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7 TRENDS TO WATCH OUT FOR IN TERMS OF CONTENT STRATEGY

Content is at the pinnacle of most marketing strategies with the help of the digital age. As times have changed with an increase of consumers moving to the digital landscape, content as a strategy shouldn’t be overlooked. Content marketing can be considered as a tactic that can drive traffic to your website by creating highly engaging content in various forms. There are different forms of content marketing such as social media, YouTube videos, blogs and webinars just to name a few.

A common mistake that occurs to most is finding the time to do market research. Without performing market research, the content that you’re about to produce might not be relevant to your audience and can defeat the whole purpose of the strategy. Visitors can be put off by companies that are only pushing selling points as a form of content. That is not something to shy away from but it can come across as something that is of only benefit to the company and feels as if it’s just centered around the business.

Here are some of the content trends that will propel in the industry:

1. Social Media
2. VR content
3. Live videos
4. Webinars
5. YouTube videos

Social Media content marketing

1. Social Media content:

Social media platforms has evolved in such a way that its not only used to share an individuals personal experience with something but rather to a point where businesses can expand their reach. There are millions of users that makes use of various platforms so sticking to one can limit your reach. It is best to diversify your reach to the public by being active on majority of these platforms. One needs to closely identify what type of content needs to be produced on the platforms as each and every one of them is different. Popular social media platforms includes Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.


2. Virtual Reality (VR) content:

Virtual reality can be described as the use of computer technology to create a simulated environment. The most recognizable component of Virtual Reality can be the headset goggles that are mounted over ones head. Virtual Reality creates an unreal experience as if it the user were actually inside of the game or video. With competition making it more tense for newbies in the industry, companies need to look in the opposite direction to grab attention. With digital disruption accelerating innovation there are quite a number of options to play around with in order to break the market. Virtual Reality has an appealing concept due to its life like simulated environment in which people can immerse themselves in. Augmented Reality (AR) is where images are overlaid into the camera view. Augmented Reality requires less hardware and is more accessible to the public since it only requires a mobile device or a desktop. There are a number of brands within various industries that created successful campaigns through VR and AR. Clothing brands has taken levels up a notch by allowing consumers to visualize how a certain garment would look on them. The same concept has been spun throughout various brands and some have achieved great success from this.


3. Live Videos:

Live videos can be considered as a direct selling point to consumers due to the personal interaction from a brand or a sales representative. With live videos coming into play, there’s direct and up front communication about the narrative of the brand or product which gives the audience more bait to bight on. With platforms such as Facebook and Instagram contributing to the arena, their live video feature makes direct to consumer selling in a virtual sense more accessible to the public.


4. Live Webinars:

Live webinars are a great way in building relationships and trust within your audience. Webinars can rub off your audience in extremely beneficial ways that works well within the company or brands’ favor. You can create content that’s not only informative but promotional at the same time. It’s as if you’re taking the time out to understand your audience and to give them something first before they perform any transaction with you. A webinar is roughly about 30 – 60 minutes long. It should be structured in a way that it captivates your audience and that times of viewing are accessible to the majority.


5. YouTube videos:

YouTube has grown exponentially over the years with an audience of 4 billion that’s ever increasing on the platform. One of the few goals of advertising is to get your brand across many eyes while spending the least. Videos are appearing in Google’s text results page due its rise in popularity. Being active on YouTube can make your website a bit easier to rank on search results due to the search engines finding popularity and engagement from your site. If your content speaks volumes, your audience might even promote for you.
Here’s how you can grow your web traffic with YouTube.


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Top 5 checkout plugins for your online store

A checkout plug-in is a software component used to enhance the processing capabilities of a checkout page. A checkout plug-in can simplify the process by making the interface and experience much more easier when a sale occurs. This could either be the way your page is laid out in terms of the elements on the page or the card options used when proceeding with payment. It’s of utmost importance that your checkout page contains the necessary details and is kept as simple as possible. It’s of best practice to try and steer away from any elements that are not needed. Up-selling points are always good to have on a checkout page as it can be a great contributor towards your sales funnels.

1. Bolt checkout:

Bolt checkout is an application software that facilitates and enhances a shopper’s checkout experience. The seamless design of the application allows one to checkout while not re-directing a visitor to another page. The application is responsive to various browsers with a one-click checkout process in place. Not only does the checkout application contributes to the uninterrupted process when checking out, it also contributes to fraud protection. The application prevents BOT attacks without affecting the checkout experience. Bolt has partnered with the Google’s reCAPTCHA to detect card testing attacks. This will assist with blocking bot attacks before fraudsters are able to complete the checkout without adding any unnecessary friction during the process. Bolt supports various platforms such as Apple pay, Mastercard, Visa, American Express and various other payment platforms.

2. YITH WooCommerce plugin:

YITH is an independent platform that is developed by its in-house developers. This acts as a great contributor towards your customer experience with them. YITH’s plugins are developed through a proprietary framework that is constantly improved and strengthened. This contributes to the compatibility of their plugins and unique features that you need for your e-commerce site. When their tools operate together, it can offer a more advanced experience due to their tailoring process in development. In turn, this can create a more powerful operating system for your e-commerce business. Their plugins act as powerful marketing tool that can help your e-commerce site enhance conversions, creating customer loyalty through offers, add-ons and much more.

3. WooCommerce direct checkout:

WooCommerce Direct Checkout is a simplified checkout process that allows a user to reduce the steps taken when processing a checkout. The plugin adds the ‘add to cart’ button on your products that directs you straight to the checkout page. This can be a beneficial factor in UX/UI design for your website. This allows users to shop and checkout much more quicker. The plugin allows developers or whoever is responsible for adjusting the website to remove fields. Unnecessary fields can agitate the checkout process due to information that might not be needed such as policy texts, duplicate shipping address details etc.

WooCommerce direct checkout

4. Square for WooCommerce:

With Square, you can easily synchronize sales, inventory and customer data, manage all of your channels through one centralized platform and use one payment solution across all channels. There are no hidden fees or commitments that can throw you off guard. With Square, you only pay when you make a sale. There is a flat fee involved when making any form of sale whether it be online or in-person. Square can be of great assistance to small businesses by helping them start, run and grow with intuitive powerful tools. With the latest digital wallet feature, it allows users to make payments via Apple or Google Pay. The plugin allows one to perform itemized transaction details through enhanced reporting.

5. Stripe:

The Stripe plugin allows one to accept payments directly on your store whether it be web or mobile. The plugin keeps visitors on your store instead of being redirected to an external checkout page which is said to improve conversion rates. With Stripe, you can accept all major debit and credit card from customers in every country. Stripe is PCI-DSS compliant and supports Strong Customer Authentication (SCA). It is optimized for mobile payments and includes Apple Pay, Google Pay and Payment Request API support. With updates and new innovative functionality at no costs, one can utilize the tools provided without stress.