Guest podcast appearance: How to create content for social media [Miller IP Law]

Back in June of 2021, we had the chance to share our insights on the Miller IP Law podcast with Devin Miller. Devin is a patent attorney based in Utah and has worked with companies on their intellectual property. We connected with Devin on LinkedIn and understood his vision to become a resource for start-ups and small businesses. Devin runs a podcast called The Inventive Journey Podcast for Entrepreneurs where he collaborates with experts from different industries.

View the full Miller IP Law podcast episode on “How to create content for social media”

Full podcast episode with Devin Miller

There are several key points we cover in our podcast interview with Devin from content creation to the importance of having a working sales system. We also share a bit of journey of how Jamias Creative came to be and what we were doing before agency life.

Do you have any questions about content creation for your business? Let us know by filling out the contact for below!

How to create blog posts that will drive traffic to your website

You have probably heard that blogging is an essential marketing tool for your business — but why is it important? We will be covering what blog posts are, why they are an important element in online marketing, what makes a good blog post, and how to know what to write. Whether you are new at blogging or you want to see better results for your existing blog, there are a lot of ways to drive traffic to your website!

What are blog posts?

If you have spent any time on the internet, chances are you have come across a blog — like this blog post! A blog (short for “weblog”) is a regularly updated online journal for business or personal use. The typical composition of a blog is text along with pictures, videos, or gifs. Bloggers will write about advice, thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and information on a particular topic, or they may keep a record of activities. The purpose of a business blog is to drive more traffic to your website in order to close more deals.

Benefits of blog posts

When you are busy running a business, blogging may seem like it’s not worth the time and effort. It may also seem daunting to publish your writing for the public eye. Let’s dive into why blogging is an essential marketing tool you don’t want to pass up.

• Drive traffic to your website: If you have a business website, how are people currently finding it? Without blogging, the majority of viewers already know who you are and are interested in your business. This won’t help you gain more customers. Your website probably only has a few pages and you rarely update it. Sound about right? Blogging will help solve both of those problems. Business-to-business (B2B) marketers that use blogs get 67% more leads. Companies that have more than 16 blog posts get 3.5 times more traffic to their website. The more content you have published, the more your website will show up in search results and drive more traffic from an organic search. The increase in web traffic will lead to more opportunities for you to close business and your reputation will grow.

• Promote your products and services: Those that visit your website will be exposed to what you offer as a business. You have the opportunity to promote the value of your products and services in great detail, however, don’t write about all the features of your offerings. This will bore your readers. Instead, explain how your products and services can improve their daily lives. Write about what your customers are most interested in about your business. Blogs help you control the message about your business and explain how similar consumers have benefitted from your services. Providing valuable information will bring back former viewers and generate new leads.

• Build credibility with customers: The greatest asset for your business is building loyal customers. This takes consistent effort to prove that you are a high-quality and reliable brand. Your writing will prove that you are an expert in your field and build solid online rapport.

• Repurpose content for social media: The information that you blog about can easily be reformatted for social media posts. Don’t reinvent the wheel every time! Your social media posts can provide snippets of information that you cover on your blog. You can even direct your social media followers to related blog posts to learn more.

What makes a good blog post that drives website traffic?

As with all marketing, there are more effective approaches than others. Anyone can write about their business, but some brands drive more traffic to their blogs than others. Let’s talk about what makes a strong blog post.

• Be consistent: Consistency in marketing is key to your success. You want to stay top-of-mind with your customers. The more consistent you are with publishing blogs, the more exposure your potential customers have to your brand. This will build credibility for your business, and ultimately, will help you reach your goals. 

  Be consistent in the small details of your blogs. By creating a template in line with your company’s style (font type, terms, grammar, etc.), your content will be more professional and easier to create.

• Search engine optimization (SEO): Strengthening your SEO will generate more leads and close more deals. Google processes over 8.5 billion searches a day. Google Trends will show you the past and current volume of the keywords and phrases your niche target audience is searching for online. Adding these to your blogs will strengthen your footprint, making you more visible and easier to find.

• Concise blog topic: The subject of your blog needs to be clear and compelling. Readers want to know if it’s worth their time reading your blog. Make the subject matter direct so they can anticipate what they will be learning. Construct a punchy title loaded with keywords to create interest and optimize your website.

• Headings: Most readers will skim through the headings of blogs to find what is most interesting to them. Clear and concise headings help guide readers to what they are searching for. Take SEO into account by including keywords and phrases to create strong titles and headings.

• Offer solutions: Readers are searching your blog to find answers to problems or questions. Offer your distinct take on a matter and what you believe the best solution is. Readers that return to your blog have built a connection with you and rely on your insight for solving related issues.

How to generate new ideas for your blog to generate website traffic

Whether you are a novice or already have experience writing blogs, coming up with new blog ideas can be a challenge. The good news is that there are several avenues to generate topics so that you don’t feel like you are running out of ideas. Here are 5 ways to get you started:

1. Ask customers what they want to hear. 

2. Send online surveys to find out what questions or issues your target audience has.

3. Read the topics that your competitors address on their social media and blogs. 

4. Share what your company is learning. 

5. Research Google autocomplete results — Google search a list of industry-related topics in an “incognito window” to see what people are already searching.

Blogging will get easier and flow more naturally the more you do it. Make a plan for what content you want to share and how often you want to share it. It’s time to start writing! If you still don’t know how to get started, we are happy to help you reach your marketing goals here at Jamias Creative. Let us know by filling out the form below!

TikTok vs. Instagram: What's the difference?

Today, about seven-in-ten Americans use social media. TikTok and Instagram are the leading social media platforms and they play significant roles in marketing. Businesses use both platforms to reach their target audience, build brand awareness, and ultimately, close deals. TikTok and Instagram are competitive with similar features and marketing tools. Let’s explore their differences and how they can help your business.

What is TikTok?

TikTok is used to create and share short videos. What began as a platform to upload fun dance videos has now transformed into a massive digital landscape for crafts, vlogging, cooking tutorials, and so much more. It is one of the fastest-growing social media platforms in the last six years. Since its creation, TikTok already has over 1 billion users. If your brand’s target audience is between the ages of 13 to 60, you should join. TikTok encourages users, known as “creators,” to share their passions and creativity through entertaining, easy to produce videos.

What is Instagram?

Instagram is a photo and video sharing social media platform founded in 2010. The focus of the platform is to upload photos from a mobile device. Users can upload and edit media with filters and organize it by geographical locations and hashtags. It allows users to connect with friends, family, celebrities, and brands.

Instagram has been embraced quickly from its beginning. When the app launched, more than 25,000 signed up on the first day. Roughly two months later, the platform had more than 1 million users. The timing of the app’s release was fortunate because the iPhone 4 — with improved camera features — had just been released a few months before. Since then, Instagram has continued to grow in popularity across the world. For more information on Instagram, check out our blog post here.

Key differences between TikTok and Instagram

Instagram has been the leading social media platform for over a decade. Since the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, TikTok has taken the world by storm. Beginning 2021, TikTok has been the most downloaded app across smartphone users. The short-term video features on TikTok are a major factor for its success. Instagram can’t seem to slow down TikTok’s growth. To compete, Instagram has added short videos called Instagram Reels and other features.

TikTok and Instagram continue to go head-to-head with competing features, so what makes them different? Here are three major differences to know as a marketer:

1. Style of content: TikTok media tends to have a more creative, spontaneous, “homemade” feel to its videos. There are many easy-to-use editing features on the app to improve the look of your videos, but there are a lot of successful TikTokers that upload raw videos without any touch ups.

   Instagram is known for polished creative content. There are not as many editing features on Instagram, so you need to rely on professional editing software outside of the app. You can also publish more types of media than just short videos. 

2. User demographics: TikTok has a strong influence on the younger age groups with half of the Gen-Z population accessing the platform compared to 22% of millenials and 14% of 50–64 year-olds. 
   Instagram has a wider range of users with 71% of the Gen-Z, half of millenials and about a third of the 50–64 age range. Overall, Instagram users have more buying power due to the older demographics.

3. Number of Influencers: TikTok has not been saturated with influencers yet, but the numbers are growing rapidly. Due to its newness, there are more opportunities to grow mass followings. TikTokers want to see more original content so influencers need to be more subtle in marketing. 
   Instagram has millions of influencers which makes it easier to be picky when choosing which influencers you want to partner with. More than 70% of marketers favor Instagram for influencer marketing. Partnering with an influencer doesn’t necessarily mean you will go viral, but it’s worth a shot! However, there are proven Instagram influencer marketing methods to successfully reach new people in your niche target audience.

How each platform can help your business grow

Both platforms can create unparalleled marketing opportunities for the growth of your business. Different factors regarding your business and marketing goals will determine if you want to use one or both platforms. Both platforms provide free marketing tools and resources and fast ways to reach millions of your target audience. In addition, let’s take a quick look at their unique features which are geared to help your business:  

TikTok: 

• Business online community: Small business conversations are already happening on TikTok. You can find communities of small business owners through different hashtags like #smallbusiness, #entrepreneur, or #sidehustle. These communities hold conversations on tips, tricks, and branding strategies to build your brand online.

• TikTok partners with Shopify: As an e-commerce business, you can set up a TikTok Ads Manager Account that helps you find customers and provide a seamless shopping experience. Many TikTok users join the platform to discover new things. 67% of TikTok users agree that they were inspired to shop even when they weren’t looking to do so. With this mindset, users are ready to buy and the shopping experience is made easy with Shopify. 

Check out TikTok’s business page to learn more about what they can do for your business.

Instagram:

• Advertising: You can have more precise targeting for your paid advertising. Instagram users expect to see advertising, influencer marketing, and promotional content. This expectation makes it easier to start building brand awareness and promoting your products and services. 

• Insights and analytics: Instagram keeps track of what your followers like and are most engaged in. The data provided can help you when making decisions for your Instagram marketing strategy. 

• Connect to a scheduling app: Online marketing can quickly feel overwhelming to stay on top of. With an Instagram business account, you can schedule your posts. Check out Meta’s page to learn how to do so. 

You can learn more about what Instagram can do on their business page. 

What questions do you have? Let us know by filling out the form below. We are happy to help you here at Jamias Creative!