Twitter Launches New 280 Character Limit: Good or Bad Move?

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Twitter has recently announced that a character limit change is official – tweets can now contain up to 280 characters, but not for every user yet. It’s an interesting and risky move, as the 140 character limit is what Twitter has always been known for and is a major way they differentiate themselves from their social media competitors. According to an article from Market Land, this would mark the “biggest change to Twitter since its founding in 2006 and the biggest risk yet by the company to increase its user base.” This post will explore the potential benefits and disadvantages that could come along with an increased character limit.

Potential Benefits:
Introducing a doubled character limit (280 compared to 140) has the potential be a beneficial move for Twitter moving forward. One possible benefit of a larger character limit is that it would allow users to “better express themselves,” according to the Marketing Land article. This is a legitimate reason as a restricted character limit has forced users to limit what they’re trying to say. A 280 limit would also decrease the “loopholes” of tweeting such as screenshots of longer text and the annoying threads that appear on timelines. Another important point to mention is the increased opportunity this presents for Twitter’s advertising platform. An expanded character limit gives advertisers an opportunity to create more appealing ads, and as a result this could lead to more ad revenue for Twitter in the long run.

The Marketing Land article also quotes Aliza Rosen (Twitter’s Product Manager) stating that “Twitter is hoping fewer tweets run into the character limit, which should make it easier for everyone to tweet.” Ultimately, Twitter’s overall goal of increasing the character limit appears to be focused on making it easier for everyone to tweet and reducing the frustrations that come along with character limits.

Potential Drawbacks:
Based on all of the potential benefits above, the expanded 280 character limit seems like a brilliant idea. However, there could be some possible drawbacks of having larger character limits. A clear negative of moving away from the 140 characters is that Twitter would now be steering away from their core idea that has differentiated themselves from other social media competition. The article states that Twitter’s original thought behind the 140 character limit was “replicating the length of a text message would make the social network more inviting to people to post thoughts on the fly from their phones.”

Another disadvantage that could come along with expanding the character limit is an increase in spam. There would be nothing worse then scrolling through a timeline of spam accounts or reading 280 character tweets from irrelevant sources. In the end, it will be very interesting to see what happens with Twitter’s new 280 character limit moving forward. Based on outside research and analysis, it appears to us that the potential benefits of an increased character limit would outweigh the possible disadvantages.

Contact Us:
For more information regarding digital marketing expertise, visit the Onimod Global Website. We provide weekly news updates on the latest in the world of digital marketing. Enjoy!

Facebook Shows Increase in Social Responsibility Efforts

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With more than 2 billion users, Facebook certainly has its finger on the pulse of the world. In light of many recent natural disasters, the platform is looking for ways in which it can help those in need.

Puerto Rico

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook co-founder and CEO, made a post announcing that a team of representatives were on their way to Puerto Rico to help victims affected by hurricanes Maria and Irma.

The team will be working to make sure that emergency telecommunications are up and running. Zuckerberg stated that, “Communication is critical during a disaster.”

Such communication will be vital for victims in need of emergency services, as well as those looking for current information on loved ones that may have been affected by the hurricanes.

An article from Adweek also reports that the social networking giant will be donating $1.5 million to NetHope and the World Food Programme. These volunteer and monetary relief efforts from Facebook are sure to have a great impact on those in Puerto Rico and others around the globe.

India

Even without major propellants like hurricanes, Facebook is spreading positivity around the world. On October 1, India will be celebrating National Voluntary Blood Donation Day.

According to Adweek, a special message promoting the event will appear to each user in the country of India. Additional tools and capabilities are being developed inside of the platform to help bring attention to events like this one.

Hema Budaraju, product manager, and Ritesh Mehta, head of programs, explained the tools in greater detail by writing, “When a request is created, Facebook will automatically notify blood donors who may be nearby to help spread the word. Donors can then review the request and, if they wish to respond, contact the requestor directly through WhatsApp, Messenger or a phone call. The person who needs blood won’t be able to see any information about the donor unless the donor explicitly provides it when he/she reaches out to the person in need of blood.”

5 Fascinating Digital Marketing Stats So Far in 2017

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2017 has been an interesting year so far in the digital marketing world, with some surprising stats and trends. Some of the stats listed are from Christopher Heine’s article in Adweek that caught our attention.

1. Yelp ahead of Snapchat in Ad Revenue:
According to eMarketer, “Yelp will make close to $720 million this year in digital ad sales in the U.S. compared to Snapchat’s $640 million.” This statistic was surprising at first considering the social media giant that Snapchat has become in recent years. Not to say $640 million a year in ad revenue is a bad thing, but it will be interesting to see if Snapchat makes any adjustments for advertisers before the end of the year.

2. Google and Facebook Dominate:
This one didn’t come as much of a surprise compared to the other stats listed. eMarketer also projected that “63% of all digital ad sales by the end of the year will come from Google and Facebook. In numbers that is equivalent to $35 billion for Google and $17.4 billion for Facebook.” This shows the dominance of Google and Facebook in the advertising world and we would expect this trend to continue if companies are experiencing positive returns on investments.

3. Pinterest Making Improvements:
Pinterest has been making some massive improvements as of late regarding their advertising options. According to Heine’s article, “Pinterest advertisers now have access to 5,000 interest categories that will roll out in the next couple of weeks.” With this upgrade from Pinterest, engagement rates are expected to increase by a significant amount and cost-per-clicks are projected to decrease.

4. Uber Lawsuit:
It’s been recently reported that Uber is pursuing a lawsuit against a mobile advertising company called Fetch Media. Heine’s article states that “Uber is suing Fetch Media for at least $40 million accusing the company of improper billing for fraudulent ads falsely taking credit for app downloads.” We’ll see how the lawsuit plays out, but this is significant because it could potentially ruin the reputations of other mobile ad companies.

5. Trouble Tracking Ad Spend:
Digital marketers losing track of ad spend may come off as a surprise, but an article from Marketing Week found this to be evident. Apparently “only 36% of digital marketers are confident that their campaigns are targeting the appropriate audiences.” They also found that “nearly a quarter of digital marketers don’t consistently track their campaigns whatsoever.” These two statistics really jumped out to us because monitoring digital marketing campaigns is essential to making sure ad dollar is used efficiently.

Contact Us:
For more information regarding digital marketing expertise, visit the Onimod Global Website. We provide weekly news updates on the latest in the world of digital marketing. Enjoy!

Industries Benefiting The Most From Digital Marketing Campaigns

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Although running successful digital marketing campaigns can be beneficial for many industries, there are some in particular where ROI is much more substantial. It’s almost an “adapt or die” scenario for companies within certain industries in an advertising market dominated by digital media. Listed below are a few industries that have substantial returns on investments when it comes to digital marketing efforts.

Health:
The health industry in today’s market is comprised of millions if not billions of dollars. Physicians, dentists, and any other entities involved in the health industry produce significant returns from clientele. The importance of effective search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) strategies to appear on the first page of search results is huge. The ROI is so substantial that there are some health clinics and larger hospitals that allocate millions of dollars to their annual advertising budgets. That alone shows the importance of leads and conversions and why digital efforts need to be emphasized in the health industry.

Food and Restaurant:
The scope of the food and restaurant industry has changed drastically. Businesses are always trying to find new ways to attract consumers to their venues and get customers to feel connected to their brands. Many restaurants have started to prioritize social media advertising as a way to reach target markets and new audiences. According to Toast Inc, “there has been a 20% overall increase in restaurants advertising on social media so far in 2017 compared to historical data.” Therefore, restaurants have started to pick up on the digital advertising trend and those who fail to adapt will suffer in the long run.

Law:
It’s no surprise as to how much money is involved when it comes to the legal industry. The ROI for defense attorneys and law firms is in most cases substantial. However, it was reported by Greentarget in a survey that in 2014 only one in four law firms prioritized their digital marketing plan over other marketing efforts. Although it was three years ago, this statistic is mind boggling due to the high amount of search traffic for law related key words. Essentially, in order to stay on top of competitors in the legal industry, a major online presence is needed and prioritizing digital marketing efforts is a must.

Auto:
Marketing has always played a huge role in the auto industry, but the traditional days of billboards, magazines, and radio ads are diminishing. With the majority of today’s consumers searching online for automobiles, the importance of digital marketing has increased tremendously. eMarketer  stated that “spending on advertising in traditional media by all major auto companies is following a downward trend, while spending on digital advertising is increasing every year. In fact, from 2014 to 2015, it rose almost 22 percent.” In the end, it’s clear that companies within the auto industry will continue to battle it out through digital marketing and continue to find new ways to reach consumers.

In Need Of Digital Solutions?: At Onimod Global some of the clients we serve are in these industries and we know what it takes to deliver positive ROI. If you’re associated with a business seeking improvements with SEO, SEM, Website Development, or any other digital marketing service feel free to reach out to us on our Contact Us page. We look forward to hearing from you!

How Pinterest Expects to Increase Revenue by $200 Million This Year

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Pinterest is quite new to the world of advertising. 2017 marks the third full year that Pinterest has offered their Promoted Pins to advertisers. Such pins allow advertisers to promote their products and services alongside of a user’s normal featured pins.

Revenues On The Rise

These sponsored pins began in 2015, and generated $100 million in revenue by the end of the year. Last year, Pinterest was able to capture a total of $300 million in revenue, according to recode.

The trend isn’t stopping there. In its current fiscal year, it has been reported by recode that Pinterest is on track to bring in at least 200 million additional dollars by the end of this year.

So how is Pinterest driving all of this incredible advertising success you may ask? The answer lies in the company’s recent ventures into digital innovation.

Pinterest Sections

A recent article by Techcrunch released information on a brand new Pinterest feature called Sections.

This new tool will give users the ability to divide and categorize their board into several sub-groups that all coincide with the main board topic. For example, if the main board were titled “Entrees”, then sub-groups could include titles like “Vegetarian”, “Casseroles”, or “Seafood”.

According to Pinterest CEO and co-founder Ben Silbermann, “It’s been a really popular feature request for years.”

Sections is still making its way through the beta testing process. The new feature has not been released to all users yet, but will hopefully be appearing to the masses soon!

Ad Targeting

As Pinterest’s consumer base continues to grow, now up to an estimated 200+ million users, the company is searching for ways in which it can utilize this incredible resource.

Last year, Pinterest purchased a startup mobile ad-tech company called URX. Jack Chou, Pinterest’s head of product, explained the buyout by saying, “We can now accelerate our efforts with the URX team, who are leaders in mobile content understanding, recommendations, monetization and discovery.”

These efforts have materialized into 5,000 interest categories that advertisers can now use to help properly position their products in front of the perfect Pinterest users. For instance, many consumers are interested in the outdoors, but what about those specifically interested in hiking across the Appalachians?

Much like the new Sections feature, these interest categories will enable Pinterest users to refine their account into exactly what they want. This provides an enormous benefit to digital marketers and advertisers as they are able to easily reach out to the most specific area of their target audience.

Pin Collective

Pinterest has also been continually promoting their service called Pin Collective to advertisers. Pin Collective is described by Pinterest as, “an external network of world-class content creators including photographers, designers, illustrators, art directors and more who are experts in creating content for Pinterest.”

Pinterest has come together with Popular Pays to build this platform. Pin Collective provides advertisers with the best of the best to ensure the creation of flawless ads.

Adidas and essie are two companies that have experienced this service first-hand. Essie utilized Pin Collective to get an edge on the nude nails trend. The results were very impressive. The top pin of the Pin Collective campaign was saved 4 times more than any previous Pinterest campaign launched by essie.

Ending Thoughts

There is no slowing down for Pinterest. The platform continues to outdo itself every year with better ideas and innovations, both for their users and their advertisers. Here at Onimod Global, we can’t wait to see what they come up with next!

Is Your LinkedIn Account Reaching Its Full Digital Marketing Potential?

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Whether we’re talking about a personal account or a company page, there are several different ways to utilize LinkedIn as a powerful digital marketing platform. LinkedIn is reported as the most effective social platform in 2017 by MarketingProfs. So, you definitely need to be asking yourself, how does your LinkedIn account compare to the competition?

Recent LinkedIn Update

Just a few weeks ago, LinkedIn introduced the “LinkedIn Audience Network”. With uncanny similarity to the Facebook Audience Network, this new product is meant to assist marketers by allowing them to reach users on apps and websites that are not currently managed by LinkedIn itself.

In short, marketers can get their LinkedIn ads in front of more people. The goal of this wider audience capability is to increase impressions, engagements, and ultimately increase conversions. AdAge released an article that includes testing results of this new LinkedIn product, which boasted an impressive 3-13% increase in unique impressions.

Helpful Hints

LinkedIn is not foolproof. There are many ways that you may be unknowingly sabotaging your digital marketing efforts through this popular platform. Christopher Heine of Adweek compiled a list of 20 LinkedIn Do’s and Don’ts, which includes first hand recommendations from highly successful digital marketers.

We here at Onimod Global decided to create a shortlist from this Adweek article of the tips that we found to be the most useful.

Do:

  • Make it Personalized: No one likes getting spammed with random messages through their LinkedIn inbox. In order to make yourself stand out and get attention, you have to give the recipient a reason to keep reading. Brittany Simpson from Site Strategics suggests, “Don’t immediately approach with an ‘ask,’ but approach with a ‘give’ of some sort.”
  • Analyze Your Target Audience: Now that LinkedIn has added more people to its audience, use it! If you already know who your target market is, great. If not, do some preliminary testing to try and narrow it down. As you move forward, Kirsten Chiala of Cisco recommends, “From that research, take it a step further and develop personas so you can customize your content to that target audience.”

Don’t:

  • Stalk Your Connections: Everyone has been in a situation where they continually ignore or delete requests from other users on social media. Take the hint, and move on. Do not waste your time chasing after connections who clearly do not want to hear what you have to say. Try to focus on generating new leads instead. If you continue down this path you will only spin your wheels, and as Rick Smith of Exos put it, “Plus … it’s kinda creepy.”
  • Treat LinkedIn Like Facebook: These platforms may be similar, but they are incredibly different from a digital marketing perspective. While you want to continually try to engage with your connections by posting content on your page, you also don’t want to take it too far and annoy them. Appearing as a pest may cause others to ignore you, or even delete you from their network. If you must post, make sure it is relevant and actually useful.

4 Reasons Why Having a Professional Website is Critical for Any Business

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Having a professional website for any business in today’s market is a crucial recipe for success, yet it’s amazing how many organizations have low quality websites or nothing at all. There are multiple reasons why companies should have a professional looking website, and this post will explore a few of them. With our website development expertise and experience here at Onimod Global, here are four reasons why we think professional websites for businesses are critical.

1. Credibility:
A lot of times a potential consumer’s first impression of a business comes from their first visit to a website. Therefore, having an appealing and professional website can “make or break” consumers impressions. Regardless if your organization is superior to competitors or not in terms of a product or service, consumers perceptions may think otherwise when one website is more professional than the other. One final point to make regarding credibility is that it gives a business an opportunity to showcase previous work, who their clients are, and provide convincing testimonials.

2. Cost Efficiency:
Many business owners have the belief that professional looking websites are expensive, therefore not willing to make any investments. This mindset is wrong is so many ways. Yes there are fees involved like hosting, domain, outsourcing expenses, etc. but the investment is a must and not as big as owners believe. Ultimately, refusing to adapt in a digital world by not investing in a professional website is a mistake, as it will end up costing more in the long run.

3. Visibility:
Social media pages and word of mouth advertising are great, but an appealing website will take a business to the next level. Online traffic and the number of daily searches on search engines (Google especially) are through the roof in today’s digital world. Moreover, having a high functioning website will enhance the overall visibility of an organization and greatly increase the ability for potential consumers to find you.

4. Convenience:
In addition to increased visibility, convenience is another reason to invest in a professional website. Smart organizations have figured this out and adapted. Consumers aren’t driving around anymore looking for places to shop for example. Instead they are shopping online or conducting searches on where to go. The accessibility that websites provide for potential consumers is invaluable. Another relevant aspect to point out involves the evolution of smart phones. Smart phones have made online searches as convenient as ever before, so this further proves the importance of having a professional website in today’s competitive market.

Contact Us: If you’re a business seeking an upgrade in website development or any digital marketing service, feel free to reach out to our expertise at Onimod Global. Check out our previous work and case studies by CLICKING HERE. We look forward to hearing from you!

What Google’s Algorithm Adjustment Means for Digital Marketing

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Nearly every digital marketer in today’s society utilizes Google as a primary form of advertisement. With more than 6.5 billion searches being made each day, the need to rank well on Google’s search results page is imperative.

Whether you are optimizing a website to rank well on its own, or spending a few dollars through Google AdWords, the changes coming to Google’s algorithm will have a significant effect on those advertising efforts.

Most Recent Update

Google continually updates its algorithm to show the most relevant results to users as possible. The latest update arrived on August 19th.

There is never one single cause of an algorithm adjustment. Instead, the adjustment is meant to target many different areas in order to improve overall quality of the search results displayed by Google.

Glenn Gabe, columnist for Search Engine Land and Search Engine Watch, investigated the algorithm change and gave his opinions on how he thought it would affect marketers. According to Gabe, Google advertisers should avoid:

  • Use of Deceptive Advertising: deploying deceptive, aggressive, or disruptive advertising can be detrimental to a site’s quality. Instead, gear your site toward the user and their needs. Do not bombard them with full-screen ads and site redirects.
  • Broken User Interface Elements: We have all had an experience where we click on a link and receive some sort of “404 error: Page Not Found” message. Make sure that your site works properly and does not contain any of these pesky UI flaws.
  • Low Query-Based Relevance: This element should be obvious. If a search term does not apply to your site, then it should not be ranking well for that term. Google’s goal is to provide the user with exactly what they are looking for. If your site isn’t helpful to the user, then it’s as good as gone from the top search results list.

Gabe suggests using the following methods to improve advertisements in the wake of the algorithm update:

  • Category (Tag-like) Pages: WordPress sites often include the option of adding a category and various tag to each page. Gabe noticed that even some sites that showed an overall downward trend since the algorithm update still had positive numbers to report for these category pages.
  • Full, Quality Content: Try to fill your site with all of the best information possible. This does not mean that you need to write pages and pages of content, it just means that you need to clearly state what you can do for the consumer and why you can do it best.
  • Open User Experience: Allowing users to add their own comments to content on your site is a great way to add value. This may be in the form of a review or an actual comment on a certain post or news article.

Location Improvements

Google has also shown an increased interest in the prominence of local businesses on their search results page. After all, a restaurant located in New York City will prove of little use to a young woman in Seattle looking for a bit to eat after work.

As Google begins to favor local establishments, it becomes more and more important for all kinds of businesses to make sure that their location is conveniently and correctly displayed across various platforms. For example, you will want to make sure that the address you have listed on Facebook perfectly matches the one listed on Yelp.

Evaluate Your Business Today!

Interested in getting this information about your business for free? Run a free scan of your business with Onimod Global today to see your locations listed across over 50 online directories! This scan will also provide you with several other measurements to see how well your company site performs. To run a free scan please CLICK HERE.

3 Ways to Become a Major Influence in the Digital Marketing Industry

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Many individuals and organizations out there today are battling to become major influences in the digital marketing community. Building a major brand is no simple task and getting your name out there can take months if not years. Hosting Facts found that “over two millions blog posts are published on the internet every day.” Therefore, standing out from the crowd is a huge challenge. Listed below are some ways that could direct your organization to becoming a digital marketing influence.

1. Consistent Production of Strong and Relevant Content:
The saying is overused, but “content is king” is a reality. The focus should be on producing your own content, but sharing relevant content from big influencers time to time can be beneficial. Generating content doesn’t always mean lengthy blog posts with loads of text. Content can be produced in the form of memes, videos, podcasts, and other means. The overall goals of producing content are making sure it’s keyword rich for SEO purposes and that it resonates with your target audiences.

2. Showcase Your Personal or Organization’s Credibility:
Showing off your own personal credentials or what you’ve accomplished for an organization is another way to get your name out there. Readers will take you seriously if the content you produce is legitimate and provides real world insight. Case studies, testimonials from clients, and certifications are all great ways to display credibility. Check out some of our client Case Studies at Onimod Global.

3. Engagement is Key:
Producing content is one thing, but receiving engagement from audiences will take your influence to the next level. It’s important to point out that engagement happens on both sides – if you don’t interact with the people reaching out to you then engagement levels will decrease as a result. Another reason why engagement is essential has to do with social media posting. The algorithms on Facebook and Twitter for instance pay attention to activity level on posts. In other words, the more engagement your posts receive, the more impressions and clicks that will follow.

Contact Us: For more information regarding digital marketing expertise, visit the Onimod Global Website. We provide weekly knowledge and news on the latest in the digital marketing industry!

The Important Role of Women in Digital Marketing

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It has become very apparent in recent years that women are being slighted in many ways because of their gender. According to PayScale, women earn 76 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts.

Digital marketing is no exception to these unfair circumstances. A Digital Skills Gap Report released by the Digital Marketing Institute revealed that women were 11% more digitally proficient than men, but only represent 30% of the entire digital marketing workforce.

Women in Digital

One woman who experienced sexism in the workplace was Alaina Shearer. She described the many trials and tribulations of her career in digital marketing in an interview with Forbes.

No action was taken on behalf of Shearer when the Creative Director of the marketing agency where she was employed made advancements toward her. Instead, all documented evidence was ignored, and Shearer was asked to move to a separate department within the agency.

In response to this event, and many like it, Shearer decided to launch Women in Digital. The mission of this community is, “To empower each other by creating a national network of women in digital unlimited in our potential to meet individual and collective goals.”

The Best of The Best

Even with the odds stacked against them, numerous strong and empowered women continue to make huge strides in digital marketing. Here is a short list of some of these inspirational ladies:

  • Ann Handley: Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs and columnist for Entrepreneur magazine.
  • Susan Gilbert: CEO of Online Promotion Success and author of “KLOUT SCORE: Social Media Influence, How to Gain Exposure and Increase Your Klout.”
  • Amy Schmittauer: Author of #VlogLikeaBoss, video marketing consultant, YouTube video creator, and international keynote speaker.
  • Mari Smith: A leading Facebook expert, also known as the “Facebook Queen”. Also recognized as Forbes’ Top Social Media Power Influencer.

General Tips

No matter what your gender, there are always ways in which you can improve upon your digital marketing skills.

Many of the blog posts published by Onimod Global discuss strategies and methods for this type of improvement.

Some of our most recent articles include: Google Partners Launches Digital Sales Certification Exam, 5 Simple Ways to See if Your AdWords Account is in Trouble, Client Spotlight: AWC Industries, and many more.

Scroll through a few of our articles to gain invaluable knowledge on the latest news of the digital marketing industry!