What’s Hot: Doing The Right Thing

When Nike featured beleaguered quarterback Colin Kaepernick for its “Just Do It” anniversary, the international sports brand took a big-time risk.

That risk extended to Kaepernick

Kaepernick supporters also feared that he took a big risk of trivializing his mission. The campaign sparked protests, and we saw people burning their Nike gear. Nike’s stock price initially dipped, then rebounded. According to Bloomberg, the company generated buzz worth $43 million in media exposure throughout the campaign. Clearly, an increasing number of consumers are looking for brands that support their values; it’s becoming more of a need-to-have than a nice-to-have.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has heated up

Brands are taking a stand; consumers are starting to look for it and exercise the power of their pocketbooks. Statistics show that in the U.S. alone, 57% of consumers are belief-driven buyers, up 10 points from 2017. A few examples of CSR:

• Ben & Jerry’s. A big heart and strong social conscience have always been part of the B&J culture. Their Pecan Resist ice cream supports four organizations working to support equality, justice, and inclusion, including the Women’s March.
• Who doesn’t love our own Marc Benioff and Salesforce–a billionaire philanthropist and disrupter who’s trying to make a better world, including equal pay for women. He and his wife created the Benioff Ocean Initiative at UCSB to study and solve global ocean issues.
• Reebok. With its #BeMoreHuman campaign, Reebok celebrates and encourages women to be their best by promoting its brand ambassadors, including stars Ariana Grande, Gal Gadot and Gigi Hadid.
• Target. This giant retailer donates 5% of its income to community grants and programs–more than $4 million/week.
• Everlane. This women’s clothing company has searched out ethical factories around the world, visiting often and building strong personal relationships with the owners. Factories get audited to evaluate things like fair wages, reasonable hours and environmental impact. They’re also partnering with the Surfrider Foundation to get plastic off the world’s beaches.
• Eileen Fisher. No sweatshops. Focus on sustainability and organic fibers. Quality, comfy clothing that baby boomers love, made right here in the USA.
• Levi Strauss & Co. Levi’s has a “Worker Wellbeing Initiative” to help improve the life of their employees. Levi’s has also trademarked their “WaterLess” campaign by using less water in their manufacturing processes.
• Starbucks.Partnering with Ethos Water, Starbucks is helping bring clean water to more than one billion people who don’t have access to it.
• Volvo. Last summer, the carmaker announced that beginning in 2019, all new models will be either hybrids or powered solely by batteries.
• Patagonia. The outdoor apparel company has long been an outspoken defender of the environment. As we watch the heartbreaking rollback of environmental controls, Patagonia has gotten more aggressive. Patagonia Action Works is a digital platform to help consumers connect with local grassroots organizations fighting for the environment.

Interested in getting involved?

You don’t need to be a giant corporation. Ask me about cause marketing—identifying a single cause and totally owning it. Contact us at Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and internet marketing specialists.

Is a Single-Page Website Design Right For You?

You may have noticed single-page websites popping up around the internet. They’re especially popular with designers because they’re a great way to host portfolios. Apps and product sites also favor this design option that doesn’t require a lot of content or drilldown.

A single-page website: One that fits on a single page

Single-page websites are fully loaded in the initial page load. There’s no drilldown, no navigation bar or clicking because there’s nowhere else to go! Single-page sites can be efficient, and they’re a natural outgrowth of the mobile movement–visitors don’t have to wait for pages to load.

Things to love about single-page sites

• Ease of use and maintenance.
• High conversion rates.
• Look great on every browsing device, falling within mobile-friendly guidelines.
• Professional-looking sites can be built in a matter of hours; updates easily achieved.

There are other scenarios when a single-page site is the perfect solution

• If you’re a freelancer, a single-page is the perfect way to host your work and give potential employers a bit of information about you. You can also include a simple contact intake form.
• Landing pages. This is the ideal solution for a campaign. A single-page site lets you create messaging and efficiently run A/B tests.
• Simple website needs.Think about a pop-up store. A simple website with a brief introduction, photos and contact information is the perfect solution for a temporary business.

The downside

The average website is likely optimized for 20-50+ keywords. Remember that one-page sites are all about images or other information. How can you optimize for 50 keywords on a site that has virtually no content? You can’t. And that’s the biggest drawback to single-page sites.

• If SEO is an important component of your website and marketing strategy, this is not the best solution for you.
• Real websites include multiple pages designed around a users’ needs and the website owner’s goals. Let visitors pick their paths based on their needs and then present them with information created just for them. We can do this with a multiple page website, but we can’t easily do this with a single-page website.

Popularity likely to continue, as it serves a need

In a traditional web environment, it’s all about grabbing users with keyword search, getting them to land on your site and then funneling them towards a contact form, page, or phone number. With single-page sites, there’s nowhere for the user to get distracted — every part of the page drives them toward a conversion point, driving more leads and business. While single-page design won’t take over the future of web design, it likely will continue to leave its mark through 2019 because it serves a real need.

Is this right for you?

The best approach: Think about what you want to include on your site. Sketch it out, identifying images and content. Give Top of Mind Marketing a call, and let’s determine if a single-page site is the right solution for your business.

If one of your New Year goals is to begin or beef up your content marketing program, here are some tips.

Content marketing propels awareness, builds trust and drives sales

Content is the backbone of the web and includes landing pages, blogs, whitepapers, eBooks and social media posts. Content is what generates organic SEO for your website. Questions surface about whether or not blogs are still important--remember that search-engine ranking starts with keywords—blogs remain the best way to populate your site with quality content.

Images/Photos

Websites have become increasingly visual, and those with images perform better than those without. But think about mixing up visual content.

• Infographics are very effective and easy to create. I’ve been using a free app called Piktochart that’s ridiculously easy to use and I’m finding new ways to use it. 
• Use a quote or testimonial as a pullquote—it becomes a graphic and it’s a great way to draw attention to an important statement while also providing visual appeal.
• Slide presentations. Upload slide presentations as pdf files. Provide an overview and a key image to entice your readers. 
• Animated GIFs have become part of the landscape. 

Videos

Videos have become very popular—especially among younger users. They also boost your SEO value. There are many DIY tools for creating your own videos, but the quality can be marginal. Think about what you want your ideal clients to be viewing. Videos can be:

• How to/instructional 
• Interviews
• Quick tips
• Webinar recordings
• YouTube and Facebook are the most popular channels for publishing video content. YouTube tends to do better with longer-form video.

eBooks

Electronic books—eBooks--have become incredibly popular. They provide significant value by offering long-form topical discussion. Ebooks are typically PDF files and include a mix of text and images.

White papers

White papers are longer-form content used to convey data-driven insights or case studies. Like eBooks, white papers are also great lead magnets. 

Identify keywords

Using keywords correctly will help your content rank higher. Doing keyword research is an important part of every content marketing program. Use free tools such as Google Keyword Planner or Ubersuggest. 

• Use keywords in the title of your content.
• Mention keywords at least once in the first paragraph of your post.
• Use your keyword in at least one H2 heading.
• Maintain a keyword ratio of 2% of total word count.

Note that search engines are becoming smart and intuitive. They know the difference between natural keyword usage and keyword stuffing. 

Longer blog posts typically perform best

When writing blog posts, longer is usually better--2,000 words is good minimum target for your articles. You’re thinking “Nobody is ever going to read this!” Buzzsumo analyzed 100 million articles, and found that people are more likely to share longer articles. I believe you need at least 300+ words to rank well. Frontload your article, with the most important information in the first couple of paragraphs. 

Need help developing your content marketing program? Contact Top of Mind Marketing to develop your marketing strategy.