Are You Ready for Christmas… Digitally?

Move your festivities online and get your audience shopping for the holidays.

Can you hear the bells jingling, the shoppers coming in and Christmas getting near? It’s that time of the year where everything around us sounds, looks and feels cheerful. If your website and social platforms are not reflective of our surroundings, you better get moving!

Website & E-commerce 

If you went over our Cyber Monday blog you might recall that all consumer shopping habits have moved online and are now spread out over larger periods of time. Christmas shopping is no exception, as we can expect shopping to have started before Black Friday and to go on until January. Prepare yourself for the massive influx of shoppers by optimizing your online shopping.

  • Go over the user experience: If visitors cannot navigate through your website smoothly, they are less likely to complete any purchase. Detect and fix the issues that interrupt an efficient shopping experience for optimal outcomes.
  • Make your website responsive and mobile-friendly: With around 40% of e-commerce revenues coming from mobile devices last year, it is important to have a mobile optimized website with easy navigation. If they can’t see it or buy it on their phones, visitors will forget your website exists.
  • Examine your inventory: Shortages and supply chain issues are not uncommon, especially after the pandemic. Make sure you check your stock and supply before the holidays to find replacements and substitutes when necessary.
  • Add some Holiday cheer: Your website should scream Christmas through design, copy and offers all together. Bundles, reduced shipping fees and gift guides are crucial for consumers, and if they can’t find it on your website, they will move their shopping elsewhere.

Social Media

If you’re looking to find Christmas cheer any time of year, this is where you go. If it’s not Christmas countdowns in September, it’s throwbacks in June, there are always social media users spreading the festive spirit in one way or the other.

  • Set the mood: If you haven’t already, start spreading the joy of the season with a new design theme, a countdown, gift guides and festive content all around. Red, green and white are the colors to embrace throughout the holidays.
  • Cross-promote whenever possible: Redirect your followers to your website, invite them for in-store activations and share all your events on social media. This is the exposure you need for online and offline goals to be achieved.
  • Get conversational: Holiday shopping is difficult and your customers need your help to find the perfect gifts. Publishing content regularly is important, but really talking to your audience is the only way to get them hooked.

Allow the cheer to come through on all your platforms and communications before, during and after the holidays for your business to have a jolly season!  For extra cheer and an in depth consultancy, drop us a hello here.

AddBloom - Blog - E-Commerce Re-Imagined

Reimagining eCommerce Post Covid-19

Reimagining eCommerce Post Covid-19 | A Middle East Webinar Geared for Growth Strategies 

Crises are often a catalyst for innovation, especially for those geared to embrace challenges.

In these times, consumer behavior across the world as well as in the UAE and Saudi Arabia has shifted rapidly to online buying, which gave way for an immediate focus on the digital commerce industry and upheld the importance of implementing technology-driven solutions to ensure sustainability, growth and stability.

Yes, e-commerce is now one of the hottest topics today, one that presents businesses with many questions.

  • Will the e-commerce boom remain?
  • How can businesses prepare for the future?
  • What are the top strategies to ensure growth and provide a relevant and valuable user experience?
  • What are the effective channels to improve performance?
  • Is it necessary to restructure existing e-commerce functionalities with new-age solutions for continuous growth and profitability?

To answer these questions and many more, UniCommerce is organizing the Middle East’s largest Webinar on “eCommerce Reimagined: Strategies and Growth Levers Post COVID-19” on Saturday June 27, 2020 starting 11 AM Gulf Standard Time

The webinar is open to all GCC Business and will bring together 10 industry experts from across the MENA region who will be sharing insights and top-level e-commerce strategies to help businesses gear up for conducting businesses amid and post the pandemic

Register here:  https://lnkd.in/dy4BdG7  

AddBloom - Blog - E-Commerce Re-Imagined

Webinar Agenda

Session 1:

“E-commerce strategies in post Covid-19 era” | 11 AM – 12:15 PM GST

Speakers

 

Session 2:

Driving eCommerce growth | 12:20 PM – 1:30 PM GST

Speakers:

  • Mohamed Bahaa –  Co-Founder, Wimo
  • Samar Layoun – Co-Founder, AddBloom
  • Ravi Kant – Head Strategic Partnerships, Noon
  • Vikas Panchal – Business Head, Tally
  • Rajiv Ramanan, Director- Startups, Freshworks

 

Register here:  https://lnkd.in/dy4BdG7

 

 

Online Learning, Art, Music and Books | Quarantine Time made easier

Quarantine during the pandemic means different things to different people. For some, it is (remote) work as usual, for others, it is remote work + juggling family and e-schooling for children, and for many, it is simply time off, time that could be spent actively learning or exploring.

 

This is why we put together a series of resources to help you get started. However, no matter what you decide, remember to focus on what makes you feel good.

 

Universities worldwide like Harvard, Yale, MIT, UC Berkeley or Standford University are offering free open courses or specific webinars during certain dates. IE University in Spain has also prepared a series of webinars, in English and others in Spanish, for the upcoming days as well. For a full list of universities providing online courses, click here. Companies like Google, Microsoft or Linux are also offering online courses on digital marketing, business or coding. For the full list of institutions, click here.

 

Coursera includes courses from those prestigious universities for free as well, some of which are certified upon completion and that you can take at your own pace. Domestika is a similar platform for courses on illustration, digital editing or crafts. Students can find open courses or purchase others for a reduced price. Other platforms that offer open online courses from different universities are edX, Udacity or Alison. For platforms including resources in Arabic, refer to Doroob, Rwaq, Tadarab, Coursaty and Edraak.

 

For those who wish to financially invest in more online lectures, Udemy has one of the largest selection of courses. Masterclass, is another platform to consider where students can access courses on photography, fashion and even sports, taught by icons such as Anna Wintour, Gordon Ramsay, Serena Williams and others.

 

For the avid readers, The Library of Alexandria, the oldest in history, offers all its acquisitions for free. It contains, among others, a large collection of Arabic digital books and photo albums. However, if you prefer to read about different themes, Bookbon is offering free access to thousands of e-books. For those Harry Potter fans, J.K.Rowling has improved the platform Wizarding World by adding Harry Potter at home, where different videos, puzzles and quizzes will be added to make our time at home better.

 

For the art aficionados, the MoMa, Musée d’Orsay and other 12 museums can now be visited virtually for free. To access the full list, click here. As in the case of these museums, NASA has also opened its entire library for you to explore for free as well and added a series of resources for kids, adults on topics as wide as History, Technology or Earth Science.

 

Signing off for now, we hope you enjoy our listing.

Coronavirus X Social Media | Steps to combat the “infodemic”

Coronavirus (Covid-19) is taking the world by storm.  Entire Countries are on Lockdown, others on the way and prospects of a global economic meltdown are looming. Amidst this social media played a major role. On the one hand, promoting awareness, prevention and social distancing, on the other, fostering fear, panic, bogus remedies, conspiracy theories

For the World Health Organization, the key to battle this virus starts with battling misinformation, or “infodemic”, coming from everyone’s smartphone.

This blog sheds light on measures taken by social media platforms to help set the record straight and try to minimize the impact of fake news and hoaxes trying to profit.

Facebook decided to implement a ban on ads for all companies trying to make a commercial gain out of the virus, whether related to cures or prevention products that are not linked to scientific facts. By implementing this new policy, Facebook is trying to restrain those ads that create a sense of urgency while working on removing content with false claims or conspiracy theories that might harm people who believe them.

The Deputy Executive Director for Partnerships of UNICEF, Charlotte Petri Gornitzka, stated that misinformation during times of a health crisis can spread paranoia, fear and stigmatization. On top of that, it can result in people being left unprotected or more vulnerable to the virus as well. UNICEF, as well as Facebook, is actively taking steps to inform the public when inaccurate information, involving WHO or other government authorities, is published on social media platforms.

TikTok recently partnered with the WHO in an effort to spread veritable information, together with the best public health practices.

Respectively, Twitter also partnered with WHO and published a plan to protect the public from hoaxes on the platform as well. Their goal is to publish credible, authoritative content.

This “infodemic”, or over-abundance of information, makes it harder for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when needed.  There are simple steps users can take themselves to combat mis- and disinformation. Consider the following questions before sharing dubious content:

  • Is this the original account, article or piece of content?
  • Who shared this or created it?
  • When was this created?
  • What account is sharing this? When was the account created? Do they share things from all over the world at all times during the day and night? Could this be a bot?
  • Why was this shared?

For reliable information always fact check with:

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019

https://www.unicef.org/coronavirus/covid-19

5 Tips to Enhance Your Social and Digital Strategy

Whether you have an in-house team managing your brand’s digital channels or are outsourcing the process, there are key elements that make or break your social media presence. More than 2.5 billion people are on social media, and you might be missing out on a lot of opportunities of growing your fair share of the pie if you do not abide by these essential/rudimental tips.

1- Aim for an Omni-Channel Strategy

Although it may look like one social media platform resonates better with your brand and its target audience, being on multiple platforms is always beneficial for your brand’s online presence and continuity. Just a few years ago, Twitter was the star platform of all social media networks, then came Facebook, and nowadays, Instagram is marketers’ favorite channel to reach users. Social media managers’ next big hit can soon be another platform, it is hence dangerous to focus only on one social network.

When developing an omni-channel strategy for your brand, it is imperative to use the best practices for each platform in order to reach the right audience and resonate with it. Each platform has its forte that marketers must leverage and keep users entertained and livid to keep up with it across all channels.

2- Engage with the Community as Often and as Quickly as Possible

Build a unique connection with your brand’s audience. Timely monitoring of your brand’s social media pages is crucial as it has the ability to tighten its relation with its community and improve brand sentiments within its target audience.

Doing so can also defy the algorithms set by social media platforms to determine what content is displayed and what content is buried. The more engagement a post receives, the higher its chances are at being prominently displayed. Hence, the reason why it is very important to answer comments, and entice your audience to engage with your posts.

3- Delight Your Audience with your Ideal Content Mix

Although your brand should be at the center of all your communication, no one likes a friend who only talks about himself. Do not focus on one content direction, and only communicate about your brand, but try to integrate different forms of communication within your strategy. At AddBloom, we always start with the rule of thirds in the communication of the brands we manage and grow from there to define the perfect content mix for each.

What’s the rule of thirds? As per Hootsuite it is very simple:

  • ⅓ of your social content promotes your business, converts readers, and generates profit.
  • ⅓ of your social content should surface and share ideas and stories from thought leaders in your industry or like-minded businesses.
  • ⅓ of your social content should be based on personal interactions and build your personal brand.

4- Invest in Influencer Marketing

The exponential growth of influencer marketing over the years has made it an essential part of every brand’s social media communication strategy. Effectively, as we have detailed in a previous blog post about influencer marketing, this form of content has many benefits. On one hand, influencer marketing allows brands to pierce consumers’ self developed “ad blindness” and reach their targeted audience, as niche as it may be, in a seamingly organic way that resonates with today’s consumer mindset.

On the other hand, brands who decide to work with influential bloggers can benefit beyond social media. Indeed, brands can benefit from blogs mentions and reviews to enhance their SEO positioning and ranking.

5- Track and Measure

Use the right tool to track how your audience interacts with your brand online. Pixels, remarketing codes, tracking codes are all part of a bigger equation that makes your digital marketing strategy more comprehensive. The data collected through these snippets will allow you to reach the audience you’re after and enhance the results of your digital campaigns at each stage of the funnel.

The best aspect of digital marketing is that it allows you to numerically measure your marketing investment. While on-platform metrics will measure growth, engagement and distribution, it is also interesting to observe on-site metrics. On-site analytics allows you to know more about consumer behavior, which content attracts consumers and which is the most converting social platform among other metrics. Combined, on-platform and on-site analytics will give marketers a great idea on customers’ sales funnel.

Sources:

Number of Social Media Users Worldwide from 2010 to 2010 (in billions)

7 Creative Ways to Boost Your Social Media Strategy

Are You Following the Social Media Rule of Thirds?

Organic Performance

6 Ways to Enhance Your Organic Performance

In our day and time, paid social and digital media marketing are a big part of any digital marketing strategy. The brands we work with have experienced the value of investing in their social media presence to build sustainable communities online and achieve business objectives.

Yet, in a time where paid advertising is almost everything, we still believe in leveraging the forte of organic performance. Here are six tips prepared for you at the AddBloom Kitchen 🙂

1- Optimize your social and digital profiles
There are different points one can take advantage of to optimize their brands’ social profiles and make them easily discoverable by fans and followers.

  • Know which social and digital media platforms your business should be on and build them to global best practice.
  • Choose an optimized easy to write username.
  • Choose a recognizable display and cover photo.
  • Leverage your bio to be rich in keywords.
  • Add your store’s location wherever possible.
  • Make your website and other Call to Action buttons easily accessible.
  • Study and stay up to date with the latest about the social media platforms you are using to leverage the features they offer as per best practice

2- Diversify your content
While one of the main objectives of numerous businesses is to sell, we advise you against doing just that on social media, Instead, balance your communication to include a fair mix of selling, informative and user generated content that keeps the audience engaged and interested in the brand.

3- Follow a posting schedule
As the saying goes, consistency is key. While it might be impressive to post 10 times in a day, brands should be able to keep up with the set frequency. This might be challenging as posting multiple times a day requires a lot of effort and resources and brands have to ensure that their content reaches the right audience.

4- Engage with your community
One of the easiest ways for people to remember your brand is if it engages with them. So, make it a habit to engage with your community by liking, commenting, and reposting other people’s content. This will help people to humanize the brand and give it a feel that might not have been present before. Most importantly, try as much as possible to personalize your brand’s messages so each person touched by your comments and interaction feel special and valued.

5- Leverage insights
As we have mentioned earlier, brands should follow a posting schedule and frequency. In order to know how many times to post and what to post, brands should leverage the insights available through the different platforms used. Knowing when your audience is online, on what day and at what time, will allow you to enhance your organic reach. Not only that, but studying the results achieved by different posts, will allow you to better know which content your audience is more attracted to.

6- Give it time
The most important thing to do is be patient and give your posts time to reach their peak performance organically. The latter takes anywhere between 3 to 24 hours. You should hence decide on the type and boosting budget based on the results achieved.