Since it started five years ago, Unbounce’s Call to Action conference has become one of the most prominent dates in the digital marketing calendar. And for good reason.
The Vancouver-based event regularly gathers together a who’s who of acclaimed entrepreneurs and industry-leading professionals to share information and insights from the frontlines of digital marketing.
This year was no different. With an overarching focus on user experience and customer-centric tactics, it served up invaluable insight on the best practices in digital marketing
So what were the biggest topics of discussion among the digital marketing professionals this year? Read on below where we compiled our four key takeaways from Unbounce CTA 2018.
1. Facebook Audiences
While they are busy focusing on quality content, optimizing campaigns and delivering on KPIs, digital marketers often forget about one of the most important things on Facebook – the audience.
The audience is the foundation of any great Facebook campaign and it’s time marketers re-acquainted themselves with the fundamental practices of targeting. After all, they are the key to finding success on social channels.
First, you need to get demographic targeting right. Understanding and identifying core demographics are paramount to the success of any campaign and something that should be carefully considered before you even begin to layer on other aspects such as interest and behavioural targeting.
It’s a back to basics approach of sorts. A reminder to cut through the noise and focus on getting the core demographic right before you refine your audience segments through interest and behavioural targeting.
2. Facebook Groups
Another aspect of Facebook that was discussed at length was Groups.
Despite their popularity among users, Facebook groups are still relatively underutilized by marketers.
These groups provide ready-made communities for marketers to gather insight from. They also provide a useful platform to communicate directly with potential consumers.
With more and more companies competing for audiences’ attention online, it is vital marketers stand out from the crowd. But while quality content is important, how you choose to distribute it is equally vital.
With the clutter and noise that defines the current marketing industry, it is clear we need to start looking at where our content lives and to find the right audience to deliver our content to.
Niche communities such as Facebook Groups, as well as Reddit, Quora, StackExchange and Slack provide marketers with a fantastic opportunity to diversify their distribution channels. Harnessing the power of these channels, and targeting them with tailor-made content designed to appeal to each audience, is essential to creating campaigns that actively engage users.
3. The user experience for Local SEO
Understanding the importance of user intent – especially Google’s algorithm identifying local Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) shown to users – was another key takeaway from this year’s conference.
When it comes to local SEO, there are two main things to consider. For Google Local Pack, the geo-location has a higher weight whereas geo-modifiers (i.e. “in [city]” keywords) have a higher impact on organic search results. That means smart segmentation and including modifiers is important to determine whether a local business shows up in the organic search results, Google Local Pack, or both.
One way companies can ensure the growth and visibility of their local SEO is to proactively manage their Google listings and ensure they are garnering good Google ratings.
Above all, the audience has to come first
Whether it is on social channels such as Facebook or via Google’s search results, the overarching message from this year’s conference was the audience is the foundation of all good digital marketing.
No matter what you do, the audience has to come first. And, if you don’t take the time to find out who your audience is, where they are, and what content they consume, you will essentially throw away your marketing investment.
Are you interested in what the future of your business looks like online? Get in touch with our experts by calling 888-207-7210.
