Podcast - Meet Beet! - StaffanRagno20240915_1334

The transcription discusses the importance of e-commerce, attention, and SEO. It highlights the potential pitfalls of platform migration and emphasizes the significance of SEO in maintaining visibility. The importance of website design, navigation, and internal linking for SEO is also mentioned. The discussion then shifts to paid advertising, particularly on social media platforms like TikTok and Pinterest, and the need to capture attention and create an experience for potential customers. The benefits of user-generated content, influencer marketing, and social commerce are explained. The role of AI-powered advertising and the need for a balance between automation and human oversight are discussed. The importance of knowing the target audience and understanding their motivations is emphasized, along with the use of data and analytics to gain insights. The conversation concludes by encouraging experimentation, embracing change, and seeking help when needed. e-commerce, right? It's a jungle out there, but thankfully we've got this stuff from BEAT, a Swedish digital marketing agency, and they seem to know what they're doing. Yeah, they've had some impressive results with clients. Yeah, like one of their clients saw a 229% sales increase in a year. Wow. Yeah, it's pretty wild, but you know what's really got me thinking? It's their take on this whole attention thing. Attention. It's not just about viewability anymore. It's about really capturing people's attention. Right, because you can have something right in front of someone's face, but if they're not actually paying attention, it's meaningless. Exactly, and that's where I think BEAT's insights on SEO are so timely, especially, you know, this whole thing about platform migrations? Yeah, that's a big one, because you'd think switching platforms, updating your website, it would be good for business, right? Yeah, you'd hope so. But BEAT's research shows that if you don't handle it right, it could be a disaster for SEO. Really? Oh, yeah. They gave this example. It was a Swedish e-commerce business. They switched platforms, and their visibility dropped by like 58%. 58? That's huge. What went wrong? Redirects. They messed up the redirects, and Google just, well, couldn't find their pages. It makes you realize how important SEO still is. It's the foundation. You can have the best ads in the world, but if no one can find you. It's like having a shop down a back alley, right? Everyone's going to stumble across that. Exactly. And beyond just choosing the right platform, BEAT points out a bunch of other common SEO mistakes that businesses make. Okay, so like what kind of mistakes? Give me an example. Well, this is a common one, not thinking about SEO during the website design process. Yeah, like you can have a beautiful website, really aesthetically pleasing, but if the structure isn't optimized for search engines. It's like having a beautifully decorated shop, but the door's broken. Exactly. And if people are on your site, you need to make it easy for them to find what they're looking for. Navigation, right. Yeah, and that's where internal linking is so important. Internal linking, so like links within your own website. Yes, and this is something else a lot of businesses overlook. They don't realize those internal links help search engines understand what their site's about. So it's not enough to just have good content. It needs to be organized in a way that makes sense to both people and search engines. Exactly. It's also a warning of content. Beat also warns against being too quick to delete old content. Really? Yeah, like you might think that blog post from 2019 is outdated. Taking up space. Exactly, but it could be bringing in valuable traffic from backlinks or ranking for some niche keywords. Interesting. So even old content can still be valuable. Exactly. It all comes back to making informed decisions, not just assuming what's working and what's not. So we've talked about SEO and this shift toward attention, but how does that translate to paid advertising, especially on social media? Well, that's where things get really interesting. Beat actually has some pretty radical advice for 2024, especially when it comes to paid social. Okay. I'm intrigued. What do they have to say? They're challenging the 95-5 rule. The 95-5 rule? I'm not familiar with that one. Well, it's this idea that only 5% of the people who see your ad are actually ready to buy right then. Oh, okay. 95-5. They might be interested, but they're not ready to pull out their wallets just yet. So what's the point of spending all that money on ads then, if only a tiny fraction of people are going to convert right away? That's where the attention part comes in. You're not just paying for immediate sales, you're buying the opportunity to make an impression. Ah, I see. It's about planting a seed. Exactly. And hopefully that seed will grow into something more down the line when they are ready to buy. So you're playing the long game. Precisely. And to play that game effectively, Beat says, we need to rethink how we approach paid social altogether. So playing the long game with paid social, how do we actually do that? Because seeing an ad doesn't mean I'm going to buy something right away. Right. And that's where thinking beyond the usual suspects comes in. Beyond Facebook and YouTube. Exactly. Beat's really pushing TikTok and Pinterest for 2024. Interesting. I've been seeing more and more about those platforms. Are they really that effective for e-commerce, though? Beat seems to think so. They've got some interesting research on how people are using those platforms, especially younger demographics. Really? Like what? Well, for example, they're seeing a lot of people turn to TikTok for search. TikTok? For search? Yeah. Like, instead of going straight to Google. It's all about meeting your audience where they are. So creating content specifically for TikTok, short-form videos, that kind of thing. Exactly. Capture their attention those first few seconds. Make them want to learn more. What about Pinterest? I've always thought of that as more of a visual inspiration platform. It is. And that's exactly what makes it so powerful for e-commerce. How so? Think about it. People go to Pinterest to plan, to dream, to create mood boards for their ideal lives. Thank you. See? And that makes it the perfect place for e-commerce businesses to showcase their products in context. Show how those products fit into a lifestyle. Exactly. compelling captions, user-generated content. It's all about creating an experience. You mentioned user-generated content. What about influencer marketing? That's huge right now. But it's not just about finding someone with a million followers. Because there are a lot of those out there. How do you cut through the noise? Authenticity. Engagement. You need to find influencers who genuinely align with your brand values and your target audience. So it's a much more targeted approach. Absolutely. It leads into another big thing Beads is excited about. Social commerce. I've heard that term, but to be honest, I'm a little fuzzy on the details. Basically, it's the ability to shop directly within a social media platform. So you see something you like on TikTok or Instagram and you can buy it right there without leaving the app. No more clicking through to a website and creating an account. Nope. It just streamlines the whole process. That's got to be huge for businesses. Huge. Higher conversion rates. Fewer abandoned carts. It really changes the game. And it's where those influencer partnerships become even more important. Because people trust recommendations, especially from people they follow online. Exactly. This is all fascinating, but it also sounds incredibly complicated. Like how is a small business owner supposed to keep up with all of this? It's a lot. But one thing Bead emphasizes is the increasing accessibility of AI-powered advertising. Like those targeted ads you see everywhere. Exactly. And companies like Meta are using machine learning to analyze tons of data and target ads with incredible precision. So it takes the guesswork out of who to target. To some extent, yes. But as with anything, there are potential downsides. Like what? Well, one concern is that it can drive up advertising costs if you're not careful. And there's also the risk of ad fatigue. What's ad fatigue? It's when people see the same ads over and over again and they just start tuning them out. Right. They become numb to it. So it's about being strategic. Use the AI, but don't rely on it completely. So it's about finding that balance, automation and human oversight. Exactly. Now, switching gears a bit. We've covered a ton, right? SEO, paid social, AI, like it's a lot to take in. Even for me. It is. E-commerce is always evolving. It really is. So for those of us who aren't digital marketing experts, what's the one thing that Bead emphasizes that we can start doing right now, even if we don't have a huge budget? Know your audience. That's it. It sounds simple, but it's crucial. Okay. But I feel like I hear that all the time. What does that really mean though? Know your audience. It means really understanding their motivations. Why do they buy? What are their pain points? Where do they hang out online? What are their aspirations? So it's more than just demographics. Way more. It's about digging deeper. How do you do that though, especially if you're a smaller company? Data. You'd be surprised how much you can learn from the information you already have. Analytics, social media engagement, even your sales data. So look for patterns. Exactly. And don't be afraid to get creative. Talk to your customers. Send out surveys. Run polls on social media. So once you really understand your audience, then what? Then everything we've talked about starts to fall into place. Your SEO strategy, your paid ads, your social media content. It should all be geared toward that ideal customer. It's about aligning everything. Exactly. And remember, it's an ongoing process. Always learning. Always adapting. Because the digital world never stops changing. Never. Yeah. And that's okay. Embrace the change. Experiment. Try new things. Don't be afraid to fail. Exactly. And never be afraid to ask for help. You don't have to do it all alone. So true. Well, this has been fantastic. I feel like I've learned a ton. Me too. So just to recap, we talked about the shift from viewability to attention, the importance of SEO, the power of paid social and social commerce, and even touched on AI. And how all of that ties back to really understanding your audience. Exactly. It has given us a lot to think about, and hopefully our listeners are feeling inspired to take action. I hope so. It's an exciting time to be in e-commerce. It really is. All right, everyone. That's it for this deep dive. Until next time, keep exploring.