Reels are a relatively new feature on instagram, installed on the platform in the middle of 2020. These 15-30 second video format was created to compete with the success of tiktok. Because of their relative newness to instagram has put a more user friendly algorithm on them. Meaning, if you make reels, instagram will show them to more people, instead of throttling the reach, like a standard post. So obviously,  you want to make reels… a lot. BUT! You aren’t a content creator! You have other stuff to do! How are you supposed to keep coming up with short video ideas regularly? Also, please don’t make me dance.

1-  One word: Audios

Because instagram reels is copying tiktok, when creators make a reel, the visual and the audio is separate. The audio can be shared, or reused by other creators. This is how you get trending audios. Instagram has also recently introduced a stitch feature, again imitating tiktok. This feature allows you to put your video next to a pre-existing video, allowing you to piggyback off other creators. 

So, the key to being able to churn out the reels is: save audios.

As you scroll through reels you will notice the same audios being used again and again, byt different content creators. This is called a trend, follow trends. As a small content creator all you have to do is save the audio and repeat the trend. You do not need to search up trends, simply scroll and if you notice an audio being used a lot save it. The interesting thing about a lot of these audios is that they are usually pretty self explanatory as to what you have to do visually. And before you panic, no, they are not all dancing.

If you save sufficient audios, all you then have to do is go to the saved audio section and scroll through and select an audio. If you lack inspiration, simply look at what other creators have done with that audio, and it will become very clear what you can do. This strategy allows you to create original content for your online presence 

2- timelapses 

A very simple idea for reels, if you are a creator of things, is timelapses. All you have to do is set up your phone, film yourself making an item or product, then speed it up. People are always fascinated by the process of making things. It is a very easy reel idea that should not interfere too much with your everyday work. You also do not need to do timelapses of your product, you could sit your phone in your office window and catch the street life below you. You could do a timelapse of your fingers typing on the laptop if you have a boring office job. Timelapses can be 

3- vlogs

Lastly, you know youtube vlogs. On youtube, these are usually over 10 minutes, and are very often high production value. But on reels you are limited to 15- 30 seconds. All you need is to take a few very short clips or photos of your day as you go, and at the end of the day string them together with a popular audio and tadahhh! Instant reel! You can do a voice over, or simply text, or text to speech. It is a growing phenomenon on TikTok, micro vlogs of a person’s day. It is very fast paced, very easy to make it look exciting, and you do not need to actually show all of yourself, or even talk to camera. if you are not able to film all throughout your day, you could simply capture specific moments that you think might look good, like if you went to get coffee, or went to a park over lunch, simply capture a 15 second shot of it

On instagram people want aesthetically pleasing videos. Instagram is the platform for impossible beauty standards, but also a shallow appearance of authenticity.  So keep in mind when you make your videos the word “aesthetic”. Put a good filter, film the most visually interesting part of your day. Catch a sun beam on your coffee mug. Zoom in on some flowers. But remember above all, the more you do them, even if they suck at first, you will end up being a genius at reels. 

What’s your favorite tip for content inspiration?

Good luck! And reel them in

Market demand is the total amount of goods and services that all consumers are willing and able to purchase at a specific price in a marketplace. In other words, it represents how much consumers can and will buy from suppliers at a given price level in a market.

Now, how do we determine market demand? What techniques and technologies can we adopt to help us understand what the market is demanding? Can SEO research aid us in determining market demand? People who opt to following their gut instincts when figuring out market demand can sometimes lead to incorrect analogies, which then leads to pointless campaigns, wasted money and time.

What are the benefits of calculating market demand

To help marketers and business start-ups there are great softwares, apps and technologies that gather correct data based on customer behaviours, this information can then be evidenced forecast to help evaluate whether a business venture is feasible or not, we’ll talk about these later.

On top of figuring out whether a product will sell or not, there are lots of other insightful reasons for calculating product demand that will help you make better-informed business decisions. For example, knowing how high the demand for a product is informs pricing strategies and being aware of the type of people who will be interested in your product helps craft marketing initiatives. 

What determines market demand?

There are several factors you need to be aware of when calculating market demand:

• Number of people actively searching for a product like yours
• How many people are willing to pay for a product like yours
• How available your product is for purchase, considering your own company and your competitors selling the same/ similar products

What technology can help determine market demand?

Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s get on to the good stuff. You are probably wondering what technology is out there that can help you perform your market demand analysis. There’s two great tools you’ll need to make use of:

• Search engine optimisation (SEO) tools

There are countless free SEO tools out there that you can use to gather insights about your product or service. These tools will tell you search volume, so you know how many times on average people are searching for the product each month, and keyword suggestions, which tells you how often people are searching for related terms. SEO tools can be a great source of inspiration as they will help you determine how frequently users are searching for your product and related terms. You can even filter your searches by location and time period which will give you specific brand insights that can inform your focus and decisions moving forward. 

Here are a few of some great free SEO tools:

1. Aherfs’ free SEO tools 
2. Google Analytics 
3. Keyword Hero

• Social Media Platforms 

Social media platforms can give you a wealth of data that you can use to inform all kinds of decisions you make related to products, marketing strategies and your overall brand identity. By simply searching specific keywords you can see all related posts informing you who’s talking about them, the general sentiment behind, where people are talking about them and what they’re saying.

• Social Media Insights

A great way to further understand market demands is on social platforms. Instagram has a built in feature for business accounts called Instagram insights, providing information on customer demographics, high and low content interaction, gains and losses on follower count, post reach and so much more (read more about instagram analytics here). Using this free built in feature on your social media accounts can provide you a greater understanding of what your customers like to see, what they demand for and what type of content really resonates with them. 

What other methods can I use to determine market demand?

There are other, more traditional, methods for calculating market demand. For example, you could carry out surveys or questionnaires either on social media or via email. Aim to reach as many people as possible with this method because the greater the scope you create, the more accurate and informative your market research will be. 

Another promising method is planning and executing experiments which, although these can be expensive and time-consuming, offer very informative results. An example of this might be offering a new product at a discounted price for a limited time which will encourage a large number of purchases. From this, you can determine who’s interested in your product and gather feedback from those who have bought it. 

Thinking up a new business idea can be really exciting, but knowing your idea will work is even better. We hope you’ve found this article useful, and if you have any questions we’d love to hear from you! You can contact us here. 

Business Event Marketing

A great way to attract new clients and grow your business is by hosting an event where like-minded people from relevant industries can gather to, learn, network and form beneficial relationships aka a Business event. Do this by planning Business Event Marketing.

For many organisations these events can be one of the most successful outbound strategies because of the positive face-to-face interactions between their brand and others, making it easier to gain and retain clients. 

Hosting a business event isn’t all smooth sailing though, it can be really difficult to attract people to attend them, especially when competitors are hosting events around a similar time. To help you make sure your event is a success, we’ve got some tips to help you spread awareness early, quickly and effectively. Business Event Marketing has many forms, which we will dive more into now.

Reach a wide audience with Business Event Marketing

To have the highest possible chance of attracting lots of businesses to your event, you should utilise multiple channels for spreading the word about your event. 

Business people are busy. So if you want to catch their attention you’ll need to approach them from many different angles. Here are four channels that we believe you’ll have the greatest chance of success in reaching them on:

• Email

A fast way to reach your target audience is via email marketing; a channel that allows you to directly communicate with your existing contacts who might be interested in attending the event. There are also ways to gain new contacts and build up an email list of potential attendees, we’ve written an article that shows you how to do this, read here. 

• Social media

It is almost guaranteed that the majority of your target audience will use at least one form of social media. That’s why we’re telling you to post on all of them. Social media marketing is a great way to catch your audience’s attention, post about your event on Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Twitter, and Pinterest. Facebook also allows you to create events that you can promote to reach your target audience. You can get great results from both organic and paid promotions using social media, so it’s suitable for all budget sizes. 

• Event sites

Websites such as Eventbrite are not only the perfect place to broadcast your event, but they’re super handy too. You can use these websites for registration and selling tickets as well as promotion. This method will only work on people already searching for events like yours though, so opt for a combination of these four strategies if you want the best results. Business Event Marketing should be a part of your digital marketing strategy.

• Direct mail

The power of good old fashioned direct mail should not be underestimated. This method still works well for business marketing, and although it may be going out of style, it can actually be a unique way to stand out from your competitors. You have the option to send postcards, brochures, letters or leaflets that contain relevant information about your event and a strong CTA (call to action) directing your audience to get in touch. 

In addition to these outreach methods, we’ve got plenty of other tips for building a buzz around your event…

• Create an event microsite for Business Event Marketing

Give your event a boost by creating a standalone website dedicated to it. This will serve as a landing page for all your outreach, and keep the focus on your event. Including high-quality content relevant to the event on your microsite will boost SEO and draw in leads from search engine result pages.  Another item for your Business Event Marketing.

• Make sure event outreach is mobile-friendly

A substantial amount of your target audience will access event information and content on their smartphones. If your outreach doesn’t format properly on these devices, you risk losing a lot of potential leads. We recommend building a separate, unique interface for mobile devices so that users get the most seamless experience possible. 

• Maintain event tech year-round for business

A successful event can be a great springboard for future ones. Make use of the existing buzz and try to keep your attendees engaged year-round in anticipation of your next event. Here are some ways you can do it:

1. Pack your microsite with on-demand content that’s accessible year-round and notify attendees every time you upload fresh content.
2. Maintain an active discussion forum so that attendees can ask questions and seek opinions on industry topics. 
3. Build hype for your next event with promotional content such as images, graphics and videos. Success stories and important statistics from your last event will help attract new attendees.

We hope these tips are useful, and we’d love to hear how you get on with your next business event. If you need a helping hand we can handle all things digital for you, get in touch today and let’s chat!

Remember the days when you would log in to Instagram to find all the latest posts you’ve missed in a nice chronological order? Those days were bliss. 

These days your feed seems to present in a totally random order, and not to mention the fact that your Aunt is always mad at you for not liking her recent cat photo…it’s not your fault though, it didn’t come up on your feed! In fact, there’s a really simple explanation for this; it’s Instagram’s new algorithm. 

For many brands, the new algorithm definitely came as a shock. Instagram used to be one of the easiest social media marketing tools to navigate. You post a pic, people see it, and hey-presto, you gain customers. Now though, making sure your photos get seen is a little trickier, but do not to fear! We’ve got the low-down on how to beat the algorithm and get your posts ranking high in the feed. It’s all about engagement. The more people you’ve got liking and commenting on your posts, the better it will rank on the Instagram feed. 

How to boost Instagram engagement

Here are some clever ways to get more comments and likes on your posts, and ultimately rank higher in user’s feeds. 

Post frequently

Rarely active accounts just don’t fare well on Instagram, or any other social media platform for that matter. If you want to get people engaging with your photos, you need to get them interested in your account and looking forward to your next post. If you don’t post very often, people will inevitably forget about you, unfollow you, and sadly you’ll fade into the background. 

Host a giveaway

Who doesn’t love free stuff? Am I right? Hosting a giveaway is a great way to entice users to like, comment and share your content. Invite users to enter the contest by engaging with your post, perhaps by tagging three of their friends, (who may then also enter the contest). 

Host a takeover

Hosting a takeover means allowing another company, colleague or influencer to post on your account for a certain amount of time, (usually a day). This is a really clever way to attract their audience over onto your page so you can gather follows, likes and comments from a brand new set of users.

Ask people to comment 

We’ve all heard it before…‘why don’t you just ask?’. It can feel wrong to do it, but actually, asking for something is often the easiest way to get it. 

Applying this method to Instagram, find ways to ask your followers for their input on your most recent post. You could ask for their opinion on something, whether they agree or disagree with a statement, or even ask for their advice.  

Respond to comments

Following on nicely from our last tip, try and respond to comments. You don’t need to respond to them all, but perhaps the ones that stand out to you, or as many as you have the time for. 

Modern consumers love two-way marketing. It feels good to have a conversation with your favourite brands. It will also encourage people to comment because they will want a response from you. 

Post something funny or shocking

Want to really get people talking? Give them something to talk about!

If you post something funny, surprising or provocative, you’re bound to get a conversation started. This tactic will have users commenting about their responses and tagging their friends. 

Post a teaser on your story

Some people browse through their story feed just as much, if not more than they do their general feed. Don’t want them to miss your post? Add a little teaser to your story so they’ll be directed to your post. 

These tips should have you well on your way to beating Youtube’s new algorithm and upping your posts’ engagement. If you’re yet to establish a social media presence for your brand, take a look at this article we wrote on how to build a flawless social media marketing strategy. 

Good luck!

Many have predicted that email marketing would either fade away or be replaced and ultimately become a thing of the past. But email marketing is still going strong, and actually, remains one of the most effective marketing strategies out there. 

Since email marketing is a highly effective method for engaging potential and existing customers, it’s also one of the most common. Billions of emails are sent out daily, that’s right, daily. Many of these emails are ignored or sent straight to spam, which is simply wasted efforts. If you want to make your emails sing and compete with the rest of them, we’ve got some top tips that can help you increase your open rates and click-through rates. Let’s jump in. 

Tip 1: Segment your email lists

You probably wouldn’t tell the cashier at your local supermarket about your recent break-up, would you? That’s because, in life, we are selective about which bits of information we tell to which people. The same goes for your email lists. You don’t need to send out every email to every person on the list, you need to be selective. Segmenting your email lists can help you send out emails to the relevant recipients. For example, if you offer student discounts you could segment your email list according to age groups. 

Tip 2: Master your subject line

A great subject line can be the difference between an ignored email and an opened one. You want it to be compelling enough to persuade recipients to open the email, but not so compelling that it comes off as spammy. Nobody likes spammy. You could spell out an offer, or something exciting that’s happening, whilst also keeping it short and to the point. Subject lines with less than 50 characters tend to get the best open rates. 

Tip 3: Ensure your emails are mobile-friendly

People aren’t just checking their inboxes on a desktop or laptop, they’re checking them on the go with their smartphones too. If your email doesn’t load properly on a mobile screen, it’s bound to get sent straight to trash. Many email marketing tools allow you to test your emails so you can see how it looks on both desktop and mobile inboxes, don’t skip this step!

Tip 4: Personalise your emails

A simple trick to increasing those click-through rates is adding your contact’s name to the emails you send them. People are more likely to open emails that are addressed to them as it comes off less robotic and more personal. Plus, taking note of your contact’s previous behaviours, such as which emails they tend to open and which types of content they most interact with, will enable you to customise the emails you send out to them in future.

Tip 5: Include a clear CTA

One of the biggest mistakes people make in their email campaigns is not including a clear call to action. If it’s not immediately evident to your contacts what action they’re supposed to take, it’s likely they’ll just close the email and move on. Whether it’s making a call or opening a link, spell it out with a clear CTA. 

Tip 6: Consider the time of day

The best time of day to send emails is between 8:00 am, and 9:00 am. This is because the first thing people tend to do when they arrive at work is to check their emails, so catching them at this point is your best bet. 

Tip 7: Cleanse your email list

Your email list will degrade over time. For example, when people change jobs their old email address will become redundant. It will negatively impact your delivery rates by having inactive users in your email list, so make sure you cleanse your list by removing those addresses that haven’t been engaged in a long time. As a rule of thumb, you should be doing this once a year. 

And there you have it, our 7 top tips for crafting the perfect marketing email. If you’d like to read a more comprehensive guide to email marketing, check out this article we wrote. 

Good luck!

Attracting customers to your product is a challenge that all businesses must face, and social media is one of the most powerful tools for the job. Consumers are 87% more likely to check out a brand’s products if they already follow them on social media. But, winning followers on your platforms, and ultimately customers comes down to having a strong social media marketing strategy. This requires a lot of knowledge and skills. To add to this, expanding your strategy across a franchise with multiple locations means expanding your knowledge and skills whilst maintaining brand consistency – tough stuff right? 

Don’t worry. We’ve got some valuable tips for you, so stick around and keep reading.

We know building a successful social media marketing strategy is hard work even for the smallest of businesses, that’s why we created this useful guide. Today though, we’ve got some tips to help you with marketing your franchise on social media. 

Communicate with your franchises

Make sure all local teams are fully informed when it comes to your brand image. Give them examples of wording, style, and colours, and keep communication flowing to keep everyone aligned. Set out benchmarks for campaigns to ensure everyone is organised, and at the same time maintain brand consistency. 

Utilise templates

A great way to control content quality is to create templates that can be sent out to different locations. Then, each team can personalise the content to suit their location. This ensures branding is consistent and prevents certain locations from lagging behind others. 

Stick to a posting schedule

All of your content should be scheduled in advance so stick to a posting schedule and always plan ahead. When there’s a holiday coming up you can create content themed around that holiday. Remember to take local time zones into consideration. 

Monitor performance

Track the performance for each location to make sure all social media efforts are contributing to the success of your business. You can analyse statistics for all your pages, and check the metrics for each post to see what’s working and what isn’t. Data will help you provide personalised feedback for all your locations so they know what to work on. 

Educate your franchises

Your local teams will benefit from lessons from the head office. As you grow, educate your franchisees so they can grow with you. Showing them the best strategies will keep everyone motivated and ready to take the next step. 

Social media tool for franchise marketing

Social media management tools are one of the greatest solutions for franchise marketing. Staying on top of content creation and delivery, posting schedules and performance analysis is a tough job for any business, but for a franchise, it’s next level of stress. Thankfully though, you can take the stress away by utilising our all in one digital marketing solution: Byter Studio. You can create new content, choose from thousands of templates and analyse the data across all of your channels. Social Media Marketing is a tool for any business this day and age and should be a fundamental part of your business.

Good luck!

Strong communication is essential to a successful business. Better communication can lead to increased morale, productivity and commitment amongst your employees. Spend time and energy creating a more open and communicative work environment and you will be rewarded with trusting employees, who’re able to communicate effectively with their colleagues, managers and customers. 

The importance of communication in the workplace

Let’s have a look at the many reasons why organisations can benefit from prioritising communication in the workplace. 

Goal alignment

Many organisations report that their employees’ goals do not align with corporate purposes which is a result of poor communication. Leaders and managers who have everyone singing from the same hymn sheet have more success in the workplace.

Increased productivity and engagement

Keeping employees in the know with company news and updates leads to a more productive workforce.

Improve workplace safety

Better communication in the workplace will equip your employees with better crisis management and improve workplace safety. 

Reduced turnover 

Encouraging bottom-up feedback can lead employees to stay longer because they feel involved in company progression.

Better interdepartmental collaboration

Good communication leads to better interdepartmental collaboration. Companies see great results when their departments work together like a well-oiled machine.

More efficient remote working 

Remote work has become the new norm for many industries over the last year. Good communication among remote employees helps to keep everyone motivated and included. 

Promote a culture of open communications

Now that we’ve covered some of the benefits of improving workplace communication, we’re going to show you some ways to facilitate it. The important thing to remember here is that open communications need to become part of your company culture if you want the benefits to last.

Regularly check in with employees

This is an effective way to promote strong communication. Make your employees feel like they have a voice by scheduling one-on-one meetings where you ask them for feedback and suggestions, and also ask about their current projects. If your staff feel like they’re being listened to, they’ll be more likely to talk. 

Start an “open door” policy

Many employees don’t feel comfortable speaking up to their boss, or sugarcoat it when they do. Instead of waiting for them to come to you, reach out to your employees and invite them to come and talk to you whenever they have something on their mind. An open-door policy will motivate your employees to communicate with you and result in better connections and meaningful conversations. 

Utilise social media 

Encourage your employees to engage with the company’s social media, and as a result, engaging with each other. Ask them to like, comment and share posts about the organisation, this will spark conversations and create a sense of togetherness. 

Rearrange the office

Communication in the office is often stunted by an inefficient layout. Open up your floor plan, get rid of cubicles and partitions and make sure everyone can see each other. Not only will this encourage communication between employees, but it will also create a more enjoyable and relaxed atmosphere – it’s a sure-fire way to boost morale! 

These are four great ways to open up communication channels amongst your workforce. The aim is to give all of your employees a voice, so that every employee feels comfortable communicating freely with their peers, colleagues and superiors. 

Good luck!