Today is the first day of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere and to celebrate Google has a Doodle, Bing has posted a nice photos on their homepage and we have redone our site’s theme today as well.
Google’s logo is not as exciting as last year but they did put together something. Here it is:
Google Maps Fake Business Problem Gets Big Media Coverage
You and I and the whole local SEO community know how bad the Google Maps business listing spam issues are. We’ve been covering it forever. We know Google is trying to make efforts to improve things but the spammers are always one or two steps ahead of them.
Google Allows Emojis, Links & Unicode In FAQ Rich Results – For Now…
Google launched FAQ schema at Google I/O and we have learned that implementing can result in a drop in traffic. So what can you do to increase clicks? Maybe drop links, emojis and unicode in your schema so that they show up in the FAQ rich results in Google search.
Google Ads Carousel “People Also Considered”
The folks at SEMRush spotted a new test format for Google Ads in the mobile search results. This one is in a carousel format where you can swipe left to right between ads and this carousel is named “people also considered.”
Google My Business Launches Short Names, Cover Photo, Logo & More
Google My Business announced a number of updates to the platform yesterday to help small businesses do more with their Google Maps and local listing on Google. In short you can personalize your business profile by adding a cover photo, logo, and claiming a short name as well as add welcome offers and promotions.
Google: Disallowed URLs Through Robots.txt Does Not Affect Crawl Budget
Gary Illyes from Google added to the big crawl budget article he published on the webmaster blog in January 2017 a new question and answer. It basically says that if you disallow a URL in your robots.txt file, then those URLs do not affect your crawl budget.
Summer Season Logos From Google, Bing, Yahoo & More
Today on Google’s home page, Bing’s home page, Yahoo’s home page and even our home page are logos and themes welcoming the first day of summer. Google has a globe with a beach chair out in the sun, Bing has the sun voyager, Yahoo has a sunny logo and we have a beachy theme.
Photos: Bastian Grimm Wins EU Search Personality Award
Last year Aleyda Solis won the EU Search Awards for European Search Personality award and this year Bastian Grimm has won it. Here are photos of his award and him winning the award. Bastian does a l
Studying how people use video search to find the content they want is an essential but often neglected area of marketing.
When we understand how video search engines work, we can begin to devise marketing strategies around this traffic source. When you understand your audience’s search intent and properly optimize your videos, you unlock new means of generating leads for your business.
In this guide, we break down video search engines and how you can use them to increase your traffic.
What Is Video Search?
The first thing we need to think about is why people search for videos in the first place. What makes someone look for a specific video? Why are they searching for that video? What are they looking to accomplish?
All of these questions are important to answer, and we’ll address them, one by one.
According to Google, people look for videos for three different reasons. They either want to reflect, connect, or learn. So, what does that mean exactly?
An Opportunity to Reflect
Video in any form has provided us with a way of escaping reality. For many decades, it’s been in the form of television. Many people use video to see life through a different lens, which helps them reflect on their own life.
This could be one reason someone might search for a video.
To Connect with Someone
Another reason someone may use video is to foster connections. 51% of people in a study completed by Google say they feel the need to connect with others through video content.
A great example might be someone struggling with addiction to alcohol. Their first response would be to retreat and hide from friends and family because that’s what they’re used to doing.
A quick video search displays hundreds of videos of people going through the same thing, and now they can relate to someone. We seek video to connect with our community and to meet on common ground.
To Learn Something New
Videos have become a way for us to learn about anything we might be interested in, and there are nearly no limitations to what we can find with a quick video search. Whether you’re looking to touch up on something you know already or dive into something completely new, there are millions of videos on the internet to help you accomplish your goal or explore your hobbies.
How People Search for Videos
Now that we understand the “why,” let’s look at the “how.” How do people search for videos on the internet, and what does that tell us as marketers?
One very common way people search for videos is in traditional search engines. A quick Google search for something actionable will supply hundreds of videos revolving around that topic. For example, if someone wants to learn how to properly tape off a living room to use a residential paint sprayer, it might be easier for them to watch a video on how to do it rather than read up on it.
You can also go to the video section on the search result page to see just video results.
You can type your search into the Google search bar and then choose from the recommended videos, or you can click the videos tab and search strictly for video rather than text results.
Another popular method people use to search for videos is social media. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and others all make it simple for you to search for videos in various ways.
For example, Instagram uses hashtags to tag videos. This feature makes it easy for people to come in and search the specific hashtag and find your video if you’ve optimized it correctly.
On Facebook, hashtags aren’t as popular, but you still have video descriptions and closed captions that can be searched.
How to Use Video Search to Grow Your Business
As marketers, it’s our job to bring the right content to the right audience at the perfect time.
To do this, we need to have a firm understanding of a few things.
#1: Understand Your Video Search Audience
You need to understand who your target audience is, but this gets a little more advanced when talking about video search. This task isn’t as simple as optimizing a landing page for your organic search audience. We have to talk about a complete overhaul based on the platform you’re using.
There are a few levels to this.
The first level is choosing the platform you’re using to promote your videos. For example, the audience on Facebook is much different than the audience on TikTok. No matter how hard you try, you’re not reaching many seniors on TikTok, even if you have the perfect piece of video content for that demographic.
Once you understand the platform’s overall demographic, you need to break it down and learn who your specific audience is. What is your buyer persona? What types of videos do they like to watch? Are they looking for entertainment, information, connection, etc.?
The last level is, what types of searches are they making? Once you know where and who they are, how can you connect them with your video? What are they typing into the search bar, and how can you direct that to you?
The easiest way to understand all of this is to reverse engineer it the same we do with organic SEO. Put yourself in your ideal client’s shoes and search for a video within your wheelhouse. Figure out what search phrases lead where and what you need to do based on your competition to jump ahead of them.
#2: Connect With The Video Searcher
This point piggybacks off the previous one, but it goes a little deeper. Connecting with the searcher means understanding what they’re looking for so you can be the one to provide it.
Attention spans are short, so you need to provide the right answer as soon as possible in your video; otherwise, people will turn somewhere else.
Another key to video search is giving the audience exactly what they want, right away. If the first few seconds of your video doesn’t pique the viewer’s interest, they’ll move on to the other hundreds of options available to them.
#3: Know Your Chosen Video Platform
Another point to consider is the chosen platform you’re using from point one. How well do you understand how to use it? Do you know how the video search process works? Do you understand the basics of the algorithm and methods used to determine which videos show up and how they rank them?
In the same way that we try to understand everything about Google’s algorithms for SEO, we need to do the same with each platform, and if you don’t understand it, you might get left behind.
#4:Time it Correctly
Timing is a huge factor. The length of your video will play a significant role in who chooses to watch it and how well it ranks. There isn’t an “end all be all” for video length because the ideal length depends on the platform.
That said, if someone is looking for a quick solution to a problem, throw that case out the window. For example, when someone is trying to figure out how to upload a featured image on WordPress, they don’t want to watch a 15-minute video because they’re going to know there’s a lot of fluff.
Your video would likely perform much better if it was only one minute because people will assume it is straight to the point.
Google even pinpoints in many video searches where the result you’re looking for is in the video in their search results.
They pull a snippet out for you to get the answer you’re looking for without having to watch the whole thing.
#5:Optimize Properly
Lastly, you need to optimize your videos. There’s a whole guide to video SEO here, but there are some important factors pertaining to video search specifically.
First, your thumbnail:
The thumbnail of your video is like the trailer for your upcoming movie. If the trailer sucks, chances are, no one is going to see the movie.
If your thumbnail sucks, fewer people will click through to your video. Your thumbnail needs to contain keywords, and it must instill confidence in the viewer that your video will solve their problem.
Second, you need to optimize your video descriptions on all platforms. Every video search platform uses keywords to determine how relative a video is to what the user is searching. You need to make sure you’re following fundamental SEO principles when it comes to video search as well.
The Most PopularVideo Search Engines
Many people wonder what the top video search engines are but keep in mind, it’s unique to the individual. What’s a hit on Facebook might tank on TikTok and vice versa. When choosing from these top six video search engines, make sure you factor in everything we’ve discussed so far.
Facebook Video Search
Video marketing on Facebook is all about interrupting patterns. If you’re targeting an older demographic, your content is a bit more serious, and you’re able to grab attention quickly, Facebook might be an excellent place for you.
The problem that I’ve seen with Facebook video is the implementation of intrusive ads. That’s why I recommend sticking to short, sweet, and direct videos on Facebook. If your primary purpose of creating the video is to sell something, keep it super short, ideally less than 60 seconds.
One area where Facebook has shined is in e-commerce. I see videos all the time of people using a product they purchased online, and they do such a great job of making the video appear organic.
The key to getting your video in front of your audience on Facebook is to make sure you include the right keywords in your description and have a very refined target demographic.
YouTube Video Search
Understanding Youtube video search is all about understanding video SEO. There are also various tools and extensions out there to use alongside the manual work and knowledge you obtain.
One thing about YouTube is that they reward continuous creators. Consistency is essential, and if you plan on having success with YouTube, you need to create videos every week so the algorithm sees that you’re a consistent creator.
I see YouTube marketing as an excellent way for affiliates, content creators, and artists to display their work. If you produce something as a product or you’re an affiliate or something, YouTube is the place to show your stuff.
The platform also puts much more emphasis on longer videos. Plus, if you’re creating high-quality content, the longer videos will increase your watch time, which has a positive impact on ranking.
Instagram Video Search
Instagram is built on discovery, and if you’re looking to go from nothing to something, Instagram seems like the place to be. Video search on Instagram is made possible through the use of hashtags.
When someone wants to find something specific or they want to filter content, they search using hashtags.
One great way to get discovered on Instagram is by capitalizing on trends. Throughout the year, Instagram has a plethora of hashtag trends that explode in terms of search volume, and if you find one that’s relevant to you and your audience, you may be able to create a viral video or “reel” (their version of TikTok) in no time.
Twitter Video Search
Capitalizing on Twitter video search is similar to Facebook; it needs to be interruptive without being intrusive. You’ll want to have the proper key phrases in your video’s description because users will search for content relating to that phrase.
Also, keep in mind that platforms like Twitter choose which videos to display on users’ Twitter feeds, so having relevant keywords pertaining to the content in your video may end up on the feed of your ideal client.
Vimeo Video Search
Vimeo is very similar to YouTube, but Vimeo has an advantage with smaller boutique-style audiences. There’s less competition, the quality of videos is better, and viewers are more dedicated to the videos they watch.
Another recommendation for marketing on Vimeo is to stay on top of the engagement with your viewers. Because the audience is so much smaller, there’s a lot less spam and bots, which means more actual conversation from people who may have questions about whatever it is you’re selling or promoting.
TikTok Video Search
Content is king on TikTok, and compared to all the other platforms, this app is the only place where you can post a video with no followers and get millions of views if you know what to post.
It’s essential to understand your audience and tap into their feelings, emotions, fears, and desires. Who are you looking to target, and what do you want them to feel when watching this video?
Once you’ve got that figure out, put in a proper description, add some hashtags, and see what happens. There’s no proven formula because the content is so important on this platform. If your content resonates with the right people, it will get likes and shares, and the sky’s the limit from there.
Conclusion
Now that you understand video search, how people search for videos, why they search, and how to reach them, how do you feel? Do you feel like any of the previous video platforms could work for your brand?
If this all sounds like a lot of work, consider learning more about what we’ve done to help other marketers get their videos in front of the right audience.
Which platform do you think is the best for video marketing going forward?
Google SERP is volatile. Websites gain and lose positions, new SERP features pop up, and algorithms never stop evolving. It can significantly affect your organic search traffic, which is not inherently a bad thing — with SEMrush Sensor at your disposal you can use these fluctuations to your advantage.
If there’s one thing you need from your digital marketing toolbox, it’s efficiency. You need access to real-time data so you can quickly make the most effective decisions and convert those all-important leads into paying customers.
You can start by deploying iPaaS, or “Integration Platform as a Service”. It’s a little tricky to understand at first, but don’t worry. I’ll break it down for you. So, let’s go over how iPaaS works, starting with some fundamentals.
WhatIs iPaaS?
Let’s be clear on some terminology before we dive into what iPaaS is.
Chances are you’re already using various apps, or Software as a Service (SaaS), across your organization. Statistics show that small businesses use 40 apps on average, and larger businesses use many more.
SaaS examples include Monday, Trello, Salesforce, and Gmail. You usually need to switch between these SaaS applications to complete tasks, whether it’s assigning someone a project in Trello, or responding to a customer in Gmail.
The problem? It’s time-consuming and inefficient to constantly move between these different systems. Since over 82 percent of customers expect almost instant solutions to their problems, this is time you can’t afford to waste.
How does iPaaS help? It’s simple. iPaaS integrates your SaaS applications and cloud services. In other words, it brings all these different apps together so they’re accessible from one place.
With iPaaS, you can read an email from a prospective customer in Gmail, and immediately assign someone a follow-up task on Trello. You can track inbound and outbound marketing in real-time and quickly update a lead’s status on Salesforce.
From a marketing perspective, what’s most important is why iPaaS can work for you. Here’s what you need to know.
The Benefits of iPaaS
Whatever the size of your company, there are three key benefits of iPaaS:
Cost savings
Business efficiency
Security and compliance
Let’s go over these one at a time.
iPaaS Could Save You Money
If you’re looking to streamline your IT budget, iPaaS could be a great option for you. Here are three specific reasons why.
Flexibility of iPaaS
First, it’s flexible. It’s pretty easy to scale your services to suit your particular business needs at any given time without overstretching your IT budget.
For example, if you’re experiencing high seasonal demands, you can quickly scale up your iPaaS platform to handle the volume. You can ramp up marketing campaigns and manage high numbers of leads without sacrificing speed or efficiency.
How does this flexibility help you cut costs? Again, it’s simple. The more agile your company is, the quicker you can onboard new customers, and the fewer resources you waste in the meantime.
Autonomy of iPaaS
There’s no need to worry about scheduling software updates because iPaaS handles these updates for you. Automatic updates:
Helps minimize your maintenance costs
Enhances your system reliability
Put simply, automated updates indirectly reduce downtime. More than 17 percent of small businesses have lost customers through downtime, and 37 percent have lost revenue. The upshot? Automation helps protect your bottom line and your customer base.
Simplicity of iPaaS
Many businesses find the whole concept of rolling out an iPaaS platform daunting.
My advice? Don’t be. iPaaS solutions are user-friendly. They’re designed with the “novice” coder in mind, so you don’t need specialist IT skills to set up the integration.
Since there’s no need to hire an outside developer to help you deploy the service, you can save money in the short term.
All you’re doing is accessing a cloud-based service. There’s little technical installation required.
You can quickly install or delete app integrations without spending extra money.
You don’t need system permissions to make changes, either. It’s all designed with cost-effective efficiency in mind.
The best part? Since it’s easy to use, you’ll spend less money training employees on how to work the service.
Your Business Efficiency May Increase with iPaaS
Efficiency is a real selling point for these platforms. Here are the key reasons why.
First, did you know that 80 percent of customers expect consistent information when they speak with different members of your team? iPaaS makes this possible through:
Improved access to real-time data for critical decision making
This means you’re improving your customers’ experience with your company and boosting operational efficiency, all at the same time.
This also makes it easier for you to see exactly what’s going on in your company at all times. Whether it’s tracking weekly targets or assessing customer behavior, you can access everything you need from one simple interface.
It usually takes far less time to deploy iPaaS than installing all your software tools separately.
iPaaS Can Help With Security and Compliance
Did you know that cyberattacks cost the average business $200,000? One of the best ways to avoid costly data breaches is by improving your cybersecurity. Here’s how iPaaS can help.
Automatic security updates keep your data and infrastructure safe.
It’s easier to protect data since it’s all stored in a central location.
iPaaS solutions generally include advanced security tools to find threats, like fraud detection and intruder alerts.
You can quickly cancel an employee’s user profile if they leave the business, meaning there’s less chance they’ll still have access to confidential data.
iPaaS security tools can offer the levels of protection you need to meet many compliance requirements across industries.
Essentially, iPaaS is great for cyber-safe functionality and connectivity because it makes it easier to perform day-to-day tasks, and it facilitates seamless communication across your company. Most of all, iPaaS helps you comply with various industry security standards.
Now that we’ve covered the benefits of iPaaS, you might think it’s the right option for your business. A key question remains: How do you pick the right iPaaS solution for your company?
Choosing Your Ideal iPaaS Solution
Choosing the right iPaaS integration comes down to these two things.
Understanding your company’s specific data needs. For example, some iPaaS tools are best suited to automating contact and lead management, while others work best for automating day-to-day workflows.
Finding a suitable iPaaS platform to meet these needs, at the right price point.
The Gartner Magic Quadrant is a good place to start your iPaaS provider research. But before you get started, here’s what you should do first.
Identify what you need from iPaaS, whether it’s customer analytics, employee management, enhanced security, or something else.
Set a realistic price point. How much can you afford to spend on iPaaS? Think carefully about your iPaaS budget, which we’ll cover later.
Once you’ve given those key issues some thought, it’s time to choose a suitable iPaaS integration for your specific marketing and commercial goals. Here’s my step-by-step guide.
Be Sure Your Favorite Apps Can Integrate With iPaaS
Let’s start with something simple: not all iPaaS platforms work with every app. With that in mind, the right solution for you should work with most (if not all) of your day-to-day apps.
First, just list all the apps you’re using right now, and decide which ones you need to integrate. This helps you narrow down your research so you’re only focusing on compatible tools.
To narrow your search even further, you need to think in the medium to long-term. Which apps do you plan on integrating as your business grows? What’s important for your marketing strategy?
Your iPaaS solution needs to work for you in the years to come, not just the short-term.
Decide What You Want to Do With Data in iPaaS
On its own, a piece of raw data doesn’t tell you much. Sure, you might have some customer analytics and a few employee reviews, but unless you translate this data into information, you can’t use it to improve your marketing efforts or grow your business.
Remember, that’s the whole point of iPaaS: integrating data from across your company so you’re turning it into useful information. Once you’ve confirmed which apps you’re using and which platforms are compatible, you need to think about where your data fits in.
Establish what data you have, whether it is names, promotional tickets, emails, reviews, or something else.
Confirm what data you need to integrate to achieve your business goals, because again, not every iPaaS can integrate all types of data.
Identify which apps contain this data, because these apps must be compatible with the iPaaS.
Check which iPaaS tool makes it easiest to migrate this data.
Make Sure the iPaaS Is Easy to Use
This one’s important. Some iPaaS solutions are more user-friendly than others, so be sure to consider your employees’ IT skills.
The more training your team needs, the longer it’ll take to get the system up and running.
Without proper training, your employees might accidentally corrupt or delete important data. If there’s no contingency plan in place to handle the learning curve (such as cloud or hard copy backups), you could suffer permanent data loss.
The real problem? Steep learning curves can affect productivity, which impacts everything from customer service to daily workflows. So, factor in employee technical expertise before you choose a platform.
As an aside, if you’re looking for a user-friendly tool to assess your recent marketing efforts, check out my A/B Testing calculator.
Find Out About iPaaS Security and Updates
Sure, iPaaS is pretty safe overall. However, it’s not foolproof, so here’s what to bear in mind.
Check the service provider’s track record. Are customers happy with the service? Does the provider have the experience to manage your sector-specific compliance requirements?
You should also check the vendor’s record for downtime and data loss. If it’s an unreliable platform, your data may be compromised, and performance may suffer.
Confirm how often updates are installed, and ensure they’re applied automatically.
Security is extremely important, so don’t be afraid to ask questions.
Figure Out Your iPaaS Price Point
iPaaS is a business investment, so you must get it right.
Go back to your IT budget and confirm what you can afford to spend.
Research the options in your price bracket. List the pros and cons of each platform.
Decide if you’re better off paying a fixed monthly or annual fee, or if you’re looking for a more flexible pricing structure. The same provider can sometimes offer different programs for different prices, depending on your needs.
Many iPaaS platforms offer free trials, so it might be worth testing one for 30 days or so before you commit. That said, if it’s a complicated platform, installing and learning it for a free trial period might be more trouble than it’s worth from a financial perspective.
iPaaS Tools
Are you still wondering where to get started? Let me leave you with some examples of popular iPaaS tools to choose from.
Zapier
With Zapier, businesses of any size can design customized and streamlined workflows. You don’t need tech knowledge either, since there are plenty of premade templates to choose from and integrate as you wish.
For example, you can send notifications to Slack from other apps:
You can also quickly generate tasks without opening each app individually:
The best part? Zapier is wallet-friendly and there’s even a basic free version available.
Oracle Integration Cloud
If compliance is a priority for you, check out Oracle Integration. It has iPaaS templates for many industries, from financial services to healthcare:
It’s also simple to track leads at every stage of the process from the one platform:
You can pay-as-you-go or choose a custom pricing plan.
Jitterbit
Jitterbit is designed to unify your workflow so you can easily track everything, from marketing performance to subscriber engagement from one location. It’s also compatible with popular services like Salesforce and Microsoft:
iPaaS is a great way to streamline data flow within your company, monitor conversions in real-time, and improve your customer response speed. It’s a solid addition to any digital marketing toolbox.
Remember, though, that what’s right for one business may not work for yours. That’s why it’s so important to spend time researching vendors, and ask as many questions as you need before committing to a service contract.
One final thing: if you need help boosting traffic to your website and optimizing your content to improve conversion rates, don’t forget to check out my consulting services.
In a world where everyone seems to be creating content, it’s simply not enough to develop everyday content anymore.
You need to produce visually appealing, unique content at a high volume, all without overextending your marketing budget.
Let me introduce you to generative media and all its possibilities.
What is Generative Media?
Generative media is computer-generated art or “photographs” as shown below. In other words, it’s not an artist drawing the pictures or creating the design. It’s all made by artificial intelligence (AI). Here’s how it works:
The artist “instructs” the machine to create content within specific parameters or algorithms.
Following these algorithms, the machine generates images.
The artist can change the parameters for creating content at any point.
You can see it as a collaboration between artists and machines—there’s still a creative process that could benefit from a professional artist’s eye. In this medium, the artist hands over some control (and labor) to a computer.
But if you’re not the artistic type? You can give the machine complete control. Here are some examples from Generated.Photos of AI-generated stock photos of faces:
Think of a conventional artist. They can spend hours, days, or even weeks working on the same piece. While this might be okay for personal endeavors, it may not be great for producing scalable marketing content.
Generative media lets this same artist create hundreds, if not thousands, of quality pieces in this same timeframe. All they need to do is set some rules for the computer to follow. The machine will then keep generating content within those parameters until the artist turns the program off or the program runs out of new possibilities.
This isn’t just a visual technique, either. You can use generative media to create music streams, slogans, dialogue, and marketing videos. Let’s take JustEat as an example.
JustEat is a platform to order food straight to their door from their mobile devices. The company collaborated with Snoop Dogg to launch a new ad campaign, and it wanted to extend this to its Australian subsidiary, MenuLog.
The solution? Use AI technology to switch out the name “JustEat” for “MenuLog” and make Snoop Dogg’s lips move differently.
Remember, generative media isn’t just about art or image creation. You can successfully use these techniques across various media to boost your marketing efforts.
The takeaway? Generative media is extremely diverse and works effectively across various mediums.
Are Companies Currently Using Generative Media?
Yes—and far more than you may think! In fact, the worldwide generative media market is expected to reach almost $398 million by 2025. Here are just a few examples of other companies already deploying generative media:
Yelp’s Use of Generative Media
Yelp is a popular website where people post reviews of businesses. As part of its marketing strategy, Yelp uses generative media techniques to:
Compile vast numbers of images
Identify textures, colors, and shapes in user-submitted photos and generate lists of places with similar features that might appeal to the same users
Examples might be users who visit a lot of kid-themed restaurants or relaxing bars
Malaria Must Die and Generative Media
The charity “Malaria Must Die” used generative media to allow David Beckham to speak in nine different languages across its campaign videos. They employed video synthesis technology to dub Beckham and made him appear to be speaking those languages.
How Baidu Uses Generative Media
Baidu, a Chinese search engine, uses a generative technique called “Deep Voice” to create synthetic voices to communicate with audiences. The algorithm “clones” someone’s real voice to be used for everything from marketing videos to campaign slogans.
Where it took an extremely long time for even one voice to be created in the past, now it takes less than 30 minutes of data training for each—and they’re working on thousands.
Other Terms for “Generative Media”
You might see other terms like “generative art” and “code art” around the internet. They are just different names for generative media. Here’s a list of terms currently used for generative media:
Generative design
Generative art
Algorithm art
Evolutionary art
Synthetic art
Code art
Procedural art
This isn’t an all-inclusive list, but it gives you an idea of how broad and varied generative media can be across different industries.
Why Should Marketers Care About Generative Media?
Generative media is not just about content creation in the strictly artistic sense. It’s about improving the overall user experience visually. Let me give you an example.
Say you’re hosting an event to showcase your brand. Rather than opting for static, unchanging backdrops, you may want eye-catching backdrops to draw crowds. Additionally, you could want people to engage with the display, whether it’s by taking photographs or videos to share on social media or merely immersing themselves in a stunning visual experience.
Generative media makes this possible because you can somewhat easily (and cost-effectively) program algorithms to generate new patterns, images, and videos on-screen.
The best part? There’s no need to draw all these patterns yourself or employ an artist to create them. The algorithm does the work for you.
What can we take from this? Generative media may improve your engagement levels because the technique provides an immersive experience.
Still not entirely convinced it’s worth checking out? Here are some statistics to bear in mind:
Over 70% of people prefer personalized ads. By combining generative media with other techniques like machine learning, you can customize everything from emails to videos with names and individual preferences, giving users a deeply immersive ad experience.
On Facebook, over 500 million people watch videos every single day. Customize your videos, use them to showcase your brand personality, and make them engaging to try to capitalize on this high traffic volume.
Around 72% of people prefer videos and visual content to text marketing, which means visual media should be central to your marketing strategy.
Identifying Opportunities for the Use of Generative Media
Speaking of digital marketing strategies, here are some tips for identifying ways you can use generative media across your business:
Does your marketing strategy rely on high volume content creation? Integrating AI or generative art can help you produce the quantity of diverse content you need—without compromising on quality.
Consider customer reach. If you’re trying to reach audiences across the world (for example, if you’re a vlogger or you frequently use videos), generative media may help you communicate in various languages by generating voice scripts, as we saw earlier.
Are you customer-focused? Using generative media to personalize ads and videos could help you build brand loyalty.
Use generative media to stand out and boost your brand profile at one-off events. For example, you can deploy algorithm art on jumbotrons or posters.
In other words, generative media may help you build the story behind your brand, expand your customer reach, and increase engagement levels by providing a highly immersive experience.
And it doesn’t matter what kind of company you run. Take Yelp, for example. At first glance, it’s not the kind of brand you’d commonly associate with generative media or machine learning. But that just shows there’s no limit to which companies can adopt generative media into their marketing strategies.
Creating a Generative Media Project
Whether you’re ready to tackle your own generative media project or you plan on outsourcing the work to a freelancer, you have some steps to take. Let’s take a look at both of these options.
Creating Your Own Generative Art
Want to flex your art skills and design your own project? First, you need to get some tools.
You can choose open-source software that lets you create your own coded art or assistive creative apps for building songs and icons. These tools are relatively cost-effective and easy to use if you have some basic coding knowledge.
Once you’ve figured out your way through the new tools, you can either let the computer “decide” what designs to create, or you can set your own parameters. Check out platforms like YouTube for hints and tips. You can also download premade generative art from websites like Generated Photos.
Outsourcing Generative Art Projects
If you’re not artistic, don’t have time to learn the trade, and there are no team members you can use, it may be best to outsource content creation. Hire a freelance artist to work with your team—check out platforms like Creativepool to find talent.
Alternatively, if you’re only looking for one or two pieces, you can buy some premade generative artwork from platforms like Etsy.
Using Generative Art in Your Marketing Strategy
Ready to use generative media in your digital marketing campaigns? Here’s how I’d move forward.
Be clear about what you’re trying to achieve. How will generative art support your marketing goals? Are you using it for a one-off event, or will it become part of your brand’s story?
Set a clear budget for how much you can spend. If you plan on distributing posters or creating pamphlets, don’t forget to factor in the cost of printing and materials. You’ll also need to cover artists’ fees or subscriptions to software platforms, if applicable.
Check out your competitors. What are they working on? How are they using social media?
Consider how you will promote your use of generative media. Will you take to social media to tell your customers about it? Or will you take it one step further and work on a press campaign?
Don’t forget to set a schedule for reviewing your progress and tracking your metrics, too. What are you looking for?
Marketing aims to convert leads to customers, so you need to know if your generative media is working for you. Consider tracking:
You could also try A/B testing, which lets you compare one version of an ad campaign against another. Does your generative media campaign outperform your other campaigns? My A/B Testing Calculator can help you here.
Popular Generative Artists
If you want to check out generative media for yourself, here are some of the most popular generative creators changing the art scene:
GMUNK
Bradley G. Munkowitz, or “GMUNK,” uses a blend of light projections, artwork, and other visual effects to create programmable displays and adverts for events, conferences, exhibits, and concerts.
With a client list including Dolby, Maserati, and Nike, it’s safe to say GMUNK is a top artist in this field.
Michael Hansmeyer
Hansmeyer uses generative techniques to create 3D architecture. His exhibits can be found across the world, from Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum to Design Miami/Basel.
He uses generative art to explore the intersection between the unexpected and the expected and believes in the power of AI to speed up and enhance the creative process.
Taryn Southern
Taryn Southern is best known as the first artist to use AI to compose and produce an entire album. Named one of the Top 20 Women in VR, she’s performed at major events, including Google’s AI Summit and VidCon.
Mike Tyka
A co-founder of Google’s Artists and Machine Intelligence (AMI) program, Mike Tyka is one of the first artists to “draw” portraits using generative media. They’re created by a neural network trained to “visualize” imaginary people and draw what it “sees.”
Conclusion
From Instagram to e-commerce stores, generative media may improve the overall user experience and boost your marketing strategy. I believe whatever industry you’re in, it’s worth exploring.
How are you finding generative media? Have you tried it out yet?
Disclosure: This content is reader-supported, which means if you click on some of our links that we may earn a commission.
When your human team has trouble managing your customer service needs with sticky notes and cluttered inboxes, you need a new solution.
Customer service software lets you keep all of your tasks in the right baskets without losing track of anything. It also boosts your customer satisfaction and lightens your agents’ load.
These customer service software options will help you organize your company, whether you’re a startup or a seasoned business owner.
How to Choose the Best Customer Service Software for You
Customer service software isn’t one size fits all. Choosing the right customer service software means considering your customer’s needs and what the software offers your business.
Features Offered
Do you mainly do customer support over live chat? Are your agents constantly fielding phone calls? Do you need software to connect with agents in the field?
When you get the right features in your software, you boost your team’s ability to create positive customer relationships and increase customer satisfaction. Getting the wrong features can be just as bad as having no software at all.
Customer Preference
Consider which support channels fit your customer’s needs. Offering call support alone to a Millennial or Gen Z audience will probably create some unhappy customers since both of these groups prefer live chat and social media.
Knowing your customers saves you money and helps streamline your customer service process.
Your Current Customer Support System
Your new software should focus on improving your current customer service practices. If you have a dedicated customer service team, make sure your software supports them, too.
If multiple people have their fingers in the customer service pie, purchase a system that clearly defines each person’s role, and prevents overlap.
All-in-One vs. Specialized Systems
Some systems offer several services for your customers, but sometimes you don’t need them all. If you provide online-only support, you don’t need the frills of phone, video, and other options. So don’t buy them.
All-in-one systems encompass different types of software, including:
Customer relationship management (CRM): CRMs focus on sales and interacting with people to bring them in as customers and retain them long-term.
Customer experience management (CEM): CEMs deal with the customer’s experience throughout their buying journey, from marketing to purchasing to customer service. In other words, you want them to leave positive reviews and become repeat customers.
Marketing automation software (MAS): MAS systems concentrate on marketing efforts, communicating information about products and services, and generating leads.
The type of software you get depends on your business and customer needs, so choose carefully.
The Different Types of Customer Service Software
Different types of customer service software fulfill various purposes and conform to specific customer needs.
There are three basic types of customer service software.
Helpdesk
Helpdesk software functions pretty much as its name suggests. It keeps track of everything in one convenient location and can automate processes like ticketing and store canned replies, so you don’t have to retype the same response to all those customers asking the same question.
Helpdesk software lets agents juggle different customer service actions in one place, so they have easy access to everything when they need it.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
CRM software gives you a more comprehensive view of customer service and related information. It builds a database for sales purposes and helps customer service agents manage various accounts differently depending on customer needs and habits.
CRMs are usually more comprehensive than helpdesk software. They’re also more marketing-focused than other customer service software and tools. If you don’t need too many bells and whistles, opt for something simpler.
Live Chat
Live chat sticks to online modes of customer service. It lets your reps respond quickly and conveniently to customer questions.
This type of software doesn’t offer anything as broad as CRM or even helpdesk software, but that doesn’t mean it can’t serve you well. I’d recommend it for any business that values efficiency and a streamlined approach.
1. Hubspot’s Service Hub—Best Free Software and Deals
Hubspot doesn’t just offer marketing services. Hubspot’s Service Hub gives you all the tools you need to organize your services.
The best part is that you can get a free version of this software without worrying about it expiring. Most other software companies give you less than a month to try theirs. With Hubspot, you might not need to pay at all to get what you need.
Hubspot makes it easy for your team to communicate with a conversations inbox and team email, so everyone stays on the same page. It even has email templates, so agents don’t have to waste time crafting the same email over and over.
Live chat and chatbots save time and work to help customers in a way that’s convenient for you and your team. You can also connect the software with others from Hubspot, like their sales software and CRM.
If you need more than what the free plan offers, you can buy this software in three tiers:
Starter: $40 per month
Professional: $320 per month
Enterprise: $1,200 per month
Each tier offers different features and supports two, five, and ten users, respectively. The Starter package comes with meeting scheduling, agent productivity reports, calling, and canned snippets, so agents don’t need to repeat themselves for each customer.
With the Professional and Enterprise packages, you can get everything from automation, pipelines, and custom reporting to a knowledge base, hierarchical teams, and integration with Slack. While each tier has a significant price jump, the features that come with them make the cost worth it if your team needs the additional support.
Pros
Integrates with other Hubspot software
Established and popular brand
Offers more free software
Cons
Costly for the features and tiers offered
Limited number of users
2. Zendesk—Best for a Support Suite
One of the most established customer support software options available, Zendesk offers a whole support suite to give you all the tools you need to click with customers.
It offers convenience with live chat and messaging, so you give customers a personalized experience. You can also connect Zendesk to your social channels without managing a ton of different platforms.
With a ticketing system that includes tracking, solving, and a priority system, Zendesk creates agent efficiency. Tickets don’t get buried in anyone’s inbox, and you know the status at any given time.
The software’s integrated voice system allows you to makes each customer’s voice experience unique. You can create a new phone number or use an existing one, so your call center works for you.
Zendesk offers solutions for businesses of all sizes with solutions like:
Answer Bot—An AI bot that suggests articles to help customers
Zendesk Guide—A smart knowledge base to help you find resources
Zendesk Gather—A forum for customers to connect with each other
You can get five software levels for smaller businesses, ranging from $5 to $199 per agent per month, including Essential, Team, Professional, Enterprise, and Elite.
Larger businesses will benefit most from the Professional Support Suite and Enterprise Support Suite. With these options, you get omnichannel support, social messaging, and dashboards, and reports. Reporting and analytics are vital to know how your agents connect with customers and your customers’ satisfaction with their experience.
Plus, with the Enterprise Support Suite, you have access to special features like multi-band support and 24/7 support for your agents if anything goes wrong. You also get a chat widget, roles and permissions, and content cues. The higher the tier, the more convenient Zendesk makes the customer service experience for everyone.
Pros
Many self-service options
Complete support suite
Can integrate social media with software
Cons
Not many options for larger businesses
3. Groove—Best for Small Businesses and Startups
Groove is newer than many of the options here, but don’t walk away from it just yet. Its modern, intuitive design has boosted its popularity fast.
Groove is designed to learn quickly, so you don’t have to take time out of your day to figure it out, giving your customer support team the ability to get up and running quickly. After all, the whole purpose of customer support software is to streamline your operations.
This software doesn’t have tiers. Instead, you pay for the core software, which includes:
Rules
Tagging
Canned replies
Custom folders
Conversations
Performance
Customer reports
Mobile compatibility
Integration for almost any app
Because you pay for only the basic package, you can customize it however you want. Small businesses won’t get overwhelmed with a million options, but that does mean you have to think a little harder about how you want to set it up. Once you do, you can make it easy and intuitive for your agents to get in the groove. You can also try a free 15-day trial of Groove to test it out.
Pros
Intuitive interface
Works well for small businesses
Customizable
Integrates with most apps
Cons
The basic package has fewer features
Takes more setup
4. TeamSupport—Best for B2B Support
Built for B2B customer support, TeamSupport lets you tailor your service options to business owners. You can group users into organizations, so you know who is part of which team and track common issues between businesses.
The Product Section feature allows you to put customers who use the same products together, so agents spend less time searching and more time resolving issues. With the Customer Distress Index, you can see how agents have helped customers and their satisfaction with their experience.
The Water Cooler brings agents together to communicate internally to resolve issues, but TeamSupport also has customer self-service options. The software only offers two price tiers, but they are cheaper than most other software.
The Support Desk version costs $50 per agent per month, and it lets you assign, track, and manage customer support requests using help desk operations. You can also customize and automate tasks to provide excellent end-user customer support.
The Enterprise package only costs a little more at $65 per agent per month. It works well for software and technology companies, allowing you to track products, support issues, and product defects, ideal for B2B customer service.
Pros
Used by industry leaders
Cheaper than many other options
Great for B2B customer support
Cons
Only two tier options
Less adaptable for B2C support
5. LiveAgent—Best for Live Chat-Based Customer Service
LiveAgent is an award-winning customer service software that has been recognized for its B2B- and SaaS-friendly service and live chat interface. This helpdesk software focuses mainly on remote work.
LiveAgent includes a universal inbox and automated ticketing, so agents get assigned tickets and can also see what everyone else is working on. It eliminates overlap and uses gamification to improve existing customer service practices.
With a live chat and call center, your agents have the tools to respond to customers when they need help. Unlike other customer service software, LiveAgent also offers video calling support, rather than just phone and live chat. Unfortunately, its interface isn’t as intuitive as others on this list.
Your agents get the support they need with 24/7 customer support for all four of its packages:
Free
Ticket: $15 per agent per month
Ticket+Chat: $29 per agent per month
All-Inclusive: $39 per agent per month
With a 7-day ticket history, the Free package gives you one email address, a live chat button, and a phone number. It also offers basic reports, a knowledge base, and ticket options like merging, splitting, exporting, and mass actions. For a free package, it’s reasonably comprehensive.
The Ticket package upgrades you to unlimited ticket history and email ticketing, plus advanced reporting. You also get templates and canned answers, along with gamification to streamline the customer experience.
Ticket+Chat gives you all the features of Ticket, plus unlimited live chat, chat invitations, and chat satisfaction surveys. You can also keep track of who looks at your website with the real-time visitor monitor.
The All-Inclusive package does seem to give you everything you could possibly want in a customer service software. You’ll have all the features of Ticket+Chat, plus unlimited call center support, video call, and call routing and transfers. Essentially, any call feature missing from the lower tiers you can find in this one, along with social account connectivity.
You can add specific features for an additional cost with every tier, such as an additional knowledge base or time tracking. The same applies to connecting social accounts, which can cost anywhere from $5 to $39 each per month.
Pros
Great for remote support
Offers video calling options
Many tiers and features
Low cost
Cons
Clunky interface
6. Salesforce Service Cloud—Best for Remote and On-Site Support
It’s designed for field service so that you can answer customer questions anytime, anywhere. You can even tailor your software to your company’s location, which helps local businesses.
Salesforce Service Cloud uses AI, chat, voice, and field service to help agents customize their customer’s experience. As the #1 CRM, Salesforce focuses on all aspects of the customer experience, so agents can keep up with customer needs with less effort.
The product has four tiers:
Essentials: $25 per user per month
Professional: $75 per user per month
Enterprise: $150 per user per month
Unlimited: $300 per user per month
The downside to this product is that the price sometimes more than doubles when you jump tiers without offering too many more features. With Essentials, you get case management, service console apps, a knowledge base, and phone integration.
While that might be worth the money for you, the only additional features you get with the Professional software are service contracts and entitlements. From there, Enterprise gives you web services API, and with Unlimited, you get 24/7 support and configuration settings.
Essentially, each tier only gives you one more feature. Whether you spend the money on them depends on how badly you need them. Nonetheless, Salesforce is a widely-known and trusted software, and many of your employees have likely used it before, which will cut down on the learning curve.
Pros
Excellent for field support
Most flexible software available
Has more AI options than other software
Cons
High prices for few features
No 24/7 support for tiers below Unlimited
7. Freshdesk—Best for a Streamlined System
Freshdesk can help you streamline any inbox disaster. Alternatively, if your current customer service software looks more like a virtual maze, Freshdesk makes it easy to switch.
Freshdesk’s ticketing system comes with a team inbox, including agent collision detection. Its collaboration feature uses Team Huddle so agents can discuss tickets and share ownership when the project is too big for one person. Plus, with Omniroute, you can auto-assign customer service tasks to agents based on their bandwidth.
With multichannel support, advanced and custom reports, and field service management, you can cater to customers no matter where you are.
Freshdesk even helps customers help themselves with a forum, chatbot, help widget, and other features to guide customers before they reach out to you. These self-service features will help your customer service streamline even further and provide helpful resources.
You can get the Sprout package of this software free, but you can also get four other tiers:
Blossom: $15 per agent per month annually
Garden: $35 per agent per month annually
Estate: $49 per agent per month annually
Forest: $99 per agent per month annually
The Sprout package already gives you unlimited users along with email and social ticketing, ticket dispatch, and ticket trend reports. You also get a knowledge base, so no one stays out of the loop.
Once you upgrade, the Blossom package includes automation, collision detection, SLA management, and more. The Garden level comes with a multilingual knowledge base to enhance your ability to help customers. You also get performance reports, time tracking, and custom apps to personalize the customer service experience.
In the Estate package, this software gets serious about keeping your information together. With custom reports, dashboards, and roles, the software practically manages itself. You can even take advantage of versioning in the knowledge base, customer segments, service for multiple products, and dynamic ticket forms that include as much detail as you want your customers to give when they have a problem.
You don’t get any more high-tech than the Forest tier. From an audit log and agent scripts to auto-triage and an article suggester, the software helps agents and gives customers resources to help themselves. Forest even lets you maintain HIPAA compliance when you use it, and you can use up to 5000 Freddy sessions per month when you use live chat.
Pros
Low cost
Can choose to pay monthly or annually
Versatile
Lots of features at all tiers
Cons
May appear overwhelming with so many features
Summary
The right customer service software can make or break a business. That’s why you should evaluate every option and how it will work for your company’s specific needs.
Whether you need a CRM or just a live chat option, you can find a customer service software in this list that is right for you and customize it to fit your business.
