Digital Marketing Tools Magazine November 2020

The Best Times
To Post On
How To Finally
Social Media
The Definitive Guide
Monetize
5 Actionable Tips
for an Effective
The Science of How B2B
The
Strategy
Algorithm SPECIAL:
Works
How to Get to the Top of
How To Use
’s
Messenger Search Results
to Boost Your Business [Interactive Guide]
Digital Marketing Tools Magazine | Issue 89 | November 2020

© Digital Marketing Tools Magazine 2020
Nick Nicholls
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Contents
5
EDITOR’S NOTES
COVER STORY
How to Get to the Top of Google’s Search Results [Interactive Guide]
7 by Joshua Hardwick
FEATURE STORIES
How to Rank Higher on Google Maps in 2021 by Kristen McCormick

32
The Best Times To Post On Social Media: The Definitive Guide
49 (With Stats & Facts To Back It Up) by Kim Lochery
How To Finally Monetize Pinterest! by Kim Garst

66
The Science of the Instagram Algorithm by Scott Ayres
75
5 Actionable Tips for an Effective B2B YouTube Strategy
88 by Emil Kristensen
How To Use Facebook Messenger to Boost Your Business

95 by Ana Gotter
RESOURCES & REVIEWS
Contributor Bios
110
9 Insider Tips For Increasing Your LinkedIn Leads
119 by Michael Shannon
Digital Marketing Tools Magazine 4

Welcome to Digital Marketing Tools!
EDITOR’S NOTES
Thank you to everyone who clicked the link below and took
my quick survey. You said you wanted more SEO and Content
Marketing Tips.
My goal is to bring you the latest digital marketing tools, practical

step-by-step guides and ‘how-to’ blueprints from the best SEO,
Social and Content Marketing masters on the planet!
That said, here are the latest marketing strategies, Content

Marketing tools, Social Selling tips and SEO blueprints from
today’s top digital marketing professionals.
• How to Get to the Top of Google’s Search Results

[Interactive Guide]
• How to Rank Higher on Google Maps in 2021
• The Best Times To Post On Social Media: The Definitive

Guide (With Stats & Facts To Back It Up)
• How To Finally Monetize Pinterest!
• The Science of How the Instagram Algorithm Works
• 5 Actionable Tips for an Effective B2B YouTube Strategy
• How To Use Facebook Messenger to Boost Your Business
• 9 Insider Tips For Increasing Your LinkedIn Leads
Editor-in-Chief

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How to Get to the Top of
COVER STORY
Google’s Search Results

[Interactive Guide]
by Joshua Hardwick
If you run a business, you’ll probably want to appear at the top of Google
when people search for certain keywords.
For example, if you’re a plumber in London, you might want to show up when people search for
“plumber near me” or “london plumber.” Most people click the first result, so appearing at the top
usually means more traffic, leads, and customers.
But how exactly do you appear here above the competition?

Digital Marketing Tools Magazine

Just follow this flowchart:
8
Not sure what each of those four possibilities look like?
Here’s a quick cheat sheet:

If you’ve hit the end of the flow chart, check our list of SERP features. There might still be a way to
appear right at the top.
Otherwise, hit one of the options below to jump straight to the instructions:
How to get to the top of Google

with ads

with local SEO

by winning the featured snippet

with SEO

How to get to the top of Google with ads
If ads are what you see at the top of the results for your target keyword, then the only way to appear
right at the top of Google is to pay for ads.
How? Just sign up for Google ads and run a search campaign.
Google search ads work on a pay per click (PPC) basis. That means you bid on the keywords that you
want to show up for in Google. If you’re a plumber in London, you can bid on keywords like “plumber
in london” and “plumber near me.”
You can add geographic targeting, too, so you won’t be advertising to folks that live where your
business doesn’t operate.

Just know that bidding on a keyword doesn’t mean that you’ll always show up at the top of the ads
block. If other people are willing to pay more for a click, there’s a chance you’ll appear lower down or
not at all.
It’s also crucial that your landing page and ad copy align with the keyword you’re targeting. Google’s
Quality Score gives you some insight into this. In Google’s words, “Higher Quality Scores typically
lead to lower costs and better ad positions.”
Quality Score (QS) in Google Ads.

That said, while ads are a fantastic way to appear at the top of Google fast, it’s 100% pay to play. The
second you stop pumping money into your campaigns, the second you stop showing up at the top
of Google.
It’s also true that organic results may get more clicks than ads, so being in position one with an ad
doesn’t always equate to more clicks. That’s because most people prefer to click organic results.
For example, if we search for “best VPN,” we see four ads at the top of the results:

But if we check this keyword in Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer, only 19% of clicks go to the paid results.
Most of the clicks are on the organic (non-paid) search results further down the page.
If this is the case for the keyword you want to get search traffic from, it might be worth investing in
SEO instead of, or alongside PPC.

with local SEO
If people search for your keyword when looking for local businesses, you’ll often see a ‘map pack’ at
the top of the results.
Unlike most search results, map pack listings take you to the business’s Google My Business listing,
not their website.

Google My Business is a free business listing from Google. It’s a place where you can list all the
essential details about your business: opening times, address, phone number, website, and more.
It’s also somewhere that customers can leave reviews.
If you want to appear in Google’s map pack results and don’t have a Google My Business listing,
that’s your first port of call.
However, most businesses won’t be able to rank here just by signing up for Google My Business.
Google’s aim is to rank the “best,” most trustworthy local businesses in the ‘map pack,’ so you need
to use local SEO tactics to stand the best chance of showing up.

You can learn more in our complete guide to local SEO, but the basics are:
• Optimize your Google My Business listing.
• Build high-quality local citations.
• Get more reviews from customers.
• Build links to the pages that matter.

by winning the featured snippet
Featured snippets are boxes that appear at the top search results for some keywords. They show a
short, relevant snippet from one of the top-ranking pages.
If you already rank on the first page for a query with a featured snippet at the top, it may be possible
to win that position with a bit of on-page SEO.

You can check your current ranking position in Google or with Ahrefs’ free rank checker. Just plug in
your keyword, country, and domain.
SIDENOTE. It’s best to use a rank checking tool as Google search results are often personalized
based on your browsing history, location, and other factors. Using a rank checker removes this bias
from the equation and gives you a more accurate sense of your true ranking position in your target
country.
From there, assuming you rank in the top 10, it’s a case of making sure your page is optimized for
the snippet.
We explain this process in more detail here, but the basics are quite simple.
First, make sure that your page actually provides the information that Google wants to show in the
snippet. For example, if we look at the featured snippet for the keyword “guest blogging,” we see that
it’s a definition.

Our guide to guest blogging ranks in position 7, but as we didn’t define the term on the page, it would
probably be impossible for us to win the snippet. We’d need to write and add a definition to the page
to be eligible.
Second, make sure the information is in the format Google prefers. This varies depending on the
keyword. For “guest blogging,” the snippet is a short paragraph. For “how to do affiliate marketing,”
it’s a numbered list.

HOW TO FIND LOW-HANGING FEATURED SNIPPET OPPORTUNITIES

Paste your domain into Ahrefs’ Site Explorer, go to the Organic keywords report, then filter for
keywords with featured snippets in the results where you currently rank in positions 2–10.
For example, we rank second for “google search operators” but don’t own the snippet.
With a bit of on-page optimization, we could probably change that.

How to get
to the top
of Google
with SEO
If you see regular ‘blue link’
organic results on top of
Google, you’ll need to invest
in SEO.
As a starting point, that means

paying attention to SEO best
practices and having a site
that’s:
• Mobile-friendly
• Fast loading
• Easy to use (clear

navigation, good UX,
etc.)
• Secure (i.e., HTTPS not

HTTP)
• Well-structured
• Free of other technical

SEO issues.
However, best practices and

optimizations will rarely be
enough to rank in the top
spot. If you’ve got the basics
covered and are still nowhere
to be seen, run through this
flowchart:

We explain how to execute this process from start-to-finish in our guide to ranking on Google’s first
page, but here’s a simplified version to get you started:
Check the competition
Align your page with search intent
Cover the topic in full
Build high-quality backlinks
Add internal links

Step 1. Check the competition
Ranking on Google is not a single-player game. Every site ranking on the first page is your competitor.
You’ll have to surpass them to get to the number one spot. So the first thing you need to do is check
the strength of the competition relative to your website.
To do that, search for your keyword and eyeball the caliber of sites on the first page.
If we do this for the keyword “womens pajamas,” the top results are dominated by huge brands like
Kohls, Target, and Amazon.

Unless you’re also a big brand, it’d probably be pretty challenging to outrank these sites.
For a keyword like “tall womens pajamas,” things look a bit more promising. There are a few lesser-
known brands on the first page there’s even a small brand ranking #1.
If things look difficult at this stage, it’s probably best to pursue a different keyword—at least if you
want a chance of ranking in the short-to-medium term.
Step 2. Align your page with search intent

Search intent is the reason behind a searcher’s query. For example, if you search for “blogging tips,”
you’ll notice that all of the top-ranking pages are unordered lists of tips.

If you search for “how to write a blog post,” they’re all how-to guides with step-by-step instructions.

To stand the best chance of ranking at the top of Google, you should create the type of content that
people are looking for. You can do this by searching for your target keyword and identifying the three
C’s of search intent:
• Content type: Are the top-ranking pages mostly blog posts, product pages, product category
pages, or landing pages?
• Content format: Are the top-ranking pages mostly how-to guides, step-by-step tutorials, list
posts, opinion pieces, reviews, comparisons, or something else?
• Content angle: Is there a dominant unique selling proposition used by the top-ranking pages?
(e.g., for beginners, in 2020, etc.)
Step 3. Cover the topic in full

Google wants to rank pages that cover the things searchers want to know. But how do you know
what questions and subtopics Google deems important for this keyword?
The best starting point is to eyeball top-ranking pages for commonalities. For example, the three
top-ranking pages for “paleo diet” all talk about foods to eat. That tells us this is probably something
most people searching for this keyword want to know about.

You can also plug a few top-ranking pages into Ahrefs’ Content Gap tool to find common keywords.
Just paste in the page URLs and leave the bottom field blank.
If we do this for the three top-ranking pages for “paleo diet,” there are hundreds of common keywords.
While many are just different ways of searching for the same thing like “paleo diet” and “paleolithic
diet,” there are a few keywords that represent subtopics like “what is the paleo diet,” “paleo diet foods,”
and “why paleo is bad for you.”

It would probably be worth talking about these things if you wanted to rank for “paleo diet.”

Step 4. Build high-quality backlinks
Backlinks are an important ranking factor. Google talks about them here, and we also found a clear
positive correlation between backlinks and organic traffic in our study of over one billion pages.

But how do you know how many backlinks you need to rank on top of Google?
Plug your keyword into Ahrefs’ free SERP checker and see how many domains link to the top-ranking
page.
Just know that it’s not all about quantity. You might be able to outrank a page with lots of mediocre
links with only a few high-quality links. Learn more in this video.
Step 5. Add internal links

Backlinks aren’t the only way to boost the ‘authority’ of a web page. Relevant internal links from other
pages on your site also help. If you think you’ve built enough high-quality backlinks and still haven’t
quite hit the number one spot, it might be worth adding a few internal links.
How can you find relevant internal linking opportunities? Just Google site:yourwebsite.com
“keyword” to find pages on your site that mention the keyword or phrase.
For example, if we wanted to add relevant internal links to our SEO checklist, we’d search
site:ahrefs.com “seo checklist”.

Here’s one example we found from our search:
You can see that the post includes the phrase “SEO checklist” but it doesn’t link anywhere. This is a
great opportunity to add an internal link to our blog post.

Final thoughts
Getting on top of Google search is rarely an easy task, but it’s not rocket science either. You just need
to figure out what type of results show up first and make an effort to get your website to show up
there.
Looking to learn more about SEO? Check out the video below.

How to Rank Higher
FEATURE STORIES
on Google Maps
in 2021
by Kristen McCormick
Your Google Maps listing is a crucial marketing tool for your business. It can
help you get discovered by new customers, stand out above competitors,
and generate more business—all for free. But these benefits are really
only attainable if your listing has strong visibility, and just because your
business is listed in an area does not mean Google will automatically rank
it for searches in that area.
In fact, proximity is only just one of many factors Google Maps takes into account when ranking
business listings. In this guide, I’m going to walk you through 10 tactics/strategies to get your Google
Maps listing to rank higher in results and reap all of the associated benefits.

We’re going to cover:
• How to create and claim your Google Maps listing if you haven’t already done so.
How to Rank Higher on Google Maps in 2021
• How to provide supplemental information that boosts your rank and increases your appeal.
• Additional steps you can take on your website to further improve the rank of your Google Maps
listing.
Why rank higher on Google Maps?

Research shows that Google Maps is the preferred navigation app for 67% of consumers. And with
consumers rarely looking past the first few results when looking for a place to go, it’s crucial to make
sure your Google Maps listing is optimized to show up first for relevant searches.
Research also shows that these consumers end up on Google Maps business listings from a keyword
(aka “discovery”) search far more often (84% of the time) than from business name (aka “direct”)
search. That being said, it’s important that your listing ranks high on Google Maps for these terms
your potential customers are searching.

Another reason to rank on Google Maps is that the top three Google Maps listings will also display in
regular Google Search results if applicable. And with 46% of searches on Google having local intent,
showing up in that “Local 3-Pack” can greatly increase the visibility of your business.
Ranking higher on Google Maps typically means ranking higher on Google Search as well.
The third reason to rank higher on Google Maps is because the things you do to rank higher will improve
the quality of your listing and add multiple ways for consumers to engage with your business. With
86% of consumers using Google maps to look up a business, this opens up a lot of opportunities to
boost engagement.

How to get your business listing
to rank higher on Google maps
So how do you get your business listing to show up higher in Google Maps? Just like how there
are on-page and off-page optimizations for local website SEO, there are on-listing and off-listing
optimizations for business listing SEO. But first, you need to get listed on Google Maps and claim
your listing, which we’ll be covering next.
1. Add your business to Google Maps

Of course, you can’t rank higher or perform successful Google Maps marketing if you don’t have a
Google Maps listing in the first place. If you already have one, skip this section. If you don’t have a
listing or are not sure, follow the steps below to add your business to Google Maps:
1. Go to Google.com/maps or to the Google Maps app on your smartphone and search for your
business name.
2. If it appears in the drop-down menu with a location next to it, then you have a listing! Skip to the
next section.

3. If your business name doesn’t appear, you’ll see an option in the drop-down menu to “add a missing
place.”
Once you click that, you’ll be prompted to provide your name, category, and location.

Something to note here is that anyone in the world can add a business to Google Maps. So, even if you
yourself haven’t done so, it’s still best to check and make sure your business listing doesn’t already
exist. And don’t worry: No matter who it is, the person who adds your business to Google Maps does
not have control over that listing. Only the one who claims the listing by proving ownership of the
business has that control, which is what we’ll get into next.
2. Claim your Google Maps business listing

The second step in getting your business to rank higher on Google Maps is to claim your listing.
This is because when you create your listing, all you are able to provide is the name, category, and
location; but when you claim your listing, you can provide many more details about your business,
and the more information a business listing contains, the higher it will rank on Google Maps. Plus,
you can’t do any of the other steps in this guide if your listing is not claimed.

The prerequisite to claiming your business listing on Google Maps is having a free Google My
Business account. If you have an account already, simply pull up your Google Maps business listing,
select the option that says “Claim this business” or “Own this business?” and follow the prompts.
If you don’t have a Google My Business account, head over to this post and we’ll walk you through
creating an account and claiming your business with it.
3. Add information to your Google Maps business listing

Alright, so now that you have a Google Maps business listing and a Google My Business account
linked to it, you are armed and ready to optimize it for higher ranking in local search results. As I
mentioned earlier, the more information your listing provides, the higher it will rank in results. To
add more information to your listing, log in to your Google My Business account. Here you will see a
dashboard with several tabs down the side.
Select the “Info” tab, which includes your name, category, address, service area (if applicable), hours,
special hours, phone number, website, products, services, attributes, and description. Here are some
tips for optimizing these Google My Business account sections for higher ranking on Google Maps:

Be consistent with name and address
Google Maps ranks businesses it can trust, and one measure of your trustworthiness is the consistency
of information about your business across the web. For example, say you have a business called
“North Shore Wellness Center.” Make sure your business name in your Google My Business dashboard
is exactly that and not a slight variation, such as N. Shore Wellness Center or North Shore Wellness
Ctr. Also, make sure this name is identical across all of your other online properties—your website,
Yelp listing, Facebook profile, and more. The same goes for address information (for example, using
“St” vs Street”).
Use a local phone number

Google isn’t keen on toll-free (800 and 877) numbers because these types of numbers are frequently
used for spam. Use a local telephone number with the area code of your location. This will help you
to rank higher in Google Maps, and it will also verify for searchers that your business is located in
that area.
Include your tracked and main number

If you use call tracking, use a tracked number for your primary business phone number and your
main number as your secondary number. This will get most of your calls coming in through the
tracked line so you can see the efficacy of your listing; but with the main number still in your listing,
Google can then match your number with the one on your website and other listings.
Keep your hours updated

Google Maps business listings tell users if that business is open, closed, or opening or closing
soon. (And during the pandemic, whether it’s temporarily closed—making it an important SEO tactic
during COVID-19.) Keeping these hours updated signals to Google that you are active and, therefore,
trustworthy, and this will help with your rank. It will also prevent customers from making the trip out
to your store only to find that it’s closed or closing—which can sometimes spark a negative review
(which hurts your ranking on Google Maps).

Be sure to also update your holiday hours so you don’t get an “hours might differ” label on your listing.
Write a business description

The description on your Google Maps business listing should provide the big picture of your business
to help orient visitors; as well as unique attributes to compel searchers. It should also be written in a
tone that aligns with your brand, to help establish a better connection. Be sure to include keywords in
your description, as this will help your business listing on Google Maps to rank not just for searches
that contain your business name, but for searches for products and services as well.

Properly categorize your business
In terms of ranking, the category of your business as it appears on Google Maps is very important.
For your primary category, choose the one that best represents the core offering of your business. If
any other categories apply, choose them as secondary categories.
To rank higher in Google Maps, choose primary and additional categories through your
Google My Business dashboard.
Keep in mind that you cannot add custom categories, but if you begin typing your main offering into
the box, you’ll see a drop-down menu of possible categories to choose from.

4. Add photos to your Google Maps business listing
Google loves it when you upload photos to your listing. First, because it signals that you are an active
listing worthy of ranking higher in results. Second, because Google’s photo-recognition technology
is advancing and Google is starting to show images in local search results. And third, because the
SEO rule of thumb is that Google loves what consumers love, and consumers love photos. Plus, if
you don’t add photos to your listing, it will show a generic map image like this:
So, to improve your Google Maps ranking,

upload high-quality and compelling photos to
your business listing that captures what it’s like
to be at your business. You do this by going to
the “Photos” tab in your Google My Business
dashboard and click on the blue circle with a
white plus sign. From there, you’ll be able to drag
and drop several photos and/or videos at once.
Ideally, you should strive to add at least one new
photo a day.
Google Maps business listings without photos are

less appealing to consumers and may not rank as
high as listings with photos.

5. Get Google reviews
Knowing that Google loves what customers love, it should be no surprise that Google Maps gives
ranking favor to business listings with positive reviews. So how do you get reviews? Well, when you
create a business listing on Google Maps, this automatically opens your business up to reviews.
But that doesn’t mean you’ll get them. You’ll need to be proactive in asking for reviews, and you’ll
also need to respond to them. Responding to reviews encourages more of them and mitigates the
damage of negative reviews. Plus, your responses show other prospects how attentive you are to
customers and how well you resolve issues.
Reviews can be scary, but unless your service is truly atrocious, bad reviews tend to be few and far
between. Plus, as long as you respond properly you can mitigate and even reverse the damage of a
negative review.

6. Consolidate your Google Maps listings
Google will discredit businesses with multiple phone numbers or locations listed for one actual
business. Weed out duplicate listings and superfluous information to ensure your one true listing
will rank.
7. Post regularly to your Google Maps business listing

Like Facebook, you can publish posts that appear right on your Google Maps business listing.
Regularly posting like this sends signals to Google that you proactively manage your listing, which it
considers when ranking. In addition, when consumers are on search engines, they have high intent,
so through Google posts, you can get your offers in front of a ready-to-engage audience.
Create posts in your Google My Business dashboard to appear on your business listing
and to tell Google you are active.

How to use your website to rank higher
on Google Maps
In addition to taking action directly on your business listing, there are some optimizations you can
perform on your website to support higher Google Maps ranking.
8. Make sure your website is responsive

The first is to make sure your website is responsive, which means that it functions consistently
across any device or screen size. This is because Google Maps business listings contain a link to
your website, and nearly 60% of Google searches occur on mobile devices. So if your listing takes
searchers to a website that requires pinching and zooming, has broken links, or is slow to load, your
Google Maps ranking will suffer.
9. Add local keywords to your website

The second way to use your website to boost your Google Maps ranking is to target it for local search.
Of course, this will help your website to rank higher in Google Search, but may also influence how
high your Google Maps business listing ranks. So be sure to incorporate location-based keywords to
the main pages of your site, such as the homepage, about us page, contact us page, products and
services page, and even blog posts—and not just to the title of the pages, but also to the headings,
body text, image tags, captions, and URLs.

Emphasizing to Google through your website that you are prominent in your local area can help
Google to feel more confident in ranking your business listing on Google Maps for that area as well.
10. Embed a Google map on your website

Another way to rank higher on Google Maps is to embed a Google map on your website, which
most businesses do on the contact us page. Embedding a Google map is just another way of telling
Google that your business is located where your listing says it is. Use the same address that you
have on your Google Maps business listing.

To embed a Google Map on your website, search for your business name in Google Maps. Click on
“Share” in your listing and select the “Embed a map” tab. Copy and paste the link on your business’s
contact page.

Experience the benefits
of ranking higher on Google Maps
We threw a lot at you in this guide, so here’s a quick recap of all the strategies we covered for ranking
higher on Google Maps:
1. Create and claim your Google Maps business listing
2. Complete every section of your Google My Business dashboard
3. Keep your name, address, and [preferably local] phone number consistent
4. Properly describe and categorize your business
5. Add photos and posts to your listing regularly
6. Get Google reviews
7. Consolidate duplicate listings
8. Have a responsive website
9. Target your website for local keywords
10. Embed a Google Map on your website
Business listings on Google Maps are becoming more advanced, allowing consumers to quickly
get the information they need and make informed purchasing decisions. Follow the tips in this post
to get your business showing at the top of Google Maps, and you’ll get to experience the increased
visibility, engagement, and revenue that comes along with it!

The Best Times To Post
FEATURE STORIES
On Social Media:
The Definitive Guide
(With Stats & Facts To Back It Up)
by Kim Lochery
If you’re creating a social media strategy that you hope will increase
awareness of your blog or business, and increase sales or traffic, you’re
going to want to pay attention to the times at which you’re pushing your
content out into the world.
There’s very little point in sharing something that no one will see, right?
You’re going to see a lot of information and advice online if you go searching for the “best times” to
post on social media, a lot of which won’t actually be applicable to you.
Those suggested times and dates are great places to start, but the fact of the matter is this: only
YOU can really establish the best times and dates for you.

Thankfully, it’s a lot easier to work out than you’d think — and I’ve got some tricks to share with you
that’ll make the process a lot easier.
Contents
When is the best time to post on Facebook?
When is the best time to post on Instagram?
When is the best time to post on Twitter?
When is the best time to post on Pinterest?
When is the best time to post on YouTube?
Conclusion

When is the best time to post
on Facebook?
According to the social media scheduling tool Buffer, the best time to post on Facebook is just after
lunchtime on every day except for Sunday — between 1pm and 3pm.
According to Hootsuite, however, the best time to post on Facebook is at lunchtime – 12pm – on
Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. That’s only for business-to-customer accounts, though; if
you’re in the business-to-business market, the best time to post on Facebook is reported to be from
9am to 2pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

Sprout Social says that the worst performing day on Facebook is Sunday.

Still according to Sprout Social, the best day for performance is Wednesday, and the best time(s)
between 11am and 1pm.
It doesn’t matter where you look, the information for the best times to post on Facebook and other
social platforms will be different.
Buffer’s studies, for example, didn’t say whether or not their best times to post were for B2B or B2C,
but Hootsuite’s study did. Some of the studies didn’t give a timezone for the best times, and we can’t
forget that social media is global.
You have the potential to reach people all across the world, at all times of the day. Plus, 12pm on
Wednesday lunchtime for you could be 8pm on Wednesday evening for some of your readers.
Helpful advice: Visualise your audience. (Literally.)

What or who is your target audience?
Not sure?
You’ll need to work that out. Why? Because you need to understand and visualise your target audience
in order to give them what they want or need at the right times.
What is your audience going to be doing throughout the day?
Let’s pretend for a moment that you’re a parenting blogger. You want to target other parents —
people with children. Posting on Facebook at 8 o’clock in the morning might not be a great idea as
that’s when most people are getting their kids ready for school.
A better time to share something for them to read would be slightly later on, after the school run,
when busy parents have had time to drive home, put some laundry on, and then sit down for a
moment with a nice cup of tea. How about 10:30am? Or 11am?
Now let’s imagine you’re a blogger aiming to help those with 9-5 jobs quit and start the creative life
they’d always dreamed of. What’s your target audience going to be doing at 10:30 or 11am? They’re
probably going to be stuck in the middle of a busy day at their 9-5 job job.
Instead, a lunchtime post might be a good idea. Your audience can take a peek on their lunch break
as they peruse through Facebook and chomp their way through a meal-deal sandwich.
You could also consider commuter/morning rush hour times, when people are miserably sat on the
tube and trawling social media, praying to win the lottery; and also in the evenings, after dinner, when
those busy workers are comfortably slumped on a cozy couch at the end of a long day.

on Instagram?
Have you heard of Later? It’s a social media scheduling tool that recently studied users, content,
and engagement to work out the best time(s) to post on Instagram. After scrutinising more than 12
million different posts in various time zones, the tool came up with a time that yielded best results:
between 9am and 11am Eastern Standard Time (EST).

Let’s move along to another website: Expert Voice says that Wednesday is the best day for posting
on Instagram, with the best times being 5am, 11am, and 3pm.
Once again this proves that different studies will often come up with completely different results for
the best times to post on social media — which doesn’t help you all that much. These studies also
don’t tell you WHY those are considered to be the best times.
Is 11am on a Wednesday the best day to post on Instagram for engagement (likes/comments), or is
that the time you’ll gain the most followers when you post?
The results aren’t clear. When they aren’t clear, they’re not helpful for you.
Helpful advice: Post new content regularly. (Like, every day.)

Why? Because according to a Cast from Clay study, 18% of all US adults aged 18 and over are
jumping onto Instagram to browse new content or upload their own several times every day.

According to Kids Count Data Center, 18+ adults make up 78% of the US population — 253,768,092
adults in 2018, to be exact.
Credit: The Annie E. Casey Foundation, KIDS COUNT Data Center

18% of 253,768,092 = 45,678,256 people using Instagram multiple times per day, just in the US alone
… forty-five and a half million people is a lot of people.
And, for the record, a whopping FIFTY PERCENT of US adults use Facebook several times per day.
That’s 126,884,046 people!
What do those numbers mean for you?

More and more people are using social media on a multiple-times-per-day basis, so uploading daily
is a good way to keep your content fresh and relevant and your followers engaged and interested.
If your average follower logs on daily, they’ll likely forget you exist if you’re only posting content a
couple of times per month. They won’t forget the other bloggers, businesses and influencers, though
… the ones that ARE posting daily or regular content.
For Instagram (as an example), content can come in the form of in-feed photos and videos, Instagram
Stories, and Instagram TV. You don’t need to use every feature that the social platform offers you,
every day — or even at all. But posting content regularly and using all of the features available is a
surefire way of kicking your strategy into touch and boosting your follower numbers and engagement
rate.
Maybe share in-feed photos one day and an Instagram story the next? Mix and match things up,
not just to keep your followers interested, but also to make your life a bit easier. If you can’t manage
an IGTV video or Story, which can take a lot longer to put together or edit, share an image or in-feed
video with the world instead.
Followers can’t engage with content that isn’t there.

on Twitter?
A Hootsuite study looked into the best times to post on Twitter from two different perspectives:
business-to-consumer, and business-to-business.
The latter, business-to-business, had the best results from tweets posted on Monday or Thursday,
between 11am to 1pm, though a generalized 9am-4pm timeframe was recommended.

For business-to-consumer accounts, tweets were more successful when they were shared on
Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, at between 12pm-1pm.

Twitter is the most fast-paced of the social networks, which means that you’ll need to post more
frequently in order to yield results than you would on other social platforms, such as Facebook and
Instagram.
The average lifespan of a tweet is only about 18 minutes, though that can be lengthened with
comments, replies to comments, and tweet threads. In comparison, Facebook posts have a lifespan
of around 6 hours, Instagram posts have a lifespan of around 48 hours, and Pinterest Pins have a
lifespan of about 4 months.
Helpful advice: Get chatty.

Twitter tends to be more of a conversational social platform than the rest. One tweet can easily gain
traction over the course of the day, with more and more people commenting/retweeting/liking it.
I’ve personally had great success with tweets shared first thing in the morning, around 8am-9am
(GMT, but it doesn’t matter in this case).
Tweets get an initial burst of interest from people on their way to work, and then my replies to
comments ‘re-awaken’ the thread around lunchtime, and then there can be a flurry of activity that
evening and even right into the next day or two.

Each little ‘burst’ of interaction gives the conversation a chance to be seen by more people; people
that wouldn’t have otherwise seen it.
Spreading your replies out over the course of the day can help to relight a conversation and increase
visibility of your tweet.
As a final and slightly random note, I’ve personally had *amazing* success with “New Blog Post”
tweets that go out at 9pm-midnight on Fridays, with ongoing interactions continuing right through
into Saturday and Sunday.
I highly recommend you experiment with posting times. My Friday night tweet experiment happened
completely by accident as I scheduled a new blog post for the wrong time (pm instead of am), but
I’ve since adopted a Friday night posting schedule for that blog that hasn’t let me down yet!

on Pinterest?
According to Oberlo, the best
days to post on Pinterest are
Saturday and Sunday. During
the working week, traffic and
Pin activity seems to drop,
though it does pick up again
in the evenings: between 8pm
and 11pm.

The social platform with the longest lifespan is Pinterest. Although there are plenty of places that
will tell you that timing is important across ALL social platforms, I personally feel it is less important
with Pinterest. In fact, it might just be the easiest platform to get started with, and then grow with.
You might as well make the most of that four-month lifespan!
Helpful advice: Learn about social media scheduling.

With Pinterest, it doesn’t really matter when you post new content. I’ve posted at 7am and had great
success, and I’ve posted at 7am and had ZERO success. I’ve also had Pins that’ve had absolutely
NO interest for the first few months only to become more popular much later down the line and then
picking up speed much faster than any other Pin I’ve shared.
Rather than paying attention to timing on Pinterest, pay close attention to the quality and type of
content that you’re posting — and make sure, just as with Instagram, that you’re posting regularly.
Tailwind is a great, approved scheduling tool to help cope with that side of things, and Pinterest even
has a free, built-in scheduling feature for business accounts now, offering up to 30 scheduled posts
at a time.
Batch-create your content and then spread it out with the help of scheduling features and tools
(available for both WordPress and most social networking platforms), and you’ll have regular content
published at regular times with minimal stress and effort.

on YouTube?
According to How Sociable, the best time to post on YouTube is actually slightly earlier than when
the bulk of initial traffic is meant to hit. Videos tend to get the most hits between 7pm and 10pm
on weekday evenings, but that means you should upload the video a couple of hours earlier to give
YouTube a chance to properly index it: between 2pm and 4pm. (These times are EST/CST.)

Weekends are slightly different; the study showed that videos were popular from lunchtime onwards,
so posting between 9am and 11am will give the video enough time to be indexed for the lunchtime/
evening “rush”.
Just to throw a little more information your way, Boost Apps showed levels of engagement on videos
was higher on Friday and Saturday, and also on Wednesday, with the best time to post being 5pm.

And if that wasn’t enough, I also
looked at an Oberlo study on

the best times to post on social
media and results showed that
12pm to 4pm video uploads
were optimal for best results,
with Thursday and Friday being
the two best days during the
week.
Here we have another classic

example of different studies
= different results — and we
can’t forget that most of the
larger studies are based on
US audiences. If you’re a UK
blogger or business, or based
elsewhere in the world, some of
the data might not accurately
reflect your audience.
Helpful advice: Create an upload schedule with batch-creation

of content.
By creating an upload schedule, you’re offering consistent, regular content to your audience.
This is a trick I’ve seen used by many beauty influencers and makeup artists on YouTube, who often
have weekly or monthly life update blogs, or weekly get-ready-with-me videos, released at set times
— 6pm on Friday, for example. Fans will sit down and get ready to watch those videos in the same
way that they would sit down and get ready to watch the soaps on TV in the evening … but only when
those videos keep to the schedule.
Keeping to your schedule will be easier when you batch-create content — creating multiple pieces of
content at once and then scheduling them to go live one at a time.
If you spent one weekend creating four videos, you would have one video per week for the next four weeks.
If you then have the time to create extra content, you could release extra videos as “bonus” content, or
increase the number of videos in your schedule, or simply add more scheduled one-per-week videos.
Consistency is key with any social media strategy. People LOVE consistency.

Conclusion
Twitter had it right when they said this on their business blog:
There is no universal “right amount” of content to publish. There’s no magic

publishing cadence for achieving content marketing success.
There’s no right or wrong time, or type, or style of content. What works for someone else might not
work in the same way for you — and that’s definitely the case when you’re moving across different
countries, different niches, and also different expectations.
Rather than spending your time looking at the times, dates, styles, and types of content that best
work for other people, it’s wise to spend the time to get to know your audience a little better.
• Who are they?
• What are they looking for?
• What times are they most online?
• What content do they react more positively to, and at what times?
When you know who they are, what they want, and when they want it, you can give it to them.
For the most part, the individual analytics offered by the various social platforms will give you a
better idea of YOUR exact audience. Instagram offers Insights that break things down by times/
days online, location, age, and a whole bunch of other specifics. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and
other social platforms offer their own versions too.
By looking at these, and by experimenting around with your social strategy, you can formulate best
times to post on social media that actually work for you.

How To Finally
FEATURE STORIES
Monetize Pinterest!
by Kim Garst
Are you ready to actually get paid for all your hard work on Pinterest?
Pinterest can be a goldmine for business owners. Unfortunately, it can also be a huge time-suck if
you don’t know what you’re doing.
For that reason, I’m going to walk you through all the steps you need to know to finally monetize
Pinterest!
But first…

Not Sure Pinterest is Right for Your Business?
This is a super-common concern among business owners. They think that only lifestyle businesses
How To Finally Monetize Pinterest!
can make money on Pinterest…businesses in niches like fashion, beauty, food or fitness.
But the truth is, pretty much ANY business can make money on Pinterest!
For example:
Plumbers and handymen… Physicians and other healthcare professionals…

Network marketers… And even insurance companies!
Regardless of your niche or industry, Pinterest can drive huge amounts of traffic and sales.
Still don’t believe me?
According to eMarketer, nearly half of all Pinterest users rely on the platform to find and shop for
products.
Plus, Pinterest users tend to have deep pockets: according to Pew Research, the majority of Pinterest
users make $75K+ per year.
In other words, it’s definitely worth your time and effort to be using Pinterest for your business!

How to Monetize Pinterest
Not sure where to start?
If you’re brand new to Pinterest, you’ll need to go back to the very beginning, by creating a business
account and claiming your website.
If you’ve already done both of these, feel free to skip to #3 below.
1. Create a Pinterest Business Account.
The very first thing you’ll need to do is create a business account. If you’re new to Pinterest, you
can create a business account from scratch, and if you already have a personal account, you can
convert it to a business account.
You can do both of these here.

This is important for a few reasons:
• It’s against Pinterest’s terms of service to use a personal account for business purposes
• A Pinterest business account gives you access to important analytics, such as your most
popular pins
• Having a business account means you have access to advertising, rich pins, and other revenue-
generating features. More on these later in this post.
2. Claim Your Business Website.
If you want your profile to include a link to your website (which you do), and if you want access to
your website analytics on Pinterest (which you also do), you definitely want to claim your website.
You can claim your website here.
This involves a simple process of uploading a little bit of code to your website.
That may sound scary, but it’s really pretty simple, even for non-techies!
Check out the link above for full instructions on how to upload the code depending on who your
webhost is (e.g., Bluehost, WPEngine, WordPress, etc.).

3. Set up Product Rich Pins.
If you sell physical products on your website, you’ll definitely want
to set up product rich pins. These rich pins are connected to your
product pages, and show the most up-to-date price and availability
of your products.
The best part about creating product rich pins is this: all you have
to do is apply for rich pins and set it up ONCE, and all your past and
future product pins will automatically be converted to rich pins!
4. Optimize Your Pins for Search.
Be sure to use your keywords

in your pin description
A huge part of monetizing on

Pinterest is ensuring people can
actually FIND your pins. And if
you want them to get found in
Google and in Pinterest’s native
Search, it’s important to make
sure you’re utilizing some basic
SEO.
To give your pins the best

chance of getting found in
Search, the main thing you’ll
want to do is use your keywords
in your pin descriptions.
For instance, if my pin is of a red women’s shirt, I could write something like, “This red women’s shirt
is a popular option for Spring 2020”.
Other places to use your keywords include the product page or blog post you’re linking to (particularly
in the title), in your board titles, and in your hashtags.

Another important Pinterest SEO strategy is to always be adding fresh content. You don’t have to
add something every day, but you should be adding new content on a regular schedule. Tailwind’s
SmartLoop is a great tool that can make this process super easy!
5. Seek Out Sponsorships.
Example of a sponsored campaign from I Heart Arts n Crafts
If you’ve built a solid Pinterest following in a particular niche, there are undoubtedly companies who
will pay you for sponsored campaigns.
These campaigns might include having you pin branded images to your account, linking to the
sponsor’s website from your pins, or doing reviews of their products on your blog.
There are so many options for making this work.
Just be sure you can truly recommend and stand behind any products you’re promoting, so you
don’t do any damage to the reputation you’ve worked so hard to build!

6. Create Pins for a Lead Magnet on Your Site.
Pinterest is Ah-MAZing for helping you build your

email list. And once people are on your list, they
can get to know you, and you can promote your
paid offers.
Here’s how to do this: Create an amazing freebie

you can offer on your site. Also known as a lead
magnet, this free product should:
• Be closely related to your paid product(s):

e.g., If you have a paid workshop on how
hairdressers can use social media to get
new clients, your freebie could be a pdf
that helps hairdressers set up their social
media accounts.
• Speak to a single pain point. Your lead

magnet should address one, and only one
problem or issue.
• Is actionable. Your lead magnet is a chance

to show people you can help them get
An example of a pin for a freebie results! So make sure it addresses a single
from Made Urban problem, and that it helps them solve that
problem.
• Look nice! When your freebie looks nice,

people are more likely to download it, and
to see it as more valuable.
For more tips on creating or perfecting your lead

magnet, check out my post, Check Your Lead
Magnet For Greatness in 60 Seconds!
Once your lead magnet is ready to go, create

pins that promote them, making sure to properly
optimize them for SEO (see #4 above).

7. Drive Traffic to Your Affiliate Offers.
Not only can you monetize on Pinterest but it is

also great for building your email list, it’s amazing
for getting traffic to your website or blog!
One way to actually make money from this is to

promote affiliate offers on your site.
There are SO many ways to you can do this,

including:
• Writing a blog post where you do a review

of an affiliate product
• Creating a resource page where you list

all the products and tools you use and
recommend
An example of a pin for a product review post • Adding banner ads on your site that
from Brianna Marie Lifestyle promote affiliate offers
• Including affiliate links in your blog posts
It’s also possible to create pins that link directly

to the affiliate site, however it’s usually much
more effective to link to your own blog. People
want to know why YOU love the product before
they’ll be willing to buy it!

The Science of
FEATURE STORIES
the Instagram Algorithm

by Scott Ayres
How Does the Instagram Algorithm Work?

Understanding the Instagram algorithm is a perplexing and challenging activity for social media
managers.
What content works best? Is Instagram punishing my participation in Instagram pods? Does it matter
whether I have a personal or business account? The list can go on and on.
Facebook-owned Instagram has never revealed much about the algorithm— until recently.

In a series of Instagram Stories on the Instagram Creators account, Instagram busted common
myths about the Instagram algorithm and saved them to its FAQs highlights:
The Science of the Instagram Algorithm
Sharing the nuts and bolts of the Instagram algorithm via Stories is interesting and a tad frustrating
for many. I doubt most users would know where to find this information without others telling them.
Instagram answered six common questions regarding the Instagram algorithm:
• How often is the Instagram algorithm changed?
• Does feed ranking favor videos over photos?
• Does the type of account you have impact ranking?
• We hear that pods can help a post appear higher in the feed?
• I’ve heard Instagram doesn’t count something as a comment unless it’s more than 1/2/3
words?
• I’ve heard that the algorithm ranks posts higher that get a lot of likes or comments in the
first 30 minutes?
Let’s explore each question. We’ll include screenshots from the Instagram Stories they posted, break
down each question, and inspect Instagram’s response.

How Often Is The Instagram Algorithm
Changed?
Some users think the Instagram algorithm

is constantly changing, and that must be the
reason their content no longer performs as well. Instagram’s response:

Instagram’s algorithm is constantly changing, after all. In fact, it’s likely changing as you are reading
this blog post!
But that constant change is a good thing. It ensures that the best content for each user is shown to
that person, creating a more enjoyable experience on Instagram.
Instagram delivers a unique feed to every user based on the content they engage with. So, if you
see drops in engagement, that could be an algorithm change, but often, as Instagram expert Jenn
Hermann points out, the dip could just be because your content is no longer appealing.
See more of what Jenn has to say about the Instagram algorithm changes in this video:

Does Feed Ranking Favor Videos Over
Photos?
With a smartphone in hand, anyone can record

video and upload it to Instagram. Instagram is
getting feedback that people believe the algorithm Instagram’s response is exactly what I assumed
favors video more than photos these days: it would be:
As I mentioned earlier, the feed is unique per Instagram user, based on what content that user engages
with. The Instagram feed is not based on the type of content an account posts to its followers.
So, if you’re a user that never watches videos on Instagram (like me), you probably won’t see many
videos in your Instagram feed. And the opposite would be true as well.
I would advise posting a mix of photos and videos to your account, so you have a higher chance of
your followers with different preferences seeing and engaging with your content.

Does The Type Of Account You Have
Impact Ranking?
Instagram allows users to have three types of accounts:
• Personal
• Business
• Creator
Personal accounts don’t allow any sort of insights to be gathered; Business and Creator do.
There isn’t much difference between the Business or Creator selection. The Business account will
allow you to put in your address, phone number, etc. The Creator account setting lets you do some
branded partner options. To read more about these, check out this breakdown on Social Media
Examiner.
Instagram sought to answer this question: Instagram vehemently says no:
According to Instagram, it doesn’t matter what the account type is; if a follower engages with the
content regularly, then the user will likely see future content from that Instagram account in their feed.

Instagram does make a distinction of simply businesses or verified accounts in their response,
perhaps implying celebrities with verified accounts get more prominence in the feed. So, we can’t
100% say based on this response that Personal, Business, and Creator accounts are treated equally,
but that’s the assumption.
We Hear That Pods Can Help a Post

Appear Higher In The Feed?
The Social Media Lab previously tested the impact of Instagram Pods and found no advantage by
joining them.
Instagram Pods are a group of people who

join together to increase the engagement on
Instagram posts with the thought that this
engagement causes posts to be seen higher in Instagram’s response to the pods reiterates our
the feed to other users. findings in the Social Media Lab:
Bumping up the engagement numbers on your Instagram posts does not cause those posts to be
seen by followers that typically haven’t engaged with you lately.

For example, Bob and Melissa both follow the Agorapulse Instagram account (and you should, too!),
but Bob rarely engages with our posts, yet Melissa likes and comments on every post. Melissa’s
engagement with Agorapulse’s posts has no impact on Bob seeing posts by Agorapulse.
The Instagram algorithm caters the feed per user to ensure the best experience.
Don’t involve yourself with Instagram pods (or engagement pods on other sites as well) because
you’re simply wasting your time.
I’ve Heard Instagram Doesn’t Count

Something As a Comment Unless It’s
More Than 1/2/3 Words?
I haven’t seen this rumor floating around, but Comments of any size are counted by Instagram
obviously Instagram has. and likely weighed equally when it comes to the
algorithm and that user’s feed.
Just based on common sense, I find this rumor
hard to believe unless the comments were On the day Instagram launched these stories
absolute gibberish. busting common algorithm myths, they posted
this regarding engagement:

Instagram didn’t elaborate as to any particular ranking regarding engagement types, but suffice it to
say, all engagement is important. Comments likely have the highest ranking because they require
the most effort by the Instagram user.
I’ve Heard That The Algorithm Ranks

Posts Higher That Get A Lot Of Likes Or
Comments In The First 30 Minutes?
The thought process here is the quicker an Instagram post gets engagement, the higher ranking
of that content in the Instagram feed, and perhaps the higher the ranking of future posts from your
account to that Instagram user.
Instagram says in its stories that this is false: Again, Instagram is making it clear that the most
important factor in what an Instagram user
sees on his/her feed is the accounts they have
recently engaged with.
There is no rush to have everyone run over to

your Instagram post 5 seconds after it was
posted to engage in order to somehow “trick” the
algorithm into showing the post to more users.
That’s simply not how the Instagram algorithm
works.
That’s not to say you shouldn’t pay attention to

what is the “best time to post” on your Instagram
account. If you’re not getting engagement at
3AM on Tuesdays, stop posting at that time!
You can look at your insights in your Instagram

account to get an idea of when your followers are
on Instagram the most. But you’ll need to swipe
through a few screens to get there and then only
be able to look at one day at a time:

This method of finding the best time to post on Instagram for your followers requires a lot of effort.
You can toggle between “Hours” and Days” to see when your followers are typically on Instagram.
An easier method is using the reports inside Agorapulse. These reports allow you to see data based
on any timeframe you select and data based on engagement or Reach:

These reports are SO much easier to read and understand. Go check out these reports for FREE and
after your trial use the coupon code LAB for a free month once you sign up for a plan.

The Science Of The Instagram Algorithm
That Instagram is pulling back the curtains to reveal aspects of the Instagram algorithm is surprising
but very helpful.
No doubt these components are only a small portion of what goes into the algorithm, but I love the
fact they are busting some of the common myths regarding how the Instagram algorithm works.
To summarize, here’s what we found out about the algorithm:
• The Instagram algorithm changes the feed ranking per user often, based on that user’s
engagement.
• There is no preference in the algorithm over photos or videos–only preference is based on

what that user engages with.
• It doesn’t matter if you are using a Personal, Business or Creator account. They are all treated
equally (but if you want insights you must have a Business or Creator account).
• Instagram Pods are a waste of time!
• All comments are treated equally, regardless of how many words they contain.
• Getting lots of engagement the first 30 minutes after posting to Instagram doesn’t catapult
your post to the top of the feed.
Keep in mind all of this information only pertains to the Instagram feed, not Stories. Instagram Stories
has a completely different algorithm but is still predominantly based on individual user activity with
the accounts they follow.
The quality of your content will dictate where it shows up on the Instagram feed, and your followers
engagement levels will let you know quickly whether it’s good or bad.

Digital Marketing Tools Magazine

87
5 Actionable Tips for an Effective
FEATURE STORIES
B2B YouTube Strategy

by Emil Kristensen
As a marketer, you’re continually looking for new ways to expand your

customer base and engage with your audience. And you probably already
know that social media is one of the best places to accomplish these
goals. But have you expanded your social marketing strategy to YouTube?
Why YouTube?
With over 1 billion active users, YouTube allows you to reach a massive audience with video content.
By getting creative and crafting videos that are engaging and informative, you’ll have a dependable
and exciting way to grow your email list and establish your brand as an industry leader.

In fact, about 72% of B2B marketers are already using YouTube as a video marketing platform.
Following in the footsteps of the top brands and tapping into the potential of YouTube can help give
your business the growth it needs.
But to succeed, you need to take the right steps to ensure your content connects with viewers.
5 Steps for an Effective

B2B YouTube Strategy
Step 1: Optimize Your YouTube Channel
There’s a lot more to YouTube than the video content you post—and one of the most important
elements is your channel page, which serves as your profile page on the site.
Much like every other social platform, your channel page is where viewers will go to learn more
about you and your company, so it’s crucial to set it up with as much detail as possible and keep it
in-line with your branding strategy.
Here are some components to pay attention to while setting up your YouTube channel:
• Set your channel’s picture to your brand logo unless you are a personal brand, it which case
use your headshot so that you’re easily recognizable and memorable.
• Create a custom banner for the top of the page.
• Write a thorough description in the “About” field. Make sure your viewers can quickly understand
what your brand and YouTube channel are all about. This is also the perfect place to put a CTA
or a link to your website.
• Organize your video content into dedicated playlists that will display on your channel page.
This helps viewers find what they’re looking for quickly.
You’ll also want to take the time to optimize your channel for SEO purposes. Include industry keywords
where you can. Since YouTube is included prominently in Google searches, an optimized channel
can significantly increase your chances of ranking high in relevant searches.

Check out Adobe Creative Cloud for an excellent example of profile optimization.
Step 2: Execute Your Video Marketing Plan

Don’t just post videos at random. Formulate a plan which aligns your marketing goals with the
needs of your target audience. Schedule video brainstorming sessions to come up with ideas that
will pique the interest of your intended viewers.
Here are a few questions to consider:
• Who is your target audience?
• What types of videos do you want to create?
• How are your competitors attracting audiences in your niche?
• How will you advertise and promote your channel?
• How much (if anything) will you spend on promoting your videos?
Also, follow a schedule that ensures you are consistent with your video marketing efforts.

Social marketing expert, Jeff Bullas, tried YouTube marketing for one year. His team initially lacked
consistency and generated a mere 16 to 30 views per day. Interestingly, they began posting two
to three times per week and instantly gained over 1,000 views within a month. This proves that
consistency is critical in growing your channel.
For example, Adobe Creative Cloud’s YouTube channel features interviews with industry professionals,
design tutorials and live sessions. They consistently upload several videos within a day so their
channel remains interesting and relevant to their viewers. This success has led to over 91 million
views at the time of writing this article.

Step 3: Optimize Your YouTube Videos
The process of optimization doesn’t end with your channel. You’ll want to optimize every video you
post to the channel to have the best chance at ranking high in searches and appealing to viewers.
Here are a few things to keep in mind when posting your videos:
• Create a custom, eye-catching thumbnail for each video you post. This is what people see
when they’re browsing the search results.
• Write an engaging and unique title. Try to include keywords whenever possible.
• Write a creative and thorough video description. Include keywords, a CTA, and a link to your
website.
• Use plenty of tags that are relevant to your brand and the content of the video.
Since YouTube is one of the largest search engines in the world, taking the time to optimize all of your
video content will greatly boost the chances that it gets found and ranks high in search results—both
on YouTube and Google.
IBM optimizes all of its videos for SEO purposes, and so they should.

Step 4: Creatively Showcase Your Expertise and Experience
Don’t make your videos a sales pitch. Focus on creating content that showcases how you can help
others and illustrate how your products and services can help them solve their problems.
Content that feels too salesy won’t perform well on YouTube, so it’s important to get your creative
juices flowing and make unique content that will capture the viewer’s attention.
Here are a few examples of video styles that perform well on YouTube:
• Behind the scenes videos. Give your audience a chance to learn more about the people who
make up your company and what a day in the life might look like.
• Product demonstrations. Your products are fantastic, so use videos to show people why. Don’t
turn them into a commercial – just give your audience a look at what sets you apart from the
competition.
• Testimonials. Do you have satisfied customers who are willing to talk about how your product
worked for them? Ask them to do a video testimonial. It’s an engaging way to build trust with
your audience.
• How-to videos. What is your audience interested in learning? What types of questions are they
asking? Cover these in your videos.
Thankfully you don’t need a lot of professional recording equipment and editing software to film
videos that are high quality. Most of the equipment you need is what you probably own. If you don’t
have a dedicated camera for filming, your smartphone likely has a camera-equipped to film in HD or
4K.
When it comes to editing software, most computers come with basic editing software that is more
than capable of getting the job done.
If you aren’t confident in your filming skills, there are many tutorials and books available that will
ease you into the process. You’ll be able to get the hang of titles, transitions, and other basic video
elements in no time.
There are a few key items you can invest in that can significantly enhance the production value of
your content.
• Tripods. With a tripod, you’ll be able to make sure every shot you take is steady and eliminate
the shakiness that many videos shot by hand tend to have.
• Microphone. A high-quality microphone will allow you to do clear voice-overs that your audience
can understand and will eliminate the hollow audio that sometimes comes along with using
the built-in microphones on phones or computers.

Step 5: Utilize Analytics to Improve Your YouTube Strategy
To understand how your videos are impacting your viewers, you need to monitor your analytics and
understand what your strengths and weaknesses are. Once you do, you’ll start to see trends and
reactions, and you can better gauge how your target audience is interacting with your content.
The Most Important YouTube Statistic

When it comes to analytics, YouTube is quite different from other platforms. On social platforms,
you’re probably used to looking out for statistics like likes, shares, follows, and retweets. On YouTube,
you can still like and share content, but other statistics make an even bigger impact on your channel.
YouTube wants its users to like the content they see and engage with it, so the most crucial statistic
you’re going to see is your viewer retention. This is a measure of how long people who click on your
videos watch them. YouTube values the quality of the content its users produce, and higher quality
content that keeps viewers interested is more likely to rank high in search results.
To achieve the best viewer retention rate, you’ll need to create content that not only inspires people
to click on it, but also encourages them to keep watching.
Video Marketing: Learn and Improve

Understanding your analytics is one of the most important parts of optimizing your YouTube
marketing strategy. Monitor your analytics regularly and learn from what you observe.
Are a lot of people clicking on your video, but not watching for long? You might need to adjust your
content. Are not enough people clicking on your videos? You might want to revamp your title and
optimization strategy.
No matter what your statistics show you, don’t shy away from experimenting and trying new things
out regularly. This can give you some great insight into what your audience wants to see more of and
what they might respond to down the line.
YouTube is the perfect place to give your B2B business an outlet for video marketing content. With the
right strategies, you can reach a large audience and expose your content to new viewers. Optimizing
your YouTube channel and your videos, creating engaging content, and learning from analytics will
allow you to grow your following and increase your new leads.

How To Use Facebook Messenger
FEATURE STORIES
to Boost Your Business

by Ana Gotter
Brands don’t always consider to use Facebook Messenger as an essential

part of Facebook marketing, but it should be a top priority.
Putting time and energy into Messenger is an opportunity to nurture relationships with your
audience while doing everything from resolving customer concerns to proactively driving sales on
an automated basis.
Facebook has expanded Messenger significantly over the past few years to the point where it’s now
a valuable tool and platform for businesses, brands, and organizations of all sizes.
In this post, we’re going to take a look at exactly how you can use Facebook Messenger for your
business, including how to set it up for success and how to drive users to get in touch.
There are so many different social media channels to keep up with, and each one has multiple facets
to manage.

On Instagram, for example, you have private messages, Stories, hashtags, and your in-feed content.
On Facebook, you’ve got your Page, events, groups, Stories, and of course, Messenger.
Why it Matters that you Use

Facebook Messenger
Facebook Messenger is incredibly important from a marketing and customer service perspective.
More customers than ever before are reaching out to brands through social media private messaging,
with Facebook being the top choice.
This trend was already established before this year, with over half of all customers preferring to chat
with someone online in real-time instead of calling for most matters and over 20 billion messages
are exchanged on Messenger between users and businesses every month.
And now, during COVID, Messenger is even more important.
Users reaching out to businesses through phone

or email are having longer wait times than ever
before.
I spent two hours waiting on hold for a phone

call at Home Depot about an order that was two
months late to shipping, for example, and the call
dropped before I could talk to someone. I wasn’t
about to wait again, especially knowing that
companies were short-staffed due to COVID and
more people were calling because they couldn’t
go into the store, so I sent a message. I got a
response within a few hours.
Messenger gives you a chance to connect with

your audience members quickly, answering
their questions, and even being proactive about
potential sales.

And wherever your customers want to get in touch, you want to be ready to respond.
Facebook will also show your average response time in the About section of your Page.
You’ll notice that this shows up above any other information, including your website, your hours, or
pricing.
This is given enormous visibility, and if users see that you’re responsive, they’ll see you as valuing
your customers.
This can build trust too.
If your profile says that you have a low response rate or that you take a significant amount of time
to respond, they might not even bother.
Different Ways you Can Use

Facebook Messenger
There are a few different key use cases to consider for Facebook Messenger:
• Answer customer questions about your products, services, or business.
Someone may get in touch to ask about pricing, your operating hours, or whether you can
make your famous chocolate cake gluten-free. Answering these questions quickly can make
the difference between gaining or losing a sale.

• Address customer service issues.
People often complain publicly -with Facebook posts- if they’re unhappy, often trying to dissuade
others from buying or trying to get the brand’s attention. Ask users to reach out to you through
Messenger to resolve the issue. Some users will also go straight to Messenger for everything
from complaining to wanting help tracking a package.
• Proactively drive conversions.
Facebook has some outstanding native features, which we’ll look at a little further down, which
can enable users to take actions like booking appointments with a business. You can use these
features for lead generation, and to actively drive sales. Chatbots can also help here.
Messenger has a 10-80x higher engagement rates than email, with 70-80% open rates and 20%
click-through rates (compared to emails 5-10% open rates and 1-% click-through rates).
This is a valuable opportunity to meaningfully connect with potential and existing customers, so you
don’t want to waste it.
How to Set Up and Use

Facebook Messenger in 4 Steps
Messenger is capable of a lot, and how you want to use it will determine how exactly you set up your
Messenger account and which features you want to use.
In this section of the post, we’re going to go step by step through the process of setting up your
Messenger for success, but if we look at features that you aren’t interested in, go ahead and skip to
the next section! Not every feature is necessary or even ideal for every business type.
That being said, let’s get started!
Step#1: Set Up Your Greeting & Automated Responses

When you message a Page on Facebook, you might get an automated reply instantly. This message
often thanks you for getting in touch with the company and might provide a time frame for when you
can expect a response, or even a phone number to call if needed.

This is your greeting, which lets customers know that you’ve received your message and that you’ll
be back to them soon.
It’s easy to set up.
Go to your Page’s Settings, and then find Messaging. On this tab, you’ll see the option to “Show a
Greeting.”
Turn this feature on, and then click “Change.”

You can write your own greeting message (don’t forget to save it).

And personalize it with the recipient info (first and last name) and your website or Facebook page link.

Step #2: Add Automated Responses
Almost all businesses should use a greeting to welcome people to their Page (or, more accurately,
their inbox). You can also add automated responses. We recommend setting up a few automated
responses for commonly-asked questions.
This can help your customers get the answers they need quickly, and it won’t bog down your customer
support team.
On your “Messaging” tab under your Settings, you’ll see the option to set up automated responses.
Click it.

There are plenty of different types of options that you can set up, including an away message (“we’re
off on weekends but we’ll get back to you on Monday”), location information (“We’re located at 42
Wallaby Way, Sydney. View your location on Google Maps here”), and commonly-asked questions
(“Our return policy states that you can return all unused, undamaged items 30 days after purchase.”)
The FAQ option is particularly valuable, as you can set up custom questions and answers that are
specific to your leads and customers.
A college might have students asking about application deadlines or when they’ll hear about
acceptance, and a bar might be asked if there are private areas for events like parties.
You can set up menus for automated responses, guiding users through interactions.

That way, if the phrasing they use isn’t easily matched with your existing answers, they’ll still be able
to see it. You can see an example of what this looks like here:

Step #3: Consider Using Chatbots
Chatbots have been around for a few years now, and they’re more accessible than ever before.
Chatbots offer advanced features.
Customers can look up their orders through your Chatbot to get updated status information. They
can also browse recipes, order pizzas or flowers, and shop your catalog of uploaded items.
Chatbots can do a lot, and while they shouldn’t

be a substitute for human customer service
entirely, they can be incredibly valuable in terms
of offering more functionality to Messenger
that can help you increase sales and help your
customers faster than ever.
Chatbots are third-party tools that you need to

program yourself. You can hire someone to do
this for you, or you can use tools that make this
particularly easy. If you only need quick question-
and-answer automated responses, the auto-
responses we looked at above will do the trick.
If you want more advanced AI features, consider
using a chatbot.
You can see more about how to set up Chatbots

here and learn more about what they can do for
you.

Step #4: Use Third-Party Social Management Software
A crucial part of managing Messenger well is responding quickly. We know as well as anyone that
this can be a huge undertaking, especially when you’ve got comments and private messages coming
in from multiple platforms, but it’s still a near necessity. Customers everywhere are expecting near-
immediate responses, especially on social.
Third-party tools can make a huge difference here, and there are several great options to choose
from. Hootsuite, for example, allows you to view all of your incoming messages in one place. You
can assign messages to specific teammates, and follow up to make sure that every conversation is
seen all the way through.
Once you start getting more than a few messages per week (or once your social and customer
service team expands beyond one or two people), this is a gamechanger. You can learn more about
how it works here.

How to Generate & Encourage
Conversations Through Messenger

While some brands use Messenger to catch up with users who have reached out to them, there are
ways you can be proactive about generating and encouraging one-on-one conversations through
Messenger, even with Facebook’s tight restrictions.
Facebook Messenger Ads is one option. You can create ads that have the sole purpose of driving
users to message you directly. This is great when you want to share more information with your
audience.
A university, for example, might encourage potential applicants to get in touch with any questions.
(Note: don’t confuse these with Messenger as a placement, which only shows an ad in the user’s
Messenger inbox and doesn’t accomplish the same goal).
You can also follow up within a limited time frame.
Facebook only allows you to respond to people within 24-hours after they’ve last contacted you. This
should motivate all businesses to respond quickly and to keep the conversation going.
If an existing conversation has dropped off, follow up within twelve hours to ask if they were happy
with everything and if there’s anything else they need. This is a continuation off of an existing
message, but it can work. You can also offer them a discount or coupon code.

Note that under your Messaging tab in settings, you’ll see the option to request a “one-time notification.”
This lets you send a single message to users outside that 24-hour window if they’ve opted in.
You can also add Messenger to your website.
This works a little like your standard on-site live chat. You use a chat plugin on your site, and it allows
people to live chat with you through Messenger.
All you need to do is add a snippet of code on the pages you want the chat to appear. This is a great
way to capture potentially high-intent users and engage them with affordable, accessible live chat
options.

Finally, you can encourage users to get in touch directly.
If someone is complaining, has questions, or needs help with an order, sometimes encouraging
them to get in touch through Messenger is the best option.
You can’t message them, after all; they need to reach out to you. This way you can offer personalized
service and ask for sensitive information like their email or phone number in a secure way.
It also helps that other users see that you’re wanting to resolve concerns, too.
Final Thoughts
Facebook Messenger for businesses is a great opportunity to offer high-quality, fast, and reliable
customer service and sales support to your customers.
Remember that it’s essential to be where your target audience is, and an increasing number of them
are turning to private messaging social platforms like Facebook for quick help.
Take full advantage of all the features and tools available to you to streamline the process and deliver
the absolute best customer experience possible.
What do you think? How do you use Facebook Messenger for business? What features and third-party
tools do you use?

Adam Connell
CONTRIBUTOR BIO
Operations Manager, UK Linkology

Adam is the Operations Manager at UK Linkology,
a progressive marketing agency based in the
UK. He can be found blogging over at ‘Blogging
Wizard’ where he shares actionable results to
help people get more traffic, social shares and
search visibility for their blog.

Ad Espresso
CONTRIBUTOR BIO
AdEspresso is the easiest online tool to manage

and optimize your Facebook Advertising
Campaigns.
AdEspresso makes Facebook Advertising easy

and profitable for small and medium businesses.
Whether you want to sell more products, grow
your fan base, or increase engagement with
your community, AdEspresso will help you
create and optimize an advertising campaign
that truly works!

Dmitry Gerasimenko
CONTRIBUTOR BIO
Founder & CEO of Ahrefs

Dmitry Gerasimenko is author of idea, CEO and
founder of Ahrefs. Dmitry performs deep intuitive
control on all aspects of Ahrefs innovations and
developments. He is the one driving the team,
and keeping constant motivation running alive
through each and every team member.
Ahrefs.com is an independent tool for SEO

analysis with a wide range of features. It is
designed, first of all, for SEO specialists and
site owners but may be of interest to other
concerned Internet researchers.

Jeff Bullas
CONTRIBUTOR BIO
Strategist, Author & Speaker

Jeff Bullas is a blogger, author, strategist
and speaker and works with companies and
executives to optimize their online personal and
company presence and brand with digital and
social media marketing.
His blog, JeffBullas.com, is about all things to

do with Social Media and Online Marketing,
including Twitter, Blogging, Facebook, YouTube,
LinkedIn, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and
and content marketing.
The blog’s focus is to assist business in “getting

found online” in a digital world and making your
company visible and successful on a crowded web.
Jeff have a degree in Commerce and Economics

and has spent most of his career involved with
Information Technologies, Telecommunications
and the Web Industry.
Achievements include:
• Blogger at JeffBullas.com which more

than 4 million people visit every year
• Author of the Amazon Best Seller “Blogging

the Smart Way - How to Create and Market
a Killer Blog with Social Media”
• Forbes - “Top 50 Social Media Power

Influencers - 2013” - Ranked #11
• Huffington Post - “Top 100 Business,

Leadership and Technology Twitter
Accounts You Must Follow”

Kim Garst
CONTRIBUTOR BIO
Co-Founder of Boom Social

Kim is a marketing strategist, speaker, author
and the co-founder and CEO of Boom! Social,
a social “selling” consultancy agency. Through
her consulting and training business, Kim helps
businesses of all sizes to accelerate their profits
by integrating proven social media and digital
marketing strategies. She also travels the world
to share her wisdom and provides social media
keynotes and in-depth training. Additionally,
Kim mentors business owners to reach greater
heights in their business.
The creator of 4 six and seven figure businesses,

Kim’s, Boom Social blog, is ranked one of the
top social media blogs in the world and she was
recently named by Forbes as a Top 10 Social
Media Woman Influencers.
Kim is author of the forthcoming new book Will

the Real You Stand Up: Show Up, Be Authentic
and Prosper in Social Media and The Quick
and Easy Guide to Branding Your Business and
Creating Massive Sales with Pinterest.

Larry Kim
CONTRIBUTOR BIO
CEO – Founder and Chief Technology

Officer
Larry Kim founded WordStream in 2007. He
bootstrapped the company by providing internet
consulting services while funding/managing
a team of engineers and marketers to develop
and sell software for search engine marketing
automation. In August of 2008 he secured a
$4M Series A investment from Sigma Partners
and later in 2010, a $6M Series B investment led
by Egan Managed Partners.
Today he serves as company CTO and is a

contributor to both the product team and
marketing teams. Larry practices photography
and drone videography in his spare time and
has a 2 year old kid.

Melonie Dodaro
CONTRIBUTOR BIO
Canada’s #1 LinkedIn Expert,

Bestselling Author, Social Selling Evangelist
Melonie Dodaro is the author of the #1
international bestseller The LinkedIn Code. She
is also the founder of Top Dog Social Media, an
agency that helps businesses, sales teams and
professionals use LinkedIn and social selling to
boost their visibility, attract new customers and
increase their revenue.
Dubbed by the media as Canada’s #1 LinkedIn

expert she is highly sought after internationally
as a LinkedIn and social selling speaker and
trainer. To learn more about Melonie visit
http://TopDogSocialMedia.com and http://
TheLinkedInCode.com

Nick Nicholls
CONTRIBUTOR BIO
Publisher: Digital Marketing Tools

Nick Nicholls launched his marketing career
during the development of QUBE, MTV and
Nickelodeon and lead the development of the first
digital wireless high-speed Internet. As a marketer
and technologist, he now helps companies with
their integrated marketing, UI / UX and digital
automation. Nick brings his passion for digital
marketing to help professionals and business
owners better understand and integrate digital
marketing strategies with the introduction of
'Digital Marketing Tools' magazine for Apple
iTunes & Google Play Android.

Scott Ayres
CONTRIBUTOR BIO
Social Media Lab

Scott’s just a guy who became addicted to
social media before even MySpace (the first
time around!). He’s a horrible “internet marketer”
as he’s more concerned about teaching than
turning a quick buck. Any given day he spends
probably 20+ hours on Facebook! He’s been
married for nearly 20 years and has 3 kiddos
that are his world!

RESOURCES & REVIEWS
9 Insider Tips For

Increasing Your LinkedIn Leads
by Michael Shannon
Social media has revolutionized the way people meet and create new
networks.
Typically, you’d have to attend real meetings, take paperback contacts, probably meet again and
develop real human connections, then develop that rapport into something meaningful and productive.
While the world was more organic back then, things have changed. With the power of social media,
you might be talking to your future spouse, or chatting with the CEO of a Fortune 500 company right
from the comfort of your living room.

Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram boast billions of combined users, but LinkedIn is special in its kind
of demographic and appeal.
According to Hubspot, LinkedIn is the best social media site for generating leads, with a conversion
rate of almost 2.74% for visitors-to-leads, compared to less than 1% for Facebook and Twitter. That
means if you are a business targeting new customers through digital mediums such as social media,
there is a much higher chance of getting a new connection turned into a potential customer on
LinkedIn than on Facebook or other social media and regular web channels.
With over 500 million global users and 3 million users getting 9 billion weekly impressions, LinkedIn
is one of the best ways to launch a new career, get connections in your industry, or acquire new
customers for your business.
So, with this information and now knowing that you can’t afford to ignore this social media platform
anymore if you’re seeking professional mileage, here are 9 great tips to increase your connections,
leads, and conversions on LinkedIn.

1. Make your content SEO-friendly
Most people assume that promotional content based on SEO is only meant for web publishing
to rank your site better on search engines such as Google and Bing. But the psychological effect
of keywords that are specifically targeted at your niche market or client base on LinkedIn will be
rewarding as new connections will be drawn to your page effortlessly. Don’t just use these in your
summary and headline but also in promotional content, as the goal is to position yourself as an
expert in your field. If you are new to creating SEO content, you can always hire a copywriter or
content marketer for a reasonable fee.
2. Don’t be afraid to ask for introductions

A lot of people keep LinkedIn small and tight, i.e., right within their circles of work, family or friends.
It can be frightening, trying to connect with a guy whose header reads “CEO” or “business owner.”
Yet, one of the most underused forms of generating leads is the power of a simple introduction.
There’s someone within your circle who probably knows that person that you are too afraid to send
a request to. Use that connection, and if you’re still unable to, build upon that intermediary until you
are in a position of trust. Of course, this is a lengthy process that will take time.

3. Create organic content
LinkedIn is quite famous for tons of shares from other web and social platforms. The click-through rate,
while it is substantial, is often not authentic. The secret to creating organic reactions and positioning
yourself as a provider of valuable material is to post unique and refreshing content, made by you and
your brand. While it may be slow at first, you’ll garner a dedicated reader base, and these may just turn
into the sales leads that you’ve been angling for. Better quality over quantity is key.
4. Make use of LinkedIn Groups

The beauty about groups here is that these are the people that run in the same professional circles,
who probably know the same people as you do, and who are looking for the same opportunities
as you are. It goes without saying that it is easier to get a lead conversion when you connect with
people in your job or industry-specific groups than elsewhere. In fact, you can get recommendations
and new introductions from these groups, and keep up with the latest trends and hear about all the
most recent developments in your company, industry or market segment from these groups.
5. Update your posts and keep content fresh

Being interactive and having the discipline and regimen to actively share new content isn’t everybody’s
strong suit. However, you can make yourself try and update or publish new content on certain
intervals. Turning this into a habit not only makes it more enjoyable but also garners you more
organic leads and followers.
6. Make use of visual content

Has there been any better news on LinkedIn than the fact that you can share YouTube videos directly
on the site, as well as any other content and animations with full optimization?
This is a massive plus for brands as they can now reach customers in the way that the latter loves
best. Everyone loves moving graphics and things that nudge on their senses. Now, you can have
a header optimized for flash player on your browser which instantly makes you a hit with anyone
viewing your profile. Or, in simpler terms, there is a greater chance of someone clicking on, enjoying
your content and coming back for more if you make use of visual content such as videos, infographics,
and animations, instead of a bland text and keyword-laced campaign.

7. Have a strong headline and summary
There is always a tendency to pack too much or too little in your headline. This is your primary
marketing tool and biggest click-pusher on LinkedIn. It’s the first thing that anyone viewing your
profile, even by accident, will see. The summary is used in tandem with the headline, so make sure
they match. If both of these do, then psychology dictates that the person reading your profile will
want to research you more, potentially resulting in a lead and conversion.
8. Keep it professional
It is an almost unspoken rule that your LinkedIn profile is a de-facto resume. In fact, it is reported in
2018 by a Simply Hired study that about 28% of hiring managers potentially looked at an applicant’s
LinkedIn profile.
Just like your typical resume would be the most professional side of you, so should your LinkedIn
profile showcase this special appeal. Everything from your summary, the headline to your profile
picture and even posts and content should promote that business side of you. While interaction
might be casual, your appearance should always be professional.
9. If building a brand, streamline messages across all social

networks
We often tend to post different sides of ourselves depending on the platform. We are subtle on
Facebook, flirtatious on Instagram and witty on Twitter. This doesn’t hurt if you are more of a singular
brand which doesn’t specifically target customers on social media. However, if you are a corporate
brand with a specific marketing model and a niche that you are targeting, you might want to make
your strategy similar across all platforms. Thus, be a company or brand that people know and are
familiar with regardless of the medium that you are on. Don’t be a shapeshifter which people would
find unfamiliar and unrecognizable if they went to another social channel.

Take the lead with LinkedIn
No other platform leverages the power of professional connections like LinkedIn. This makes it by
far the most lucrative social platform when it comes to generating leads. You just have to put in the
work and lots of it.

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What are some tips for using LinkedIn effectively?

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What are some recommendations for creating engaging content?

What are some recommendations for creating engaging content?

The Best Times

Digital Marketing Tools Magazine | Issue 89 | November 2020

how to use this app

Tap and Hold screen to show the bottom bar

How to Rank Higher on Google Maps in 2021 by Kristen McCormick

How To Finally Monetize Pinterest! by Kim Garst

How To Use Facebook Messenger to Boost Your Business

RESOURCES & REVIEWS

Digital Marketing Tools Magazine 4

My goal is to bring you the latest digital marketing tools, practical

That said, here are the latest marketing strategies, Content

• How to Get to the Top of Google’s Search Results

• How to Rank Higher on Google Maps in 2021

• The Best Times To Post On Social Media: The Definitive

• How To Finally Monetize Pinterest!

• The Science of How the Instagram Algorithm Works

• 5 Actionable Tips for an Effective B2B YouTube Strategy

• How To Use Facebook Messenger to Boost Your Business

• 9 Insider Tips For Increasing Your LinkedIn Leads

Digital Marketing Tools Magazine 5

Stay informed and up-to-

Subscribe & Connect with

Google’s Search Results

But how exactly do you appear here above the competition?

Digital Marketing Tools Magazine 7

Digital Marketing Tools Magazine

Not sure what each of those four possibilities look like?

Here’s a quick cheat sheet:

Digital Marketing Tools Magazine 9

How to get to the top of Google

How to get to the top of Google

How to get to the top of Google

How to get to the top of Google

Digital Marketing Tools Magazine 10

Digital Marketing Tools Magazine 11

Quality Score (QS) in Google Ads.

Digital Marketing Tools Magazine 12

Digital Marketing Tools Magazine 13

How to get to the top of Google

Digital Marketing Tools Magazine 14

Digital Marketing Tools Magazine 15

• Optimize your Google My Business listing.

• Build high-quality local citations.

• Get more reviews from customers.

• Build links to the pages that matter.

How to get to the top of Google

Digital Marketing Tools Magazine 16

Digital Marketing Tools Magazine 17

Digital Marketing Tools Magazine 18

HOW TO FIND LOW-HANGING FEATURED SNIPPET OPPORTUNITIES

With a bit of on-page optimization, we could probably change that.

Digital Marketing Tools Magazine 19

As a starting point, that means

• Easy to use (clear

• Secure (i.e., HTTPS not

• Free of other technical