Email marketing is an affordable and effective way to grow a business, but there’s a strategy to developing successful campaigns. Everything from the opt-in box to the time you send can influence how well an email marketing campaign performs. If you want to grow your business with email marketing – as one of your marketing components - make sure you’re maximizing your efforts with these three email marketing best practices.
Simplify Signup The first step in email marketing begins well before you click “compose.” You need a signup process that gets people to subscribe to your emails. After all, without any subscribers, even the best-composed email will yield no results. To increase your opt-in rate, the first thing to do is to simplify your signup process and increase its visibility. Subscribers should only have to fill out one form, which might ask for their email, name and perhaps one other detail, and then click a confirmation link after submitting their information. The link to the signup form should be prominently placed above the fold on your website, and you might want to link to the form from social media platforms to further increase visibility. Second, you should make sure your audience knows that you will NOT overburden them with too many emails. Your focus should be to educate your audience, not sell! Maximize for Mobile Designing for mobile devices is important in email marketing, just as it is in web development. According to Adestra, 55 percent of emails were opened on mobile devices in January 2016. If your emails aren’t easily read on smartphones and tablets, you may be missing more than half your target audience. Mail in the Morning The best time to send marketing emails is in the morning. Mailchimp’s data suggests that 10 am is the perfect time, although the hour preceding and several hours following this time still yield good open rates. When deciding what time of day to send your emails, consider where your recipients are located. If they’re all in one geographic area, you ought to send it at about 10 am local time. If your newsletter is comprised of people from across the country, though, you might want to delay sending an email until 12 pm EST. This time has the advantage of reaching subscribers in the Eastern and Central time zones during or just before their lunch hour, while also reaching subscribers in the Mountain and Pacific time zones as they’re getting to their offices. Email can still be an effective tactic in your marketing toolbox, when used correctly. Follow these three tips and you’ll be well on your way to a successful campaign. Want to know more about email marketing for your business? Contact our partner, Clarity Marketing, at 860.658.4361, or go to their website: www.claritymarketingct.com According to Pew research, “fully 72% of online American adults use Facebook”[1]. With Facebook usage at such a high rate, it is almost a foregone conclusion that at least some of the audience for your goods and services spend time – and can be found – there. Reaching them via Facebook advertising is the topic du jour.
In the publication from Hubspot[2], “The Essential Guide to Social Media Advertising”, Facebook is highlighted as an incredibly powerful - and important - channel to advertise on. Summarized for you are:
Ad Types:
Although not the simplest interface, advertising on Facebook is none-the-less fairly easy to set up. Selecting the right images and copy are absolutely critical, as is the audience selection and demographics. Don’t be afraid to experiment, or to call in an agency for help! [1] Pew Research Center: http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/08/19/the-demographics-of-social-media-users/ [2] Hubspot: The Essential Guide to Social Media Advertising World population: 7.3 billion. Active internet users: 3 billion. Percentage of adults that use the internet: 85%. Percentage of internet users that use Facebook: 72%. Do these statistics matter? (Pew Research).
If your business is trying to reach customers and prospects - and drive sales – then, yes, they do matter. No doubt you’ve heard – and seen – the transition towards social media by many businesses. Your instincts say you need to participate, but your knowledge on the topic may be limited, or worse. Not to worry! We have a few tips, culled from a variety of sources – including the American Marketing Association, and Northwestern University – that can at least begin to point you in the right direction. The first order of business: what are your business goals for this year, and beyond? If you haven’t quantified them, you are hereby banished from this blog until you have done so! (It is extremely difficult to know if the road you are on is the correct one if you haven’t set your destination). With your goals set, you now need to answer some key questions: what are your target markets for your goods and services? What are their key demographics? (i.e., business owners, chief marketing officers, healthcare market – you get the picture). There is a generally accepted statistic that in the range of 50 to 70 % of the purchase-making decision process is already completed before a business is contacted. While that statistic may vary by industry, the reality is clear: digital content for your products and services are being accessed before you get the call. Action is required. But, do you have the resources available to dedicate to engagement and responsiveness via social media, or should you outsource to an agency? Either way, your participation helps put your organization in control of digital outcomes – and that’s a good thing. Our recommendations:
Once the decision has been made to “go social”, a plan should be created to ensure consistency of content. Whether that’s done internally or with the help of an agency, one thing is clear: stick to your commitment, and expect adjustments to your plan as you move forward. In this age of seemingly endless methods to communicate with customers and prospects, what's a business to-do in order to get their message across and get noticed? One important strategy is multi-channel marketing: integrated messaging across platforms.
Silos, be gone. In this case, we refer to integrating in the sense that multiple platforms will have the same message, same look, and the same feel - all aimed at your target audience. (Different audiences can have different messages, of course.) Email, direct mail, social media, pay per click ads, webpages, even video (don't forget YouTube) - they should all be tied together with the objective of reaching your target audience via multiple touch points with an unmistakable tie-in. The response rates of multi-channel campaigns (vs. single channel) can increase nearly 600%, according to Adobe. Don’t “go it alone”. Do your business a favor and use multiple channels to get your message delivered. Of course, choosing the right channels will take some planning, but the time spent will be well worth it. Multi-channel marketing isn’t an option: it’s a necessity! Next time: Social Media for my Business As Brian Halligan, CEO of Hubspot, said, "People shop and learn in a whole new way compared to just a few years ago, so marketers need to adapt or risk extinction." This change in behavior has had a profound effect on the world of marketing. Consider these facts (Pew research): over 50% of the world’s population is under 30; 85% of adults are internet users and 67% of them are smartphone users. Your audience is online, and connected. Are you reaching them?
Our question, then: is Inbound right for your business? First – what is it?! “Instead of blasting out interruptive ads and trying to pull people to your company, inbound marketing uses helpful (or paid) content to attract visitors and get them to engage of their own volition.” (Hubspot – State of Inbound, 2015). It doesn't matter if your business is brand new, or seasoned veterans. Inbound marketing can help your business attract customers and increase your bottom line:
How Content Marketing Can Help Your Business Grow
Expanding your customer base is critical to the future of your business. In order to do that, you need to be focusing your marketing efforts on your high value audiences – both prospects, and existing customers. Part of your marketing efforts – in fact, depending on your product or service, a large part – should involve adding value via content marketing on your website and blogs. This is not advertising – this is relationship building. Bringing in New Customers Via Content Marketing “Social” marketing can be a powerful tool to attract new prospects to your business. However, it is often misconstrued as simply posting about your products and services on your blog and social media accounts – what we call “feature dump”. That is a surefire way to alienate your customers and be completely unattractive to prospects. Why? Prospects and customers are looking for value, in terms of information they can use, and in terms of the relationship with your business. “Feature dumping” is like that one-sided conversation where the other person goes on and on about how great they are: dull and uninteresting, by any measure. Relationships thrive when an information exchange takes place that is mutually beneficial. For our side of the equation, we need to provide meaningful content that our prospects can use, and be “wowed” by. The quality of the content posted to your blogs and social media accounts is critical to driving high value prospects to your website – and to your business – via search engines and social media positioning. Retain Current Customers Focusing on incremental business should not come at the expense of your existing customer base. Client retention is a critical component to any business strategy, given the high cost of acquisition. By providing meaningful, “wow” content that is fresh and informative, you are positioning your business as thought leaders in your particular space – and you will reinforce the relationship you already have with your customers. Higher Marketing ROI Content marketing delivers a great return on your investment, primarily because you pay for it once, but you can still be drawing people to your website long after its posted. In some cases, individual pieces of content can actually gain more authority, in the eyes of the search engines, as they get older. Running a traditional, outbound advertising campaign might help you bring in customers, but it can be costly, and is often an inefficient use of resources. Content marketing draws people to you, instead of you needing to go out and advertise directly to them. Putting some of your advertising budget towards content marketing - as a part of an overall digital strategy - can help you expand your website's search ranking, strengthen existing relationships, and turn some of those visitors into paying customers. Content Marketing Trends for 2016
If your company is reviewing its content marketing plan for 2016, you're wise to review some of the top trends of same for 2016, from an annual study conducted by the Content Marketing Institute and Marketing Profs. These two marketing giants recently released “B2B Content Marketing: 2016 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends – North America.” The annual report represents the result of surveys conducted with over 3,000 marketing professionals who work in a “full range of industries” and for companies of all sizes, meaning those that employ less than 10 people to those that employ more than 10,000 people. The report packs an added punch of credibility and authenticity because a full 88 percent of the respondents said that they use content marketing, up from 86 percent in 2015. The trends and insights that the study uncovered can provide guidance to your content marketing efforts: · 76 percent of B2B marketers will create more content in 2016 than they did in 2015. · 51 percent of B2B marketers say they will spend more on content marketing in 2016. Thirty-five percent of the respondents said the amount of money their organization allocates will remain the same. · The top five priorities of content creators for 2016 are: creating more engaging content (72 percent;) developing a better understanding of what content is effective and what isn’t (65 percent); finding more or better ways to repurpose content (57 percent); creating visual content (51 percent); and becoming better storytellers (41 percent). · The top five challenges that content marketers say they will face in 2016 are: producing engaging content (60 percent); measuring content effectiveness (57 percent); producing content consistently (57 percent); measuring the effectiveness of a content marketing strategy (52 percent); dealing with budget challenges (35 percent); and producing a variety of content (35 percent). · The top three goals of B2B content marketing are: lead generation (85 percent); sales (84 percent); and lead nurturing (78 percent). · The three most important metrics that B2B content marketers will continue to use are sales lead quality (87 percent); sales (84 percent); and higher conversion rates (82 percent). · LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube will remain the top four social media platforms for distributing content. Content Marketing 2016: Grow Your Online Presence Your online business presence has become an essential part of today’s marketing world. Customers expect to be able to find you, and have a chance to interact and gain information. Think of your online presence as one of your most powerful marketing weapons. By not having one – or having an outdated, or ineffective one - you’re pretty much saying, “I don’t need more business.” An online presence serves multiple purposes, including accessibility, reaching a wider audience, brand building, and providing subtle but effective marketing tactics. If you’re ready to make 2016 the year you emphasize growth via digital, here are some ways to build your business’s online presence. Create a Solid Foundation The base of your online presence is your website. Rather than a simple landing page with an address and phone number, you’ll want to carve out your space on the web. Your website can no longer be thought of as your ‘online brochure”; it needs to be the method that you engage your prospects and customers in a way that is meaningful to them - making sure you have valuable content available. Customers want to be engaged, and you'll want to continuously look at ways you can optimize your site. Be Social Rather than spreading your focus around the entire social media spectrum, try finding where your customers are gathered and utilize those few places to their fullest advantage. Once you’ve identified your target audience you can look at what social media they prefer. The internet offers a wide variety of options. It’s not just about Facebook and Twitter anymore—you have video (YouTube, Vimeo) platforms, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google+, and more. Use your chosen few thoughtfully, deliberately, and regularly. Provide Valuable Content Consistently providing your audience with valuable content is crucial. It’s what will keep them engaged and coming back for more. It is also a part of building your credibility. You want to show that you’re an authority – even a “thought leader” - in your community and share knowledge that is helpful. As you build relationships your visibility will increase and your online presence will grow. Valuable content can come in the form of a blog, podcast, retweets, or even video. As your business becomes more active online and uses content marketing, you’ll have the ability to build relationships and draw people into your world. Your online presence will thrive in 2016 as you find ways to grow and nurture great relationships with customers online. Trying to understand the variety of methods to have your website – and social media networks – found? The first term, Search Engine Marketing (SEM), means just that - marketing a website via search engines, and includes both “organic” search engine optimization (SEO) and paid search methods.
Organic search means that you rely on natural rankings determined by search engine algorithms for your “placement”. Organic can – and should – be optimized with various SEO practices. Conversely, paid search allows you to pay a fee to have your website displayed on the search engine results page (SERP) when someone types in specific keywords or phrases to the search engine. The SERP will display the ads that you create to direct viewers to your site, and the fee you pay is usually based on either clicks on or views of these ads. The “paid” rankings are located in a different spot on the page than the organic results. According to HubSpot data, most searchers click on the organic results –in fact, over 70% of people click on the organic search results, while only 30% are likely to click on the paid links. Should you skip paid search? That depends. Paid search is a great option if you are not ranking well in the search engines with organic search alone. Consider some combination of the two, although your overall objectives – and of course, your budget – will dictate your decision. Some 21st Century Marketing Terms - Demystified
If your business is struggling with how best to deliver the details about your "unique value proposition", don't fret: The methods to get your message across to your target audiences have exploded in recent years, and the "best" method varies, depending on your industry. One unmistakable fact, however, is that the marketing landscape - and its corresponding terminology - has changed drastically, forever. Inbound Marketing vs Outbound Marketing Before the internet, we were happy to create a radio spot, a corresponding billboard, maybe even a direct mail piece, and expect solid results. With limited options and little clutter, the chances of that happening were good. Today, we call that method "Outbound" marketing - pushing our messages out en-masse, and hoping to find a receptive audience. Although it can still be effective, it now has a much more targeted counterpart: Inbound Marketing. When you place a search term in your favorite search engine and hit "enter", you've begun the process of one type of inbound marketing. Things like blogs, podcasts, video, newsletters, whitepapers, social media marketing – these all help to attract an audience. Essentially, it's when customers find your business. To be found, of course, means not only putting out the "bread crumbs", but paving the path, lining it with reflective paint, perhaps even paying for some signage - doing the things it takes to get noticed in the digital world. What we're referring to here are things like search engine optimization (helping Google find, and point to you, easily); Pay Per Click Ads (using things like Google AdWords for paid placements); "earned" finds based on thought leadership positions in blogs and whitepapers; and even ensuring that your website is optimized for "mobile". Which leads to our favorite term of this year: "Mobilegeddon" On April 21, 2015, Google changed the algorithm that they use to determine search rankings to put a significantly greater emphasis on websites with an optimized mobile component: a website built to work on mobile platforms. Those that didn't have one got knocked down in the rankings; those that did made the algorithm happy, with corresponding results. This came to be known as "Mobilegeddon" due to the potential major impact on companies without mobile. Next time: PPC Advertisting & Organic Search |
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