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The Ultimate Guide to UX Design: 10 Key Principles for a Great Website

Having a website is one thing, but having a great website? That’s another! To be honest, whether your website is great isn’t really up to you. It is often subjective and can depend on the user and why they’re visiting your site. What makes a website great can be different for everyone. That being said, there are many website functionalities that are perfect for any website, no matter the audience, branding or design and it all comes down to the user experience.

You don’t have to be a user experience (UX) designer to have a good website, but you do need to understand the basics of UX to make the most out of your site’s design and content. Not sure what any of this means? Read on to find out more about UX design and why it’s important for your site.

What is UX Design?

The basic idea of user experience (UX) design is centered around creating a website based on usability. UX design is essentially the blueprint for your design and ensures your site is usable for anyone who visits.

The UX design process generally begins with research on the website’s target audience, with a focus on the following:

  • Their pain points – what problem can your site solve for them?
  • Their motivations – why would they visit your site.
  • Their goals – what will they do once they have visited your site? Will they make a purchase, sign up for more information etc.?
  • What they need to achieve on the site

UX design also looks at the content on your site, and whether it needs to be changed or removed to fit the customer/client journey. A good UX designer will look at all possible paths that a potential customer/client could take, keeping the targeted audience in mind but also looking at the secondary audience (i.e. those who may just happen upon your site) as well.

Once the UX designer has done the necessary research, they will then start to build out the site with well thought-out menus, callouts, call-to-action (CTA) buttons, features or related content suggestions and the order of the content on a page. If you choose to hire a UX designer for your site, they will create a prototype of your website first before creating the site itself to give you an idea of what it will look like and how it will flow together.

But why does UX design matter so much?

As they say, just like Rome wasn’t built in a day neither will your site. Building a functional and well-designed site takes time and involves more than just a few photos, some content, and some pretty colours.

UX design is important because it helps to move people through your sales funnel and is an essential component of your business plan. UX design attracts more visitors to your site, increases your conversion rate and generates more leads for your sales.

UX design also ensures that when someone lands on your site, there is clear messaging, navigation and content to help take them to the next (and important) step. UX design also directly impacts your bottom line as a great website can directly impact your sales and leads. There are a number of UX considerations that can directly impact your sales including:

  • Menus – size, location, options, content
  • CTA buttons – placement, content
  • Forms – placement, content
  • Reliability – signs of data security, messaging
  • Mobile-friendliness – ease of use on any device


A weakness in any one of these elements can lead to lost sales and lower overall usability of your site.

How does UX design affect search engine optimization?

UX design can have an effect on your search engine page rankings.  While Google has a number of ranking factors, one of the most important comes from human interaction with your site. By planning for positive interactions, you are also helping to increase your ranking on Google. That’s because the more people that interact with your site (and for longer periods of time), the more Google sees your site as reputable and that it should rank higher on search engines.

What are the most important UX principles for your site?

To truly make your website UX friendly, there are a few key factors you need to make it a great website.

1. Focus on one target audience

The first question you’ll want to ask as you design your website is, “who will visit my site”? This will have a significant impact on the entire design of your site because the answer will provide direction to the design. A strong website has a content structure, navigation, and messaging that’s focused on helping your target audience achieve their goals.

2. Make it easy to use

The majority of online shoppers won’t return to a site if they’ve had a bad user experience. So how do you prevent this from happening? By creating a site that is user-friendly.  For example:

  • Place menus in logical places, and make sure they are highly visible, and easily clicked
  • Include search bars or filtering menus to help visitors find content
  • Have a select number of menu choices
  • Ensure clear wording on menus and CTA buttons

When creating your site, think from the perspective of the user and try to visualize their journey. As yourself questions like, “what information is important to them?”, “which pages are they most likely to visit?”, “what questions might they have?” as you start to think about your site’s design.

3. Ensure site responsiveness

In this day and age, being mobile friendly is standard for all websites. Almost half of all website traffic comes from mobile devices, so you should ensure your site works and is accessible across a variety of devices.

Responsiveness is one of the most important UX factors to consider when designing a website. It’s important that any visitor to your site has the same experience, regardless of what type of device they’re using. Once you’ve created your site, double check the responsiveness of all elements including navigation, layout, call-to-action buttons, functionality, and user journey.

4. Make it visually appealing

They say first impressions are important and that couldn’t be any more true with your website. Many visitors will have an impression of your site based on its overall visual attractiveness. If it looks good, people are more likely to stay and look around.

The overall colour combinations of the website, design elements, background, and call to action buttons should all be aligned with your brand colours. Try using modern and up-to-date illustrations, graphic elements, shapes, and fonts to help elevate your design and increase your visual appeal.

5. Be mindful of user flow

When it comes to the flow of your website, you want it to play out like a story, and your customer is the one reading your story. If the story feels disjointed because the content doesn’t flow in a logical order or there are random pages when you click, then you may need to make some adjustments.

There are some things that will block your user flow and make the experience more disjointed, including:

  • Too many callouts to different types of content
  • Too many intrusions (i.e. the constant dreaded popup)
  • Too many menus

To ensure good flow, your content should be easily discoverable without too many redirects and without overwhelming your customer.

6. Be strategic with content

Your content plays a major role in the overall UX design of your site. It’s the way that visitors engage with and stay on your site, and it’s also the way that your site sends ranking signals to search engines like Google. The longer you can keep a user moving around on your site, engaged, and viewing your content, the better (for your sales and your SEO).

Make sure you use callouts on related content, like on product pages or blog posts. A callout is a block that usually features written content, an image and a CTA button that leads to another page on your site. If placed at the end of a page, these are called footer CTAs. Both callouts and footer CTAs are great because they lead the visitor to the natural next step in their journey. Be careful though, your callouts and footer CTAs have to make sense otherwise it’s going to mess with the flow of your site and most likely won’t even get clicked.

7. Keep it consistent

To make your website great, it needs to be consistent. All your site elements, from fonts to brand colours and images, should all work well together and complement each other. Users will be drawn to consistent branding and will be more likely to return.

It may not seem obvious, but a lot of web page viewers are turned off with things like colour scheme changes, changes in navigational tools and layout shifts. They don’t like to keep guessing and a consistent theme keeps them focused. Keep your design consistent on all pages, from the homepage to the checkout page.

Inconsistency in your colours and branding can make your site appear amateur and can send mixed messages. Cool colours give off feelings of tranquility and peace, while warm colours send a message of energy and passion.

8. Have a clear visual hierarchy

When it comes to UX design, hierarchy is an important element in your website design. Hierarchy ensures smooth navigation throughout your site and ensures users who visit your site can easily find what they are looking for.

Visual hierarchy guides users from one page or section to another. By highlighting key content, you’re helping users take the next essential step on their buying journey. For example, you may use a darker font on a “Read More” button or you may make a “Click-here button” larger than anything else on the screen to draw the visitors eye to where you want it to go.

9. Use simple language in your content

When writing the content on your page, keep it simple with language that your users can relate to. Avoid using technical terms and word-heavy academic style writing. Try to imagine your audience and how they would talk or interact with others and write your content in the same tone and be sure to follow the three Cs – be clear, be concise and be consistent!

10. Less is more

When it comes to UX design, less is more. Be sure to prioritize simplicity over anything else with a focus on usability and consistency. Too many bells and whistles on your site can distract the user from completing the action you want them to take. Less is more focuses on simplicity and aesthetic design instead of over-decoration.

When it comes to UX design, remember the most important thing is to prioritize the user’s experience and make it easy for them to achieve their goals on your website. A site can look gorgeous but if it doesn’t serve its required purpose, then it is almost entirely useless. Your website should add value to your users, through UX design and content. Not sure where to start? Reach out to the team at Trilogy Solutions. We can help you design a website that ticks all the boxes of UX design principles!

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10 Simple Ways to Improve Your Email Marketing Open Rates

Email marketing is an integral part of your digital marketing strategy and a guaranteed way to ensure your business’ long-term success online. Unlike social media, you own your email list which allows you to focus on your most loyal customers and work to strengthen those relationships.

Your loyal subscribers are the ones who open everything you send, click on your links, visit your website, and ultimately buy your products or sign up for your services. But the only way to build a list of loyal subscribers is to first get them to open your emails! To do that, you need to begin by deciding what type of email to send, then work towards improving your email open rates with a few simple steps.

What are the different types of email marketing?

The type of email you choose to send will depend on the type of message you want to send to your audience. As a business, there are 3 different types of emails that you can send: promotional, editorial, and transactional.

Promotional emails: Promotional emails are exactly that – emails designed to sell or make a customer take action to move closer towards a purchase. These emails may contain a sales pitch, meeting request, coupon, special offer or can also be an abandoned cart reminder.

The goal of a promotional email is to drive a conversion and will encourage the recipient to make a purchase, book an appointment, schedule a call, or sign up for something. These types of emails directly impact your revenue because they are designed to increase your sales.

Editorial emails: Editorial emails are a form of content marketing, and are designed to either help, inspire or entertain your subscribers. These are the emails that contain relevant content for the reader, including industry tips/tricks, stories, information or even funny videos or memes.

These emails should speak directly to your subscribers and should contain content that is most relevant to them. If they don’t contain content relevant to your audience, they will fall flat, and open rates could decline. Editorial emails help to make you stand out as an industry leader and work to build the know, like and trust factor.

Transactional emails: Transactional emails are often automated ones, and usually arrive in response to a subscriber who has taken some sort of action. Generally, this is in the form of a confirmation email, a link to a download or a thank you email.

Transactional emails are still important in the email marketing world. They are a way for your business to deliver on its promises while showing a bit of your brand’s personality.

Each type of email that you send has an impact on your email marketing open rates and the success of your campaign as a whole.

What does an email marketing open rate mean?

Simply put an email marketing open rate is the calculated percentage of people subscribed to your list who receive and open your emails. The calculation is done by taking the number of people who opened the email and dividing it by the number of emails sent that didn’t bounce.

According to Mailchimp, email open rates tend to average anywhere between 15% and 30% for most industries. Personal interest topics (think hobbies, photos etc.) trend higher while marketing topics (think ecommerce, coupon offers etc.) trend lower. Daily deals have the lowest open rate of all.

Your email service provider will give you the statistics for every email marketing campaign you create and will provide you with your open rate for that particular campaign, among other things. Your open rate will give you a general idea of how your campaign performed and could provide you with insight on what you may need to change for next time.

How can I improve my email marketing open rates?

There’s no point in sending out email marketing campaigns if no one is actually opening your emails! If you’re finding your open rate is lower than you would like, try these 10 simple ways to improve your rates.

1) Keep your list fresh

Have you taken a peek at your subscriber list recently? Do your subscribers still want to hear from you? It’s always a good idea to go through your list on a regular basis to remove any inactive subscribers. This includes anyone who has not engaged with your email campaigns within the last 6 months or more.

Before you remove them completely, try sending out a last-ditch effort email to see if you can get them to resubscribe. If they don’t engage after that, then it’s time to remove them from your list completely.

Another way to keep your list fresh is to check in regularly with your subscribers by asking them to update their information or to take part in a quick survey. This encourages engagement from your subscribers and also shows you who is interested in your emails and who is not.

2) Segment your list

One of the determining factors in email opens is relevance of the email to the subscriber. If someone thinks the email is of importance to them, they are more likely to open it. And the best way to increase the relevancy of your emails? By segmenting your email list.

Segmenting your list is fairly easy, start by adding tags to your subscribers based on behavior. For example, when a subscriber becomes a paying customer, you may want to send them different types of emails than you would send to someone who hasn’t purchased anything yet. If you offer a wide variety of products or services, you could also segment your email list based on specific products purchased (i.e. men’s wear vs. ladies wear, kids shoes vs. women’s shoes etc.).

Once you have your email list segmented, it’s much easier to know what kinds of subject lines and messages will entice a subscriber to open your email and engage with your marketing campaign.

3) Try to avoid the dreaded spam folder

When it comes to email marketing campaigns, the one place you definitely don’t want to land is directly in your subscriber’s spam folder. Emails, even the best ones, can still get caught in spam and rarely opened.

If you want to maximize the reach of your email marketing campaigns, make sure you’re doing everything you possibly can to keep your emails out of the spam folder.

• Make sure all recipients of your emails have opted-in to receive your email campaigns (either through a pop-up email capture form on your website or in store).
• Send your campaign from a legitimate IP address, one that hasn’t been flagged as spam in the past.
• Send through a verified domain.
• Use merge tags to personalize the “To” field of your campaign.
• Avoid salesy language in your email subject lines.
• Include your location if possible.
• Allow subscribers the option of opting out of your emails.
• Remove email addresses that have continually bounced.

There is a chance that your email may not go through, which could result in an email bounce, (this can be temporary or permanent). Over time a higher bounce rate could ruin your sender reputation and put your IP address on a blacklist as spam.

4) Time your emails

When you send out your email is just as important as how you send it and what you say inside. The timing of your email can have a huge impact on whether or not subscribers open your emails, so make sure you’re thinking carefully about what day and time you send them.

One way to do so is to perform some A/B testing to identify which timeframes seem to perform best. Generally speaking, the best time of week to send emails is on the weekday, not on the weekend.

The type of emails you send also play a factor in your choice of time. Hobby emails are more likely to be opened earlier in the day whereas work-related content is more likely to be checked during business hours. You also want to make sure you’re not sending your emails out too early in the day and remember to take into account time zones if you’re sending your emails out nationally or internationally.

Ultimately when trying to decide the best day and time to send out your emails, try putting yourself in the shoes of your audience. What do you think they do in the morning, afternoon, and evening? What does their typical workday look like? How late do you think they stay up at night? How early do they get up in the morning? What are their average scrolling habits (you can use your social media channels to help you get a better sense of this one). Answering just a few of these questions will help you decide on the best time to send out your emails.

5) Subject lines matter

Subject lines are the bread and butter of email marketing campaigns and can be the difference between an email that performs well and an email that doesn’t. Email marketing is nothing new and there are many subject lines that have been used time and time again. In order to stand out from the crowd and increase your open rates, you need to have subject lines that are unique and creative.

• Make them curious: you want to keep your audience guessing and wanting to know more. Use a subject line that piques their interest enough to open.
• Use numbers: numbers tend to draw the eye of your audience, so try using a number in your subject line.
• Make it light: use a fun, joking and conversational tone in both your email and subject line. Serious subjects aren’t as enticing for people to open. Also, if possible, personalize your subject line.

And remember to keep your subject line brief. It should be short enough that someone can simply glance at it and get an idea of what your email is about. A subject line of about 20 words is preferable because it can be scanned quickly.

6) Make your emails personal

When you start writing your emails, imagine you’re writing them to a close friend, with a personal subject line and message. Doing so will create a connection with your reader and will make them feel as though they are the only one that received the email, not one of a thousand.

To make your emails personal, you’ll need to get to know your audience. You need to understand their problems, their wants, their needs, their likes, and their dislikes. You want to make them feel as though they are your priority and the most valued customer.

When you speak directly to your customer, you are creating a sense of loyalty and trust. They believe that you are paying attention to their individual needs and are more likely to open an email from you when they receive it.

7) Keep it casual

Your emails shouldn’t sound stuffy, salesy, or “academic”. They should sound as though you are writing a casual email to a friend, keeping them informed of what’s going on with your business.

Keeping it casual also makes it seem less like a bulk announcement and more like a personalized email, one that people are more likely to open.

8) Write great content, each and every time

Getting users to open your email is one thing, but actually getting them to read it is another. If you have great content, then your readers will continue to open your emails each time you send one. If your content isn’t great, they’re less likely to open them in the future, and may even unsubscribe.

The key to making subscribers happy? Have amazing content! Make sure your content is well-written and valuable to your subscribers. Don’t just send out an email simply to send out an email. The more value you bring to your subscribers, the more loyal they’ll become and your open rates will increase as a result.

9) Make it funny

Connecting with your subscribers doesn’t always have to be formal and stuffy, humour has a way of making a connection with people and bringing them back for more. Humour, if done correctly, brings out your brand’s personality, and will stick in the minds of your subscribers.

Making your email funny doesn’t mean you have to insert countless jokes throughout. It can be as simple as inserting a tongue in cheek reference, a funny meme, or a lighthearted joke. Just make sure it aligns with your brand and your ideal audience.

10) Make it mobile friendly

Don’t forget about your mobile users. If you’re anything like we are, you tend to check your email on your phone throughout the day. That’s why it’s important to make sure your emails are visually appealing and friendly for your mobile users. For mobile, your emails should have responsive formatting and loadable media and should also consider that long subject lines aren’t viewed as easily on mobile devices. You’ll also want to make sure you:

• Keep formatting simple (single column, under 600 px wide).
• Use larger fonts (small fonts are hard to read on mobile).
• Make sure it looks good without images (if possible).
• Use smaller images to reduce load time
• Use a large call-to-action button as larger buttons are easier to tap with your thumb.
• Don’t place links too closely together.

When it comes to email marketing, getting your subscribers to open your emails is the first (and most important) step. Try using a few of the tips above to see if it helps you get better open rates. Don’t get discouraged though if you don’t see an increase right away. Email marketing, like all marketing, can take time to figure out what works best for you and your audience. If you’re having a hard time getting your email open rates up or just don’t have enough time to put into your email marketing campaigns, then give the team at Trilogy Solutions a call. We can work with you to create email marketing campaigns that convert!

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SEO Monthly Maintenance: 10 Easy Tasks for Your Website

Search engine optimization isn’t easy and it’s not a one and done task, either. In all honesty, it’s quite the opposite. Once you start to implement an SEO strategy, you need to continue working on it over time. There are several tasks that you can do on a monthly basis to keep your SEO game going strong, and to ensure you stay near the top of those search engine results pages.

Having a clear and defined SEO strategy is one of the best ways you can market your business across the world wide web, no matter what industry you’re in. Consistent effort and paying regular attention to your strategy can be the difference between reaping the benefits of SEO and not. We’ve compiled the top 10 easy tasks, so you can create your monthly SEO to-do list and start seeing the benefits of SEO for your business.

Why are recurring SEO tasks so important?

A good SEO strategy is not a set it and forget it type of thing. You can’t just implement your SEO strategy, leave it for months at a time and hope it creates the results you’re looking for. Rather, you need to consistently adjust and maintain your SEO strategy.

Why? Because SEO revolves around improving your results on search engine results pages and those pages are constantly changing. In order to keep yourself on the top of those pages, you need to keep up with the changes. Search engine rankings change simply because websites change, new websites are created, pages are added to existing sites and every other company out there in your industry is also constantly working to get their name at the top of the page.

So, in order to keep up with the constant changes, you also need to keep up with recurring tasks that will keep your site fresh and consistently SEO friendly. Otherwise, you may find your site sinking to the bottom of those search engine results pages – a place where no one wants to be!

What are the top 10 recurring monthly tasks for SEO?

1) Evaluate the quality of your content
In the world of SEO, quality content reigns supreme. The content on your website should be exciting, dynamic, and varied. The internet is constantly changing and as a business, you need to keep up with those changes. Regularly evaluating the type and quality of your content will help keep your SEO strategy at the top of its game. The content on your site should come in multiple forms of media (think text, video, infographics etc.) and should provide tons of information that your audience will want to act on.

2) Optimize your existing content
You don’t always have to create new content in order to stay on top of your SEO game. You can also regularly optimize your existing content. This includes optimizing your title tags, meta descriptions, and images. Make sure you are continually using your top keywords in your tags, images and descriptions and update them as your site evolves.

Also take a look at the content on your site, including blog posts. Sift through and determine whether the content is still suitable for your business and SEO goals, or if it could benefit from some adjustments. If and when you decide to refresh a piece of content, take a look at things like focus keywords, media (videos, animations, images) and facts/statistics. If the content is outdated, optimize it with current ideas and trends.

3) Analyze your competition
If you don’t know what your competition is doing, how do you expect to outrank them on the search engine results pages? Analyzing your competition gives you a starting point and allows you to know how and where you can improve.
Define a few (anywhere from 3-5) performance indicators that you want to look at. This can include things like the number of keywords a competitor’s website is ranking for, how many number one positions they have, how many clicks they generate etc. From there you can create your own goals and game plan that will allow you to reach your goals.

4) Remove low quality pages
While looking through your old content, you may notice some pages or content that just aren’t worth your time and effort to refresh. Those pages should be removed from your site all together, so they don’t bring down the general usability of your site.

Not sure if a page or piece of content is destined for the recycle bin? If the content on the page is no longer relevant to you or your business, and doesn’t bring any value to your site user, then it’s time to give it the boot. Much like you want to prioritize rich content, you want to eliminate thin or low-quality content from your site.

To remove the content, there are a couple of ways to do it so that Google knows what you’re doing without making a mess of your SEO:

• Do a 301 redirect from the page to another URL
• Add a no index tag to the page
• Canonicalize the page to another URL

5) Regularly check keyword rankings
Ranking high on search engine results pages is definitely something worth celebrating. But it’s also important to note that your high ranking could change to something much lower in a matter of minutes. New competition, and changes in content can happen just like that. It’s important to stay on top of those changes.

The best way to do that is to regularly check your rankings, on a monthly basis if possible. This will ensure you’re adjusting your marketing plan as needed to respond to any changes in rankings and that you’re creating or adjusting your content as a result.

To check your ranking for certain keywords, try using tools like Google Search Console. If you notice that you aren’t ranking as high for a chosen keyword, then try updating the content on your site with that keyword in mind. This could be in the form of adding the keyword into existing content or creating new content like blog posts around the chosen keyword.

6) Check for broken links
Broken links are never a good thing and not something you want your site visitors to see when they look around your site. And let’s be honest, Google isn’t a fan of broken links either.

You might think broken links don’t happen often, but the truth is they do. If a page on your site is redirected or if an image is deleted from your server, you end up with a broken link.
Checking for broken links isn’t as tricky as it may sound. There are a number of tools out there that will help you find them. If you want to do it the old-fashioned way, spend some time on your site, clicking links and checking images.

As you update your content, make sure you check that any linked material is relevant, current and helpful to your reader, potential customer or client.

7) Run frequent speed tests
As part of your ongoing SEO maintenance, you should always check your page speed as it is one of the markers Google uses to determine your site’s position. Site speed isn’t just for user experience and conversions, it’s a ranking factor too. A faster loading speed time means higher conversion and lower bounce rates, both of which will help increase your rankings on search engine results pages. Google’s Page Speed Insights allows you to perform an easy and short analysis of your website’s loading speed.

8) Perform a technical review
The purpose of performing a technical review is to essentially catch any technical errors before they become a problem, and before they create even bigger problems down the line, like site downtime, disruptions in user experience or ranking penalties.

A technical review involves looking for issues that may impact the way search engines crawl your site and cause a negative user experience. Technical issues tend to come up as your site expands, so sites that are regularly adding new pages or plugins, should be reviewed on a monthly basis.

For a technical review, Google Search Console is going to be your easiest and best bet as it offers a wide range of reports and tools that will allow you to assess your site and detect any errors that could potentially impact your rankings.

Items to review on a monthly basis:

• Find and fix any broken links or missing links
• Find and address 404 errors
• Check site speed and load times for both desktop and mobile
• Identity plugins and extensions that are in need of an update
• Address security and HTTPS issues
• Duplicate content
• XML sitemap and robots.txt file optimization

9) Maintain local listings
It’s important to make sure your local Google My Business listing is up to date and contains the correct information about your business so that potential customers and clients can find you easily. Information like your mailing address, operating hours and current website should always be up to date on Google otherwise it could lead to a negative review on Google.

You can also add keywords into your business listing for improved SEO. Add two or three relevant keywords that you are hoping to rank for in your listing. For example, it can be added into your company description or about paragraph.

10) Measure performance
Take time each month to look at and measure your performance based on your goals and key performance indicators. Look at the pages with the most significant positive and negative traffic changes and track your performance in the following areas:

• Total keywords your website ranks for
• Organic traffic
• Referral traffic
• Social traffic
• Direct traffic
• Traffic by website section
• Traffic year over year
• Ranking for chosen keywords
• Conversion rate by source

Making SEO a part of your monthly marketing plan is good for both your website and your business. Keeping up with the ever-changing landscape of search engine results pages requires a consistent SEO maintenance and review of SEO practices. If the thought of maintaining your website’s SEO is just too overwhelming, then reach out to Trilogy Solutions. Our team of SEO experts will maintain your SEO so you don’t have to. Give us a call today, we can help!

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Are AI Content Generators Worth the Hype?

Have you ever found yourself just sitting staring at your computer stuck on what to write for your next caption or blog? No? Just us? If you’ve ever been hit with a bit of writer’s block, then an AI content generator may be exactly what you need to get you up and writing again.

What is AI generated content?

Essentially, AI generated content is copy such as blogs, captions, marketing materials, and product descriptions written by an artificial intelligence platform. The AI content generator produces content for you based on information you provide such as keywords, phrases and topics.

Using AI generated content can help speed up the writing process and can turn a tedious writing task into an easy automated task.

How does AI generated content work?

There are a number of different platforms out there that offer AI generated content but the general idea is that a user enters the text format needed, a topic and their preferred keywords. The AI tool then searches the internet and pieces together copy that fits the requested format. There are free AI writing tools out there but if you require more in-depth content, paid versions are the way to go.

For example, Jasper.ai (formerly Jarvis) works with masses of data and an algorithm that scrambles and re-assembles content related to the input you provide. Jasper provides you with a list of concepts and allows you to select the ideas you want to use. Once you’ve selected your preferred concepts, Jasper will create content based on those concepts.

How can I use AI writing tools?

AI generated content is best used as a companion to your writing, instead of relying strictly on technology. AI generators can be used to:

1) Research

If you ever find yourself stuck for ideas on what to write or how to start your writing, then an AI content generator can help. You choose the subject, and the AI content generator will provide you with the content. From there you can look through and add to or change the content to meet your needs.

2) Proofread material

AI tools can assist with grammar and spelling and can also help you to add more to your writing. The tool can also highlight keywords and phrases that should be used to ensure your content is optimized for your readers.

3) Writing short content

AI tools can produce short form content quickly, so they’re a great tool for mundane repetitive tasks. If your writing task doesn’t require an emotional tone (think short product descriptions, metatags, and ad copy), then an AI content generator can help you write the short text quickly and efficiently.

4) Translate language

AI content generators can help you take your written content and translate it into different languages. However, the translation can often be a direct translation and may need to be proofread before using it.

5) Create templates

AI content generators can help you create a variety of templates for your email marketing campaigns. Some AI generators will also allow you to add in customized information to create a template that is easy to use and ready to go.

6) Copywriting

AI content generators can be used for exactly that – creating content! Many platforms will allow you to create copy from scratch by analyzing billions of sources and creating copy in the exact tone of voice, type, and size that you need.

What are the pros of AI content generators?

AI generated content can be useful for many different reasons. It may not be for everyone, but there are some pros to using it.

1) They’re efficient

If AI content generators are one thing, they are efficient. AI content generators can create content much faster than people, which is by far its biggest benefit. An AI tool can create a piece of content that would normally take hours in minutes.

2) They’re cost effective

Hiring high quality content writers can cost hundreds of dollars per project, depending on the length of the article, and the expertise required. But when it comes to simple content, including social media captions and basic blog posts, AI generated content is by far the more economical choice.

3) They can improve SEO

AI content generators can choose keywords for you to improve your search engine optimization. By using these keyword suggestions throughout your blogs or articles, your content will appear higher in search engine rankings. The one caveat is that the article should be written or at least proofread by a real person and not the AI content generator in order to make a difference in your SEO.

4) It can help you overcome writer’s block

Writer’s block happens to the best of us and can be tricky to overcome. If you ever find yourself stuck trying to come up with content ideas, then an AI content generator might be exactly what you need. It can help spark ideas to get you started and can give you the first sentence or two to get your creative juices flowing.

With all the advantages of AI, there are some disadvantages too. It’s best to take both into account before you decide if AI content generators are for you.

What are the cons of AI content generators?

AI content generators are not without their drawbacks, the biggest one being that the content generator is not a human and may sound as such. And that’s not all, here are some other cons of AI-generated content.

1) There are concerns with quality

AI relies heavily on data and algorithms to find its content. Your brand’s voice and tone can get lost in the AI generated content and may not sound like it was written by a human.

2) There are concerns with plagiarism

Given that the AI content generators are searching the web for content related to your chosen topic, there is a possibility it may pull materials from the same sources as other content. Search engines may also flag content because it is similar to other published materials. Without editing and changing some of the flow, your AI generated content may go against Google’s guidelines.

3) It lacks creativity and personalization

One thing that many writers pride themselves on is the ability to make their content easy to read, with a personal touch. It makes the content more engaging, and readers feel more connected. AI generated content doesn’t have emotional intelligence and can’t connect to the reader. It relies on facts and existing web content therefore it doesn’t have the common sense of human behavior.

4) It requires human editing

AI generated content still needs a human eye to look it over and check for quality, grammar and flow. Because AI content generators combine information from several websites into piece, there are often mistakes and changes that need to be made.

5) They can’t generate new ideas

AI content generators work off of existing data for content, so this means it can’t come up with fresh ideas or original content. If you’re looking for content that includes fresh new ideas, trending ideas and original topics, then AI generated content is not for you.

Before you start using AI content generators, keep in mind they are a tool to help you, not to completely do the work for you. You will still need to review and edit the AI generated content before you use it in your social media captions, blog articles and product descriptions.

It may make your workflow easier, but don’t rely on it too much. It can help give you an idea, a different perspective but never a complete and publish-ready content. Either way it needs a writer’s review and corrections.

Whether you choose to use AI generated content or not, it is the way of the future and something that may be worth trying. Next time you’re looking at creating content for your website or social media feeds, try using an AI content generator tool to see if they can help. Still stuck writing your content? Then reach out to Trilogy Solutions for help. We can write your blogs, create your social media content, or revamp your website copy. Give us a call today to find out how!

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How to do Keyword Research and Why it’s Important for SEO

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When it comes to increasing your website’s visibility, SEO reigns supreme. But before you can begin a stellar SEO strategy, you need to make sure you’re doing keyword research. Why, you may ask? Because keyword research is essentially the blueprint for your digital marketing strategy and serves as the foundation for your website’s SEO.

What is keyword research?

Keyword research is one of the most important factors in Google’s algorithm and can help you identify the type of content you will need to create. When you do keyword research, you’re identifying the words and phrases that users are searching for on Google when they are looking for information/products that relate to your industry. This helps you to identify what people are actually searching for and helps you to better understand your audience. Knowing the keywords your audience is searching for will allow you to create content and marketing strategies designed specifically for your audience using your chosen keywords. This will then drive traffic and potential customers to your site.

Why is keyword research so important?

The foundation of keyword research is to help you find which keywords are the best to target and provides you with valuable insight into what your audience is searching for on Google. It allows you to build your content and marketing strategy around what people are actually searching for which in turn increases your chances of being found on Google.

How to do keyword research

Starting keyword research can seem like an impossible task, but there are plenty of tools out there to help make it easier for you. Before you start plugging away with keyword research tools, however, there are a few steps you should follow to make sure you’re getting the most out of your keyword research.

Step 1: Important Topics

Start by making a list of important and relevant topics for your industry. This can include topics that you want to rank for and common words in your industry. For example, a store like Lululemon is going to want to rank for sportwear, leisure wear, women’s clothing etc. Put yourself in the shoes of your target audience and think about what types of things they would search for most frequently.

Step 2: Keywords

Once you have the topics you want to focus on, then it’s time to identify some keywords that fall under those topics. These are keywords you want to rank for in the search engine results pages. Again, for a company like Lululemon, they would want to rank for things like women’s hoodies, women’s yoga pants etc. These aren’t necessarily your final keywords; they will simply help to guide you as you do your keyword research.

You can also make a list of the keywords your website is already getting found for. To do this, you need to use a website analytics tool like Google Analytics and look through your organic search traffic to identify the keywords people are using to get to your site.

Step 3: Understand user intent

User intent is one of the most important factors when it comes to how well you rank on search engines like Google. It’s more important that your website addresses the problem the user intended to solve rather than simply have the keyword on your page that the searcher used.

To check what the user’s intent is in a keyword, it’s a good idea to enter the keyword into Google yourself to see what kinds of results come up. If the type of content that comes up is closely related to what you had intended, then you’re on the right track with that keyword.

Step 4: Research related search terms

Once you have a list of possible keywords, try using them in a Google search to see what other keywords appear. When you type in a phrase or keyword and scroll to the bottom of the Google results page, you’ll notice a list of suggested searches related to your original search. These keywords may give you ideas of other keywords to try.

Step 5: Keyword research tools

There are a number of great keyword research tools out there that can make searching for keywords easy, including:

• Ahrefs
• SEMrush
• Google Keyword Planner
• Keywordtool.io
• Ubersuggest
• Keywords Everywhere
• Moz
• KWFinder

Using a keyword research tool allows you to plug in a topic or chosen keyword and the tool will generate a list of suggested keywords, including search volume, trend, keyword difficulty, word count and cost-per-click percentage.

How to choose keywords

Once you’ve got your list of potential keywords, you then need to choose the ones that have the highest-ranking potential. Ultimately you want to look for keywords that have high traffic and search volume but low keyword difficulty.

Search volume and traffic show you how many people are searching for that keyword while the difficulty indicates how difficult it would be to rank for that keyword. If the keyword difficulty is high, you will have a harder time ranking for that keyword.

Try looking for more specific keywords and try using local keywords to increase your chances of ranking for your chosen keyword. And don’t forget to consider the relevance of your keyword! You want to make sure you’re creating content that aligns with your searcher’s intent and your brand.

Some keyword research tips

Once you get into the groove of keyword research, it will start to become easier. Here are some key tips to help guide you along the way.

1) Include long-tail keywords – use keywords containing 3 or more words
2) Avoid keyword stuffing – only use the keyword when it makes sense in your sentence or paragraph
3) Do some competitor research – see what your competitors are ranking for
4) Always use your target keyword in your title and URL

Keyword research is often the first step of any SEO campaign and can help guide your marketing campaigns too. Knowing how it’s done, and the steps needed to find the best keywords for your site is of utmost importance. If the steps seem overwhelming or if you just don’t have the time for SEO, then reach out to the team at Trilogy Solutions, because we can help! With our SEO packages, we’ll do the keyword research for you and help you rank higher on those search engine results pages!

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The Top 6 Social Media Trends to Watch Out for in 2023

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In the world of social media, one thing’s for sure – the landscape is constantly changing. Given that social media use has increased significantly in recent years and that people are spending a large chunk of their time on social media platforms, it’s important to stay on top of the changes and the trends.

In 2022, we saw a shift towards more relatable and authentic content, with people turning to their favourite social media platforms for inspiration, and entertainment. In 2023, there’s an even bigger shift towards community-led content, authenticity, and immersive experiences.

So, what does this all mean for your social media strategy in 2023? We’re breaking down the top 6 social media trends for you so you can keep your finger on the pulse and stay ahead of the social media game this year.

Trend 1: The Rise of the UGC

UGC (user generated content) is becoming more and more popular with brands. Unlike traditional influencers, who promote brands using their own social media channels, UGC creators give the content they make for promotion on the brands’ own channels. They are more like brand advocates than paid content creators. UGC creates a direct connection with consumers and cultivates a strong brand-customer relationship.

But not every brand has a collection of UGC to use, nor a team who can create photos that look authentic and organic. This is where UGC creators come in. They are essentially paid to create UGC-inspired content for brands, thus turning them into freelance content creators.

In 2023, we’ll most likely see dedicated UGC campaigns that reward and inspire customers to create content about a brand. Consider creating a campaign that encourages your followers to create content based on their purchases, or create a contest/giveaway related to people sharing their experiences with your brand.

Trend 2: The Role of AI in Social Media

By now we’re all familiar with some form of AI (artificial intelligence) but what does it mean in the world of social media? Simply put, it refers to software that automates certain parts of your social media strategy, like drafting social media posts or analyzing social media data. And like most technology, it’s always evolving.

You could be using AI in your social media strategy already, maybe without even realizing it. If not, then try using it to help with your copywriting. Many software tools will allow you to type in a few prompts and then the AI software will provide you with a number of copy suggestions.

However, it’s important to remember that AI will never replace your authentic self, and your unique, personalized content. AI software can help you come up with new ideas and caption starters, but it will never be able to truly capture your brand’s voice and personality – that’s where you come in! So, if you do decide to use AI in your social media strategy, make sure it’s only a part of it and that the rest of your content allows your voice to shine through.

Trend 3: Keyword Search and SEO

While hashtags are still a relevant part of your social media strategy, they are starting to take a backseat to keywords and SEO. Keyword optimized captions have recently been found to increase organic reach and engagement. Plus, many people are now using social media as a way to research brands, trends, and inspiration before they buy.

So, what does this mean for your social media strategy? Add keyword research to your list of to-dos. Do some research of your target market and look at what people are already searching for. Make a list of keywords your brand is likely to rank for and then create content around those keywords, with a keyword or two included in your caption.

However, keyword research isn’t just for your captions. Optimize your profile page with your chosen keywords so that your account is more likely to appear when someone searches for your keywords.

Trend 4: The Multi-Sensory Experience

Social media has become a multi-sensory experience and will continue to do so through 2023. Whether it’s through short form video, social audio or ASMR, there are a variety of ways brands are reaching their customers through a multi-sensory experience.

It’s predicted that multi-sensory social media will trend in 2023, with a variety of different formats (audio, video, text and even fully-immersive environments) bringing a new and more engaging experience to social media users.

What does this mean for your social media strategy? It can be as simple as including audio, GIFs, and music to your social media posts – even adding music to still photos on your Instagram feed.

Trend 5: The Importance of Authenticity

 Social media is no longer about perfectly curated feeds and inauthentic content. People no longer want to see an edited image or video, with heavily filtered photos. In 2023 (and beyond), social media users are looking for posts they can relate to, and posts that show a brand as its authentic self.

When it comes to your social media strategy, think of ways you can contribute value to your followers in a way that is authentic. This could be in the form of how-to videos, telling your brand story or a look behind the scenes at your brand.  As hard as it may be, it’s also important to show your face on your social feeds as this is one of the easiest ways to bring authenticity to your brand.

Trend 6: Social Commerce Will Continue to Grow

Social commerce is a huge industry and one that will continue to grow in 2023. You’ll see more companies using social media to promote their e-commerce products and services, with more and more users using social media as a shopping channel. What’s more, Facebook and Instagram will continue to invest in social commerce through new features that support an even easier shopping experience.

Having a Facebook or Instagram shop can shorten the customer journey, making it easier than ever before for users to shop directly from your post or ad. If you are a product based business, this is one trend you should definitely jump on for 2023. It can be as simple as adding a buy now button to your page or post and setting up your social media store.

With the constant change in technology and trends, it can be hard to stay on top of your digital marketing strategy. The world of social media continues to evolve and remains an integral part of a well-thought out marketing strategy.

At Trilogy Solutions, we can help you stay on top of the trends by mapping out your social media strategy, designing your graphics, doing your keyword research, or simply managing it all for you! Reach out to the team at Trilogy Solutions today, we can help!

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Our 6 Best Kept Secrets to a Successful Holiday Marketing Campaign

The lights are up, Christmas music is on, and holiday shopping is in full swing, making it the perfect time to get your holiday marketing campaign up and running. And it’s not something you want to leave to the very last minute either.

The holiday season is one of the most important times in the year for a business. It’s the ideal

time to grow your business and, with a well-designed marketing strategy, it can really inject a significant boost in your sales.

Creating a holiday strategy can seem like an overwhelming task, but it’s no reason to stress. Stick to the basics, use tried and true methods and, remember to throw in some holiday cheer. We’ve got the best kept secrets to get your business ready for the holiday season, with our top 6 tips to help you build your holiday marketing campaign.

 1. Start planning early

It’s never too early to start planning your holiday marketing campaign. One of the biggest mistakes a business can make is waiting until the last minute to get started. Planning and executing a successful campaign takes time, so it’s important to start before the holiday season gets into full swing.

Starting early also allows you to fine tune your messaging, create eye-catching graphics and make sure everything is ready to go when it’s time to launch your campaign. Ideally you should start planning 3 months in advance, but if you’ve started late, you can still create a campaign that will impress your customers and encourage sales.

2. Define your goals

Like with any marketing campaign, it’s important to know your priorities and set your goals accordingly. What are you hoping to achieve from your holiday marketing campaign? Knowing your focus allows you to set measurable goals that you can use as benchmarks for your campaign.

If this isn’t your first time running a holiday marketing campaign, then take a look at last year’s results and start from there. Look at the areas where you can improve, and set realistic goals based on your previous results. This will help make your campaign more customer focused and geared towards increased sales.

3. Determine your ideal audience

Before you can create a campaign for your customer, you need to know who that customer is and what drives them. Do a deep dive into your previous sales and social media activity. Who’s your audience, what kind of social media content do they engage with, and how often do they consume content?

Answering these simple questions will help you understand your ideal customer and allow you to tailor your marketing strategies to them and their needs. Marketing campaigns, (holiday campaigns included) tend to be shorter and more tailored to your specific audience, thus allowing you to create messages and offers that are more tempting rather than trying to appeal to a broader audience.

4. Decide on your holiday offer

The biggest question you want to answer in your holiday marketing campaign is this: what problem can I solve for my ideal customer? Your job is to figure out what that problem is and a potential solution to solve it. Maybe it’s a gift card incentive for those hard to shop for people on your list. Or a curated gift box for that special someone. Whatever it may be, you want to make sure you’re both wowing your customer and solving their problems at the same time.

You also want to make sure your offer will motivate your customer to buy. This could be done through researching competitors, looking at past purchases or even looking at your own experiences.

5. Be creative with your content

First and foremost, have FUN with your content! The holiday season is not a time to get serious, it’s a time to have fun and show your creative side. And with so many businesses doing the exact same thing you are, it’s important to stand out from the crowd. Get creative and try to come up with different ways to grab the attention of your audience.

Once you’ve created your content, it’s important to choose where and how you will run it. Try to choose a variety of channels to reach as many people in your ideal audience as possible. This can include:

  • Social Media
  • Email newsletters
  • Blog
  • Ads
  • Website

Remember to keep things simple. The holidays can be a busy time of year so don’t add even more stress to your plate. Start small with your holiday campaign, especially if it’s your first holiday season. You can always build on your first campaign for years to come.

6. Create holiday specific landing pages

Once you’ve created your holiday marketing campaign, you want to have a place to send potential customers when they click on the link. And you want to make it’s as easy as possible for them to buy once they’re there. Where they land after clicking on a link can either make or break a sale, and during the holiday season you want to make sure they follow through.

Make your holiday sales page colorful and fun, with a holiday feel (think Santa graphic or presents). You should also have easy to spot call to action buttons like “buy now” or “shop”, and easy to spot deals so that potential customers know exactly what you’re offering.

Your holiday marketing campaign is also not the time to be a hands-off marketer. No matter what your business size, you should always be ready for potential problems and have a plan to fix any issues that may come up, including issues with your website, digital ads, social media or email marketing. Try to look at your campaign from all angles and each point of contact for your customer. Go through the customer journey and think about any issues that may arise along the way. Knowing what could happen and having a plan to fix it could go a long way to ensuring your holiday campaign is successful.

The holiday season can be the biggest money maker of the year for most businesses, even small business. With so many people turning to online shopping, the market is heavy with competition. In order for your brand to succeed during the holidays, you need to have a well-thought out and planned holiday marketing campaign to make sure you stand out from all the rest. Start planning early, create your content and keep your customers at the forefront of your mind throughout the entire process. Still feeling like it’s all a little too much? Don’t have enough time to plan a great marketing campaign? Then reach out to the team at Trilogy Solutions. We can help you get started or even take the campaign off your hands entirely. Either way, we’re here to help!

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How to Start a Successful Blog: 10 Tips and Tricks for Beginners

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Have you ever read a blog and thought to yourself – hey I could do this; I could write a blog! You have stories and knowledge to share, and a blog is the perfect way to get that knowledge out to the world. It’s also a great outlet for self-expression and can increase your online visibility, allowing you to connect directly with your audience. But starting a blog can be intimidating for people who aren’t professional writers. And if you don’t know the exact steps to take, you may be hesitant to even get started.

However, once you know the process, it’s relatively straightforward and simple. There are millions of blogs and bloggers on the web today, and you could easily become one of them! By taking the process step-by-step and following our 10 tips, you can quickly grow your audience and share your knowledge and ideas with the world.

1) Choose a niche for your blog

A niche is a specific topic or content area that your blog will focus on. Choosing your niche will also determine your target audience. If you’re writing a blog for your small business, then your niche will be the industry of your business.

Knowing your niche can also help you choose the name for your blog as well as provide you with a focus for your blogging strategy. Some niche ideas include writing about books, fashion, travel, photography, and food. Choosing a niche will help you build a dedicated following which will in turn bring your blog a steady stream of traffic.

Pick a niche that you’re passionate about, so that writing your blog will come easily and the tone of your blog will be natural. It will also ensure you have plenty of ideas for your blog.

2) Choose a domain name and web host

Once you’ve chosen your niche, you need to choose a domain name for your blog and a place to host it. A domain name is what users type into the address bar to get to your website. Essentially, it’s the home address for your blog.

Your domain name doesn’t have to be flashy, funny, or exciting. Your domain name is the first impression for your blog, so you want to make sure it’s both memorable and easy to remember. You may also want to choose one that is as close as possible to your blog name. To secure a custom domain name, purchase it from a domain registrar of your choice. Once you’ve chosen your domain name, then it’s time to look at hosting.

Web hosting is a service that allows you to publish a website and all of its files online, making it possible for people to visit your site. Basically, it’s like renting a space on a server, giving you access to all that is required to build and run a blog.

The most important things to look for when choosing a host are convenience, speed, and great support. At Trilogy Solutions, we offer web hosting services which include SSL certificate and installation, nightly backups, malware scans, and 24/7/365 support.

3) Set-up a platform for your blog

Once you’ve chosen your domain name, and hosting provider, it’s time to decide on the blogging platform that your blog will run on. You can choose a hosted platform like WordPress or a content management system that allows you to build your own website.

A platform like WordPress is a good choice for beginner bloggers as it is user-friendly, requires little to no maintenance and is quick to set-up. However, it can be limiting so your options for differentiation and customization may be limited. It can also be difficult to scale, so if you have any plans to grow your site, a self-hosted platform may be the way to go.

4) Design and customize your blog

This is where the fun begins! Let your inner graphic designer loose and start to design your blog to your tastes and brand. Choose a layout, colour scheme and style elements that fit your brand, and speak to your audience. The process of selecting the right theme for your blog can be overwhelming, but remember you aren’t necessarily tied to the first blog theme you choose. You can always change it up if it doesn’t quite feel right.

When you start designing your blog, the rule of thumb is to aim for simplicity. The point of your blog is not graphics, images, and design – it’s the content found within. So, make sure the reading and browsing experience is a good fit for your audience.

5) Create necessary pages

Website pages are a vital component of your blog, even if you only plan on writing blog posts. Unlike posts, web pages require little to no edits or updates. The most common types of pages on a website include:
• Homepage
The introductory page of your website, the homepage acts as the first impression of your site. Your homepage should include your best and latest pieces of content.

• About page
The section of your page where visitors can learn more about your website, your brand, and its objectives. Including an about page on your site gives it credibility and shows your audience you’re a real person and not a robot behind a screen.

• Contact page
This page contains information on how to get in touch with the website administrator or creator. A contact page usually includes an email address, phone number, links to social media profiles, or contact form.

6) Publish content

This might seem like an obvious one, but you will need to publish some content to your site! No matter what you choose to write about, keep in mind there are going to be other blogs out there with the same information and topics. It’s important to remember to try and be unique in your blog posts so that your readers keep coming back for more.

One way to do that is to simply write about what you love, and your passion for the topic will come through in your writing. Blogs aren’t mean to be A+ English papers, they’re meant to be casual, with an easy-to-read tone so the reader feels as though they’re reading a message from a friend. If there’s no passion in your writing, your content will not come across well, so find a topic you are comfortable with and know a lot about.

7) The importance of headlines

When it comes to blog posts, the headline is the first impression for your reader. If your headline isn’t compelling or attention grabbing, no one will even start reading your post! Your headline is your one chance at enticing the reader into clicking on your post and reading through your content.

The best headlines tend to promise readers an answer to their problem or the latest information on a topic. Once you’ve decided on the topic for your blog post, you’ll want to focus on creating a headline with oomph. The key to a great headline is using active, dynamic verbs. Use less adjectives and more verbs as adjectives will weigh down your headline. You’ll also want to tease your readers without giving the whole post away. Pique their curiosity to draw your readers in but don’t satisfy it just yet.

8) Attention grabbing content

Once your headline pulls the reader in, keep their interest piqued with attention grabbing content. Remember not everyone wants to read an academic piece full of facts. They’re looking for meaningful content that can help answer their questions and solve their problems.

The best way to do this is to follow through on the promise that your headline made and provide the solutions/advice you said you would. You want to make sure that your solution or advice to whatever problem you’re trying to solve for your reader is clear, simple, and hard to ignore.

9) Format scanning friendly posts

When reading a blog post, most readers don’t actually read through each and every word. For the most part, they scan the blog posts for the information most relevant to their question/wonder.

So, to make it easier for your readers. Set up your blog posts so that the information is easy to read and simple to scan through. There are two ways you can do this: subheadings and bullet points. Subheadings help your reader skip any unnecessary background information to get to what’s new and important. Bullet points help to hold the attention of your reader, and work to break up the text.

10) Promote and grow your following

Once your blog is up and running, the next step is to find people to read it. Even if you have high quality content, it won’t matter if no one knows it’s out there. That’s why promoting your blog, whether through social media channels, email marketing or SEO practices, is so important.

Promoting your blog on social media and online forums is a great way to find your audience and connect with them. Focus on communities that will appreciate what you’re writing about and who will be interested in what you have to say. Many bloggers use social media to share their posts and drive traffic to their sites.

Email marketing is also a great way to create interest around your blog and create an audience. Make sure that your email isn’t just about your blog, rather offer real value in each email you send. Create engaging subject lines and call to actions that link to your blog.

There are so many advantages to starting a blog, for both personal and professional development. A blog can even help you make some extra money! Don’t let the idea of a blog overwhelm you, take a deep breath, slow down and just start writing. You never know where it may take you! And if things don’t work out for you right away, be patient and know that you can always make adjustments and continue to grow.

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Creating a Content Strategy: 10 Tips to Help You Get Started

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When it comes to social media marketing, do you have a clearly defined content strategy? When marketing your brand on social media, your job is to create content that not only entertains but educates and keeps your followers coming back for more. Your content needs to be so engaging that someone who views your post once or twice then turns into a lifelong supporter of your brand. It’s not an easy task, but you can make it a whole lot easier on yourself by having a clearly defined strategy that aligns with your long-term marketing goals.

Posting here and there is sometimes easier than sitting down and crafting a complete content strategy. It can be a daunting and intimidating task. But it can also be the most important work that you do when it comes to your marketing plan – no matter how big or small your brand is.

What is a content strategy?

Ultimately, a content strategy is a plan that outlines your content marketing goals. It’s the process of setting goals, researching your audience, and figuring out what content will help target your ideal customer, so that you can get your brand out into the online world! A successful content strategy will work to attract your target audience and keep them engaged even after a purchase.

Why do I need a content strategy?

Well, let’s think of it this way – without a content strategy, you’re basically taking a shot in the dark every time you post something to social media, with the hopes that it will target your ideal audience and build their trust in your brand. A well-crafted strategy can help you to make better decisions, keep everyone in your business on the same page and help you to stay accountable. It can also help you improve your resource and budget allocation, as you can plan ahead of time and determine the best way to make the most out of your resources.

Plus, your content strategy won’t just help to attract leads, it will also help to educate your audience and generate awareness around your brand. So, are you ready to build your content strategy? Here are our top ten tips to help you get started.

Tip 1: Set your mission, goals and KPIs

Your mission and goals should align with your brand’s overall vision and products/services. One of the most important reasons any brand creates great content is to become more visible on their chosen social media platform. If this sounds like you, then your content strategy should align with this mission and should include content that increases awareness of your brand.

When it comes to KPIs (key performance indicators), they should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely (SMART). SMART KPIs will help you to commit to your goals so that you can consistently work towards them over time. KPIs can include things like social engagement, reach, or conversions.

Tip 2: Know your audience (and know them well!)

Before you can even think about what kind of content you want to create, you need to really think about who you’re creating it for and why. A buyer persona can form the base for your content strategy, but it’s important to remember that your audience isn’t solely made up of buyers. You also want to build trust in your audience, so that long time followers eventually turn into dedicated buyers.

Delivering content that attracts your potential customers/clients will draw them into your brand and will then encourage them to take action. You can also become a valuable source of information for your audience by providing industry tips.

Tip 3: Analyze historical content performance

Sometimes you need to investigate the past to know what to create in the future. Look at the content you’ve created in the past and do a deep dive into the metrics. Look at how your content has been doing, who has been engaging with it and when. Things like likes, comments and shares are important pieces of information that can help you see what content works for your audience and what doesn’t.

Tip 3: Look at your existing content

As much as it’s important to look at how your content has performed in the past, it’s also important to look at what you’ve been posting. Take some time to audit your content, and see where you can make some changes, without a complete overhaul. Maybe your content just needs to be more consistent, or maybe you need to adjust your graphics or captions.

Tip 4: Create a content calendar

Creating a content strategy doesn’t just involve setting goals and looking at data, it also involves planning your content out ahead of time to stay organized and on top of your game. By planning your content out ahead of time, you can allocate your resources appropriately, and see where you need to make adjustments.

Schedule the content you’ll create into a monthly calendar, and include the type of graphic, caption, and content you’ll be posting. Create the calendar at least 1 month ahead to give you enough time to allocate resources, create graphics and schedule your posts. The content calendar can then act as a blueprint for your content strategy and help keep you focused.

Tip 5: Set your priorities

Effective planning includes setting priorities. If you plan your actions, you can identify the most critical tasks. Prioritizing your actions can also protect your strategy from major failures. It can also allow you to prioritize your resources so you can put your best people on the most important tasks.

Tip 6: Find relevant topics

Before you start weeding out the individual topics you want to focus on, look at the big picture instead. What big themes do you want to cover this year? You may end up wanting to develop a large, integrated campaign or you may want to focus on several different topics – the choice is yours!

Try generating a list of topics that you want to focus on for both the short and long term. To decide if a topic is worth pursuing, think about 2 things – if it’s useful for your target audience and if it will make a difference on your bottom line. Once you have a list of potential topics, narrow them down into 3 to 5 content pillars. These will serve as the themes that your brand can use to create posts. 

Tip 7: Research your competitors

Imitation is often the greatest form of flattery and it’s no different when it comes to content. Know what your competition is doing and what is working for them. You don’t have to copy exactly what they do but try to follow some of the topics that seem to work well for them.

Choose 1-3 competitors and look at their social media accounts. What is their tone of voice and target audience? What kinds of content formats are they using? What main topics or categories do they cover? What are their top performing pieces of content? It’s also important to look beyond your direct competitors. Also look at others within your industry or even industries like yours to get a bigger picture of your potential content.

Tip 8: Map the buyer’s journey

Before you start creating your content strategy, think about the purpose of each piece of content you’re going produce. Make sure that your content covers every part of the customer journey since your audience may look slightly different depending on which part of the journey they’re in.

Consider creating content for each stage of the buying process, from awareness to consideration to decision and retention.  Brand awareness is by far the most important stage of the journey, as it helps to build trust with your customers/clients.

Tip 9: Develop your content

When it comes to content, quality should come before everything else, including your desire to increase your number of followers or reach. When developing your content, think of your customer’s pain points first, not your own wants and needs. Try to develop content that resonates with your audience with a focus on original ideas, and diverse content formats.

Tip 10: Conduct a gap analysis

To really stand out in the crowd, it’s important to know what your audience wants against what they’re already getting. The gap between the two forms your sweet spot for content creation. If your content isn’t original or different from what’s already out there, then it’s not going to stand out from the crowd. Be unique in your content creation and show your audience what you have to offer that others may not.

A formal gap analysis can be done manually in a spreadsheet, with the goal of tracking the content produced by competitors, including how it performs. After you’ve compiled the data, take a look and see where there are opportunities for you to stand out.

A clearly defined content strategy can be the difference between a successful marketing campaign and a mediocre one. Outlining your goals, coming up with a plan and creating content geared towards those goals will ensure your content marketing efforts are well received by your audience. However, if creating a content strategy just seems like too much work, reach out to a digital marketing company like Trilogy Solutions. We can not only create a content strategy for you, we can also manage your social media so you can get back to running your business and hitting those goals!

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Level Up Your Content Strategy: The Top 10 Ways to Source New Content

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Whether you’re a social media marketing newbie or a seasoned pro, there must have been a time or two where you’ve struggled to come up with new and fresh social media content. We all know it’s not always easy coming up with new content ideas or topics. Content is such an important part of social media marketing, and you need to have ideas that stand out from the crowd.

Before you start sourcing content, you need to ask yourself some questions about your brand and your audience. It’s also important to note that as a brand, you’re attempting to solve your customer/client’s problems and answer questions that your target audience has regarding your industry. In other words, you’re looking for the questions people may be asking, things they search for or things they wonder about. Asking yourself these questions first can help you come up with some great content ideas.

But, depending on your industry or niche, there could be a limited number of things you could post about, or maybe you’ve just hit a wall and have fallen victim to writer’s block. Either way, we’ve compiled the top 10 ways to source new content for you, so next time you’re struggling to come up with an idea, give one of these a try!

1. Social Media Followers

One great way to find new content is to look directly at social media. Look at the profiles of brands/companies you follow on your social media feeds and see what they’re posting about, and what brands they’re interacting with.

Take a look at your followers as well. Ultimately, they are your audience so take note of the content they engage with. See what kind of content ideas you can come up with by tracking what they share, reply to, like, save etc. You could even reach out to your followers directly and ask for replies. The replies can lead to great content ideas for your brand.

2. Blog comments

If you have a blog, take some time to review the comments that come up on your posts. The comments you receive can be a great source of inspiration and can give ideas about what to post on your social media feeds or even ideas for upcoming blogs! If people ask questions in the comments section, even better! Gear your content towards answering those questions, as you never know how many of your followers may have the same ones!

3. Facebook Groups

Reach out and join Facebook groups related to your industry. They can be a constant source of new topic ideas. Join several relevant to your business and begin to participate in the discussion within the groups. If you find a particular group isn’t proving to be a valuable source of content, leave it and try another. Spending just 10 minutes a day in group discussions can provide you with countless content ideas, especially if you find groups that have a lot of questions/answers.

4. Social Media Feeds

As we’ve said before, social media is a great place to find new content. Spend some time on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram, and you can easily come up with enough content ideas to fill a monthly calendar.

Twitter is an amazing tool to find great content ideas and talking points for your industry. Using Twitter search, you can easily search for topics related to your business that can turn into ideas for new posts.

Facebook fan pages are another great source of content. Look for pages related to your niche and look at what they are posting and sharing. You can also look at the pages of leaders in your industry to see what they are posting as well. Doing so can get the wheels turning and can provide a good starting point for your own ideas.

Pinterest is another gem for content ideas! You’ll find a little bit of everything on Pinterest, from photos and memes to how-tos and instructional posts. Use the search bar to look up topics related to your industry and see what people are pinning.

5. Buzzsumo

If you’ve never heard of Buzzsumo, then now is the time to check it out! Buzzsumo is a great tool to find out what content performs best in any industry. You can search the keywords or type of content related to your business and a list of the most shared blog posts, stories, and other content centered around those keywords will pop up. There is both a paid and free version of Buzzsumo, with the free version providing you with 10 searches a month.

6. Community sites

There are several community sites and forums on the web that can provide you with a number of content ideas.

Reddit is an amazing place to discover things you can re-share with your audience, and each industry has its own subreddit with industry specific topics and information. For content ideas, keep an eye on subreddits related to your industry.

Quora is another great place to find content inspiration. It’s a huge forum where people ask questions about anything and everything. Simply type in topics related to your industry and you will find questions that you can then turn into content.

7. Email newsletters

Email newsletters are a great way to find the most trending topics in your industry. Sign up for email newsletters from the top brands related to your industry to get weekly or monthly content ideas sent right to your inbox!

8. Answer the public

Answer the public is another great place to find the top questions people are asking when they search for a given topic. Type in a keyword that relates to your industry, and you’ll get a list of questions people are typing into Google that relate to the keyword. You can then use these questions for caption inspiration, a new product idea or a blog post.

9. Google Alerts

Schedule Google alerts for specific topics (or keyword phrases). These alerts will deliver a list of content based on the topic that you selected via email. It’s a great way to have Google working for you (instead of the other way around). You’ll get top circulating content delivered directly to your inbox.

10. Ask your audience

Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback from your followers. After all, they’re following you for a reason. Hop on to Instagram stories and use features like Polls and Questions to quiz your audience. Ask questions like, “what are your biggest struggles with…?”, “what do you hate most about…?”, “what frustrates you about…?”. You can then use their answers to guide your content.

There you have it! You’ll never be without great content ideas using any of the ways we discussed above. And when you have a constant source of content ideas, you’ll always have things to post on your social media feeds to keep your audience coming back for more!

Don’t have the time to put into your social media marketing? We can help! Trilogy Solutions offers social media management services that take care of all of that for you! We’ll do all the heavy lifting to keep your social media feeds fresh and full of great content. Reach out today to find out more!

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