In a survey of more than 400 finance and IT leaders, respondents said they made the move to ERP in the cloud primarily for economic reasons—including the desire to avoid infrastructure investments (45%) and on-premises upgrades (33%), as well as lower TCO (38%).
A strong majority of respondents (63%) achieved the economic benefits they initially set out to find. But something surprising emerged from the survey results. When asked about the top benefits of ERP in the cloud, an overwhelming 81% of respondents cited, “Staying current on technology” as the #1 benefit—far outpacing any of the other advantages cited.
The ability to keep up with the unprecedented pace of business change—implementing the latest best practices and innovations on a regular basis—is fairly new for the back office. This is an entirely new phenomenon, in which innovation is rolled out to the finance function several times a year by the cloud provider.
In the old world of on-premises systems, it is unthinkable to update ERP at such a breakneck pace. Years pass between upgrades—and with every passing year, the risk of the business falling behind competitors grows.
With the cloud, the risk of technology obsolescence drops to zero—putting the business on a more solidly competitive footing. In our research on Intelligent Finance, Frank Sorrentino, CEO of ConnectOne Bank, echoed this sentiment.
“Bankers ask me all the time, ‘How are you running that business, at that size, with that growth rate, with that reputation and with that level of service with as few people as you have?’ We are living in a cloud-based world. And as far as I am concerned, there is no better place to be.”
Emerging Technologies Are Set to Transform Finance
The cloud is the primary delivery mechanism for new and emerging technologies: blockchain, artificial intelligence, machine learning, cognitive computing, intelligent process automation, and the Internet of Things (IoT). Finance professionals are exhibiting a keen interest in these technologies. Roughly 4 out of 10 are already exploring these areas—in keeping with their desire for innovation and new capabilities.
Many of these emerging technologies fall squarely into the charter of the finance function. For example, blockchain has a number of use cases that could impact finance and the supply chain, while AI and machine learning can detect patterns in huge data sets that a human being could never uncover, potentially reducing and even correcting for material risks.
These technologies have the potential to automate routine transaction processing, eliminate manual tasks, and reduce the likelihood of errors. Such automation will free up finance professionals to spend more time providing forward-looking guidance, uncovering and recommending new opportunities to senior management.
It’s Not “Cloud First,” It’s “Cloud Now”
With the benefits clearer than ever, cloud ERP has become the new standard for the office of finance. Some 76% of respondents said they have plans to run ERP in the cloud. The discussion is no longer about when to make the move. It’s now.
Historically, the perceived effort of migrating a core financial system has left ERP as one of the last technology systems running on premises. Yet the vast majority of companies we surveyed believe that the benefits of such a move outweigh the potential pitfalls; less than one-quarter of respondents (24%) have no plans for cloud ERP (yet).
A Regular Cadence of Innovation
With the pace of business change accelerating, finance leaders recognize that the technology of the past won’t help them keep up with the competition. Moving to ERP cloud is an opportunity for companies to re-invent and transform their business processes. With the regular cadence of innovation delivered by the cloud, and zero risk of technology obsolescence, finance leaders will be well positioned to help build the business of the future.
Crypto Pro Mastery – what is it? Crypto Pro Mastery is the exact step by step crypto trading strategy that Ben Oberg used to create over 7 figures in 2017. The by the numbers training videos are perfect for the crypto beginner and informed trader alike.
You will learn everything from how to create an online wallet to the 7 figure trading strategies that creates daily wealth in as little as 24 hours. These are the same core strategies that Ben has taught to 100’s of students from all over the globe and multiple stages around the world.
Here are the topics Ben Oberg will cover in the training :
Intro To Bitcoin & Application of Currency : Everything starts with a good foundation. In this training, I’ll show you how to build your crypto house upon the ‘rock’ so that no matter what happens in the future. You’ll be able to weather any storm. If you’ve had any questions about all this ‘crypto stuff’, you won’t be confused about it again after going through this section.
Setting Up Your Wallet & Securing Your Bitcoin : Next up, I want you to make sure that all of your precious coins are secured, locked and loaded. There have been numerous people who’ve been scammed out of a ton of money all because they didn’t take the necessary steps to protect their coin investments. I’ll show you how not to become one of them here.
Earning Cryptocurrency On Exchanges : Now we’ll start to heat things up a bit and show you how you can earn cryptocurrency on a number of exchanges. This isn’t the only way to earn, but it’s a great place to start to build some ‘coin’. (yes, pun intended!)
How To Create 200%+ Return On Investment Weekly : So you’re probably wondering how I was able to turn such little funds into a massive windfall right? Well I’m going to reveal one of my strategies on how I did it in this training. Imagine taking a few hundred dollars and turning it into $1,000. And then taking that $1,000 and turning it into $3,500, then into $10,000!
Satoshi Value & Candlestick Science : You’ll often hear someone talk about how many satoshis this or that is. And then when applying it to a chart, they talk about a bull candle, a wick, opening, ect., yada, yada, yada..
Basic Trading Strategies : In this training, I’m going to take you step by step into the world of trading cryptos for profit. Some people actually use these strategies to day trade coins and you can do the same. You can use what you learn here to pull daily income from the massive 350 billion dollar yearly crypto market.
Short Term/Long Term Profit Strategies : You`ll then dive in deeper and talk about how to use our newfound trading systems to generate short term gain while setting ourselves up for longer term larger profits at the same time. This is great for those people who don’t want to sit in front of the computer or who want to compound up for that nice family vacation and retirement!
Trade Entrance & Exit Indicators : Listen, any bozo can press a buy and sell button at any time.. And unfortunately, most people in the market are doing just that. Let me show you how to side step the ‘idiot rookie trading’ and get the best setups right THE FIRST TIME. This will increase your chances of success and your overall profits.
Advanced Trading Patterns : This is where we go deeper and pull back the ‘kimono’ of trading. Sure, you can make bank with the stuff I teach you up to this point, but for those who like a little extra ‘head candy’ then this training is going to rock your world.
Market Analysis : Before you get into one trade, you should always size the market up. But if I put a chart in front of you, would you know exactly what to look for? Would you know how to make the best possible predictions so the odds of success are in your favor? After viewing this training…you most definitely will.
Predicting Markets For Profits : Plain and simple, no one knows what the future will bring. And while I can’t offer you a time machine or a crystal ball, this is the next best thing. I’ll show you how more often than not, I am right about my predictions and make a profit because of them and how you can do the same.
Stop Losses & Notifications For Increased Profits : Listen, not every trade you take will be profitable and that’s ok. That’s not how trading works. It’s about making your overall trades turn a profit. That’s the true skill. I’ll show you how to trim the ‘fat’ to losing trades while setting up the best possible scenarios to make a killing in the process. Oh, and no need to stare at the screen for hours. Set it and forget it and you’re done!
Coin Research : Remember how I said I make 200% a week on my money? Well this is where it starts. I’ll show you my research methods to identify which coin is going to make a breakout and how you can get your money in front of the massive profit tidal wave.
ICO Fundamentals & Science : ICO’s have now become the new internet marketing trash launchy scene. There’s always someone just trying to launch a coin to get a cash grab. Unfortunately, a lot of unsuspecting people get taken for their money. But when you follow what I show you in this training, you’ll know how to sidestep the garbage coins while picking potential winners again and again.
Coins To Invest In : Now, I’m going to give you one of the most solid crypto mastery trainings there is available to man no doubt. But I’m not going to leave you there. I’ll also personally share what coins I’m investing in and how I’m managing those investments as well. That’s a win/win right?
Ben’s Personal Crypto Accumulation Strategy : Even if you don’t have a ton of money to start with, there are still ways for you to acquire crypto and grow it into something massive with just a little patience. Let me share with you my own personal accumulation strategies that’s sure to skyrocket your crypto earnings as fast as possible!
Buddy Check – what is it? Buddy Check is a new software that will help you increase engagement rates on your facebook account by quickly removing all the dead weight “friends” who never interact with you and add targeted prospects to your friends list with a couple clicks of the mouse!
One of the many great things about this software application is everything is web based. So it doesn’t matter if you are a Mac user or a PC user, this tool will work for you!
The clean user interface will display all the least engaged friends based on the filters you select. Not only does it load their name, it shows you important demographic data that you need to make the right decision on who to remove.
Buddy Check helps your engagement by getting rid of the people who don’t interact with you and adding in new people who are likely to engage with your posts. When you have an army of friends who love your content, Facebook will show it to more of them every time you post.
What is Uduala eCom? Uduala eCom is a cloud based ecom domination platform where users discover winning ecom products plus their facebooks ads.
For each winning product you get the product details, pricing recommendations, competition spy, link to the right suplier (that will deliver a quality product and ship on time), and the facebook ad. Uduala Ecom comes loaded with 100+ winning products and 100+ winning ads at launch and new products + ads added weekly.
Each Product comes with done for you Facebook ADs. You get the exact facebook ad creative and targeting to use. All they have to do is copy and paste. Uduala comes loaded with 100+ ‘high in demand’ products and 100+ winning FB ads at launch with new products + DFY facebook ads added weekly.
With 1-click you can import any of the hot selling products into their woocommerce and shopify stores. With 1 click users can post product post for ads to their store Facebook page. Users can transform facebook comments into sales with auto comment reply on all product post.
Uduala ClickFomo helps ecom store owners harness the psychological principle of the herd effect, social proof and fomo – ‘the fear of missing out’ to double, triple or even quadruple their store conversions. This integrates natively with shopify, woocommerce and can work well with other shopping cart platforms.
Public Domain Finder – what is it? Public Domain Finder is a new software that searches the public domain images for you on 42 different websites. By entering in your desired niche and clicking a button, you will be able to search on 42 sources and get the results delivered in a document.
Imagine the time you can save with this app. Searching on each one of the 42 image sites could take around 3 and a half hours. With Public Domain Finder software, it’s just 10 seconds … and you can edit the document, use it themselves or resell it to a third party.
You can stop spending money for paid photos, but you can also make money by reselling image packages like many others are currently doing. People love photos, images and clip-art, especially if they can get them all together without bouncing from one site to another.
This is the real power of Public Domain Finder : Photos Edition, a technology able to help you forever. You get a document filled with clickable links taking you to photo-sites with the exact photos you are searching for, listed together in one place for you.
This is totally newbie friendly, and in one click you can find thousands of photos, images and clip-arts. This is powerful, and never seen before. So you can stop purchasing all that image collections where you never find the image you were looking for.
DFY Affiliate Comparison Sites : Kitchen Essentials – what is it? DFY Affiliate Comparison Sites is a package that make it incredibly easy for anyone to have their own niche comparison sites in a matter of minutes.
Barry Rodgers and Val Wilson selected a popular sub niche on one of the biggest and most profitable affiliate platforms, Amazon.com – the sub niche we have chosen is Kitchen Equipment. They have researched the best selling, most popular products in this sub niche, and drilled this down to 5 products :
coffee grinders
coffee makers
microwaves
roasting pans
wine cellars
Having chosen the products, they have taken the top 3 – based on customer reviews – and created a product comparison site for each one. These are beautiful, fully mobile responsive niche comparison sites. and look absolutely amazing. You can see an example of one of the sites here.
Barry Rodgers and Val Wilson have set this up in a web based software so that you can add your details and affiliate links in just a few clicks. This literally takes minutes – you will not find an easier way to have your own commission generating affiliate comparison sites online.
LetMailbox – what is it? Email is the best money earner on the planet when you do it right! LetMailbox has combined all the conversion triggers used by authority brand names in one place that will instantly increase your conversion rates, the moment a client opens your email!
LetMailbox is a plug and play platform where you can setup all you conversion trigger methods in one easy to use dashboard. No expertise required. If you can copy/paste, you can use LetMailbox.
LetMailbox pushes interactive engagement to the next level. If you are serious about using email marketing in your business, LetsEmail is the single tool you’ll need to succeed in 2018. With ready made email widgets anyone can start maximizing return on their email campaigns instantly!
The JavaOne conference is expanding to create a new, bigger event that’s inclusive to more languages, technologies, and developer communities. Expect more talks on Go, Rust, Python, JavaScript, and R along with more of the great Java technical content that developers have come to expect. We’re calling the new event Oracle Code One, October 22 to 25 at Moscone West in San Francisco.
Oracle Code One will include a Java technical keynote with the latest information on the Java platform from the architects of the Java team. It will also have the latest details on Java 11, advances in OpenJDK, and other core Java development. We are planning dedicated tracks for server-side Java EE technology including Jakarta EE (now part of the Eclipse Foundation), Spring, and the latest advances in Java microservices and containers. Also, we’re planning a wealth of community content on client development, JVM languages, IDEs, test frameworks, and so on.
As we expand, developers can also expect additional leading-edge topics such as chatbots, microservices, AI, and blockchain. There will also be sessions around our modern open source developer technologies including Oracle JET, the Fn Project, and OpenJFX.
Finally, one of the things that will continue to make this conference so great is the breadth of community-run activities such as Oracle Code4Kids workshops for young developers, IGNITE lightning talks run by local JUG leaders, and an array of technology demos and community projects showcased in the Developer Lounge. Expect a grand finale with the Developer Community Keynote to close out this week of fun, technology, and community.
Today, we are launching the call for papers for Oracle Code One and you can apply now to be part of any of the 11 tracks of content for Java developers, database developers, full stack developers, DevOps practitioners, and community members.
I hope you are as excited about this expansion of JavaOne as I am and will join me at the inaugural year of Oracle Code One!
Your e-commerce business plan sets the foundation for how you’ll run your business.
It not only outlines what you’ll sell but how you’ll sell it.
It covers how you’ll ship and deliver your products, what pathways you’ll take to promote your items, and how you’ll price each product so that you can gain a profit.
This easy-to-create business plan for your e-commerce business forces you to sit down and think of the big picture.
Not only does it give you a direction to move, but it lays out how you’re going to get there.
Establishing this roadmap early on in your e-commerce business allows you to reduce the time you spend guessing what to do next – meaning you can work more efficiently during your part-time hours.
You can also ensure that you’re running a sustainable business, taking some of the pressure off of you as you move forward.
To create your e-commerce business plan, you first want to start with your business model.
If you’re looking to run an e-commerce business part-time, you’re probably going to want to consider dropshipping.
Dropshipping is the least hands-on form of e-commerce, making it the perfect option if you’re looking to reduce the amount of time you actually spend on your business.
With dropshipping, you simply act as a middleman between the customer and the supplier.
The customer orders from your store, you alert the supplier of their order, then the supplier sends the order directly to your customer.
This means you don’t have to worry about inventory or creating products.
Hover, it doesn’t work if you’re looking to sell unique products. In that case, you’ll need to work with either private labeling or white labeling.
Here’s how each works.
With private labeling, a factory makes products specifically for you. When a customer buys, it’s your responsibility to send that product to them.
White labeling is similar, except that the products aren’t entirely unique. Instead, they just come packed with your branding and logo.
Each of these options can give you more control of your products, but they require a larger time investment – which can be a challenge if you’re only putting in part-time hours.
Finally, create some long-term and short-term goals.
Document where you’d like to be in one month.
Then one year.
Then five years.
Don’t be afraid to think big when creating your goals.
This kind of bird-eye-view look at everything you need to accomplish for the next few weeks, month, or even the full year can help you stay focused and on task.
Using these due dates, the marketing and posting schedule you’ve established, and your business commitments you outlined in your business plan, you’ll want to lay out what you’re responsible for every day of the month.
Creating a visual like this can allow you to see not only what you need to accomplish that day, but also in the days ahead.
It can prevent you from feeling overwhelmed with responsibility while also ensuring you stay on track.
Finally, for each day, you’ll want to designate a specific time to work on your e-commerce business tasks.
You can easily add time blocking to any calendar app, such as Google Calendar.
Block out designated chunks of time that you only use for that day’s side hustle commitments.
Avoid the TV, turn your phone on Do Not Disturb, and tell your kids, significant other, roommates, or friends not to bother you.
To help you stay focused, take advantage of timers.
You simply set a 25-minute timer. As long as that timer is on, you’re working distraction-free on your to-do list.
Once that times up, you take a short five-minute break.
Then you repeat until your task is finished.
You can set goals for how many 25-minute sessions you’d like to complete each day, ensuring you track the time you’re actually spending on your side-hustle.
This can help you avoid multitasking, which can make it much more difficult to get things done in a timely manner.
Finally, you can keep track of your plan through using a simple CRM. You don’t need Salesforce or any other thousand-dollar options initially.
You just need something simple to start tracking your repeatable milestones or activities. Pick something simple that already works with your current setup.
For example, SalesMate has a free plugin that will sync everything under Google Apps. That means you can use Google Sheets to track deliverables, Docs to track notes, then and attach them to individual email contacts for your next Google Calendar meeting.
Nothing falls through the cracks when you’ve brought it all under one house. Especially if you can then use this foundation to start automating your recurring tasks.
2. Harness the power of automation
Unfortunately, you can’t just hit pause on the e-commerce business while you’re away at your day job.
Even though you’re not there to keep an eye on it, it’s still running.
If you’re not providing some solutions for your customers, you may lose them.
However, using automation tools can allow you to run your e-commerce business while you’re unavailable.
Automation works like a robotic assistant.
It can take over some of the tedious, daily tasks that you need to perform yet may not have the time to do.
It can also work for you in the background to sell, provide customer support, and monitor shoppers while you’re focused on other tasks – like your full-time job.
Automation is frequently used in e-commerce marketing and sales to schedule social media posts, send emails, and even respond to customer questions.
You can take advantage of all of these systems with your own e-commerce business.
Not only does automation allow you to send out email blasts to large groups of people at one time, but it also allows you to share specific messages depending on your user and what actions they perform.
For example, you can send a welcome email when you gain a new store lead.
Let’s say you have a pop-up on your site offering a discount to users who submit their email address.
In our example, this would be the “Fills out Form” box.
Using automation, you can automatically send a welcome message to this customer – even if you’re far from your laptop.
From this example, you can also see that the next steps your campaign takes will depend on how the customer reacts or responds – without you needing to manually check in.
You can also use automation to send out reminders of an abandoned shopping cart.
While they may seem innocent enough, these kinds of low-quality engagements are usually powered by a bot.
For the most part, these comments are fine – but they do have some potential to get you in some awkward situations.
Evan LePage at Hootsuite tried to use Instagram automation to boost his online following but ended up commenting “Damn!” on a bride’s photo – not the best impression you want to be giving.
Bot tools that automate likes, comments, and follows can also get you in trouble with different social platforms.
For example, bots violate Instagram’s terms of use, meaning it could get your account shut down.
Instead, focus on creating unique, organic, and personality-packed posts specific to your audience.
Take a look at these Instagram comments in comparison.
The user 1wanderlustsoul picked something unique in the image, commented on it, and asked a question.
This kind of real engagement can show your audience that there is a person behind the accounts and you’re prepared to get to know your customers and clients.
One final automation tool to cover is chatbots.
When an online shopper makes a purchase, they want to know exactly what they’re getting.
This means they’ll probably have a question or two that need to be answered before they pull out their credit card.
Unfortunately, if you’re only available for your e-commerce business a few hours each day, this can leave shoppers waiting long periods of time before they get a response.
By the time you answer, they’ve moved on to a competitor.
A chatbot can be there to answer basic questions, provide feedback, and handle certain requests while you’re away.
Shoppers can use a chatbot to complete purchases, get recommendations, or even get updates on an open order.
Using a chatbot can help to take some of the pressure of off you.
In HelloFresh’s case, they were able to increase incoming messages by 31% and decrease their response time by 32%.
This means more satisfied customers without needing extra time from you.
Chatbots can also alert you to when there is a situation that they’re unable to handle.
You can then jump into these conversations or return messages to customers who might be looking for a more detailed response – ensuring everyone gets the information they need.
3. Get your audience to do your marketing for you
Marketing is all about connecting with your target audience.
While there may be list after list or guide after guide of appropriate ways to market your e-commerce business, none of it matters if your target audience isn’t paying attention.
When you’re trying to run a full-time business in part-time hours, every minute is precious.
This means you can’t waste time with marketing tactics that are going unnoticed.
However, you can work around this by curating content from your shoppers.
Mixed in with their professional, branded images, they have content from their shoppers.
Not only does this mean Aerie marketers can save some time producing new content, but they also get their shoppers involved – making the process more exciting for them.
By supporting a cause, they’re able to gain free publicity that can garner even more attention from shoppers.
Asking your shoppers to show off using your products or items through a unique hashtag can help you enhance your marketing strategy without needing to add more time to production.
You’ll also want to get picky about the way you promote your products.
There is no reason you need to be on absolutely every social media platform.
As an e-commerce business, you want to consider which can bring in the most traffic that will ultimately convert to sales.
Think about who your target audience is and where they’re most likely to spend their time.
However, if your audience is more women between 30 and 49 in suburban areas, Pinterest might be a better target.
Focus your efforts on these platforms while ignoring the others.
If your audience doesn’t use Twitter, don’t waste your time writing and scheduling tweets. Likewise, if they’re not using Instagram, don’t waste your time.
You want to focus on getting the message in front of your audience in the most efficient way possible.
Another way to do this is with affiliate and influencer marketing.
Affiliate and influencer marketing are similar, although they work a bit differently.
With influencer marketing, you’d pay a celebrity, blogger, or another individual with a large following to talk about your products on social or their website.
However, they must post that the content is sponsored.
Outsourcing the tasks you don’t like doing, you’re not good at doing, or you just don’t have the time to do can not only save you time but increase your bottom line.
When deciding what to outsource, first take a look at the tasks you struggle to complete.
If you don’t know how to write successful social media copy, outsource it.
If you don’t have the skill to take high-quality images of your products, outsource it.
If you can’t create product videos in the time you’ve allotted for your side hustle, outsource it.
Choosing to hire a professional may be more costly than just doing it yourself, but it can actually help you bring in higher returns.
With better quality copy, images, videos, or other forms of content, you can attract more shoppers and sell more products.
By hiring developers to work on his site, he was able to create a high-powered page that attracts over 30,000 visitors per month.
While it may cost more money in the beginning to outsource a project, it can also bring you higher returns on investments.
Not only will you have a better finished product, but you’ll have more personal time to focus on your career, family, or hobbies.
Conclusion
Stop thinking you need to hustle just to have a side hustle.
It’s totally possible to have a full-time career, side gig, and social life – you just need to be strategic about the way you go about it.
By using proper planning, automation tools, and scheduling your time appropriately, you can see your e-commerce business take off – even if you’re only able to dedicate 15-hours per week.
What side-hustle tricks have you found to get more done in less time?
About the Author: Neil Patel is the cofounder of Neil Patel Digital.
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What is eCom Secrets? eCom Secrets is a content-packed and straight to the point eBook and video course which details the most powerful secrets we have learned over the last 2 years in our highly successful eCom brands.
Today Simon Greenhalgh is finally telling you the inside secrets to their eCom empires. They go into detail on what suppliers they are using and the apps that generate huge results. While everyone else is teaching about aliexpress and facebook these guys are doing the opposite because they know where the money is and that aliexpress is saturated.
The truth is the best suppliers in the industry are kept a close secret because the leaders in the industry are banking big and don’t want to let the cat out of the bag. It will be in 2 years time when the so called ‘Gurus” spill the beans on what is working for them when in fact they will have moved on to something else.
In the eCom Secrets course you will learn :
What is working right now in 2018 in the eCom world!
Why we advise our students to AVOID Aliexpress like the plague!
Why Facebook is a spent force in the eCom world.
Which traffic sources are exploding our businesses while other marketers are closing their doors.
How one simple app resulted in over $55,000 in EXTRA sales in 2 months
Which “secret” suppliers nobody else is using and are creating brand new products for us which result in us being the first to market every time!
IM Coaching Series 2018 – what is it? IM Coaching Series 2018 is a new training course created by Kevin Fahey that will teach you how you can how to build an automated six-figure business in just 12 weeks. Everything inside im coaching series 2018 it has been tested-and-proven to be both effective and newbie-friendly. In other words, there is nothing you need to worry about this special training course.
Kevin Fahey is a full time online marketer, business consultant and coach. Over the last decade, he worked to perfect his online business and during this time he have developed tactics and strategies that have generated millions of dollars in revenue.
Many online training programs are either too complicated or too simple and most will leave out all the important details, forcing you to invest in more products just to put the puzzle together.
Inside the IM Coaching Series 2018 training program Kevin is going to give you all the tools you need to run a successful online business. Kevin will cover all the essential elements to build a successful online business, from list building and traffic generation to affiliate marketing, product creation and high ticket sales. Absolutely everything is included.
Since Instagram is purely visual, it’s an incredibly captivating way to make a connection with your customers.
But only if you know how to use it in 2018.
Let’s take a look at the top Instagram trends all marketers need to know about in 2018.
1. Instagram is becoming ‘pay to play’
At first, access to 800 million users might sound like a marketer’s dream.
But the more you think about that number, 800 million users means more competition.
And more clutter.
To make matters worse, Instagram continues to make changes to their algorithm, negatively affecting brands’ organic reach.
In March 2018, Instagram announced that “introducing [algorithm] changes to give you more control over your feed and ensure the posts you see are timely.”
These changes include:
Testing a “new posts” button to help users control when their page refreshes to see new posts in their timeline
An update “to ensure that newer posts are more likely to appear first in your feed.”
What does this mean? Instagram is still toying with their algorithm.
Good for users. Bad for brands.
That said, it isn’t all doom and gloom for businesses.
Increased competition means more saturation. That fact, combined with decreasing organic reach, means you’re going to have to pay to play in 2018.
Promoting your basic Instagram posts isn’t the same as running an Instagram ad campaign. But it is your best shot at getting content to stick out from the crowd.
Only Instagram Business Accounts have access to promoting posts.
To get started, make sure your profile is set to public. You can do this by heading over to your profile.
Then click the gear shift wheel icon and switch to a Business Profile.
To get even more engagement for your posts, you need to pick the right hashtags.
How to pick your hashtags
If you use trending hashtags that are relevant to your audience, your posts’ discoverability will increase.
But how do you make sure you pick the right ones?
Well, there are a variety of tools that can help you decide which hashtags are the right ones for you:
Command – This tool will show you how your hashtags are performing. However, it is only available in the App Store for iOS users for $1.99 – $9.99.
Hashtagify – This is a free service that will allow you to search any hashtag. It will provide you with the hashtag’s popularity, current trend, and other related hashtags to consider.
KeyHole – This tool is interesting because it allows you to track a hashtag in real-time, provided up-to-date data on the hashtag over a set period of time.
SeekMetrics – SeekMetrics’ Hashtag Generator will source popular hashtags based on the keywords you input.
But how many should you add to a single post?
TrackMaven took a look at hashtags on Instagram and found that 9 is the optimum amount for engagement. The report also found that longer hashtags (we’re talking around 24 characters) outperform shorter ones.
But you can always check to see what hashtags your competitors and your customers are using.
To do this, type into Instagram’s search bar. The app will display the most closely related hashtags.
It will even tell you how many times that hashtag has been used in total by Instagram’s users.
Once you have a decent collection of hashtags together that are aligned well with your target audience, you can then start posting with them.
But don’t just post and forget about them. Follow them. At the end of 2017, Instagram released a new update allowing users to follow hashtags.
Simple, but effective.
2. Customers can buy direct with Instagram shopping features
It improves product discovery on the app by condensing and making information available in one place.
Shoppable posts can be identified on account profiles by a white shopping bag icon at the top right-hand corner of posts.
Users can see these posts natively in their feed while scrolling. Each post that uses this feature will show a white shopping bag icon or a “Tap to View Products” pop-up.
Instead of having to click on links to get access to product pricing and descriptions, this key info will be available on a brand’s Instagram post.
Shoppers can do their browsing without leaving the app.
For businesses, the advantages are obvious; it’s simply an easier way than ever for customers to push your products.
The stats don’t lie either. According to Instagram, 75% of users who see a business post take action.
The clothing company, Lulus, tested this feature with great success. They found “nearly 33% of people who tap to learn more about a product visit our site through ‘Shop Now’.”
This tells you one key thing: consumers love to connect with brands on Instagram.
So how to get started? Well, Instagram is busy rolling out the feature, but you still need to be approved to use it.
Once you are approved, simply upload a post to Instagram like you usually would. Then, tag the product using the “tag products” feature.
It’s just like tagging a person.
Then, simply share your post to your page, and you’re done.
How to increase the reach of your shopping posts
To take things one step further, there are numerous integrations and tools to increase conversions depending on what platform you are using. Some of my favorites are:
Snappt – You can use this tool to embed your shoppable Instagram feed on your website. It makes a nice gallery that will be linked to your feed and dashboard.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud – This tool helps you manage campaigns that will help drive engagement and optimize your shoppable Instagram posts.
Integrations with BigCommerce and Shopify – This makes it easier than ever for small businesses using these platforms to integrate the shopping feature.
3. Reach more followers organically with live streaming
Gulp. Going live fills many of us with dread.
But let’s face it. Instagram Live is a fantastic way to connect with your audience, answer questions on the fly and solve any issues they might have.
Provided your notifications are turned on, your followers will be notified that you’ve gone live.
But what should you do? Here are some live content types:
How-To Demonstration
Behind the Scenes
Event Updates/Streaming
Exclusive Content
Contests
Product Demonstrations
Cross partnerships
Exclusive Content
For example, Dunkin Donuts mastered Instagram Live by providing a behind-the-scenes look at some of their sweet creations inside their test kitchen on Valentine’s Day.
Those with mid-range followings (1000 – 10,000+) can have strong engagement numbers and be incredibly impactful for your brand.
Launching a micro influencer campaign doesn’t have to be costly either. In fact, working with influencers on Instagram can often give you a better ROI.
Influencer Marketing Days performed a test to compare the value between micro and mega influencers. Their results were interesting, although not surprising.
Despite smaller following than influencers, micro influencers often have a higher engagement rate and more of a personal relationship with their followers.
They might even think of their followers as friends and vice versa.
Additionally, most micro influencers are invested in their craft which makes them useful for marketers targeting niche markets.
She tagged the post with “#ad,” which is incredibly important. The FCC has imposed regulations to ensure that influencers and brands state their relationships on posts.
How to get in touch with an influencer
You can find influencers by searching for popular hashtags related to your product.
Sometimes you don’t even have to look past your current followers. A passionate fan could also be a great micro influencer for your product.
If you’re stuck and can’t find anyone who fits your target audience, there are platforms to help you source micro influencers. Some include Upfluence, Grin, and Gnack.
Once you find an influencer, you can contact them through their DM’s or email. If they are commonly involved in campaigns, they might have their email on their page.
If so, simply email them to connect. Many leave their email addresses in their bio.
But what do you say?
You can send them a simple email like this to begin the conversation:
They get additional content for their channel. You get additional exposure.
It’s a win-win scenario.
5. Instagram Stories offer real-time engagement
Nope, I hadn’t forgotten Instagram Stories. Maybe I was saving the best for last?
There are a few reasons why Instagram’s user base keeps on growing at a crazy rate, and one of the reasons is Instagram Stories.
Of course, we’ve all seen a similar feature before over at Snapchat.
Snapchat’s business plan is built around their Stories feature, a popular feature which is arguably responsible for them experiencing a surge in daily active users over the years.
This means Instagram Stories has a bigger audience, which you need to target.
It also has a wider audience too, which means you’ve got a better chance of reaching your targeted persona.
Snapchat is experiencing a downturn in users at the moment, with studies showing that a percentage of its audience is actually heading over to Instagram instead.
What does all this mean for you?
You need to use Instagram Stories.
Stories can now be viewed on desktop, while Story Highlights is a brand new feature that lets you showcase your most popular Story for longer than the usual 24-hour limit.
How to maximize Instagram Stories
Whether you use photos or videos, Instagram Stories are a great way to give your audience a “behind-the-scenes” glimpse of your business.
But your story doesn’t have to just be showing what’s going on.
You can craft a compelling narrative, too.
If customers or employees are happy to be involved, you should make them the stars! NASA spotlighted their employees who shared why they like working at NASA.
It’s really easy to record a video, too.
All you need to do is head over to the main Instagram Stories screen and press the icon at the top left-hand corner of the screen.
Then press the middle button and hold it, before releasing once the video is done.
To take a picture, just tap the button once and release.
Then, upload the video (or image) and add a caption or draw text onto it.
Off-the-cuff videos work because users appreciate live footage. It creates a sense of intimacy between you and your audience, and it’s good for transparency.
You can also use Instagram Stories to create a series of how-to articles or do-it-yourself tips on your page.
Below you can see Real Simple share quick household tips in their Instagram Story.
How to put together a how-to article via Instagram Stories?
The best way to do it is by using slides.
Simply put the slides together in a sequence before uploading them to Instagram Stories.
The slides need to be eye-catching, colorful and engaging.
If you’re not the most visually creative person in the world, you can use Canva to design your Story before uploading. It’s very easy to use for non-designers.
End each how-to Story with a compelling call to action that tells the viewer what they need to do next.
6. Showcase brand personality with augmented reality branded face filters
Instagram developed face filters for its users.
Some can make you look like a rabbit, and others can give you a crown on your head.
The filters work when using both the front and back camera on your phone.
Take a step back and look at your feed as a whole. Do the images look good together? Is your aesthetic compelling and consistent?
If one moment a business is posting photos of food and the next moment they’re wading in on the current political climate, it’s going to be hugely confusing.
Their core message will be lost.
Don’t let this be your business.
Leave behind the bad habit of throwing your followers a curveball with a post that adds no value and makes little sense. Be predictable.
If there are old posts that no longer fit your aesthetic, you can either delete them or hide them using the Instagram Archives feature.
Conclusion
Instagram isn’t going away any time soon.
Users will continue to have faith in Instagram, and its audience is only going to grow and grow.
But unless you adapt to the changing trends, you’ll fall way behind your competitors.
Each time Instagram rolls out a new feature, such as Instagram Stories, don’t sit back and hope it goes away because you don’t like change. Be among the first to adopt it.
Take advantage of micro-influencer marketing. Target influencers in your niche that have already developed a relationship and trust with their audience.
Use Instagram live to create a sense of intimacy with your followers and connect with them regularly.
Carefully analyze your analytics so that you don’t waste your money on boosted posts. Take the time to build a community and treat your page just like you treat your brand.
Next, consider branded face filters. They may be available for your company to use very soon.
What trends are you using in your current Instagram campaign?
About the Author: Neil Patel is the cofounder of Neil Patel Digital.
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