What to do when a ‘rival’ imitates you

What to do when a ‘rival’ imitates you

What To Do When A ‘Rival’ Business Imitates You

imitation isn’t always a form of flattery, especially in business when you’ve been working hard

In the world of business, there is always going to be someone out there doing something similar to you.

Unfortunately, sometimes that may well be because they’ve taken ‘inspiration’ from you – or, essentially, copied your product or idea.

This can be pretty annoying, of course. While in some industries you can look at patents or legal protections to try and stop this happening, in some cases, there are no options like this available – and even if there are, people can often find a way around them. So, what can you do to stop it happening?

In some sense, the answer is nothing. But you can change the way that you react.

Inspiration over imitation

Acceptance is an important step in ensuring that you don’t want to spend the next six months willing a rival’s business to come crashing down. That’s not very friendly. Accepting that some form of imitation is always likely to happen is a really important step in dealing with competition head-on. While you can’t necessarily protect yourself against these kinds of infringements, you can change the way that you deal with them.

Imitation plays into the idea of social proof, a theory which basically explains how people copy the actions of others in an attempt to mirror what they perceive to be good or correct behaviour. Essentially, we see something we like, and we do the same thing. A good marketing example? The power of testimonials and case studies. People hear that someone enjoyed a product or service, and they want the same experience.

While social proof can also lead to imitation, it’s not necessarily a bad thing. Plus, it’s more than likely that you were inspired by other brands or companies when you started your own business, or are still inspired by what other people do to this day. It’s natural to spot someone doing something cool on social media and think “we could do something like that!” – and while some of us may change things up a bit more than others during this process, the underlying principle is the same. Think of it less like blatant copying, and more like looking for inspiration, and it’s a slightly sweeter pill to swallow.

Innovation is the key

When someone starts to imitate your business, it can be really easy to get stuck feeling hard done by. While sometimes anger can be motivating, it can also leave you feeling frustrated, when really what you need to do is move forward. If you’re the one being copied, then clearly you’re coming up with some awesome ideas – which is a powerful position to be in. Make sure that you’re innovating and improving and continuing to be creative, and you’ll soon leave the copycats in your rear view.

Initiate action

(can you tell we’re going for all of the ‘I’ words?)

In some cases, it may be that you want to take action. The best approach? Keep it civil. Drop the person an email and explain your position, detailing what they’re doing and the similarities to your own products or activities. Hopefully, this will be enough to make them stop. If not, then you may be in the realm of legal activity – if applicable to your industry. This can get expensive and be long-winded, so have a think about what sort of impact the imitation is having on your business before making this decision.

While someone imitating your business can be annoying in the beginning, try and use it to fuel something positive. Channel your angst into innovating and being the best at what you do, and you’ll soon find that you’ve left your copycat competitor in the dust. I mean, if they can’t come up with an original idea they’re probably not going to be around for too long… Take some comfort in that, and keep doing what you do. Clearly, you’re doing it well.

Want to drive your offering forward even further? We can help. Check out some of our digital marketing training courses to make sure you’re making the most of the online world – from the quick-wins of PPC to producing super creative original content.

Why not tell us some of the ways you have been copied in the past, what you felt and what you did about it. Comment below and join in the conversation.

Liz Quinn

Liz Quinn

Digital Creative Manager

Follow us on social media for blog updates and more kick-ass learning content to grow your digital skills!

Best Tools For Keyword Research

Best Tools For Keyword Research

The Best Tools For Keyword Research

the best keyword research tools for the best keyword opportunities

Just as a picture is worth a thousand words, a keyword is worth a thousand opportunities.

When it comes to digital marketing, keyword research is at the core of almost anything you do. From SEO to PPC or creating content, if you’re not using the right keywords, you’re not hitting up the right people at the right time – which means you’re not getting the results you could be. No results = no money, and no one wants that!

Some people think that keyword research is a mammoth task, but it doesn’t have to be. That’s why we’re going to share some of our favourite tips and tools to help you make keyword research as pain-free as possible. Aren’t we nice?

Wait, why do I need to do it?

Ok, good point. To start our whistle-stop tour of keyword research town, we should probably start with why it’s important. According to Moz, “keyword research is a core SEO task that involves identifying popular words and phrases people enter into search engines” – with the goal of figuring out what to try and rank for.

If you understand the words people are searching for, and the language they use to complete these searches, then you can start to work out how hard it would be to compete for those terms – as well as potentially giving you ideas for new content you should create, based on the needs of your audience.

The tools of the trade

When it comes to keyword research tools, there are tons of ways you can go about it. Google’s Keyword Planner is one of the big ones, as a free Google Ads tool that you can use to search for keywords and see how they might perform. You do need a Google Ads account to access the Keyword Planner tool, but once you’re in you can find it under the ‘Planning’ tab in the top right-hand corner.

If you use Google Search Console, then this can also give you a good place to start in terms of what keywords your site is actually appearing for. While you might not be getting clicks from some of them yet, it can give you valuable insight into terms that you may want to target in the future.

Jamie, one of Sleeping Giant Media’s Search Account Managers, also recommends the Keywords Everywhere extension for those looking for quick wins. “It’s really useful when you need a quick result. For example, if you have the Chrome extension enabled, a simple Google search will bring back related keywords and their average monthly search volumes,” he explains.

Another firm favourite tool for tons of different things here at GIANT Campus is Answer The Public, and there’s no reason you can’t use it for your keyword research, too. Particularly useful when trying to come up with content ideas, it lets you look at questions, prepositions and semantically-related keywords, helping to broaden the scope of what you’re looking at.

Another tool recommended by one of the GIANTS, Jack, is Ubersuggest. Purchased by Neil Patel a few years ago, the new Ubersuggest app provides insights such as the ‘Chance to Rank’ for a specific term, SEO/Paid Difficulty and also a handy SERP analysis tool, which shows which websites are currently ranking for that term.

Get cracking

Keep in mind that this is just a small selection of the tons of tools out there that can help you do your own keyword research – including, of course, a range that you have to pay for. From SEMrush and Keywordtool.io to Google Trends and KWFinder, there are a wealth of handy little tools out there to help you ensure that you’re targeting the right words and phrases with your digital activity – whether you’re looking for help coming up with blog topics, or want to ensure that your ads are working for you.

Just starting out on your journey, and not sure where to begin? Well, we delved down into the vintage video vaults at GIANT Towers and uncovered a short video on how to do keyword research, which is a great place to start!

Amber Vellacott

Amber Vellacott

Content Marketing Lead

Follow us on social media for blog updates and more kick-ass learning content to grow your digital skills!

Looking back on a year in search

Looking back on a year in search

A Year In Search

what a jam-packed, confusing and exciting twelve months it has been…

2018 is coming to an end and rather than get all soppy and emotional about what’s gone on, we’re going to look back at all the weird things you Googled instead.

The end of 2018 is fast approaching, which means that people are beginning to look back on what’s happened over the past 12 months. And what a jam-packed, confusing and exciting 12 months it has been. So, we thought now was a good time to look back on all of the weird and wonderful things that have impacted the digital world – from the top trending news events to the stats of the year.

A year in search

Each year, Google Trends releases all of the top searched questions and phrases of the past 12 months, offering a snapshot into the minds of people across the world.

2018 was, after all, an interesting year. Turn to the top searched news events of the year and you see GDPR sitting neatly alongside Spice Girls in the top 5, with the Royal wedding topping the chart. Things got a bit more telling over in the “What is…?” searches, with “what is bitcoin?” beating “what is GDPR?” to the top spot; the appearance of “what is a nerve agent?” is a slightly more worrying representation of the year’s events.

 

Image result for social media

The changing face of social media

A snapshot of the “How to…?” searches paints an interesting portrait of the face of social media in 2018, and perhaps highlights the changing mood towards these platforms. “How to delete Instagram?” was the fifth most searched “How to…?” question of the year, with the same question about Facebook coming sixth. “How to get the old Snapchat back?” came in fourth – highlighting that the major redesign of the interface back in February really did have a huge impact on how people interacted with the app. This was backed by a figure from the Royal Statistical Society’s Statistics of the Year announcement, which showed that $1.3 billion was wiped off Snapchat’s value within a day of one Kylie Jenner tweet – where she asked: “does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore?”. Brutal.

Largely, though, people wanted to hear about the good things in life. Good things to watch, acts of kindness, and how to be better at everything from dancing and kissing to being a better role model. We could all do with a bit more good – or, as Google said: “Good things are worth searching for”.

The Statistics of the Year announcement also highlighted some positive changes, including that the percentage of all electricity produced in the UK due to solar power peaked on 30th June, at 28.7% – making it the number one electricity source for a brief window. Although there has been a 16.7% reduction in the number of Jaffa Cakes in the McVities’ Christmas tube, so it isn’t all good.

 

Image result for 2018

Taking a moment to reflect

One thing’s for sure – 2018 was a year of ups and downs. We gained a new Royal baby, but we lost one of the world’s greatest minds in Stephen Hawking. There were some incredible highs, with unexpected World Cup success bringing the country together for a few glorious sunshine-filled weeks. And there were some fun moments, like new ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?’ host Jeremy Clarkson realising he didn’t know what an Ibex was – causing a massive peak in searches at the time of the episode. The real question is, do you know what it is?

Searching for good

You can also check out some of the awesome highlights of the year’s searches in Google’s full video compilation. It’s a heart-warmer for sure:

 

Liz Quinn

Liz Quinn

Digital Creative

Follow us on social media for blog updates and more kick-ass learning content to grow your digital skills!

Elearning vs Classroom based learning

Elearning vs Classroom based learning

The Difference Between Elearning vs Classroom Based Learning

everyone learns in their own unique way…

In our ever-evolving online world, it pays to know digital. And how can you know these things, if you don’t learn them?

You might know how to make a Facebook page for your business, but do you know how to use SEO to improve where you rank? How about using PPC advertising to get your business noticed? And let’s not forget how to use a CMS to schedule engaging and exciting content!

If you’ve read all that and don’t have the foggiest idea what it all means, that’s ok! The digital marketing world is big, and there’s lots to discover – but it’s yours for the taking if you want it. The only question to ask yourself then is this – are you going to use eLearning tools and teach yourself, or will you learn from the experts by taking part in some training?

What is eLearning?

Contrary to popular belief, the internet has more to offer than just GIFs and videos of cats. The World Wide Web has more tools to aid your pursuit of digital marketing knowledge than you may have guessed – the hard part is knowing where to start.

Your first port of call (obviously) is to check out some of the other great blogs here on our website. However, if they don’t fulfil your craving for digital knowledge, or you want to deep-dive further into one topic, there are lots of other great places to look.

Sites like Moz are great for learning about SEO, but, for the complete beginner, we recommend Google’s Digital Garage. This handy site contains step by step video lessons that will gradually build you up into the digital whiz you were destined to be. (We even worked with Google to put together some of the newer lessons, so you know it’s good stuff!)

Image result for elearning

But is eLearning right for me?

One of the main perks of eLearning is you can access what you need whenever you want. It’s flexible, and you set how long you want to learn for. A quick 10 minute read on the train to work, or a 3-hour long digital marathon – the choice is yours. What’s more, the majority of info out there is free, so money doesn’t have to prove a problem either.

Yet eLearning can only do so much. Guides and explainer videos are great, but what happens if there’s something you don’t quite understand? A Google search or asking on forums might help, but it can be time-consuming and there’s no guarantee someone’s written response is going to clear everything up.  At its worst, you might leave more confused than when you started!

So, what’s the alternative?

Well, we’re glad you asked! eLearning can be great, but it lacks the interactive, personal approach that bespoke classroom training can offer you.

That’s where digital marketing classroom courses, like the ones we run at Giant Campus, excel. They allow you to meet and mingle with the experts to help you learn more about what you want. Courses are typically separated into the various disciplines, like SEO or social media, allowing you to focus on specific skills – and decide what you really want out of your business.

But if the thought of re-entering a classroom fills you with dread, rest assured these aren’t your typical classes. They’re designed to be fun, interactive and, most importantly, will leave you feeling confident in your ability to apply your newly learned digital skills to your business.

That’s because the experts teaching you know their stuff. They’ll guide you through the different digital processes in an easy to understand way, as well as giving you the chance to ask tons of questions and test out what you have learned, to ensure you’ve taken it in.

Class is in session

So, ready to head back to school? If you’re interested in attending one of our digital marketing courses, now is the perfect time to book a spot before we ring in the New Year. Did someone say New Year’s resolution?

Check out the courses we have on offer to get you inspired, or drop us a call to find out more. See you in class!

Ultimately, it’s down to you and the way you learn as to which is best for you. If you learn best from someone showing you at your own pace and answering your questions as and when they come, then classroom/traditional learning is the one for you.

However, if you’re someone who just likes to crack on, not depend on others and do bits as and when then elearning is a great option.

But again, don’t limit yourself to one. Elearning is always going to be a bit restrictive. It’s very time consuming to keep the learning content up to date and relevant, and therefore there are risks of learning materials not being as up to scratch as they could be. We suggest elearning as great base learning but then coming into a traditional learning environment where your professors will have a more to-the-minute understanding of their topic.

The professors we use for our digital marketing workshops are all practising experts who do the things they teach on a daily basis; running paid advertising accounts, implementing social strategies and optimising websites. Being within the sector means they’re aware when any part of their workshops become outdated and change it straight away.

Check out this blog with some of our favourite ways to learn digital online for free and then check out our calendar of courses for early 2019.

Amber Vellacott

Amber Vellacott

Content Marketing Lead

Follow us on social media for blog updates and more kick-ass learning content to grow your digital skills!

Organic vs Paid search – who comes out on top?

Organic vs Paid search – who comes out on top?

Organic vs. Paid Search: Who Comes Out on Top?

where should I concentrate my time and efforts?

For businesses making their way into the modern world, getting to grips with online marketing has become essential. This means finding out ways to get your website in front of the right people at the right times, and appearing in search engine results when they’re on the hunt for answers.

 

Simple, right? Well, not always. When it comes to digital marketing, there are tons of different avenues you can take to get to that final destination in front of your customers – and not all routes are born equal. With these different avenues, you can boil them down to two key areas – organic and paid search. But which ones better? And where should you focus your efforts?

 

 

Wait, what’s the difference?

Let’s start by talking about what they actually are. When we talk about organic we don’t mean chemical free – we mean results that are decided based on the quality of the site, as determined by search engine algorithms. With paid search, these results are bought rather than earned, and appear alongside their organic counterparts.

Now, you may be thinking “well, one’s free and one isn’t – so that’s the benefit” – and while that is in some sense true, it’s not quite that simple. Organic marketing is a long-term strategy based around getting traffic through to a site, thanks to great content, awesome testimonials, and other white hat tactics that focus on simply making a great website. As a result, it can take months before organic marketing has any major impact on a site’s rankings – meaning you need to be in it for the long haul in order to get the most out of organic SEO.

With paid search, the opposite is true. This tactic is all about getting your message out there and getting people to convert. Paid search is all about the quick wins – the instant gratification. While that’s always appealing, there are costs attached. The success of a paid campaign is largely down to how much money you can funnel into it, meaning higher upfront costs – and a potential blocker for small or start up businesses. Plus, you need to take the time to optimise your ads; once you’ve got it right, your CPC will decrease, your CTR will increase, and everyone will be happy. But getting to that point isn’t always easy, particularly if you’re new to the paid world.

While some stats show that PPC visitors are 50% more likely to buy than organic visitors, 70% of clicked search results are organic – so if your website is super optimised and enticing, it doesn’t mean investing budget is the only way to get people to pay you a visit. Plus, when it comes to paid search, the second you stop investing that budget and fuelling the fire, your traffic will drop. Stop bidding, and people stop clicking. With other organic tactics – like SEO and content marketing – you should still see a trickle of traffic to your site even if you take a break, although they’re definitely not ‘set and forget’ strategies – you’ll need to give them some TLC to keep them working well.

 

To pay, or not to pay?

So, which one do you invest your time and money in? Well, the short answer is both. The sweet spot for businesses online is finding a way to use paid and organic search in blissful harmony. Paid tactics are great for getting your digital activity off the ground, while investing in a long-term organic strategy means that, as your site authority starts to improve, and your success metrics start to rise, you can reduce your paid budget and rely more on the organic activity.

With search engines moving slower than your Mum’s one-finger typing, PPC can give you the boost you need to get moving ASAP – with your organic activity building momentum in the background, getting ready to take over and snowball away.

93% of online experiences start with search engines, so making your mark on those all important SERPs is essential. Whether you were planning on splashing the cash, or thinking about investing in a long-term content-led strategy to bring you digital glory, taking the time to consider how paid and organic search can support each other is a sure-fire way to get the best out of both worlds. You see, in the digital world, you can have your cake and eat it. Now you know why we love it here.

Want to know more about organic SEO, or getting started with pay per click ads? Well, you’re in luck. Check out our upcoming Intro to SEO and Intro to PPC courses to find out how you can use these techie tools to your advantage. There might even be cake…

Liz Quinn

Liz Quinn

Digital Creative

Follow us on social media for blog updates and more kick-ass learning content to grow your digital skills!