?

Maintaining a Snapchat profile doesn’t make sense for every business, but if you’re targeting Millennials and younger, it’s worth considering. These new features show that Snapchat is looking to encourage advertisers by becoming more business-friendly. We’ll be keeping our eyes peeled to see what changes they’ll implement next!

Photo by TikTok

TikTok’s Creative Solutions Guide

Even though TikTok’s relatively new to the scene, it can feel overwhelming when you aren’t familiar with the app. The platform’s newest guide, Creative Solutions, sheds a light on how businesses like yours can make the most out of their app. The solutions you apply to other social media won’t necessarily work on TikTok.

Users are expecting authentic, creative content often. In fact, TikTok recommends posting 1-4 times a day and seeing what sticks! Many TikTok creators film multiple videos in a day, so make sure to write all your ideas down for when you’re ready to shoot. Your content should reflect your brand and what your audience responds to. Make sure you’re thinking about how your brand makes sense on TikTok, instead of just trying to fit in.

What does this mean for Florida Businesses?

TikTok’s Creative Solutions guide is a great place to start learning about content creation. To get started creating your own content, familiarize yourself with current trends on the app! See what’s being featured, what sounds you hear often, and how other businesses are interacting with their audiences on TikTok. Then get brainstorming! How will your business use those trending sounds? What can you show about your business that no one has seen yet? Once you’ve jotted down your ideas, all that’s left is to find your lighting and film!

Ok, now what?

Get Found In Local Google Search Results!

Posted on August 12, 2021November 21, 2022 by Matias Raby

How to reach your audience with local search engine optimization

Your website’s ranking on Google’s search results is increasingly important. In many cases, this is how your business gets found. It’s as simple as this, when customers don’t see you in their search results, they’ll click on one of your competitors.To newer companies, small businesses, and those that don’t currently rank well on Google, competing with top-ranking websites can be intimidating. They have years of presence, tons of content, and huge budgets invested in website optimization. The hard truth is that outranking these companies isn’t practical for small businesses.

But the good news is that you don’t need to.

Google has gone increasingly “local” for its search results. Which means you don’t have to compare yourself to the big guys. To take advantage of search engines, you’ll need to create a local SEO (search engine optimization) strategy to boost your online presence and make you appear in front of your ideal target audience.

Here’s what you’ll need to know to get started:

How does Google work?
What is SEO?
What is local SEO?
Why is local SEO important for small businesses?
Important steps of a local SEO strategy
How to create a local SEO strategy

How does Google work?

Google is such a huge part of our lives that it’s become a verb. We use it daily, but have you ever asked yourself how Google selects your results? When you search for something in Google, the search engine uses various processes to rank millions of websites. In just fractions of a second, they present you with a list of websites that they think are the most likely answers to your query. These are called “organic results”, meaning not paid or sponsored. Google has over 200 of these searching and ranking factors, or algorithms, which determine the results you see.

So what is Google looking for in your website? The most common factors that make your website rank better on Google include:

Speed: Having a website that loads fast. This is especially important for the mobile version of your website.
Backlinks: Having other quality websites link to your website.
Content: Quality and quantity of content are equally important.
Keyword optimization: Use of the right combination of keywords in the right places on your website. Keyword optimization should be used in all the content on your site.
Metadata and related codes: There are many places to include content on a website that aren’t visible to a regular visitor. Meta titles, meta description, image alternate and link titles are all parts of your website code that can influence your search ranking.
Mobile friendly: Most of the traffic to websites comes from mobile devices, which introduce many limitations. Your website should give a great mobile experience.

What is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, the continuous process of optimizing a website so it ranks better in Google and appears higher in search results. Successful SEO will increase the quality and quantity of traffic to your website.

When you hire an agency to develop your website, SEO should be a huge part of their process. From the planning stage to the development stage, the SEO strategy should be one of the biggest considerations for your website. After publishing, maintaining your website should include constantly updating and optimizing its content.

What is Local SEO?

Google search results are not the same for everyone. If two people search for the same keywords, they’ll get different results. Google uses algorithms to personalize and tailor your search results to your likes and needs. Your previous searches, the device you’re using, and your location will all influence your search results.

That’s right – location! Google has become adept at understanding when you’re looking for results from anywhere in the world and when you’re searching for something nearby. This is great news for small businesses! When a potential customer searches for businesses like yours, you have a fair shot at reaching them.

For example, if you google “how to make a pizza” you’ll get search results from the top recipe websites in the world. But if you google “order pizza” or “pizza near me”, Google understands that showing a search result for a pizzeria in New York would be of little value if you live in Ocala, Florida.

You don’t even need to write the word “pizza in Ocala”, because Google already knows that you’re in Ocala. It even knows which part of Ocala you’re in, especially if you’re searching on your phone. Your search results will include chain pizza restaurants as well as small local businesses located a few blocks away from you.

Why is local SEO important for small businesses?

Local SEO changes the playing field for small businesses. You won’t be competing with thousands of websites from across the world – just other businesses in your area.

This keeps local businesses from getting drowned out by national competition. You’ll have a fighting chance to show up in Google’s search results (including Google Maps). This lets you be visible to your target audience without breaking the bank on Google search ads.

Important steps of a Local SEO strategy

The fact that Google favors local results on its search doesn’t mean that your work is done. Businesses need a strong local SEO strategy to take advantage of Google’s local search results.

Take these steps to start improving your local SEO today!

Optimize your website to include your location. Include location-related content in key places in your site copy and website code. Don’t just add your address to the footer on your website and call it a day – the more you mention your location, the better.
Set up a Google Business Profile account. They uses to be called Google My Business. These accounts are key to improving your local positioning. This tool allows users to find you, understand what you do, and get in touch. These interactions, and adding to your online presence, can boost your ranking in search results and on Google Maps.
Create local-based content. Include information related to your location in your blog posts, news, articles, tips, events, and more. Make sure to include the name of your city and other identifying keywords when you can.
Build dedicated pages for each location. If you are serving different cities or counties, mention them on specific pages on your website. This often looks like separate contact pages for each area you service.
Update your location on different local citation websites. There are hundreds of places where your business information can appear – Facebook, Yelp, Tripadvisor, and industry-specific business directories. Add your address and contact information to those that apply to your business – it’ll improve your local positioning online!

How to create a local SEO strategy

So now you understand why local SEO matters and how you can boost your ranking. Now how do you go about putting this information to work for your small business?

The best local SEO strategy includes everything we’ve talked about so far as well as “traditional” SEO strategies. This is not a checklist. You’ll need to keep updating and improving your online presence to stay on top.

Web maintenance: Keep your website content and code up to date. Check for errors and fix issues often. Include analyzing your keywords and viewing your search ranking often.
Content: Regularly create and update content on your website. Local content will get you far in local search results while using keywords makes your business appear with relevant search terms.
Google Business Profile: Keep your GBP up to date and use it to post images, videos, company updates, and more.
Local citation: Constantly update and push your information on location citation websites. Remember to check that the information is exactly the same everywhere.

Need a hand?

Not every business owner is ready to jump head-first into implementing a local SEO strategy. Especially since improving your rankings requires continuous updates, recurring website content, and a little bit of keyword research.

That’s where the team at Liquid Creative comes in! We can build you a website from scratch, optimize your current site, create social and GMB content, and maintain your presence with local SEO in mind. Contact us to get started!

Enhance Your Online Presence: What To Say & Where To Be Online

Posted on August 4, 2021March 26, 2022 by liquid

In 2021, your online presence matters. A lot of your success depends on having information about your business in places where your audience can easily find it. This week, we’ve got updates that will upgrade your business pages on Snapchat and Twitter. Plus, Facebook comes to the rescue when you’re not sure what to say!

Photo by Twitter

The Shop Module Brings E-Commerce to Twitter

Twitter’s new feature is focused on making the platform more friendly for online shops. The new Shop Module will be an option for businesses to display items for sale on their Twitter profiles. Users can scroll through these products and make purchases within the mobile app. This simple introduction is Twitter’s first step into bringing e-commerce to the platform since 2015.

The Shop Module feature is currently at the beginning of testing, with only a few select brands being invited to participate. Twitter is hinting that this, along with their recent addition of professional profiles, is the beginning of a journey to make the platform more business-friendly.

What does this mean for Florida Businesses?

Twitter Shopping will be something to try in the future if you offer products that can be shipped to online buyers. This is something that can be used together with a Shopify Store, Instagram Shop, or other e-commerce tools. If you’re a service provider or you operate brick-and-mortar, stay tuned to see what other updates Twitter rolls out for businesses.

Photo by Snapchat

Get on Gen Z’s Radar! Snapchat Launches ‘My Places’

Snapchat’s ‘Snap Map’ lets users know where their friends are in real time – perfect for fueling Gen Z’s FOMO. The platform is now inviting businesses to get themselves on the map – literally – with My Places. This update will let users log where they’ve been, suggest edits, and recommend local spots to friends.

So what does this look like on a business owner’s end? Though Snapchat’s blog is limited on details, it looks like these locations can be linked to business profiles within the app. Your pinned location will bring up information about your business – hours, contact information, reviews from Tripadvisor, directions, and your current Snapchat story.

What does this mean for Florida Businesses?

This tool isn’t going to be ideal for every audience, but it’s definitely going to be useful with the younger crowd. It’ll be interesting to see how this useful new feature will compare to non-social platforms like Google Maps. In any case, set up your business profile, snag your location, and start giving Snapchatters an incentive to check in!

Photo by Facebook

Small Business Campaign Ideas, Courtesy of Facebook

Not sure what to talk about online? There’s plenty to say about every small business – Facebook’s new Campaign Ideas Generator is here to jog your memory! This social media update is so fun to play around with – get some ideas for your small business marketing here. When you input your industry and a time of year, you’ll get suggestions for Facebook ads that will work for your business.

The campaign ideas might revolve around a particular theme, a call to action, or an audience you should try to reach. Plus, click to the ‘Data and Insights’ section for some market research about your audience, right from Facebook!

What does this mean for Florida Businesses?

You’ll never be tongue-tied online again! Even if you’re not loving the campaign ideas that Facebook suggests, the data is a gold mine. Learning more about your audience will let you create more compelling campaigns every single time.

Ok, now what?

Learn, Collaborate, and Chat: New Ways To Understand Your Target Audience on Social Media

Posted on July 28, 2021March 26, 2022 by liquid

Ready to go back to school? With Facebook’s new collaboration with Coursera, small business owners everywhere can now learn more about reaching their target audience online. This comes at a time when we see new ways to interact every week! We’ll help you apply your new knowledge with a quick summary of Clubhouse, now open to all, and an overview of Instagram’s new collaboration features.

Photo by Facebook

Facebook 101: Online Marketing Fundamentals

In a response to the changing job market and their own evolving positioning, Facebook has partnered with Coursera to offer new online learning in the digital sphere. Previously, the platform had only one certificate available in Social Media Marketing. The two new additions are in Marketing Analytics and Software Development. These are self-directed courses that are intended to be completed in about 20 weeks.

Though they’re designed to give someone a start in a related field, these courses are a resource to all small business owners and marketers! If you’re not looking for a certification, check out their topics and focus on what interests you most. This is a great resource for understanding how to promote yourself on Facebook and around the internet!

What does this mean for Gainesville Businesses?

Facebook’s course topics range from building a community to measuring your ad’s performance. If you’re not sure where to start, start with this question: What are you looking to gain from your Facebook presence? Knowing your goal is step 1. These guides will help direct you once you know where you’re going.

Image by Vishal Shah

Group Project! New Collaborations on Instagram

Brands and Instagram influencers go together like PB & J. And now Instagram is giving us new ways to collaborate on their platform. With these new collaboration tools, collaborative posts will appear on the main feed or Reels tab with two profile pictures and usernames together, showing who contributed to the post.

Though this is just in the test phase, it’s exciting for those brands that work with influencers or encourage interaction with their Instagram profile. These posts will be displayed to both sets of followers, which broadens your reach so much more than a shoutout. This feature might become the elevated form of tagging your business – which will give you some free feed content.

What does this mean for Gainesville Businesses?

This experiment isn’t available to all Instagram users yet – and we’re totally fine with that. We’ll be interested to see how these look, how people interact with them, and what safeguards will be put in place to keep our feeds looking good. While we’re waiting on the results, perform a collaboration check on your own social media profiles. Should you be engaging more with influencers or everyday customers? Do your followers know what hashtag to use when they post your products? What are your competitors or similar businesses in other locations doing on Instagram?

Photo by Nathana Rebouças on Unsplash

Free Period: Clubhouse Is Open To All!

If you never got an invite to Clubhouse, you’re not alone. But the good news is, the Clubhouse app is now available to all! We’ve talked about Clubhouse a good bit in the past but it’s time for a quick overview. Clubhouse is a little bit like a house party in an app. Someone hosts a live audio room that everyone can join. Guests can come and go as they please, but the host has to be there, or else the party stops. If the host makes you a speaker, you can contribute your thoughts to the conversation – otherwise, you just get to listen in.

So what’s the consensus on Clubhouse? This is a medium that’s all about connecting with people and back-and-forth conversations. For a small business, this might be a great tool to talk about your industry, answer audience questions, or just connect with the local community. It feels spontaneous, welcoming, and a lot more authentic than a lot of social media. The downfall is that it’s all live – your conversation isn’t going to be saved, so only those who tune in get to hear what you have to say. In general, treat these like a radio show or a town hall. Bring enough to say but make sure to jot down the best tidbits to make permanent content later.

What does this mean for Gainesville Businesses?

Not sure how to start the conversation? This is where your other social media presence comes in. Ask your followers what they want to talk about and invite them to connect with you on Clubhouse. Once your first topic is set, you’ll be good to go! In your first conversation, notice what topics you could go on about and save them for next time.

Ok, now what?

Good Ideas, Bad Ideas, and Everything In Between on Social Media

Posted on July 21, 2021March 26, 2022 by liquid

Ever regret posting something on social media? We’ve all had those moments of realizing an idea wasn’t as great as we thought it was at first. This week, the team at Twitter is having that awful gut-wrenching feeling as they finally admit defeat on Fleets. Meanwhile, Instagram is trying to save you from accidentally posting something that isn’t ready, adding a drafts functionality to their Story posts. And finally, in an idea that we’ll be looking at closely, Messenger is adding ‘soundmojis’, allowing users to reply to one another with audio clips. Let’s dive into these social media updates, starting at the bottom.

Photo by Twitter

Life Is Fleeting, and So Were Fleets

Last week, we reported that Twitter was still trying to make Fleets happen. They weren’t going to happen. Twitter is finally ready to say goodbye to Fleets. The folks at Twitter took quite a few lessons from their flop and we can too. To start, the purpose of Fleets was to reach those people that weren’t already participating on Twitter. Instead, they continued to be used by active Tweeters, often as a way to compliment Tweets.

Being such an established, unique platform, new users weren’t downloading Twitter to see if their story feature was worth creating a profile. New social media features won’t necessarily attract a new or different audience – they’re more likely to engage the existing users. Looking ahead, Twitter says it’ll keep searching for ways to appeal to non-participants and open up the conversation. They’re also looking into more ways to add media and variety to Tweets, to keep what active users loved about Fleets.

What does this mean for Gainesville Businesses?

Starting August 3rd, you won’t be able to Fleet anymore – if you ever did. Twitter isn’t backing down from incorporating media, expanding its user base, and making the platform more visual. For now, use your Twitter account to Tweet and listen in on Spaces. There may be new opportunities and improvements coming to the platform soon!

Photo by WFBrother

Stories Just Got A Little Sweeter: Drafts Are Here!

A short-and-sweet new update from Instagram might have a big impact on your engagement! With Instagram’s new Story drafts feature, as shared by social media beta tester WFBrother, you’ll be able to create Stories ahead of time. Once you design your story and go to exit out, you’ll be prompted to save your story as a draft. Within the next seven days, you can access your draft to post it for real.

So why is this simple little feature so great? Social media connoisseurs know the importance of posting times on engagement and views. Now, you can put the time into your Stories and still post right on schedule! Posting at a peak time (like 11:00 am on a Wednesday) can increase engagement with your stories or even drive views to your profile. Set a reminder on your phone and then you’re ready to roll!

What does this mean for Gainesville Businesses?

This feature will be good for posting stories you want to be seen. It’ll be even better for stories you want to see interactions with. So anytime you’re adding stickers, posting multiple stories in a row, or even advertising a limited-time event, go ahead and create your draft ahead of time. You can also tell your users when to expect a new story from you – like when you’ll answer their questions or reveal the results of a poll – and design it ahead of time! This makes all the ways you can engage with your audience through Stories all the more practical for the busy business owner.

Photo by Messenger

Your Own Personal Sound Board: Soundmojis

Drumroll, please! Facebook has been taking on the world of audio recently, with live audio rooms, podcast hosting, and more. They’re also incorporating small-scale sounds in a new way on Messenger. These ‘soundmojis’ will let Messenger users respond with an audio reaction to their conversations. You can hit them with a laugh track, a cricket chirping in awkwardness, or even a clip of Rebecca Black’s Friday to end the week.

Soundmojis feel like the first of their kind delivered to a broad audience. But this trend started long ago. Think back to the sound effects we hear throughout YouTube videos and the more recent rise of ‘sounds’ on TikTok and Instagram Reels. Using the same sounds for humor is starting to become a part of our culture and Messenger is the first to make the trend as simple as a tap on your phone.

What does this mean for Gainesville Businesses?

So sounds are a trend. What do you do with that information? It’s not likely that you’ll rise to stardom enough to be a soundmoji yourself, and that’s okay. However, learning how to work with sounds to talk about your business is a great way to appeal to the internet-savvy audience. Using a TikTok sound they’ve heard before and adding your own spin on it can be a great way to connect and get some laughs. Even the overly specific becomes a little more approachable with sounds we know and love.

Ok, now what?

Social Media Delivers Discoverability and Exclusive Content

Posted on July 14, 2021March 26, 2022 by liquid

In the first half of 2021, we saw a focus on competition between social media platforms. Different platforms were rushing to claim different trends for their own after short-form vertical video and live audio rooms took off. Now that these features are live, we’re starting to see how platforms are carving out their territory within these trending formats. This week, we’re seeing more exclusive content deals and efforts to make content discoverable, to keep you coming back to platforms for more!

Photo by YouTube

New To You(Tube): Discoverability for Creators!

In their latest Creator Insider video, YouTube gave us a sneak peek at an upcoming discoverability feature for the platform. “New to You” will be a new option for viewers to see content from YouTube channels they haven’t seen in the past. This selection is intended to be fresher than what’s normally displayed on a user’s home page, but more personalized than what they’d find on the Explore page.

This takes the user’s interests into account and shows them other creators they might be interested in. For creators, it’s a whole new way to get found and gain subscribers! You don’t need to have a video go viral or be at the top of your category to appeal to new viewers. This emphasis on letting creators be discovered might be a response to how easy it is to discover and be discovered on platforms like TikTok. In any case, it’s great news for small businesses and creators that are putting useful content on YouTube!

What does this mean for Gainesville Businesses?

We’ve talked about the benefits of creating and sharing videos before. YouTube is a great place to host all the videos you create about your business. You can also gain some views and drive awareness about your brand with videos that offer helpful information about your industry or products. With this new discoverability feature on the platform, informational videos could be shown to a much larger audience than before, so make sure your content and thumbnail keep them engaged!

Photo by Nathan Dumalo on Unsplash

Twitter Keeps Trying to Make Fleets Happen

Remember Fleets? Twitter’s story feature is reminiscent of Snapchat stories, Instagram stories, and pretty much any other stories you can think of. Twitter’s release of Fleets and Spaces shows us a new picture for the future of the platform: one where Twitter isn’t just for Tweets. Now they’ve taken a step further to encourage the use of Fleets. According to social media consultant Matt Navara, Twitter is testing a feature that will have users see related Fleets on Tweets that they view.

Since this feature hasn’t officially been announced yet, we’re not sure of all the details. What counts as a related Fleet? Will we see Fleets from accounts we aren’t following? Even without all the answers, we see this as a push for this newer type of content on Twitter. There may even be more integrations between Tweets, Fleets, and Spaces in the future! This also might be enhancing discoverability. If we start seeing Fleets that lead us to new accounts, finding followers might become a lot easier!

What does this mean for Gainesville Businesses?

Twitter has been a difficult space for a lot of small businesses so far. Many smaller accounts never gain many followers, making it difficult to invest in a separate strategy for Twitter. We’re still keeping our eyes on how this feature will play out, but it could make this platform feel a little bit more like Instagram, with multiple types of posts and ways to be discovered on the platform.

Photo by Product School on Unsplash

Trend Alert: Exclusive Content Keeps Viewers on a Platform!

When someone steals your great idea, what do you do to stay relevant? Social media companies are facing the effects of copycat features across different platforms. One of the methods of standing out and retaining users is platform-exclusive content. We’ve already seen this with other tech services: Think of how NBC’s Peacock reclaimed The Office to steal some of Netflix’s subscribers. Now, social media platforms are forming alliances with content creators to keep their edge.

The prime example that we’re seeing right now is a war over live audio rooms, mainly between Twitter Spaces and Clubhouse. Twitter Spaces gained some steam after delivering android access faster and opening up to all users. Now, they’re solidifying that edge with exclusive content from the NFL, according to The Verge. Not to be outdone with these live sports chats, Clubhouse is launching its own exclusive content collaboration with TED Talks. Clubhouse’s creator programs also encourage high-quality content from smaller personalities on their interface. We’ll have to keep our eye out for how this fight progresses, but we’re noting interesting moves from both sides this week.

What does this mean for Gainesville Businesses?

So what do wars between platforms have to do with you? The different types of content might influence which users prefer a particular platform. If Twitter Spaces gets more sports content, we could see a shift in their audience. This is true for all the social platforms that are battling it out. Before making your decision on where to spend your time, find the latest stats on their user base and make sure it aligns with your target audience!