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Digital Disruptors

The Digital Disruptors Podcast brings you the latest in disruptive trends, tech, tools, and hacks in the digital marketing space. All packaged in easy-to-digest episodes featuring unfiltered, no-holds-barred banter between old friends. We'll also be featuring some of the growth-hackiest fresh-take-havers from the hottest businesses in Dubai. We live and breathe digital marketing. And we've over 100 businesses in the U.A.E. along the way. We are going to change the way Dubai does business. One episode at a time.
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Now displaying: April, 2017
Apr 30, 2017

Meet the Snapchat marketing superstar in UAE’s higher education scene: Osaid Azeem. A pivotal figure at Canadian University Dubai’s marketing & communications team. Originally taken from our interview notes on http://blog.Ubrik.com , here’s how Osaid has turned an informal app such as Snapchat into a Generation Z (the demographic cohort after the Millennials) crowd puller.

 

How did the Snapchat ‘story’ begin for CUD?

I have to be honest, when Snapchat began gaining popularity, it did not appeal to me at first sight. I immediately compared it to Instagram and found the poorer image quality and limited text off-putting. I first really experienced Snapchat through 'CUDSnaps'. It all started when I was covering our graduation event; I noticed all the students with their phones out snapchatting the event live! It became obvious to me this was a gold mine. If Snapchat is what our target demographic wanted, Snapchat is what they would get!

 

Did you run any activity to announce the launch?

Although we did announce the launch of CUDSnaps on most of our mainstream communication platforms, I found we never had to market it aggressively. Our following grew quickly and soon doubled; making CUDSnaps the most popular communication channel among students within the university.

 

What was your first experience on Snapchat like?

First time I ever used Snapchat, I didn’t know where exactly to go to be honest. Visually, it didn’t appeal to me. Once I started using it a little bit more I came to appreciate that while it was very different from Instagram, it had it’s own quirky appeal. CUDSnaps started with me literally walking around campus and posting about campus life. Since most students don’t know who handles the social media posts for the university, I could hide in plain sight! The hype caught on quickly, and soon all the students had their eyes peeled for the CUD snaps guy!

 

Tell us more about the creative genius behind the CUD Snapchat account

As the buzz around CUD’s Snapchat grew, so did student curiosity! I remember tons of students replying to our snaps saying “Who are you?”. I think the fact that I never featured on any of the snaps added to the mystery. Snapchat always had me where the action was, so there were rumors it was being run by a student! Today Snapchat is by far our most effective means of communication, emails and SMSs in my experience are far less effective with the students. Most of them make sure they check snaps at least once a day because if you don’t- Poof! The story is gone.

 

How has Snapchat affected the management & business communications?

I’m proud of the fact that we were the first university in UAE to have an official Snapchat account. I noticed other universities in Canada launch their Snapchat accounts roughly 10 months after CUD snaps was launched. 

 

Is there a best way to manage an official Snapchat account?

At first, I ran the Snapchat account all on my own. As it gained popularity and the variety of events featured on the platform grew, I knew I couldn’t be in two places at once so I developed a team of students that I could count on, and had them ‘take over’ CUD Snapchat for a day. Having students run the account intermittently helped me manage my workload, switched it up and kept things fresh as well. 

Snapchat is probably one of the more challenging social media platforms in terms of management since it involves a lot of “winging it”. I come up with most of the Snapchat content on the spot. If there are multiple events at the same time, it can also get tricky for one person to juggle coverage since multiple people cannot log in to the account at the same time.

 

What do you say is the best feature of Snapchat?

Geo filters. It took me 6 months to get a geo filter for CUD and it was a lot harder than I thought it would be! First, you create a geofence. This designates the area where you want the filter to be available. Next, Snapchat's map tool is used to create the fence and finally, a PNG file is uploaded. If you go to CUD right now, turn on the filters, you will be able to swipe and see the Canadian University Dubai geo filter.

 

How have other universities in the UAE reacted from this?

There are only a few other universities that have started using Snapchat since we launched CUD snaps. Their snaps however are more information oriented and in my opinion, that is not what Snapchat works best for. Like I said, it is a time-consuming platform to manage well, I think that may be why most universities may shy away from using it too much.

 

Do you see any threat coming in from Instagram & Facebook stories?

Not actually. As long as the youth get their privacy unlike other apps, Snapchat is here to stay

 

Is there any secret formula to Snapchat success?

Right place, Right time. Snapchat was developed for a generation with a tiny attention span – that’s why it is so dynamic, visual and each snap only lasts 10 seconds. I would recommend keeping stories short and posting six snaps or less per story. Since you can skip snaps with the touch of a thumb, posts have to stay creative and stay relevant. The last thing you want is followers skipping through after 3 seconds because you couldn’t grab their attention in time.

 

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Apr 16, 2017

Marketers need to keep optimizing their search ads for max results. Since we’ve observed a lot of UAE-targeted search ads falling behind these simple best practices, here are 11 tips to take things to the next level.

Why is it necessary to enhance your Search Ads?

  • Improve your Click-Through Rate (CTR)
  • Increase Quality Score (for higher Ad Raking)
  • Lower your Cost per Click / Cost Per Action

There's two ways how search marketers can go about this:

  • Enhance campaign infrastructure. In this session, we focus more on ‘text ads’.
  • Optimize your campaign towards ROI, setup conversion tracking (we will be covering this soon)

With regards to text Ads, we recommend you to focus on using Ad Extensions along with additional best practices which we have picked up over the years.

Ad extensions

Ad extensions help by occupying more room within the search engine results page. Who wouldn't be excited if they were offered free additional real estate? Here are a few selected ad extensions for first timers to bank upon:

1. Location Extension

Let’s you add a piece of your businesses address with directions. We expect location extensions to appear when a local-info-seeking search phrase is used. i.e. best lasagna around JBR.

2. Call Extension

Ads a Click-to-call functionality on the mobile display. i.e. have your number displayed in a “clickable” format so a searcher can quickly connect with your business.

Tip: Combine location & call extension within an ad group. Imagine someone searches for lunch buffet in Dubai Media City and notices your restaurant address to be pretty close by (from the location extension configured to appear in the search results), and then sees a call button right next to it. He could call your restaurant immediately and reserve a table.

Why are these two extensions important?

  • Because the volume of searches on mobile is much higher in the UAE.
  • Mobile searches are usually connected to a user's intent to act immediately i.e. Inquire or order your product or service

3. Sitelinks

Instead of having a user land upon your first landing page and then find out that he has to click elsewhere to know more about something more specific, Sitelinks allows you to showcase additional links to pages which are connected with your offering. For example: If your healthcare client is running an anniversary campaign to offer free checkups, and you've got a main landing page connected to sub-pages that mention details about diabetes, blood pressure, weight loss etc. Your main text ad could mention about the camp, below which you can add sitelinks to directly access the diabetes, BP or weight loss sections

4. Callout extension

Use callout's to mention your business’ USP's or Direct Response phrases. Examples: Free delivery, Limited edition, Few seats left , Scholarships available.

5. Structured snippet extensions

Decide what type of information potential customers will find most valuable when considering your products and services (i.e. if you are a university, then course names. And if you are an automobile brand, then the model names). You can then add specific, supporting details to create a supporting line of text that looks like - Brands: Sportage, Optima, Rio, Sorento, Cadenza

We continue with a few tips to boost your text ads:

6. Use ' Keyword insertion' ad customizer to make your ads dynamic.

7. Include your most important message in the headline. Example: Hyundai DSF Offer - Extended to 31st April

8. Utilize your display URLs. Advertisers can now optionally add up to 2 fifteen-character path fields to append to their display URL. Although your final URL might be Hyundai-uae.com/DSFOffer, you can now put it as Hyundai-uae.com/DSFOffers/2017Models

9. Impeccable wordplay. Use Call To Actions such as Get started, Reserve now, Get a quote, Coach me... for spontaneous results. Pay attention to your competitors advertising so you can out-do their wordplay

10. Indicate urgency. Use the Adwords ‘countdown’ function. Adwords presents unique enhancements known ad customizers. You can research more about it.

11. Use permitted symbols such as Asterix (5* Facilities), Numbers with Slash (24/7), Registered trademark or the copyright symbol (®™ ©), Ampersand (&), Exclamation mark (!), Percentage symbol (50% off) etc.

What next? Get-started and let us know how things work out for you.

Apr 9, 2017

Show Notes

[00:21] Thank you to all the listeners who sent us feedback.

[01:00] Today's topic - tools for digital marketers

[01:40] We're going to give the top 9 tools we use at Ubrik to make our jobs easier

[01:55] Ghostery is a tool created to give users an ad-free, more private, faster-browsing experience but we use it to understand what apps, plugins, and scripts running on a website. It tells you everything that's running in the background. We use this so we don't have to waste our client's time by asking them questions like "are you running Google analytics," especially since they sometimes don't know the answer and have to check with their IT/web developer.

[03:45] Google Tag Manager (GTM) helps marketers do things like add analytics and tracking scripts to a website without having to get an IT/web developer to update the website manually. All you need is a one-time effort from your developer to install the GTM code snippet on your website. After that, you can do everything yourself via the GTM interface with almost zero technical know-how. E.g. you can add your remarketing pixels (Google, Facebook) to your website with a bit of copy/paste and a few clicks.

[05:35] Built With - This is another tool we use to save time when going into client meetings if they have an existing website. It tells you what technology/platform a site is built on. We've used it to reverse engineer a website for an e-commerce client by looking at a competitor's website design the client liked.

[07:25] Wappalyzer - This is a browser plugin similar to Built With which allows you quickly get a website's technology stack. Whenever a client meeting turns to talking about websites this is an easy way to impress them because in many cases they aren't very tech savvy and this sort of thing sounds like rocket science. Of course, it doesn't help that some agencies make it sound like rocket science but in the internet-age, this kind of knowledge is easily accessible to everyone. For our part, we try our best to demystify tech to our clients and freely share this knowledge with them.

[08:45] Similar Web - Whenever we speak to clients who want to do campaigns to increase web traffic we ask them what their current traffic is, and how much they would like to increase. Many clients don't have this information handy or don't know how to find it. Not having analytics installed is a common problem too. With Similar Web, we just enter the URL and we immediately get a rough estimate of monthly web traffic, traffic sources, and other data. All of this information can be downloaded as a pdf. They also have a paid version which gives you a lot more information.

[12:25] Hubspot Website Grader - This is a free tool which gives you a multi-point analysis on the quality of a website according to parameters like performance (speed,) mobile responsiveness, search engine optimization, and security. You can also download the report in pdf form. We like to analyze a client's website, download the report and send it to them in our follow-up email after the initial consultation.

[14:30] Hubspot Sales Extension - If you use Gmail and Google apps in general, this a browser plugin which supercharges your apps. It's an excellent free CRM tool which lets you track email opens and clicks. We use it heavily when sending proposals because it gives us information on how the client is reacting to us. For example, if the client opens our proposal email 10 times, we might give them a call because their action conveys intent. And in keeping with our policy of transparency with our customers and demystifying tech, we tell them about the tool. They can use it to add value to their business too, so we want them to know about it.

[17:00] Rapportive - This is a Gmail plugin which pulls contact information from Linkedin - company, job title, social media profiles etc.

[18:15] Boomerang - A Gmail plugin which allows you to schedule email delivery, reminders to follow up on important emails, etc. It improves your email productivity significantly.

[21:00] Once a month, we'll be doing a special episode on tools for marketers. We want to hear from you - what tools do you like to use? We'd love to review them. Send us an email - hello@digitaldisruptors.co - and let us know.

Did you enjoy the episode?

Please leave us a rating and review on iTunes.

Apr 2, 2017

This episode we're joined by Ubrik's Digital Marketing Manager, Azhad Ali.

He usually spearheads our performance marketing campaigns.

He's been in digital marketing since 2008, when he was employee #3 at Ubrik.

Now, Ubrik has handled over 100 accounts and AED 30 million in digital media spend.

Time-Stamped Show Notes

[02:30] Today's topic - a practical breakdown of how to execute your first Google Adwords campaign.

[03:15] Specifically, we will focus on the Search Marketing Cycle (SMC.)

[04:00] The SMC is a 4-step process of research and planning, execution, measurement, and optimization.

[04:45] At the planning stage you figure out what your objectives are and develop keywords you want to associate with your brand, using the information you have about your business.

[05:55] The difference between "search term" and "keyword." A search term is what the user types into Google Search, while a keyword is what the digital marketer configures in an Adwords account.

[06:25] For example, "where can i get a part-time MBA in Dubai?" is a search term.

[06:50] Using data from search engines, the marketer might select "MBA in Dubai" as the keyword.

[07:00] If there is a lot of competition for that keyword, they might refine it further and choose to target "Canadian MBA in Dubai." This is known as a "long-tail keyword."

[07:30] Which keywords you choose to target will depend on how competitive they are and on their price.

[08:00] How does the marketer go about doing the research to identify the right keywords? Using the Canadian University example (one of Ubrik's clients,) the marketer will review Google Search Console, Google Analytics, and Google Keyword Planner.

[09:15] He will also use websites like Alexa, Similar Web and SEM Rush to get data about competitors.

[09:41] Keywords can be categorized into brand keywords, product keywords, and competitor keywords.

[09:55] For Canadian University, the brand keyword is Canadian University in Dubai. The Brand offering keywords could be "Canadian University Dubai degree," "Canadian University Dubai courses," "CUD," "Canadian University location," "Canadian University of Dubai," etc.

[11:20] Arabic search data is also essential in this region. You would review Arabic search terms and come up with Arabic keywords.

[12:20] How do you select your offering/product/service keywords? Look at your website structure. In our university example, they could be broken down by undergraduate and graduate, by academic departments, by major etc.

[13:26] In this example Azhad would go with one campaign for brand keywords, one for undergraduate and graduate keywords, and one for competition keywords.

[13:36] The product/offering campaign would be broken down further by degree typ, major, etc.

[14:00] You need to build your brand and increase brand awareness, as well as target your brand keyword, so you don't get beaten by your competitors.

[15:41] When executing a campaign, you need to segment your campaign into ad groups, figure out your budget (i.e. how much you will spend daily on each ad group.)

[16:41] We'll be providing a document that illustrates this so you can understand it better.

[17:15] Adwords works on a daily budget basis. You would divide your total budget by the duration of your campaign. You would also assign a maximum Cost Per Click (CPC) for each ad groups.

[18:10] Along with the keyword you would have your ad copy, and companies will need to optimize the ad copy as part of their iterative process.

[19:35] The final piece of the puzzle is the landing page that each ad is linked to. The keyword, ad copy and landing page together make one ad set.

[19:50] You also want to specify your negative keywords, which are those that you don't want your ad to show up for. E.g. if Canadian University in Dubai is running a campaign to advertise for its 'fall intake, "Canadian University in Dubai jobs" would be a negative keyword.

[20:30] After lauching your Adwords campaign you will be able to collect data and this is the measurement phase.

[20:40] Important metrics to track are impressions, Click-through Rate (CTR,) CPC and conversions.)

[21:40] Based on those numbers you will understand which areas of the campaign need to be optimized. E.g. if CTR is low, you need to work on your ad copy.

[22:30] This process of measuring and optimizing continues until you are satisfied with how the campaign is performing.

[23:00] You can learn how to implement Google Adwords campaigns via online courses like Google's own "Essential Adwords" courses, Wordstream's "PPC University," Udemy's "Google Adwords for Beginners" and Lynda's "Ultimate Guide to Google Adwords."

[23:50] These courses are regularly updated as new features are added. Marketers need to keep themselves sharp.

[24:20] Other resources for news and trends are websites Search Engine Journal, Search Engine Land, SEM Rush, PPC Hero, etc.

[25:40] While there are some best-practices to follow, getting good at Google Adwords is a constant process of experimentation.

[27:22] We plan on doing more episodes to cover SEM in more detail. This was just an introduction.

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Please leave us a rating and review on iTunes.

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