Why is Remote Development a Better Option Now Than Ever Before?

Why is Remote Development a Better Option Now Than Ever Before?

Why consider remote development? Because it makes good business sense! The software industry has changed in multiple ways. Many of these changes came in the aftermath of the pandemic of 2020. Developers of software were silent fighters during these times of need. They delivered high-quality and mission-critical software products to answer fresh challenges. Not only did they help there, but software development itself helped many companies ride out a digital transformation and emerge with a competitive edge.

The comeuppance of remote work has witnessed an exponential increase in the productivity and output of software developers. In light of this, companies that once maintained fully staffed office quarters now augment their output with remote programmers and developers. Software companies especially have much to gain. Those not adopting the trend stand to lose ground. We share some reasons why.

Why is Remote Development a Better Option Now Than Ever Before?

Why is Remote Development a Better Option?

1 – Decreased Hiring Costs

Hiring developers for remote work is less expensive than developing and maintaining in-house teams since one saves money on office space, power costs, and computing equipment.

Furthermore, the majority of emerging countries have lower corporate tax rates than wealthy countries. As a result, having a virtual crew allows you to save significantly on salary taxes.

Another way a remote software development team saves money: through diminished commuting costs. Moreover, when you hire for remote work, you don’t have to spend money on onsite interviews and fly people to your office for just an interview. Cutting this expense can be a game-changer, and your hiring outlays decrease accordingly.

2 – Enhanced Collaboration Infrastructure

Since the pandemic, businesses have seen an exponential increase in the use of collaboration tools. Today we have an array of conveniences to keep us connected to our teams around the clock, around the world. These include business instant messaging apps, video conferencing solutions, shared storage spaces, and other tools that make working remotely much more manageable.

If you leverage all this collaboration infrastructure efficiently enough, you’ll likely not feel that you are missing anything. Working remotely becomes the best option today, as you have significant collaboration infrastructure, and all of it is easy to implement.

Setting up meetings, conferences, audio calls, and events become simple matters with the many options that are available now.

Remote Development
Remote Development

3 – Extensive Pool of Developers

Remote development lets you tap an extensive pool of developers. When you hire onsite developers, you are often restricted by geographical boundaries. That limits your options. But when you go remote, you can find developers from around the world and hire from anywhere.

While there are plenty of developers in emerging countries, the domestic marketplace suffers from a shortage of developers. This imbalance drives up prices here at home. But the situation can be remedied with remote development. You can save up to 50 percent on each remote hiring.

Choosing remote development also helps companies to go global and experience different cultures. This makes for better diversity and promotes inclusion in the workplace.

4 – More Productivity

The quality of code a developer writes is directly proportional to how well he can focus. To focus well, many developers prefer working in a quiet, relaxed, and undistracted atmosphere.
Remote development allows software developers to be more creative and focused by removing environmental disturbances. It helps them finish more work in less time.

All these things allow you to build and effective remote teams and help you achieve your product goals. When developers are productive, they write better code, and with fewer bugs, too, so you can deliver software faster.

5 – Easy-to-Retain Talent

A remote software development team will most likely stay with your organization longer than an onsite staff. One of the primary reasons for this is that software engineers are more at ease with balancing work and life.

The autonomy of working from home supplies a huge perk for workers. Team members remain loyal longer when they know the advantage of flexibility in their hours. They strike a healthy balance between family time, personal time, and professional time.

Remote teams have a sense of ownership and can go on long stretches of work comfortably when the need arises. Moreover, you don’t need to manage each team member individually to get the work done; they’ll take it as their responsibility and get it done quickly.

Also Read : How Much Does a Website Cost?

Remote working, with its advantages to the worker, incentivizes workers to take courses and become specialists in their field, a tendency that benefits your projects overall.

6 – Reduced Failure Rate

When you form a remote team, you still keep control over the process. The dedication of today’s remote developers means your failure rate goes down.

As previously observed, when developers have more freedom and enjoy remote working alternatives, their productivity increases, giving them a sense of ownership over their projects. Satisfied workers feel more attachment to the success of their efforts, which motivates them to work yet more to improve things. When development teams achieve these rhythms, the value becomes apparent to any business owner.

Attrition is lesser in remote teams as the teams stay satisfied, and this ensures that your projects do not get sidelined while you are finding new developers to fill the open slots.

If your company has not started remote development, this could be the year you tap into this trend. Plenty of reasons exist for taking a crack at remote development. Will your competitors make the move before you do? It’s not too late to take that first step.

The Rise of Instagram Influencers: How They Became an Advertising Power

The Rise of Instagram Influencers: How They Became an Advertising Power

Instagram influencers wield power in the marketplace. Digital marketers can readily agree on that. But how did Instagram influencers come to occupy that position of prestige and power? A little examination shows that their rise follows a long-established pattern.

The word “influencers” entered the English language roughly a decade ago. The  term denotes individuals who have amassed social media followings and use their voices to promote products, services, trends, or even ideas or mindsets. Their influence sometimes extends beyond what comprises, ostensibly, their subject matter, to affect even matters of daily living and decision-making among their following. Since influencers exert so much sway within their field and following, companies often pursue them as prime candidates for propelling marketing campaigns. 

 

What is an Instagram Influencer?

Instagram influencers are those individuals who created Instagram accounts and worked themselves into high profile positions. The top influencers within any Instagram circle have big followings and their messaging affects consumer habits. How much? Lots! Sometimes influencers manage to elevate themselves into a kind of royalty, almost – one that has all but make-or-break powers where certain products or services are concerned. 

 

A Brief History Of The Influencers Phenomenon

Society has always had influencers in its midst. Great military figures and royalty set trends that the public followed, sometimes devotedly. In the middle of the eighteenth century, in England, Wedgwood designed a tea set for King George’s wife, then launched an advertising push declaring its products as being fit for kings. It worked.

A generation of leaders mimicked the ways of Napoleon. Early professional baseball players found themselves studied for the products they used. Hollywood stars could cause a brand’s sales to spike if they confessed to favoring it. They learned to affix a price tag to their endorsements.

By the twentieth century, influencers weren’t always individuals anymore; they could be companies and well-known brands, such as Coco Chanel, Gucci, and Mercedes.
 
With the advent of the internet and the prevalence of personal blogs, the pendulum swung back to influencers being largely individuals and, this time, even ordinary ones, albeit those possessing some stature or status in a certain field. Bloggers, especially “mommy bloggers,” became trendsetters whose recommendations were taken seriously, nudging some companies into a practice of paying these bloggers to namedrop or even promote their products. 

That created a debate over whether the influencer should confess to being sponsored or not. Eventually, laws were passed to oblige them to confess to being sponsored. However, these laws were passed before the era of social media influencers and didn’t oblige those late-arrivals to declare their paid or unpaid status.
 
 

Categories Of Instagram Influencers

We can classify social influencers variously by content, niche, number of followers, etc. With Instagram, they are mainly classified by the number of followers.

1. Mega-influencers

Mega-influencers each possess a tremendous base of followers, numbering one million or more. They are usually celebrities who made their fame outside Instagram. Further, they may ask for a hefty sum of money in exchange for promoting a product. They charge anywhere from several hundred to many thousands of dollars for a post. They are ideal for giant firms that make large profits and are eager to expand their global reach.

2. Macro

Macros are high-profile figures – not as prominent as the mega-influencers but deserving at least a “Class B” standing. They generally command followings somewhere between the low six figures and one million followers. Generally, they are individuals who built successful careers and accounts and rose to this standing by virtue of their social media empire-building.

3. Micro
“Micro” influencers are more or less ordinary people who built a reputation in a certain niche. Their number of followers ranges between 1,000 and the low six figures. They are ideal for local businesses promoting their product in a certain community.
 
4. Nano
“Nano” Instagram influencers compete as lesser-knowns in the influencers arena. Typically, they serve as specialists in a very narrow field. They command a relatively small follower base of fewer than 1,000. Companies that produce rare items used by only a few professionals often do well to find themselves a nano Instagram influencer for promoting their merchandise.

Jemully Media Instagrammers
Jemully Media Instagrammers

The Rise Of Instagram influencers

In recent times, the power of Instagram in boosting advertising campaigns has been recognized by businesses worldwide. Statistics show that 80 percent of Instagram users follow at least one business or brand. Moreover, the platform has features that help businesses create and adjust their commercials, such as advertisement design. Shortly after recognizing the marketing potential of Instagram, businesses discovered the leverage that influencers have on the platform. 

Accordingly, instead of trying strenuously to build their own accounts from scratch, they turned to influencers who had already built their fame and had established a solid fan base. Businesses found ways to piggy-back on that momentum. Nowadays, these influencers work either independently or for agencies that recruit them to promote products.
 

Marketing Strengths

A. Their Appeal
Instagram influencers bear that title for a reason. They project a charm that attracts their fan base and entices that base to copy their lifestyle, clothes choice, beverages, etc. And that is what companies want.

B. Their Engagement

Most such Instagram influencers interact with their audience by posting personal details or life events regularly to keep their account thriving, creating a kind of intimate relationship built on trust between the two.

C. Their Knowledge of Popular Trends
Influencers stay up-to-date with the latest news and trends in certain fields, a practice that keeps them aware of what may appeal to the young generation. Savvy influencers and businesses themselves do well to stay abreast of Instagram “Do’s and Don’ts” as well.

 
How Instagram Influencers Can Help Businesses

1. Expanding Brand Awareness

Instagram influencers draw the attention of their following to a brand that might not be that well-known to the following. These influencers may speak of the high quality and practicality of goods and services that that brand produces and how those products should best be used.

2. Expanding Reach

Besides raising the public profile of a certain brand, an influencer’s work might enlarge its fan base as well.

3. Reaching a Target Audience

By aligning one’s company with the right Instagram influencer, one likely has tapped into the right audience. Consumers continually seek products. Producers continually seek consumers. With the influencer providing the middle ground, the connection is complete.

In short, the trend of Instagram influencers goes back to the earliest day of Instagram activity, and has progressed steadily from there. Over the years, Instagram influencers have proven they are a legitimate and effective channel for attracting consumers. As such, they are a marketing force that should be reckoned with.

Marketing Tactics for Selling Domains on a Marketplace Website

Marketing tactics for selling domains on a marketplace website

SELLING DOMAINS IN THE MARKETPLACE

by Daniel Ng

If you’re interested in selling domains on a marketplace website, you can take some steps to ensure your domains are attractive to buyers and that they stand out from the competition.

 

In the discussion that follows, I will direct you through various steps to effectively selling domains. The process ranges from evaluating domain names to showcasing the domain names to posting to arranging and finally to bringing a deal to a close with a completely safe method for moving the space name to its new proprietor and the vender (that will be you) ensuring installment. Selling domains is not complicated if you will follow these steps.

For one, the practice of trading space names can yield extraordinary cash returns. Plus, you can do so without having to fabricate sites, learn subsidiary showcasing, or invest big dollars in constructing a business.

Being a space flipper is a proven and lucrative method for making generating automated revenue.

In this piece, we share 18 marketing tips for selling domains on a marketplace website.

jemully media selling domains as a business

1. Choose the right platform for selling domains:


Not all marketplace websites are created equal. Some specialize in niche markets, while others may have a more general focus. It’s important to choose a platform that’s well-suited to the types of domains you want to sell.

The opportunities are great, but the profession takes some skill. The competition can be fierce, and you’ll have to truly apply yourself to pull it all off. It doesn’t hurt to have some karma going for you.

Whatever your approach or your level of commitment, you’ll find that selling spaces gives you the opportunity to pioneer your own methods.

How about we take a look at some good angles you can adopt? We’ll explore how you can assess your space, and we’ll give you assistance on the best way to sell space names.

2. Create compelling listings:


Your domain marketplace listings should be clear, concise, and persuasive. Be sure to include all the relevant information that potential buyers would need to know, such as the price, expiration date, and any special features or benefits.

As with any great space closeout site, purchasers can make offers, and dealers can choose whether or not they need a “Purchase Presently” pricing. What makes Godaddy sales stand out, however, is the image they project.

It can be worthwhile to conduct selling through Godaddy.

First of all, you get the popular Godaddy information base, and prompt help. Besides, since Godaddy is likewise a record keeper, and a facilitating organization, you can deal with everything in one spot.

What’s more, Godaddy has a verifying cycle for bidders. So you’ll find you will not get spam or misrepresentations.

3. Use attractive visuals:

Make your listings stand out with eye-catching photos or videos. This will help potential buyers picture for themselves what the domain could be used for and will help them get a better sense of its value.

4. Promote your domains:

Once you’ve created your listings, it’s time to start promoting them. There are a number of ways to do this, including social media, paid advertising, and email marketing.

5. Make it easy to buy:

The easier you make it for potential buyers to purchase your domains, the more likely they are to do so. Be sure to include clear instructions on how to complete the transaction. Provide multiple payment options.

As with Godaddy, NameCheap has tons of services to offer besides their domain marketplace.

They also offer things like: area moves, WHOIS queries, Site and email facilitating, SSL Declarations, and ID Approval.

Furthermore, they offer a lot of different administration functions that website administrators need. So this makes their commercial center a great option if you seek an across-the-board administration. The site is deeply grounded, and you can expect remarkable help from NameCheap.

However, Namecheap is not without its shortcomings. They could do a better job on their evaluating, particularly for area moves and reestablishments. So Namecheap wouldn’t be our foremost recommendation. However, it’s still one of the outstanding outlets for selling space names.

6. Offer discounts and deals when selling domains:

Who doesn’t love a good deal? Offering discounts or special promotions can be a great way to entice buyers, especially if your domains are priced competitively to begin with.

7. Provide customer support:

If you want to build long-term relationships with your customers, it’s important to provide them with outstanding customer support. This includes promptly responding to any questions or concerns they may have.

8. Protect your reputation:

As with any business, your reputation is everything. Be sure to deliver on your promises and always act in the best interests of your customers. This will help you build trust and credibility in the marketplace.

9. Stay up to date on trends:

The domain industry is constantly changing, so it’s important to stay up-to-date on the latest trends. This will help you identify opportunities and adjust your selling strategies accordingly.

10. Be patient:

Selling domains can be a slow process, so it’s important to be patient. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t see results immediately. It takes time to build up a good reputation and attract buyers.

11. Persevere:

Even when times are tough, it’s important to remain steadfast. Remember, the market will eventually rebound and you’ll be in a better position to sell your domains when it does.

12. Diversify your portfolio:

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Diversifying your portfolio will help mitigate risk and ensure that you’re able to sell your domains regardless of market conditions.

13. Be prepared to negotiate:

In many cases, buyers will try to negotiate on price. Be prepared for this by having a counteroffer ready or knowing when you’re willing to budge.

14. Know your buyers:

The better you know your buyers, the easier it will be to sell them domains. Take the time to understand their needs and wants, and tailor your listings and marketing accordingly.

15. Have realistic expectations when you are selling domains:

It’s important to have realistic expectations when selling domains. Remember, not every domain will sell and some may take longer than others. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t see immediate results.

16. Be flexible:

The domain industry is constantly changing, so it’s important to be flexible. This means being open to new ideas and willing to adjust your selling strategies as needed.

17. Stay positive:

Selling domains can be a challenging business. It’s important to stay positive.

18. Have fun:

At the end of the day, selling domains should be enjoyable. If it’s not, then you’re probably not doing it right. Don’t be afraid to experiment and try new things.

Conclusion:

Selling domains can be a great way to make money online. However, it’s important to remember that it’s not a get-rich-quick scheme. It takes time, effort, and dedication to succeed in the domain industry. But if you’re willing to put in the work, you can build a successful business selling domains.

For more startup businesses ideas, check out these articles – 16 Small Business Ideas for Small Towns, Part 1 and Small Town Business Ideas, Part 2. 

Online Marketing: Stand Out from the Herd

Be the Media - Leave Behind the Echo Chamber - Jemully Media
This post is an excerpt from our forthcoming e-book, Be The Media.
 

A herd mentality is the tendency of people to be influenced by their peers to behave in similar ways. Business people, if they are not cautious, slide into a practice that behaves like the rest of the herd while using the power of the online world to market their product or service. Be well advised to avoid walking that well-trodden path. Instead, they should generate messaging and content that sets them apart. Doing so will require more creativity and industry but in the end the results will be worth it.

 
What do we mean when we say “herd mentality”? Here’s a common instance. Perhaps you are familiar with the phrase “the internet echo chamber.” It’s the pass-it-along phenomenon. The “echo chamber” is the end result of so many sources simply passing along the day’s information is an internet that is filled with repeats and repackagings and other variations-on-a-theme. 
 

Social Sharing: Its Pros and Cons

The internet suffers today from a too-common practice of forwarding or sharing or “curating” or “aggregating” content that someone else wrote or compiled. Let’s be clear here. Sharing is good. Social media posts are often shared because it is a quick-and-easy way to engage and there is some element of an emotional connection to the content. The web, and social media in particular, is a social environment, and the business of creating community necessarily involves sharing and reciprocity. The problem arises when an individual or a business does little more than share others’ content. When enough businesses do enough recirculation of others’ content, the internet becomes that “echo chamber” that purveys vast amounts of sameness and precious little originality or real news, data, or reportage. It becomes a problem of shallowness, triviality, and irrelevance. 
 
So much of what passes for content today in blogs or on social media is simply material that the poster (that is, the person who posts) found online, after 15 minutes or less of browsing, and turned to his or her own purposes, often with no significant added contribution of his or her own.
 
In the early years of social media, when the social media experience itself was still novel to most participants and when the participatory universe was still relatively small, a little bit of “echo effect” was not so objectionable. That was then. Today, such echo effect is characteristic of unimaginative and unprogressive voices. Moreover, it can be a detriment to those who practice it. It’s perceived by consumers as too pat, too cute, too familiar, or just too bland. 
 

“Happy Friday” and Its Ilk

People have less tolerance today for another “Happy Friday!” post or another “inspiring” quotation (auto-posted from a queued-up database of the same) or a shared link to some other source’s presumably-interesting content. 
 
The same is true in the blogosphere. 
 
If we go back far enough, we arrive at a time when the act of posting content—almost any content—was enough to ratchet one’s website domain authority higher than the authority of some competing domain that was posting less content. But that’s changed. Search engines are far more unforgiving when it comes to material that lacks originality, uniqueness, or purposefulness. 
 
It used to be that a poster could gain page-rank by consistently posting 300- or 600-word blogposts that furnished merely (let’s be honest) superficial treatments of subject matter. Such subject matter would likely contain the keywords that the poster hoped to rank for. But the content itself would fall largely into that “echo chamber” dimension, being based on little more than the writer’s quick, very recent perusal of someone else’s news or views.
 
We’ll say more about the solution to this, but let it suffice for the moment to recognize that work, real work, is generally the solution to this problem. Having something to say generally starts with having done some work. Reportage, for instance, is a beat-the-bushes endeavor. Delivering data means having generated data. There’s always work at the bottom of every good communications effort. But then, that’s good news, or ought to be, because the fact that doing groundwork can make one stand out in an internet where most are satisfied to merely pass along information—this is a opportunity waiting to be seized.  

Be the Media - Neil PatelNeil Patel on Originality to Stand Out

The phenomenon we addressed above, about regurgitated content on the web, was addressed by Neil Patel in a blogpost on his site, neilpatel.com.
 
Patel, co-founder of Neil Patel Digital, observed that the old days of content production were times when most anyone who was industrious enough in posting content saw good results. 
 
Writes Patel: “But as time went by, Google no longer had a shortage of content. I would even go as far to say that there is too much content for them to choose from.”
 
Patel observes that Google now can be pickier if they want to rank your website (that is, display your site among the ranked search results for a given search query) or not. He states that the issue is not one of creating ample backlinks or doing enough optimizing to one’s on-page code. He says, instead, that it is a matter of providing what’s best for the end user.
 
“That means Google is going to rank fresh content that isn’t regurgitated,” Patel writes. “If you want to take the route of just writing dozens of articles… and trying to rank for everything under the sun, you can. It’s still possible, but it will take more time and it will be harder, as there is more competition.”
 

Don’t Be Left Behind

Patel noted that Google, even as far back as six years ago (when Google released its Panda 4.2 update) had already taken steps to get rid of spammy sites with low-quality content and to be dismissive of sites that had thousands of 300-word blog posts with duplicate content.
What should our takeaway be?
 
We all need to apply ourselves to content that is original and useful and of sufficient depth. We must apply ourselves to material that is not content-for-content’s-sake.
 
Here’s to your first steps in a new realm—in your world of content that is more “you.”

The Oreo Twist

Oreo Twist

Imagine the perfect way to eat an Oreo. 

What picture and process comes to mind when you ponder the perfect way to eat an Oreo? Perhaps you twist the top layer, separating the cookie into two parts, and then eat them one by one. Alternatively, you could dunk the treat into milk to soften it just the right amount. Or maybe, if you’re a rheologist who studies complex fluids, you snack on the cookie while you test its mechanical properties in your lab.

In Physics of Fluids, by AIP Publishing, researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology characterized the flow and fracture of Oreos, finding the creme, which is officially “mushy” in rheological texture, tends to stick to one side of the cookie.

Twisting Oreos
The team affixed cookies to a laboratory rheometer and designed a 3D-printed Oreometer to study the influences of rotation rate, flavor, amount of creme, and environment on Oreos. CREDIT: Crystal Owens

Using Rheology

“Rheology can be used to measure the texture of food depending on the failure stresses and strains,” said author Crystal Owens. “We were able to characterize Oreo creme as quantitatively mushy.”

First, they placed Oreos in a rheometer, a laboratory instrument they used to measure torque as it fixed one side of the cookie in place and carefully twisted the other. After the filling failed and the cookie broke apart, they quantified the amount of creme on each wafer by visual inspection.

“I had in my mind that if you twist the Oreos perfectly, you should split the creme perfectly in the middle,” said Owens. “But what actually happens is the creme almost always comes off of one side.”

Investigating Other Influencers

The authors investigated the influence of milk, cookie flavor, amount of filling, and rotation rate on the final creme distribution. After being dipped in milk, the cookies degraded quickly, crumbling after about 60 seconds. Thereby they concluded, flavor and filling seemed to have little effect on cookie mechanics, but breaking the cookies apart cleanly did depend on the rotation rate.

“If you try to twist the Oreos faster, it will actually take more strain and more stress to break them,” said Owens. “So, maybe this is a lesson for people who are stressed and desperate to open their cookies. It’ll be easier if you do it a little bit slower.”

Furthermore, the creme may stick consistently to one side because of the way the cookies are manufactured and then oriented during packaging. Cookies from the same box often followed the same trends and varied from box to box, possibly due to different storage conditions.

By also designing an open-source, 3D-printed “Oreometer” powered by rubber bands and coins, the team hopes to encourage educators and Oreo enthusiasts to continue studying the cookies and learning about rheology.

“One of the main things we can do with the Oreometer is develop an at-home education and self-discovery plan, where you teach people about basic fluid properties like shear strain and stress,” said author Max Fan. Thus, an at-home user can determine the perfect way to eat an area.

The article, “On Oreology, the fracture and flow of ‘milk’s favorite cookie®'” is authored by Crystal E. Owens, Max R. Fan (范瑞), A. John Hart, and Gareth H. McKinley. The article appeared in Physics of Fluids in April 2022. 

More Smiles

Want some other enjoyable things to read? Try these posts that, well, just make us smile.

Choice Moments on the Set of The Chosen

When the dramatic series The Chosen shot scenes on June 7 for its upcoming Season 3 episode on Jesus’s feeding of the 5,000, my wife and I, along with four other family members, participated as extras in the production. What follows are some journal-type observations, in no particular order.
 
Details matter. At times it felt like being transported back to Bible times. In those moments when the multitude of extras stowed their cell phones and stashed any modern-day accoutrements that would “give away the game,” all you could see was what looked like a vast crowd of 1st century people gathered to hear the words of The Master. It was awesome. Just seeing the Roman soldiers in military garb mounted on horseback was by itself worth the trip.

It was hot. The conditions were trying. We were in the midst of a heat wave, and some attendees, including our group, were scheduled to be on the production grounds for a good 12 hours or more. Fortunately, the proceedings were rescheduled and our group’s camera time was moved up several hours, allowing us to get off the shooting set by midday, avoiding the hottest hours of the day. Some other mitigating factors: There was a bit of a breeze and some patchy cloud cover. The toughest temps we faced were just touching 100 degrees, while back home (in Abilene, Texas) the temperature that day soared to 108 degrees.

People behaved as Christians. It was hard not to notice the courtesies shown all around. My wife, Kit, noticed people helping one another with their costumes. We’re talking total strangers pitching in and helping others to get their outfits right before the taping. People maintained bright, friendly demeanors. This was all the more noticeable because the hot and humid weather was not exactly conducive to such politeness.

Texas makes a fine Palestine. The production location for The Chosen is land that lies just a few miles outside Midlothian, Texas, which is itself some miles south of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The location is very rural, with rolling hills, broad pastures, and intermittent trees. Add in the blazing Texas sun and you have a good stand-in for the Holy Land.

Dallas Jenkins was impressive. The creator and director of the show, Dallas Jenkins, took time from the busy shooting schedule to mix and mingle with the thousands of extras on the set. He greeted us personally, and even took time to be in a selfie with our granddaughter, Kate. Dallas is tall—taller than I would  have guessed him—and he is every bit the person one sees onscreen in the show’s livestreams.

Our live tweets got some traction. Our family group shared, via our phones, some of the photos we were taking, and along about midday it occurred to me that I could use my Twitter account to do some live tweeting. So I uploaded some images, hashtagging them with #TheChosen. Within maybe an hour, the Twitter account for The Chosen was hitting their “like” button, and later even retweeting, those images, along with those of others at the event.

We saw ourselves on the June 12 livestream on TheChosen.tv.
Knowing that the production company was going to do one of its regular livestream events on Sunday night, June 12, we logged on to see what might be shared about the (prior) week’s filming activity. To our surprise, we saw, in the slideshow that immediate preceded Dallas’s livestream chat, some photos of ourselves that we had posted that week to social media. Then, during Dallas’s talk, we heard his own perspective on the events of that week (the “most difficult” and yet “most rewarding” stretch they had heretofore experienced).
Conclusion. All in all, a special experience. We look forward to seeing the episode we participated in, which currently is slated to be the eighth and conclusing episode of Season 3, which airs later this year.
 
—Jesse Mullins

More Info...

For more pictures and re-tellings of The Chosen’s event Feeding of the 5,000 (#F5K), visit Living as Disciples.
The Official Website – where you can watch the show for free or get the link to download the free app:

The Google Knowledge Panel – Stake Your Claim

What is the Google Knowledge Panel?

The Google Knowledge Panel is often called your “Google Business Profile”.  Regardless of which label you choose to give it, you will want to claim it for your business.

How do you find it? Whenever you’re on Google.com doing a search and you type the name of a company into the search bar and hit “enter,” the results you get back will often include something called a “Knowledge Panel.” Displaying somewhere on your computer or device screen, the Google Knowledge Panel is a box of information about that particular business. The basic panel is assembled by Google and includes location and contact information, a photo of the street view of the business, and a link to the business’s website.

Google describes the Panel in this way:

Knowledge panels are information boxes that appear on Google when you search for entities (people, places, organizations, things) that are in the Knowledge Graph. They are meant to help you get a quick snapshot of information on a topic based on Google’s understanding of available content on the web.

Knowledge panels are automatically generated, and information that appears in a knowledge panel comes from various sources across the web.

 

Where do you find the Panel?

Desktop View

Desktop-Knowledge-Panel

On a desktop computer, the Google Knowledge panel is on the right side of the search results page.

Mobile View

OKY-Investments-Mobile-Knowlege-Panel
On a mobile device, the panel is usually the first Google search result to display on your phone.

 

 

Why do you need the Google Knowledge Panel?

VISIBILITY

First, you need the panel because is that it is highly visible real estate on Google’s search results page. The images it displays and the box around the panel draw the attention of the user’s eye. If Google creates and displays a panel for your business, you’d be crazy not to take advantage of the opportunity to provide accurate, complete and optimized information that could bring you new leads.

LOCAL SEO

The second reason is equally important. There is a good chance that verifying your location will have a positive impact on your company’s SEO and local search results. (To learn more about SEO, read our article about a five-step process for SEO success.)

How to use the Google Knowledge Panel?

Claim-verify-Google-Knowledge-PanelClaim Your Knowledge Panel

To get started, if Google has auto-generated a knowledge panel for your company, Google lets you “claim” and verify your business information. The easiest way to begin this process is to click the link on your company’s knowledge panel that says, “Own this business?” This link takes you to your company’s listing on Google My Business. (Note: If Google has not auto-generated a knowledge panel for your company, then go directly to Google My Business and register your company.)

Once you get to your Google My Business page, you will complete a very simple five-step questionnaire to confirm your business information.

After you confirm the business name and location, you will be asked a series of questions like “Do you also serve customers outside this location?” (Google supplies some help here by saying, further, “For example, if you visit or deliver to your customers, you can let them know where you are willing to go.”).

Then, you will be asked to choose a category/industry for your business and you will be given an opportunity to add your website address.

 

Migrating Away from Google My Business Interface

Of note, Google is migrating business owners away from the Google My Business interface to manage their knowledge panel. In July 2022, Google is giving businesses access to manage their profile directly on Google Search and Maps. You can even manage your profile right from the Maps app. Google states in the Business Profile Help page:

With a Business Profile on Google Maps and Search, you can:

  • Edit your profile: Easily update your business information, adjust your hours, or add a menu.
  • Promote your business: Add photos or updates to stand out on Google.
  • Connect with your customers: Connect with your customers by responding to reviews and questions.

Important: Certain features to manage your Business Profile may differ between Google Maps and Search, and the operating system.

 

Verify Your Business

The final step is the actual verification of your location. Google wants to verify the business address by mailing a verification code to the physical address you have listed for the knowledge panel. This usually takes five to seven business days. Once you receive the code in the mail, you will return to the Google My Business page, log in, and enter your verification code number. Then, your listing is verified.

 

Pro Tips for the Verified Google Knowledge Panel

Jemully-Media-Mobile-Verified-Knowledge-Panel-562x1024After you verify your listing, you will see additional features that are available only to verified businesses. Here are some suggestions for getting the most out of Google’s business panel.

  1. Pictures (or videos) – To show a potential customer what your business is like, add images showing the inside/interior of your location and some pics of your staff. Photos of your facility’s exterior, or of the grounds, can be helpful, too, for some businesses.
  2. Posts – We recommend adding short posts of 150-350 characters to your company’s panel. The posts can be up to 1,500 characters, but brief is often better. This is one more place on the web where your content marketing can live and work for you.
  3. Services – Highlight your business, services, and the benefits you provide to your customers.
  4. Reviews – When you have a happy customer, ask him to give you a Google review on your business panel. These reviews are quickly spotted by potential customers and could work in your favor to bring you leads.
  5. Hours – Let your customers know when you are open so they will be encouraged to call or drop by.
  6. Q & A’S – Use the panel to answer questions for and by potential customers.
  7. Facebook Reviews – Google gives value to a business’s social media presence. Here on the knowledge panel, Google displays the review/rating from your Facebook followers.

 

Playing the Google Game

Google commands 92 percent of the search engine market worldwide. Playing nicely with Google is to your advantage as a business. Some things, like exactly how Google weighs and measures your website for their search engine algorithm, are a highly guarded secret. Google lets you know some general things you can do to improve your SEO performance, but they keep the details to themselves.

On the other hand, Google business panel is one area of the Google universe in which you can have some control. Don’t waste an opportunity to shine on the Google results page and make a great first impression to those who search. Claim and optimize your knowledge panel today!

If you need help to claim, optimize, and maintain your business profile on Google, just give us a shout and we will take care of it for you.

Put-Jemully-Media-to-work-for-you

Against All Odds: Thriving in Economic Uncertainty

Your business and economic uncertainty.

Remember the day you opened for business? That feeling you had  – the rush, the excitement, the fear? Remember the first customer? The first day you taught a class? Or, had a client? Or, a patient? Or, a session?

OPEN.
Open for business.

Today, there’s a new challenge we’re faced with in these times of economic uncertainty: Will you remain open, even if the doors temporarily close?

Against All Odds

Is 2020 an actual recession? The verdict is still out, but label or not, it’s a sobering thought, and for many, it’s been a sobering reality. Without a doubt, recessions are hard on most businesses; and if you’re an entrepreneur, this downturn could be the final nail in your startup’s coffin. But recessions don’t automatically have to kill a businesses or even make them suffer; in fact, some companies actually thrive during recession.

If that sounds too good to be true, keep reading. We’ve collected a list of 9 different companies, all from varying times, that have succeeded or even begun right in the middle of a recession. Now, you can study these same recession-busting companies to learn key tips, tricks and transformations to emulate as we journey into the second half of a turbulent year.

Odds Be Damned

Six Companies Started During Economic Uncertainty. Four of Them Thrived Despite of the Downturns.

 

1. GENERAL ELECTRIC

Year Launched: 1892
2019 Revenue: $95.2 Billion

Though officially getting its start years earlier (and survived several smaller recessions during the 1880s), Thomas Edison (and company) launched General Electric right as the nation was heading into the Panic of 1893, a stretch of 16 months when business activity dropped nearly 40% across the nation. Nevertheless, the company persisted and went on to be one of the original 12 companies listed on the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 1896, where it has remained for well over a century.

2. IBM

Year Launched: 1911
2019 Revenue: $77.1 Billion

Launched as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR) by Charles Flint in June of 1911, IBM got its start selling commercial and business machines right in the middle of a two-year-long panic. It wasn’t until 1944 that IBM co-developed its first computer, the Automated Sequence Controlled Calculator (aka Mark I), with Harvard University. It was used by the Navy to calculate gun trajectories and things only went up from there. While industries everywhere saw double-digit declines in activity, CTR was able to not only survive but thrive, eventually changing its name to International Business Machines, and becoming the leader in technology that would support the digital revolution, making billions along the way.

3. WALT DISNEY COMPANY

Year Launched: 1929
2019 Revenue: $69.6 Billion

In 1928, brothers Walt and Roy Disney introduced the world to Mickey Mouse via their short animated feature Steamboat Willie. A year later, in 1929, the duo incorporated Walt Disney Productions right as the nearly 4-year-long Great Depression was getting started. Troubling times be damned, the brothers knew that America needed a smile more than ever, and were able to navigate the challenges of the Depression, growing their business to the point where they could begin work on their first full-length animated feature right after the Depression ended.

Oh, and that feature? A little movie called Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.

4. HYATT HOTELS

Year Launched: 1957
2019 Revenue: $5.0 Billion

Two months into the Recession of 1958, entrepreneur Jay Pritzker purchased the Hyatt House motel near Los Angeles International Airport. Even with business activity and travel slowing during the tough economic times, Pritzker pushed on, opening two additional hotels before the end of the decade. Eventually, this collection would grow to nearly 900 properties, and annual revenues exceeding $5 billion!

5. MICROSOFT

Year Launched: 1975
2019 Revenue: $125.8 Billion

In 1973, an oil crisis coupled with a stock market crash led to a 16-month recession during which the GDP took its worst hit in nearly 20 years. However, this decline did not stop Bill Gates and Paul Allen from developing their new computer software business Microsoft, which launched on April 4, 1975, literally just days after the recession was considered officially over. Within a decade, the company grew substantially and launched an IPO in 1986 that created 3 billionaires and 12,000 millionaires in the process.

6. AIRBNB

Year launched: 2008

This multibillion-dollar business was born in August 2008, when tech entrepreneurs Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky launched a simple online platform to rent out an air mattress in their apartment in high-rent San Francisco. When the Great Recession hit later that same year, suddenly the need for short-term, low-commitment living quarters exploded exponentially. By March 2009, the site had over 10,000 users and 2,500 listings, and big-name investments started flying in not long after. The rest is history.

7. Amazon

Though not started during an actual recession, Amazon was launched shortly before the dot-com bubble, which itself was soon to burst. Founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994, Amazon made its online debut as a bookstore, eventually adding movies, music, electronics, computer software, and consumer goods. Amazon’s initial public offering took place in 1997 at a price of $18 per share, rising to more than $100 and subsequently dropping to less than $10 after the bubble burst. Like other dotcoms, Amazon’s business plan focused more on brand recognition and less on income, and it did not turn a profit until the fourth quarter of 2001. Today, Amazon trades at over $200 per share, and employs more than 37,000 people with reported net sales of $9.86 billion.

8. Uber

Getting its start in the middle of the Great Recession, Businessmen Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp founded Uber in 2009 after they couldn’t find a taxi ride on a cold night in Paris.

The rideshare giant has since expanded internationally across various platforms, including food delivery service, bike and scooter share service, and temporary work staffing service. Today they are valued at over $47 billion.

9. Harley Davidson

Harley-Davidson has been through a few cycles. It was founded in Milwaukee in 1903, and within a decade built itself into a global business. It survived the Great Depression by selling to police departments. In 1957, it introduced the Sportster, a sleeker, less expensive alternative to the company’s popular touring bikes and a response to a wave of British imports. The Sportster’s relatively small size made it appealing to women. Its renaissance came in the late 1980s, driven largely by baby boomers’ new affluence. From 1992 to 2007, new-bike sales soared from $278,000 to $1.1 million annually.

That’s Showbiz, Kid

What exactly makes a business a business?
Who starts it? And during economic hardship, who keeps it afloat?

Your business may be impacted, but it is not defined by the circumstances of the world. So what exactly is it that makes a business? Business is made up of the men and women who work tirelessly every single day to make an impact. Your business is you, the everyday entrepreneur with a vision to create, provide and serve. So to you, everyday entrepreneur, now perhaps more than ever, stay strong and remember this: there are people searching for you. Headed your digital direction. Looking for what only you can provide. Searching. Looking. Waiting. Wondering. About you. 

Join us.

Let’s remain open together. And together, we will pull or push – depending on the door before us. And we will thrive.

#AgainstAllOdds #RiseAndThrive #OpenWeStand

Social Media for Oil & Gas Related Companies

Jemully Media social media for oil and gas related companies

Social Media, A Broad View

Before we jump into the reasons for social media and touch on the application of social media for the oil and gas related businesses, let’s look out over the horizon of social media with a little bit broader view. Let’s start with Instagram. Instagram is one of the fastest growing social media networks, is known for a lot of things – like being a place for showcasing beautiful photography, being the second most used social media platform in the United States (behind Facebook), and being a good place to build a brand and a reputation.

On Instagram, some high achievers are just everyday folks who have been successful in earning the title of “influencers,” even achieving virtual celebrity by using the digital photography platform to brand themselves and garner an audience.

Instagram offers such good opportunities for this type of brand development that lots of people seek the fame and fortune Instagram can deliver. Some “Insta” users will go so far as to do photo shoots in exotic locations in dangerous situations in order to gain notoriety.

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EYES ON THE SPIES

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Seeking a different kind of brand attention, in April [2019], the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States executed their first Instagram post with a cleverly staged photo that was captioned, “I spy with my little eye…“.

Why would the CIA be on Instagram? The primary objective for this particular social media mission was to collect, evaluate, and disseminate information, all in an effort aimed at recruiting talented Americans to serve. The CIA joined Instagram as a place to scope out potential new recruits.

BASIC SOCIAL MEDIA TACTICS FOR OIL & GAS

In this article, we will hit the highlights of some basic tactics. We invite you to apply these tactics to your own social media practices. In addition to a few hows, we want you to understand the reason why your energy sector company should use social media. So, if you are standing at the crossroads of making a decision on whether or not to use social media, we hope this will tilt you in favor of a yes.

THE COMMON GOOD

Beyond Instagram, all businesses, benefit from the development of a solid social media presence. But to reap the benefits, you must post strategically and in keeping with the social media trends. In each of the major social media networks – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn – you find a different audience with different expectations. And, while they are all unique, there are common aspects as well. Some of the more obvious commonalities include:
    • Users – Each network has millions of daily users. Therefore, social media is a great place to find a new audience.
    • Like-minded Interests – Users tend to associate with like-minded people around a particular interest or group. People with an interest in the oil & gas sector will connect on social media.
    • Conversations – People participate in conversations around the things they find important and enjoyable. Your business has the opportunity to join in and be a part of their conversations.
To underscore the value of conversational interactions on social media, SmartInsights released an enlightening report earlier this year entitled, Global social media research summary 2019. In the study, the researchers asked the question, “How do social users interact with brands on social?” The researchers inquired about positive responses to social media, and negative responses as well. When the question came to positive responses, the data showed that 48 percent of respondents are prompted to purchase when the brand is responsive with its social following. In addition, forty-two percent are prompted to purchase from the brand because of what they found in the educational content published by the brand.

The Common Not-So-Good

It is easy to see how this happens on many oil and gas company Facebook pages. The common not-so-good scenario plays out like this.

    • Employee Assignment – An employee is tasked with building and maintaining a social media account for the company.
    • Passive Posts
      • He posts repeatedly about the company’s services.
      • He posts “happy holiday” as the occasions arise.
    • Few Followers – He gets very few followers (other than his family members).
    • Effort Abandoned – The social media is deemed unfruitful and abandoned.

HOW TO TURN YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA AROUND

Let’s turn it around. Now that we see what doesn’t work for oil-related marketing, let’s focus on what does work. We’ll begin with the basic terminology – “social media.” The wise marketer understands that the business must perform in both capacities. The business must be “social” and they must serve as their own “media.” Those two logical but often overlooked concepts contain the secret of being successful as a business on social media, for oil and gas, as well as for any business..

THE SOCIAL ASPECT

Be mindful that people participate on social media for two main reasons: to keep up those they care about and to stay in the loop of what’s going on. Social media is predominately a conversational experience. By definition, a conversation is an exchange of sentiments, observations, opinions, or ideas. It’s a discussion. It includes interaction. So, you can see how broadcasting a one-way message of the virtues and benefits of your company does not elicit a response nor encourage a dialogue. Be social with your business page.

THE MEDIA ASPECT

The media aspect of social media is focused on the publication of news, helpful information, stories, and opinions that your community will be interested in. Think of yourself as being media, not just being a business with something to sell. An entity that is trying to “be” the media, or at least to be somewhat like media, is one that freely educates and invites discussion amongst the followers on its page and beyond. This aspect of social media marketing is driven by content marketing. Development of meaningful, useful, and shareable content is much more attractive to your audience than a simple post saying – “Hey, it’s Wednesday. We made it to ‘Hump Day!'” Too many of these quick and easy posts that have no real substance will lead you to the same pit of wasted social media presence as will the path of constant self-promotion.

1 – BRANDING

Today, branding is centered around building trust. Branding your company with personalized experiences builds trust with those who follow your page. There is an expectation that companies will be transparent and accurate. Those who are successful will gain positive recognition and appreciation.

At least 58 percent of U.S. consumers use social media to follow brands. (MarketingSherpa)

Bonus – Employee Participation – It’s a good practice to encourage your employees to be involved with your social media. Set out some guidelines regarding what is appropriate for them to communicate as representatives of the company. Then, enlist your team to comment, share, and engage with your social content. Set an expectation for your social media practice that presents the company with its “best foot forward.” The return on investment (ROI) for positive branding is not exactly measurable by analytics, but it is observable through the loyalty that your following shows.

2 – FOLLOWING

In keeping the focus on positive branding for your company, resist the impulse to amass a large, disconnected audience, and set out instead to develop an active, dedicated community. Interact with followers who engage, comment, and share your content. Create a company hashtag around your brand that brings you all together with a common interest.

3 – SEO (SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION)

One of the key benefits of an active social media business page is the positive impact it can have on your website’s SEO (search engine optimization). Of the many factors that are calculated to give a business an SEO score, one of the most important is your social media connections. (Yes, Google and other search engines examine and measure your “social” standing.) Search engines monitor whether or not people comment on and share your posts (the social part). Likewise, they monitor how much activity you generate of people clicking links that take them from your social media account to your website to read your content (the media part).

4 – REVIEWS

Once you have built a loyal following, there is another benefit you can derive. Reviews. Online reviews, like the ones on Facebook, have supplanted word-of-mouth referrals. Potential customers and potential hires will trust the comments that others share about your company more than what you say about yourself. Their comments are viewed as objective. Such reviews by your loyal followers elevate your company’s branding and expand your potential reach.

5 – RECRUITING

After you have done some work to brand your oil and gas related company on social media, and you have worked to build a loyal, active following, you will find social media a good recruiting environment.

As you publish words and pictures on your social media site, don’t neglect to incorporate stories and testimonials from current employees that relate what is it really like to work at your company day-to-day. These posts exhibit your company’s values. And, if you are hiring, the reviews that you’ve racked up will also work in your favor towards attracting quality employees.

Potential employees will learn about your company culture when they peruse your social accounts. There’s no better way to get on their radar than to get your following to network with you on social media. Social media gives you the opportunity to reach the person who is looking for the job. Many times it is enough simply to get on the radar of that job hunter’s friends or family members, most of who will likely know that that person is job hunting. They’ll share your content with that prospect and the connection is made.

We created and posted a “job opportunities” message for one of our oil and gas clients on Facebook a month ago, and the response was huge. The account itself had fewer than a thousand followers, but the post received 27 comments, 32 shares, and 2,341 engagements, all culminating in a reach of 8,807 people – more than eight times the following of the account. Social works!

SOME STATS ON RECRUITING WITH SOCIAL MEDIA

These recruiting stats underscore the opportunities that are available to employers who utilize social media to identify job seekers.
    • 79 percent of job applicants use social media in their job search. (Glassdoor)
    • Job seekers rank social media and professional networks as the most useful job search resource, as compared to job boards, job ads, recruiting agencies, and recruiting events. (CareerArc)
    • A study from the Aberdeen Group revealed that millennials are changing social recruitment practices: 73 percent of millennials (18-34 age group) found their last position through a social platform. (CareerProfiles)
    • 70 percent of hiring managers say they’ve successfully hired with social media. (Betterteam)

IF YOU DON’T DO ANYTHING ELSE

Social Media can and should be an effective marketing tool. It builds your company’s brand recognition, gains you a loyal following, lifts your SEO page rank, elicits good company reviews, and provides healthy opportunities for hiring your next employees. If you don’t do anything else, make a plan and get active on one network this quarter. You’ll be glad you did.

For further reading on oil and gas marketing

Here are some of our most popular content on marketing for the oil and gas sector.

Psychology of Social Media Part 2: Engagement and the 4 Basic Emotions

Psychology of Social Media Part 2: Engagement and the 4 Basic Emotions

No doubt, the majority of you reading this article have a social platform of some kind. It’s no secret that social media is a mainstay in the world! It is a huge part of the very essence of our daily lives. We live and breathe it and focus much of our lives around it. Despite that, there are still some businesses on the fence about utilizing it. The truth is, many still don’t quite understand just exactly how to tap into the social media goldmine on a business scale and utilize emotions to drive customers to their doors. But with over three billion people using social media around the world, if you’re not taking advantage of it, you’re missing out on a fast, inexpensive, and effective way to reach almost half the world’s population.

In part 1 of our series, we dove into the psychology behind the who, what, when and why’s of social media. It’s time now to look at how.

The Psychology of Social Media Part 2:

How to Utilize the 4 Basic Emotions to become More Engaging

“Just because you’ve got the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn’t mean we all have,” an angry Hermione tells Ron in a heated Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix moment.

Actually though, we all might have. Research from the Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of Glasgow says the range of human emotion may be a little closer to that of a teaspoon than previously thought. The Glasgow scientists studied people’s facial expressions, and the emotions they signal, by showing people computer-generated facial animations. When broken down, they found that there are just 4 basic emotions of human behavior.

Teaspoons of Emotion

The word “emotion” itself comes from the Latin word emovere, which literally means “to move”.  Though there may be only 4 root emotions, these emotions move us to do unexpected things. And when it comes to social media, you can use these emotions to move your audience right to your door.

The 4 Basic Human Emotions

Happiness, Sadness, Fear & Anger

Obviously there are way more emotions than just these basic 4. The basal quartet, though, functions almost like building blocks, with more complex emotions being blends of the 4 basic ones.

Wheel-Diagram-of-Emotions

These more complex emotions are often referred to as secondary, with the big 4 being our primaries. These primary emotions are the most significant and are the ones we as marketers should tap into the most. Let’s take a look at each of the 4 basics, at how they drive us to surprising actions and most importantly, how you can use them to your business’s advantage.

Brand-LoyaltyBasic Emotion 1: Happiness

Housed within the pre-frontal cortex of the brain, happiness isn’t something we like to keep to ourselves. Based upon a prolific study by Donald Winnicott, science proved that joy increases when shared with others. Touch on those happy vibes in your social media, and your business will thank you! The University of Pennsylvania found that articles evoking positive and happy emotional tones are more likely to go viral than those that don’t.

Promote-TrustBasic Emotion 2: Sadness

Sadness evokes feelings of empathy. As we experience feelings of empathy, our brains produce the hormone oxytocin. This hormone is the promoter of connection and empathetic drive that plays a huge part in the development of trust. From a marketing standpoint, this is why advertisers choose babies and puppies for things like phone commercials. Though neither babies nor puppies directly relate to cell phones, the use of them stimulates an area in our brain that promotes empathy and trust.  When selecting your own imagery, select images that will prompt empathy-driving elements to aid in building trust in both your product and in your brand.

Basic Emotion 3: Fear

A study in the Journal of Consumer Research illustrated that individuals who felt fear and surprise during a film-based research experiment felt a greater association with a present brand than individuals who felt emotions of happiness and sadness (buffersocial.com). The conclusion of the study found that when we feel fear, we look for something to cling to. Broken down, the findings make perfect sense. People’s go-to response when they’re surprised or fearful is to reach out to others around them. This is why we look around the room and exclaim “Oh my goodness!” or “Wow!” or “Did you see that?” when something frightening happens.

So how does this apply to you? The study concluded that if fear or surprise are evoked through a brand, consumers transfer the emotional need for shared attachment onto the brand itself, driving action and resulting in brand trust.

And-Be-The-SolutionBasic Emotion 4: Anger

Even though positive emotions have a greater effect on us than negative ones, negative emotions are not free from making a lasting impression. The cool thing about anger is that the secondary emotion derived from it is stubbornness. Anger forces your audience to dig into their stance about whatever issue is on the table. Tap into this emotion by researching the market for your particular business. It won’t take long to find out what is possibly irking consumers about your field. For example, if you own a roofing company, do some online research or ask around to find out what bothers people most about roof installation. You might find that people think the process is too noisy or too lengthy or too costly. Make your business stand out by speaking to one of these specific frustrations and be the solution. This taps into the stubborn elements connected with the frustration, yet shows why your brand is a better choice than all the others.

Putting It All Together

Engaging Your Audience Through Emotional Triggers

Web Marketing Today suggests that social media success comes from engagement even more than exposure. Understanding the 4 emotions and how they affect our engagement can transform how you use social media for business. Engagement through social media isn’t as complex as you might think. Take a tip from French novelist Marcel Proust. He reminds us that “The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” Look at digital marketing with new eyes. Discover what makes your story worth telling and engage.

Read more…

Head on over to read our last post of the series for one final how question, and learn how to use the psychology behind social media to be more shareable. Click here!

For further reading, check out these popular articles on our site: