Everyone wants more sales. Regardless of your industry or current situation of your company, increased conversions will help your business grow and prosper. But wanting higher sales conversions and actually getting them are two different things. Sure, your advertising team probably has various content marketing strategies in place. It's important you have a proper grasp of the reasons behind these tactics. Are the advertisements targeting an actionable audience? That's one of the major differences between retargeting strategies and other promotional methods. Here's the thing. Not every customer takes a simple path to complete the purchase. It's not always as simple as someone viewing your website for the first time, becoming interested in your brand, and buying something during the same visit. While that would be a great scenario, the reality is this process takes time. Creating a customer journey map can help give you a better understanding of how the buying process works. Here's a visual representation of how consumers interact with a brand before, during, and after they make a purchase: Take a look at all those touch point examples in the awareness and consideration stages. It shows that the buying process isn't a straight line. A consumer may stumble upon your website one day, browse it a bit, and leave. Maybe a month or two later, they read one of your blog posts and subscribe to your email list. They could even pick up the phone and contact a member of your sales team to ask some questions about your products and services. Still, it may take this person another few weeks or so to finally buy something. As a marketer, you need to anticipate this behavior and aid buyers through this unconventional process. One of the best ways to do this is through retargeting ads. I'll explain everything you need to know about retargeting so you can increase sales conversions for your company. Make sure your retargeting strategies have a goalFirst, I want to cover the basics. Retargeting ads are designed for people who have already visited your website. You can also target customers who are in your database from a lead generation campaign. These ads aren't as simple as traditional banner ads that target everyone. There are seven different types of retargeting methods: With so many different ways to approach this marketing tactic, it's important you have a clear goal in mind. If you've never done this before, I don't recommend trying to implement all these strategies at the same time. Pick one and go with it. Start by targeting people who:
Knowing whom you're going to target will make the rest easier. Now you'll have a better understanding of where these customers are coming from. The goal of your retargeting strategy should be to create awareness and increase conversions. As you saw earlier, people aren't always ready to buy something the first time they visit your website. In fact, 92% of consumers aren't looking to make a purchase the first time they check out a website. That's why creating brand awareness needs to be one of your goals. Even if the consumer has already heard of you and is familiar with your company, you need to keep reminding them about what you can provide. This will make it much easier to get conversions, which is your primary goal. Your company may have some other goals as well. It could be driving customers to specific products, subscriptions, or services. Just make sure those goals are clearly defined before you start. That way everyone is on the same page, and it will be easier to measure how successful these campaigns are. Use pixel-based and list-based retargetingPixel-based retargeting is one of the most common ways to execute your plan. Here's an example of how Dohop implements this method: Once someone visits your website, a browser cookie is stored to retain that information. This is how you're able to find people who have visited your website. Now you need to get a retargeting platform. The cookie will notify the platform and provide that consumer with your ads based on what pages they viewed on your website. Pixel-based retargeting is great because of its timing. People will start seeing your ads almost right after they've left your website. This keeps your brand fresh in their minds. But the pixel-based strategy isn't foolproof. It's completely based on cookies from the people visiting your website. If you're not getting web traffic in the first place, you won't have anyone to retarget. List-based retargeting focuses on people who are already in your database. It's not as common as pixel-based, but it definitely has plenty of benefits. You can even focus on your existing customers. Segment these people into different groups to make your advertisements more relevant to them. I'll go into greater detail about your current customers and list segmentation shortly. As I said before, for pixel-based retargeting to work, you'll need a platform to communicate with those web cookies you acquire after someone visits your site. Some of the top options to consider are: These are some of the benefits you get from Perfect Audience: Check out these websites to see which one best fits the needs of your company. But for the most part, you'll notice a lot of similarities between different platforms. Update your adsOne of the biggest mistakes I see companies make is running the same retargeting ads over and over again. Your campaigns aren't going to convert 100% of the time. It just won't happen. Here's something else to keep in mind. Consumers aren't stupid. They don't think it's a coincidence they are seeing these ads right after visiting your website. So, switch it up. If your current ad isn't getting someone to convert after they've been exposed to it for a few weeks, you'll need to run another one. Here's an example. Take a look at this retargeting ad from Freshdesk: It's simple and has a clear goal. Look at the CTA button. They are trying to entice the customer to download something they offer. This could be targeted toward people who visited a specific landing page on their website. This ad is corresponding to a browsing cookie for that page. But what happens after someone sees this ad for a few weeks without converting? Will it eventually work if you keep showing it to them for another few weeks? Probably not. They've seen it. And for one reason or another, they're not interested. Freshdesk recognizes this, so they switch it up. There are major differences between this ad and the first one above. Rather than getting the customer to download something, they are trying to encourage them to sign up for a free trial of their software. Offering something different can potentially increase the chances of getting a conversion. You should also A/B test your ads. In the example above, Freshdesk could move their CTA button or change its color to test which version will deliver higher conversions. But the key here is to make sure your ads don't get stale. A/B testing will also help ensure your conversion funnel is optimized. Create customized landing pagesWhen a customer clicks on one of your ads, it shouldn't bring them to the homepage of your website. That's ineffective. Instead, make sure you send them to a landing page directly connected to the ad they clicked on. Here's an example of an ad I saw on Facebook: It's obvious this post is directed towards men. The title of the page says men, and the models are wearing men's clothing. But if you go to the Lululemon homepage, it's primarily directed toward women. Sending customers here would be ineffective for that Facebook campaign. Lululemon recognizes this, so they don't do it. Instead, the Facebook ad goes to a customized landing page designed for men. Here's what happened when I clicked on the retargeting ad: This page speaks to me more than the home page. It's also directly related to the Facebook ad. They are promoting discounted men's clothing. Apply this concept to your retargeting strategy. If you're pitching a specific product or service, make sure the landing page matches the ad. When customers have to search your website to find what they are looking for, it will negatively impact your sales conversions. Focus on your existing customersRetargeting campaigns don't need to draw attention to only new customers. I've said it before: you can increase revenue without acquiring new customers. This is the perfect opportunity for you to reach out to email subscribers who haven't been active in a while. As I hinted at earlier, that's why you need to segment your email lists. Segment your subscribers based on their interests and activity. Send them retargeted emails based on their previous purchases or browsing history you've collected through their customer profile. The benefit of retargeting your current or old customers is that they have another level of familiarity with your brand. They know more about your company than the people who have visited your website but never bought anything. You can also try to cross-sell or upsell to these customers. Here's a great example of an ad I saw from American Express: I'm already an Amex member and have one of their credit cards. But they are trying to pitch a new card to me. Rather than getting a new customer, it's easy for them to retarget me by offering a card I don't have. If this doesn't work, a month or so from now, I could potentially see a different ad offering another card I don't have. ConclusionThe audience and target market for your advertisements should be ready to act. That's why retargeting campaigns are so effective. You focus on people already familiar with your brand and interested in buying something. If you use pixel-based retargeting strategies, you'll be focusing on website visitors who didn't convert. Increased website traffic doesn't necessarily lead to sales conversions. That's why your retargeting campaigns shouldn't be aimed at just anyone. Have a clear goal for your campaign. Make sure you find the right software and service to help your website utilize cookie information left by the visitors looking for a product or service. If a retargeting ad doesn't convert, don't give up on that customer yet. Just switch it up after a few weeks with a different offer. When someone clicks on your ad, make sure it doesn't bring them to your homepage. Instead, have customized landing pages for each ad. If you follow these tips, you'll be able to increase sales conversions through retargeting strategies. Will you focus on pixel-based or list-based retargeting first?
0 Comments
You may not have heard of Alan Mulally, but he's led one of the best turnarounds in modern American business history. As Chief Executive for nearly 8 years at Ford Motor Company, he steered the company through the Great Recession (without taking a bailout), restructured the massive corporation to get the company more focused and streamlined, returned the company to profitability, and doubled the company's stock price during his 8-year tenure as CEO. And he didn't do it just by cutting jobs and laying thousands of people off. And since his days at Ford, he was rumored to be in the running to replace Steve Ballmer at Microsoft, and later, to be President Trump's Secretary of State. He currently sits on Board at Google (now Alphabet) and the Mayo Clinic Board of Trustees. I'm not here to write his resume or publish a biography or write a blog post about his accomplishments. I mention these accomplishments because it's the details that led to the turnaround that most people don't know about. Mulally came into a bleak situation at Ford, and 2 years later the great recession began. Yet Ford was the only US automaker to not accept a bailout. And he returned the company to record profitability. Here's how Mulally turned the company around, and what every manager can learn from him. From Boeing to FordMulally didn't have an automotive background before coming to Ford. In fact, he wasn't even a Ford employee. He was CEO of Boeing Commercial Airlines, leading the turnaround in that division and making Boeing more competitive with Airbus. So without a background in the automotive industry and with no prior work history at Ford, his first job at Ford was CEO. Starting as CEOIn September 2006, Executive Chairman and CEO Bill Ford called Mulally to ask him to run Ford. Mulally knew that Ford was a great American company, and that he couldn't turn down the opportunity to serve an “American icon”. He came to Ford on a mission – to save a great American company. So what was the first day at Ford like for Mulally, who never worked at Ford, and didn't even drive a Ford car at the time? What situation did he find himself in?
The condition sounds pretty bleak doesn't it? And nothing like the Ford of today. And so the rebuilding began. Mulally picked apart the business, finding each problem, and fixing each one. In many cases, this simply meant making a process or operation more streamlined and efficient. Bureaucracy was removed, blaming others wasn't allowed, and team working wasn't just encouraged, it was the culture. Regionalized offices that weren't communicating were now working together. And this new cohesive team looked at the situation honestly – a projected $17 billion loss – the biggest loss in its 103-year history. That crisis allowed them to pull together around a new strategy. They developed the strategy together by focusing on the Ford and Lincoln brand (Mercury was later discontinued), and producing the entire family of vehicles (cars, utilities, trucks) to be produced profitably and, as Mulally frequently says, best in class. Everyone pulled together on this new plan and began executing. And they were going to do it all as one team. That's what Mulally emphasizes – creating a plan, sticking to it, and working together as a team. Everyone is accountable to each other, and they help each other out when necessary. The Plan to Turn Around a Company – On Four Bullet PointsThe new plan included these four bullet points:
Mulally printed it on wallet cards and distributed them to every Ford employee. Business plan on one side of the card, behaviors they expected on the other side. He mentioned the bullet points constantly in meetings and with the press. And if you were around him enough, you'd likely be able to recite the four bullet points in your sleep. Journalists covering the auto industry and Ford were tired of hearing it. But Mulally sticks to plans, even if people are tired of hearing them. If the goals of the plan aren't achieved, he will continue to bring them up. Listening to Your CriticsEvery prominent company has their fair share of critics. Ford wasn't any different. The Ford brand was severely damaged. The public viewed Ford vehicles as unreliable, with many referring to Ford with the acronym Fix Or Repair Daily. And Consumer Reports ranked them as one of the most unreliable car brands. So what did Mulally do? He met with Ford critics, namely he took his team to meet with Consumer Reports, who were one of the top critics of Ford vehicles. Mulally and his team traveled and met with Consumer Reports product testers and discussed every Ford model. Product testers were critical. Mulaly didn't argue with them or try to convince them otherwise. Instead, he used the trip to listen and understand their complaints. Mulally was grateful for the “unvarnished feedback” from the product testers. A lot of companies live in silos and protect themselves from outside feedback. They make products without consumer input, and don't talk to customers when they're improving products or features. They build things nobody wants. Or worse, they'll build something unreliable. That's the fastest way to damage your brand. Instead, take a lesson from Mulally. Find your legitimate critics (the ones who want you to succeed, but will give you a fair assessment) and listen to their criticism. Take it to heart and you'll end up improving your product and processes. The Weekly Business Plan Review MeetingMulally is an engineer by training. That engineering mentality means that he likes numbers. He likes to say that “the data will set you free”. Data doesn't lie and it doesn't spin. It's just facts that cannot be argued. And because of this, it's great for showing progress and holding people accountable. Everything his executives managed could be deciphered down to numbers. This data was used during the weekly Business Plan Review (BPR) meetings. These meetings, which took place every Thursday morning, brought Ford executives from around the world to discuss their departments and the progress they're making on the business plan. Bryce Hoffman, author of American Icon, explains the meetings:
Here's what every manager can learn from this: How do you measure progress against your plan? Does your team know the progress? Are they working together and helping each other when necessary? Many companies like Google and Intel like to use the Objectives and Key Results framework to create goals and track them. Creating a plan is great, but most organizations and teams don't stick to it over a long enough time period. They hit the first road bump against the plan, and end up leaving the plan altogether. As Mulally says, “We never give up on the plan. A plan is going to be the innovator for us to find new ways to find more opportunities to meet the plan and mitigate the risk. So it's the all-time encourager of us to use our innovation to find solutions to allow us to deliver the plan rather than to give up.” Working Together as One Team“Working together” sounds pretty trite, doesn't it? It's an overused term for executives, managers, and coaches. And lieutenants of those in management typically roll their eyes when they hear it from their superiors. Yet Mulally didn't just say, “we have to work together”. He created a culture of teamwork. Before he came to Ford, there was infighting and elbowing among executives. Forbes described the culture Mulaly came into as, “Sharp elbows, fierce loyalties, and frequent turf battles were hallmarks of Ford's management culture: The tough guys won.” In response to this toxic culture, Mulally created the “One Ford” mantra. The wallet-sized cards were handed to every Ford employee and the weekly BPR meetings got all the executives on onboard and helping each other when they needed it. During those BPR meetings, each executive brought an employee from his or her department to sit in on the meeting. And they don't remain silent, sitting like students in a classroom. They are required to listen and give feedback. Mulally and his executives often ask these employees for their thoughts and reflections on what is being discussed. Mulally says:
Bringing the “lower-level” employees to the executive boardroom probably doesn't happen at most of the world's biggest companies. But Mulally understood how valuable these people are – and how the people “working the floor” and meeting one-on-one with customers and being hands on with the product can provide feedback that most executives cannot. This feedback inspires executives and the employees themselves. This sense of teamwork inspires everyone in the company to deliver results. Understand the Value Proposition of the CompanyWhat are you in business for? How do you make people's lives better? How is the world better off because of your company? That's what a value proposition should answer. Mulally didn't create a new value proposition for the company. Instead, he found the original one written by the company's founder, Henry Ford. When Ford started, owning a car was reserved for the wealthy. Most people couldn't afford to own a vehicle. Henry Ford's mission was to change that and to “open the highways to all mankind.” Mulally believed in this value proposition so much that he hung it in the hallway of Ford's headquarters and handed out copies to Ford executives. And all future product development would be weighted against the promise made in this value proposition. It may have been a value proposition created 80 years ago, but Mulally loved its message and what it promised. (If you haven't caught a theme of this article, it's that Mulally sticks to a plan). In keeping this value proposition alive nearly 100 years later, Mulally ensured that Henry Ford's DNA and original vision would guide the company. The takeaway here would be to truly understand your company's value proposition and let it guide your future product development. ConclusionStarting a company and building it into a success story is quite a challenge, but taking over a company that's damaged and returning it to the former glory days is a unique challenge and one that few modern executives have accomplished. So, what was the method to Mulally's success? Was it his 12-hour workdays? Nope, plenty of executives work hard and don't deliver results. Was it luck? Anything but luck! Entering a company losing billions of dollars every year, then the Great Recession two years later and turning that same company into 19+ consecutive profitable quarters isn't luck. Mulally's ideas weren't new. Instead, it was sticking to those business fundamentals – teamwork, business plans, and delivering useful products that made Ford successful. It was Mulally doing extensive research to understand Ford's issues, and creating a plan (and sticking to it) and delivering results against that plan. It was the brutal honesty of being an outsider and assessing a company with a fresh eye. His inexperience in the auto industry but strong management skills are what made this turnaround special. And it was Mulally's commitment to a plan and people. As an engineer, he wasn't expected to be a people-person. But he was – personable but tough. People who have spoke with Mulally say that he “makes you feel like you're the only person in the room”. This kindness was paired with toughness. He was a hard-nosed businessman that expected results and delivered. He held his team accountable and created a culture of teamwork. The end result was turning around an American icon from a battered company on the brink of bankruptcy to a competitive brand that grew the company profitably. QuotesHere are some Mulally quotes that I like:
About the Author: Neil Patel is the cofounder of Neil Patel Digital. Every consumer is different. Some people like to shop online, and other people prefer shopping in stores. There are customers who spend days or even weeks researching a product before making a purchase, while others buy something without any prior intention at all. This is called an impulse purchase. Believe it or not, more people are guilty of this than you would think. Have you ever bought something impulsively? I'm willing to bet that you have. In fact, 84% of Americans admit to making an impulsive buy. So, how much are they spending? If someone is waiting in line to check out at the grocery store and buys a magazine or candy bar, that counts as an impulse purchase. But that's really nothing to get excited over. However, 54% of consumers have spent more than $100 on an impulse purchase, and 20% have spent over $1,000. Those are numbers that can motivate marketers and retailers. As an example, let's take a look at something that everyone buys. Clothes. Here's some data that compares planned and impulse clothing purchases grouped by age and household income. It appears that nobody is immune to this. You might think that the more money someone makes, the more likely they are to spend money impulsively. But based on this data, that simply is not the case. There's only a 2% difference between consumers with an annual income less than $25k and an annual income more than $75k when it comes to impulsive clothing purchases. Whether you have a brick and mortar store location or an ecommerce website, you can increase your sales revenue if you learn how to target impulse shoppers. As you can see from the numbers we've looked at so far, impulse buyers aren't hard to find. But you need to position your brand, products, and marketing campaigns accordingly to encourage these people to spend more money. I'll show you how to do it. Understand the psychological characteristics of impulsive consumersYounger generations are more likely to make an impulsive purchase. 9 out of 10 Millennials have purchased something impulsively. That number gets even higher when you focus on the youngest portion of that generation. 95% of consumers under the age of 25 say they have made an impulse purchase. But why? It has to do with psychology and personality traits. According to marketing experts, Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg, we can group consumers into four categories based on their personality. Impulse buyers would fall into the spontaneous category of this graphic. They are more emotional as opposed to logical thinkers. Impulsive shoppers are willing to take risks and respond to visual cues such as color schemes. Studies suggest that impulse buying translates to gratification. Those who seek self-gratification and approval from others are more likely to have impulsive tendencies. The risks associated with an impulse purchase can suggest that the buyer may not consider the consequences of their spending. They may not realize that the item puts them over budget for what they can afford based on their income and other expenses. While some people are more susceptible to impulse purchases than others, the data that we saw earlier showed that the majority of consumers have made impulse buys. This means that these personality and psychological traits are somewhere within all of us. As a marketer, you just need to find ways to exploit those tendencies. If you do this correctly, you could turn just about anyone into an impulsive customer. Focus on the right productsFirst, you've got to figure out what products you want to entice people to buy. Ideally, these products will have a high profit margin for your company. Depending on your business, you might be selling hundreds or even thousands of items. So, which ones are the right products to emphasize? Let's take a look at how men and women shop impulsively. So you've got to decide who you're targeting. If you're targeting impulsive men, you want to focus on products that they could buy for their spouse. But if you're targeting women, you should concentrate on items suitable for children. You'll want to strategically place these items in your store on your website, but we'll go into greater detail about that later. Every product you sell shouldn't entice consumers to be impulsive. Some items are necessities. People are going to buy those regardless. For example, let's say you own a home furnishings store. Your primary target market is new homeowners. There are certain items that you know they need for their house. Things like a bed, couch, and kitchen table are needed in a home. But an impulsive product could an ottoman for their living room or an extra television for the bedroom. Those aren't necessities, but consumers may be swayed to buy them, even if they had no intention to do so in the first place. Look at this bedroom set from Bed Bath & Beyond. Items like the painting, extra lights, throw pillows, rug, and artificial flowers would be good products to focus on for impulsive buyers. Consumers may visit a store looking to buy bed sheets, which is a necessity, and end up leaving with artificial flowers and a painting, which are luxury and decorative pieces. Create FOMO (fear of missing out)Promotional campaigns are a great way to target impulsive shoppers. Discounts, deals, and coupons that are only available for a limited time might do the trick. The concept of FOMO makes the consumer think, “If I don't act now, I'll lose out on this opportunity.” So, now that you've narrowed down the products you want to focus on, it's time to figure out how to advertise them. Create a sense of urgency by saying that there is a limited quantity remaining. Take a look at this promotional email from GetResponse. They use certain keywords to create FOMO, which can appeal to an impulsive shopper.
Come up with ways to incorporate this strategy into your business. For example, let's say you have a retail store located inside of a shopping mall. A consumer may be at the mall for something else and have no intention of stepping foot into your store. So you've got to draw them in when they are walking by. Take a look at this window display sign outside of a Banana Republic storefront. It doesn't just say 40% off. The sign says, “today only” to entice impulse shoppers to walk inside. Even if they had no intention of buying clothes, 40% off is too good of a deal to pass up on, right? That's the idea behind creating urgency and FOMO. Learn how to strategically place itemsPlacement is key for brick and mortar store locations as well as ecommerce sites. Even though our society is moving toward digital trends, the majority of impulse purchases still take place in physical store locations. In fact, 68% of impulse buys occur in-store as opposed to online. With that said, it doesn't mean that ecommerce websites should shy away from targeting impulse buyers. Research suggests that impulsive online sales jumped 60% over a time period where total online sales increased by 12.6%. Those numbers are extremely encouraging for online retailers. So now that you've identified which products are the best to focus on to trigger impulsive behavior, you need to make sure they are placed properly. On an ecommerce site, you should put these items on your homepage. Don't make shoppers go searching for something. That defeats the purchase. You want someone to stumble upon your website, see something that catches their attention, and buy it. Check out this example on the SAXX website. The items are clearly displayed on their homepage. In addition to offering these products at a discounted rate, look at how SAXX used FOMO to entice impulse buyers as well. “Get your hands on these seasonal styles before they're gone.” So when people visit their website, they may end up purchasing something they don't really need and never intended to buy. For those of you with a retail store location, you've got to apply the same theory to your layout. Impulsive items shouldn't be hidden in the aisles. Present these at the end of a row or separated alone at a table or display areas. Put items near the register so customers see them on their way out or while they wait in line. Remember what we said earlier about the differences between men and women shoppers? Based on that information, you could put some women's products on display near the men's section of your store to entice men to buy for their wives. You could position some children's items near the women's section to encourage women to buy for their kids. Simplify the buying processOnce someone decides to make an impulsive purchase, you don't want to give them any chance to change their mind. The buying process needs to be as fast and easy as possible. For example, let's say you only have display models of a certain product in your store. In order for the customer to buy it, they'll have to pick it up at your warehouse or visit another store location. Those products shouldn't be aimed at impulse shoppers. There are too many extra steps that give them the opportunity to back out. Have you ever been inside of an IKEA store? IKEA sell furniture and accessories for bedrooms, living rooms, bathrooms, kitchens, offices, and every other area of your home. Their retail store operation works like this. You walk through different display areas for each room of a house. If you see something you like, you write down the item number from the corresponding tag, which I've pointed out on the image above. After you walk through the entire store, you find the item based on the corresponding row and aisle number in their warehouse. IKEA is successful on an international scale, so it's a great business model. However, this process is not set up to target impulse buyers. It's too long. There are too many steps and too many opportunities for the buyer to change their mind. For those of you with an ecommerce site, you want the customer to finish their checkout in just a few clicks. Don't ask them to create an account or fill out unnecessary information. Just ask for their name, address, and payment information. That's all you need to complete the sale. Provide ease of access to customer supportGreat customer service can help drive a sale, especially for an impulse buyer. But your company needs to provide the consumer with easy access to a customer service representative. For those of you with retail store locations, make sure your staff is properly trained to assist customers while they are walking through your store. They should be informative and let the customer know if an item is on sale or if you're running a special promotion. It's always important for you to clearly state your shipping and return policies as well. Take a look at the impact these policies have on encouraging online sales. If the customer knows the item will ship for free and they have the option to return it, they are more likely to buy the item. So just make sure your company prioritizes customer service and has representatives available online, over the phone, and in-store to communicate with your customers. ConclusionBusinesses can increase their sales revenue by learning how to market their products based on impulsive shopping behavior. Although certain personality types are more likely to make an impulse purchase, the vast majority of consumers are guilty of this as well. There are certain things you can do from a marketing perspective to trigger an impulsive response from your customers. First, you've got to focus on the right products. Then use marketing campaigns to make the customer think they are missing out on a great deal if they don't buy something. Strategically place items in your store and on your website to entice a sale. The buying process needs to be fast and easy. Make sure you provide shoppers with excellent customer support options. Follow these tips to increase your sales revenue. What types of products are you strategically placing on your website to target impulse buyers? I'm a big advocate of blogging. It doesn't matter what business you have or what industry you're in, blogging can be used as a lead generation tool. How often do you get unique visitors to your website? Unless you have an ecommerce store, there's no reason for a prospective customer to visit your website more than once or twice. There's only so many times someone needs to read your “About Us” page or look up your contact information. But if your website has a blog, it gives people a reason to keep coming back. Even if these visitors aren't necessarily buying anything yet, there are certain ways you can turn a blog reader into a customer. First of all, if you're not blogging, you need to start ASAP. Next, you can focus on driving traffic to your new blog. I consulted some businesses that didn't have a blog because they say it takes too much time. Depending on the length, the average blog post should only take you a few hours to write. Trust me, I know from experience this time adds up based on the number of posts you're writing per week. But it needs to be part of your marketing strategy. And it's not expensive. The only cost is your time. You can even ask your staff members with excellent writing skills to write a few posts per week. If you want to start pumping out lots of content, you may want to consider adding an in-house writer to your payroll. Regardless of how you plan to delegate these tasks, blogging needs to be a top priority if you want to generate new leads without spending much money. Here's what you need to do to write blog posts that convert. Offer exclusive contentWhy should someone read your blogs instead of those of your competitors? There are so many blogs out there in every industry. With a market that's oversaturated with content, your posts need to differ from those of the competition. Studies tell us 55% of readers spend only 15 seconds reading an article. But if you offer exclusive content, it will give them a reason to spend more time reading, which increases your chances of getting them to convert. Here's a great example from the Conversion XL blog: This post stands out because of the exclusive feel of the headline. Where else can you find 11 experts voicing their opinions and reviewing software tools in one place? When people search for this subject on Google, they will be more likely to click on this than other results. But what if you don't have access to a dozen experts in a particular industry? No problem. You're the expert. Use your own expertise to offer exclusive advice to your readers. Master the art of storytelling, and tell a personal anecdote that generated results for your company. The more often you can do this, the more it will add credibility to your brand. Once you're known as an expert in a particular field from your blogs, it will be much easier for you to get leads. Add more subscribers to your email listAre you looking for new ways to get more email subscribers? Well, your blog is a great way to accomplish this. Here's how you can turn a reader into a customer. Let's say someone stumbles on one of your blog posts. They skim through it and like the content, but now what? That won't necessarily make them buy something, sign up for a subscription, or pay for some other service you're offering. However, they may be interested in reading more of posts in the future. Rather than hoping they come back on their own, you can encourage this visitor to join your email list to get content delivered straight to their inbox. Jeff Bullas does this with his blog: Jeff promotes his mailing list on the sidebar of his blog homepage and each individual blog post as well. You can do this too. Once you have their email address, you can do much more than just send them new blog posts. If you have an ecommerce store, try sending some coupons to entice a sale. Once you have the leads, proceed with all your winning email marketing campaigns. But first, you have to get these people hooked with your initial blog post. Promote your blog on other marketing channelsI consult with companies that struggle to manage their social media accounts all the time. They recognize the importance of posting on a regular basis, but they're not quite sure what to write. Well, your blog gives you a great excuse to stay active on social media every day. When your fans and followers see your brand on their timeline, it helps create awareness. Even if they aren't customers yet, the constant awareness can eventually help drive a sale. For example, let's say your company sells niche products such as camping equipment. The consumer may not need what you're selling the first time they see your business online. But maybe six months down the line, they decide to plan a camping trip. If you've been flooding their social media timeline over the last several months, your company will be fresh in their minds when it's time for them to buy a tent or sleeping bag. I use this strategy as well. Take a look at my Twitter account: I'm constantly promoting blog posts there. This is also a great way to get new readers interested in your blog. After they see a catchy headline on your Facebook or Twitter page, they will be more likely to join your email list, which we just discussed. Use the comments section to facilitate a discussionYou're making a big mistake if you don't allow comments on your blog posts. After someone reads your content, give them the opportunity to contribute to the conversation. They may have some further insight to share, a personal story to tell, or a question to ask you. It's possible they disagree with some of your viewpoints and opinions on a topic as well. That's okay. One of the best ways to encourage comments is by ending your blog posts with a question. Make sure the question is related to the topic. This will help reassure the reader you actually want to hear from them. Respond to all the comments. Here are some of the comments from a recent blog post I wrote about creating an actionable drip campaign: A couple of readers had questions that were related to their own websites. It's a great way for you to keep the reader engaged. You can also offer a solution to these questions by suggesting certain products or services your company offers. Readers may also have a discussion among themselves in the comments section. I see that happen on my posts all the time as well. It's encouraging, and it shows that people are genuinely interested in the topics you're writing about. Be consistentHow often do you add a new blog post to your website? When you first started off, you may have been trying to put out articles every day. But as the weeks pass, I've seen some websites get discouraged if they aren't seeing immediate results. Generating leads through blogs takes time. You won't see a drastic increase in your traffic or bottom line overnight. Slowly but surely, you'll notice a difference-as long as you stay consistent. Here's an example. Let's say you post a new blog every day for a month. You start to get some faithful readers. But all of a sudden, you change your pattern and only post once a week. Well, your regular audience is going to be disappointed if they visit your website and don't see any fresh content. When it comes to blogging, more is always better. A recent study suggests that bloggers saw stronger results the more frequently they posted: Just make sure your quality doesn't suffer. You still need to write good content, or nobody is going to read it. Publishing 20 articles per day doesn't mean anything if all the posts are garbage. Do what you can, but don't overextend yourself. If you're just starting off, I think it's reasonable to aim for one blog post per day. See how that works for you and then go from there. Write guest postsYou're making a mistake if you're turning down guest posting opportunities. Look, I realize on the surface it may not sound very appealing. I was skeptical about this too before I started guest posting. It's hard enough to put out content on your own website, why should you write for someone else for free? Guest posting gives your brand great exposure. Your content will be exposed to a new audience that may have never heard of you or your company. You'll also have plenty of chances to pitch your content and services throughout your post. Websites will typically let you include a biography about you and your brand either before or after the article. Take a look at this guest posting example from Crazy Egg: Daniel Threlfall is one of the co-founders of Launch Your Copy. Contributing to Crazy Egg gave his company exposure and drove more traffic to his website. Hyperlinks can drive traffic to your highest converting pagesI'll continue with my last point. Throughout the content of your blog, you have the chance to add hyperlinks. If you're writing a guest post, you can have several links to your website in each article. You can apply this same strategy to the posts on your site as well. As you can see from reading my posts, including this one, I do this all the time. I use hyperlinks to cite all my sources, but I also use internal hyperlinks to drive traffic to other blog posts and landing pages. Internal linking is also great for your Google search ranking. Getting ranked higher on Google can help you generate more leads. Let other bloggers contribute to your websiteIn addition to writing guest posts for other websites, you can also let other writers contribute to your blog. Guest posts on your own site can give you a bit of a break. You can still publish an article a day without having to do as much writing. When someone else writes a guest post for your blog, they may promote it to their own readers and share the post on their platforms. This will give a wider audience a reason to check out your blog. They may initially come just to read their favorite writer's post, but there's a good possibility they will read your content as well. Look at how HubSpot encourages people to contribute to its website: You can employ a similar strategy on your blog. Plus, this could help you develop a relationship with other writers. Maybe they will return the favor and let you write guest posts on their websites. Just make sure their posts get approved before publishing. You don't want a guest writer to say anything that's not aligned with your brand. Even if you don't write it, you are still associated with all the content on your website. Encourage readers to share your contentIf you're a good writer, people will want to share your posts with their friends. You want to make this as easy as possible for them. All your posts should include social sharing icons. Here's what it looks like on my blog: Again, this exposes your brand to a new audience. Getting your readers to promote your content for free is a huge win for your company. People are much more likely to share a recent, relevant, and informative blog post than just a random link to your website. It's a great way to get new leads. ConclusionEvery website needs a blog. It's one of my favorite ways to generate leads. Offer exclusive content in your posts to get readers hooked and keep them engaged. Try to use your blog as a platform to get more subscribers to your email list. New blog posts give you a great excuse to post on your social media accounts and other marketing channels. Stay engaged with your readers by continuing the discussion in the comments section. You should try to write guest posts for other websites and allow other writers to contribute to your site as well. Just make sure you're consistent with the frequency of your posts. Use hyperlinks to drive traffic to your highest converting landing pages and improve your Google search ranking. Provide social sharing options on your blog to encourage readers to share your content with their friends. These tips will help you write better blogs and generate more leads for your website. How many blog posts does your website publish per week? No, you probably did not upload your videos incorrectly to Google My Business. Google confirmed a bug with the videos now showing and is working on fixing the issue.
The post Google My Business videos not showing up on your local listing? It's a Google bug appeared first on Search Engine... Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article. The ecommerce customer is a moving target. I mean that in more than one way:
How do you woo these “moving targets” into engaging with your ecommerce promotions, opting into your offers, and buying your products? Your marketing and media needs to “move” them. You experiment with a variety of ecommerce promotion ideas available to you now. We'll run through a heap of them and hopefully offer a few you might want to try to build your audience and boost sales. 1. Offer coupons and discountsCoupons have always been a staple in retail promotions so we need not question their power. However, in the digital shopping realm, coupons play a role beyond simply providing a purchase incentive. They act as bait to hook new email subscribers. Of course, you'll follow-up with subscribers, so consider expanding your portfolio of coupons to create specific subscriber segments that will receive relevant offers. Your options for delivering coupons are many. GlassesUSA gets right to it by presenting a huge discount for first time buyers on their home page via a popup that “greys-out” the page until you respond. 2. Offer eBooks and other lead magnetsThe average online conversion rate for ecommerce shoppers hovers between 2% and 3%. At least 97% bail on you. However, a failed attempt to capture a sale doesn't mean you can't capture email addresses. In a Kissmetrics post that explains how SaaS marketing differs from other types of marketing, Neil Patel writes, “If you are a B2B SaaS marketer, think of yourself in different terms from mere 'marketer.' Think of yourself as an industry savant - the one who possesses and dispenses information.” While blog content helps attract traffic, one of your content marketing goals should be to convert the traffic into subscribers. Offer eBooks and other lead magnets such as checklists, mini-courses, templates, tools, and more to motivate visitors to give you their email addresses. Think value. Think relevance. What can you offer to help a prospective customer solve a problem? Think of your lead magnet offer as something so valuable it's worth paying for-then deliver it free. 3. Offer a loyalty programYou not only want customers to buy your products; you want them to keep buying. Create a loyalty program that offers customers an incentive to buy more often or spend more on their purchases. Loyalty programs can take any number of forms, but generally feature a system whereby points are accumulated that build increased buying power. You might also consider loyalty programs that reward buyers for doing things beyond buying such as writing reviews, sharing your pages and posts, and submitting photos. The first feature on the Pure Hockey homepage is information about their “Pure Rewards” program that aims to deliver bonus buying power to loyal customers. 4. Host giveawaysPeople love free stuff. Create buzz about your brand with giveaways. A simple giveaway by Ginger Heat Muscle Rub encourages participants to “Like” the brand on Facebook and enter to win free product samples. A holiday giveaway hosted by Mixed Hues offers prizes for 12 days and delivers a discount just for entering to make everyone a winner. The examples of giveaways shown above were created with templates from ShortStack, a platform that makes it easy to create an immense variety of ecommerce promotions. 5. Conduct contestsInstagram and Facebook contests-or contests you promote on any social network or channel-are one of the best ways for ecommerce brands to generate awareness, build community, drive traffic and boost sales.
6. Create a challengeI stumbled into a fun tactic while researching this article and found it to be a powerful idea: create a challenge. Those that join it share a common cause. They'll welcome your ideas, are likely to share your content, and may consider purchasing your products. At the very least, they'll experience a memorable, personalized experience with your brand. NaturallyCurly invited customers and fans to its “No sugar challenge.” Joining means opting in for email updates. What a great way to create a bond between a brand and its fans. 7. Cross-sellA post on the SEMRush blog wisely recommends focusing on cross-selling your products to increase sales. They offer as an example, a customer that has purchased a mobile phone being offered a screen guard or case. It shouldn't be difficult for you to think of practical cross-selling opportunities to offer your buyers that will add value to their purchase and dollars to your cash register. 8. Up-sellUpselling works too. In fact, Econsultancy says it works 20X better than cross-selling. See, buyers often don't know a superior product is available. Chances are some of the products you offer are closely related to premium versions. Set-up your store to upsell and keep in mind:
9. Showcase top sellersAsk a food server what their favorite dish is and they're likely to respond with, “Our most popular pasta dish is the…” or… “If you're really hungry, everyone really loves the…” - or something like that. The suggested item might be something they're known for, can prepare most easily, or profit the most from. Many restaurants spare you from having to ask by highlighting their most popular menu items on the menu. Ecommerce companies can do the same. It's human nature to go with the crowd. Also, buyers value direction. Show them your best sellers, or best sellers in specific categories. You'll reduce overwhelm, and accelerate sales. Imagine knowing little or nothing about games, but you're shopping for a gift. You'd welcome suggestions to buy the most popular games. Nutty Squirrel Games gets it and helps with this smart form of suggestive selling. 10. Create interactive assistantsBuyers value when online stores provide insights and advice to help make more informed decisions. Enter the vast array of interactive content tools such as assessments, configurators, chatbots and recommendation engines. Tools such as these enable you to walk the customer through a series of questions and deliver recommendations based on the answers-like a helpful salesperson would do. While your online tool helps prospects and customers determine their priorities and preferences, it also helps you gather useful data, which might drive sales in the moment, or later, when the data is used to personalize your subsequent communications. The “Flavour Generator” from Hello Fresh is a great example of a simple assessment tool. It's designed to inspire cooking ideas, which clearly aligns with the brand's recipe box products. Help yourself to the quiz offered on the Warby Parker homepage and after answering five quick questions the site suggests frames that fulfill your preferences and offers to send them to you to try-on. 11. Create video demonstrationsImages obviously help sell products, but are merely par for the course. You can boost sales of new, featured, or popular items by creating short promotional or review videos. Test the idea with just a few items and measure the impact to help establish if the investment in creating video pays. If you discover videos generate sales you can expand the program with more videos and experiment with different approaches to video production and different types of videos. A number of products offered on WatchShop present shoppers with the option to watch short product videos. 12. Highlight risk reducersYour homepage likely features “risk reducers,” that is, notices that help overcome objections and give buyers greater peace of mind, such as:
However, many visitors will arrive directly on product pages and not see your homepage. Make certain your most important risk reduction messages are also displayed in at least one prominent place on product pages. Test the messaging, design and page layout to determine what works best. A product page on YourSuper reminds would-be buyers of its shopper-friendly policies on a sticky header bar and in another prominent element beside the call to action. 13. Present product plugs (testimonials, reviews, etc.)I can't decide whether to say it's a good idea to include user reviews to boost sales or it's a bad idea to exclude them. Both are true and it's probably fair to say, thanks to Amazon, buyers expect to find them. Standard ecommerce product review systems are useful, however, those that include photos and/or videos that embellish the customer stories are even more convincing. 14. Provide wishlistsEcommerce experts at Big Commerce claim that offering shoppers a wish list is an effective way to reduce shopping cart abandonment and fulfill sales from customers who showed intent but didn't end up purchasing. They add that wishlists:
Would-be buyers will often forget about their wishlists, so send friendly reminder emails to inspire customers to complete their purchase. 15. Present trust badgesCustomers often dropout of a purchase process when they have concerns about the security of their payment. Address this challenge by including one or more “trust badges” on your checkout page to convince customers the process is safe and secure. 16. Present user-generated content“Hype up engagement,” is a piece of ecommerce promotion advice from a Kissmetrics post. The post featured this insight from of Dan Wang of Shopify: “User-generated photos are a great way to generate social proof. Prospective customers see that your products are regularly being purchased by people just like them, and feel more comfortable doing something that others are doing.” User-generated content (UGC) can be collected and used in a variety of ways. The GentleFawn store gathers photos via an Instagram hashtag and features them a gallery on their homepage. 17. Use satisfaction surveysSavvy ecommerce brands cater to new and existing customers by gathering feedback with satisfaction surveys. A survey done well builds goodwill. The data you collect enables you to improve the user experience. Both equate to smart marketing. Ask questions that will help you learn:
Though satisfaction surveys are most commonly handled with email, Spartoo is an ecommerce company that takes a proactive approach by offering a survey on its homepage. A discount helps motivate shoppers to comply. 18. Present exit intent popupsAdd an exit intent pop-up to your website to capture visitors on the verge of leaving. Give them a reason to join your email list by offering a free guide, discount, or some incentive that aligns with your brand. 19. Send cart abandonment emailMarketing automation platforms enable you to send customized emails to shoppers that have abandoned shopping carts. If a customer logged in, you can send customized emails with images of the items they shopped for. Tactics you might try with abandonment email include:
Shortly after I left an item in my cart without completing the purchase, Michael's sent me an email telling me I have great taste, which showed me the item again and suggested other products I might like. 20. Send automated emailsProspects and customers are giving you their email addresses. Send them something in return: email. Email marketing allows you to send targeted-and well-timed messages-at various stages of the buying lifecycle. In a great post detailing ecommerce email strategies, Nadav Dakner shares six potential automated email flows you might want to put in place in addition to the abandoned cart reminders we've already covered:
21. Support a charityEcommerce brands can take a cue from the shoe company Toms, where “Every purchase has a purpose.” Toms has built a reputation for improving lives and giving back. Their customers understand, appreciate and support the mission. Everyone wins. Charity programs that come to my mind from ecommerce leaders include Pura Vida Bracelets and Warby Parker eyeglasses. 22. Promote around special occasionsWhile Christmas, birthdays and anniversaries are obvious special occasions, you can promote special occasions year-round. For instance, in February you can create sales, special offers, promotions, contests, giveaways and even downloadable content around Ground Hog Day, Valentine's Day, Presidents' Day and the Super Bowl (to name just a few). Here's an example of simple voting poll an ecommerce company might do to attach their promotion to the Super Bowl hoopla. 23. Make customers your sales forceInfluencer marketing takes many forms beyond celebrity endorsements and paying popular YouTubers to mention your products. A clever strategy for ecommerce brands is to create a user-driven affiliate network of niche influencers. Your program might extend beyond simple financial incentives or product offers to include:
1st Phorm does a stellar job of promoting its “Legionnaires” program. Copy beneath the image and video above reads, “We interact with our Legionnaires on a constant basis to make sure they are successful in not only promoting 1st Phorm and making money, but also growing their personal brands.” 24. Send Instagrammers to your storeInstagram is for people who love images. It also appears to be for people who love to shop.
The key to Instagram marketing is engaging users and moving them to your website. How's it done?
Stitch Fix uses the link in their Instagram bio to direct traffic to a style gallery. A “Get Started” call to action atop the page introduces how the shopping service works and a gallery of photos and videos link to various products and promotions. 25. Send shoppers to your InstagramNext up for your list of ecommerce promotion idea is the opposite of what you just read. That is, in addition to sending Instagrammers to your store, you might also send shoppers to your brand's Instagram account. Consider your Instagram account a destination for building your audience and earning sales from prospects that have never seen your Instagram feed or profile. They could discover the credible proof they're looking for with a branded hashtag or on an Instagram account you've populated with authentic user-generated content. ModCloth features its #MarriedinModCloth hashtag on the homepage inviting visitors to Instagram where they find thousands of images created by customers. 26. Publish product landing pagesEcommerce companies sometimes make the mistake of directing traffic from search, social and digital ads to their home page or shopping cart. Typically, neither is an ideal approach for increasing conversion. Try directing first-time visitors to information-rich product landing pages. Create pages that step visitors through everything they need to make an informed purchase decision. Showcase some combination of a benefit-focused headline, value proposition, social proof, risk reducers and relevant images and video. 27. Explore mobile advertising“Mobile shopping clicks overtook desktop clicks sometime in the summer of 2015 and continue to rise,” claims ROIRevolution. The retail-focused agency makes the case retailers can no longer afford to adopt a laissez faire mentality regarding mobile advertising. In fact, many shopping sites now recognize the importance of a mobile-first strategy. Mobile advertising combines geolocation and mobile-ready ads to connect shoppers to your store while they're commuting, sitting in a waiting room, or even shopping. Recommendations to effectively use mobile advertising for ecommerce include:
28. Expand shipping optionsWho wants to wait weeks for their product to arrive? Worse yet, who wants to wonder when it will show up? These are clearly rhetorical questions. Satisfy more customers with predictability, specificity, transparency, details and most of all, choices. Consider:
29. Create auto-ship optionsA good portion of ecommerce companies can borrow a page from various subscription businesses to create incentives that encourage auto-shipping, and automatic renewals. Chewy offers instant savings for customers setting up an autoship option for the first time and sweetens the deal with bonus savings on select brands. 30.Optimize for buyers that are shopping for ideasSEO and paid search need to be weapons in the ecommerce brand's marketing arsenal. However, your keyword selection needn't be limited to targeting buyers shopping for specific products. An increasing percentage of would-be buyers on mobile devices are looking for ideas. New research from the Think with Google site offers insights about selecting keywords to optimize for shoppers that are idea hunting. Highlights from Google's data research indicate:
31. Offer live chatOnline sellers that don't offer a live chat option lose business to competitors who do. Live chat is a way to assist customers and is becoming the most desired method of contact-especially for millennials. Econsultancy reports live chat has the highest satisfaction levels for any customer service channel, with 73%, compared with 61% for email and 44% for phone. The post cited above features interesting data that reveals why live chat is preferred. Immediacy wins. 32. Bring ace media buyers to the tableIn this, my last tip, I was going to get into ecommerce Instagram advertising, but then I thought about all the various types, including the emerging “shoppable ads.” It's not easy to keep up with Instagram advertising. I concluded if I were to give you practical advice about this vitally important but terribly complex topic (without cranking out another 3,000 words), it would be this:
Advertising can be expensive, but that's only the case when it doesn't work. An ace media buyer will show you where to place your chips and perpetually improve your ROI from the digital advertising programs that drive ecommerce sales.
Every business needs an email marketing strategy. You constantly need to try to grow your subscriber list so you can engage more and more customers. But what kind of content should you be sending to the people on your email list? Currently, you may be focusing on coupons and other promotions. That's great. But you can take your email marketing strategy one step further by adding newsletters to your arsenal. Some of you may already be emailing newsletters to your subscribers. However, if you're not writing actionable newsletters, these messages could be doing more harm than good. Subscribers want to hear from you. That's why they joined your list. But they don't want spam, nonsense, or anything else that wastes their time. If you're sending newsletters just because you haven't contacted your subscribers in a while, it's not an effective strategy. Fortunately for you, I'm an expert in this space. Whether you've never sent a newsletter or need help improving your current approach, I can show you how to write newsletters that convert. It's all about eliciting specific actions from the recipient. Here's what you need to know. Make sure you're emailing subscribers who actually want to hear from youPeople won't open your messages if they didn't sign up for your emails. That's why I recommend creating a double opt-in process for new subscribers. Take a look at how this affects your open rates: You might have a huge list of subscribers. But that doesn't mean anything if they're not reading your content. Getting your subscribers to open your message is the first step. That's why you need to seed your lists with people genuinely interested in your brand. I definitely wouldn't recommend buying subscribers. Only contact those people who signed up for your newsletter. How often have you received an unwanted email from a company? For argument's sake, let's pretend this message doesn't go to your spam folder and you actually open it. Maybe you'll even skim through some of the content, which is even more of a stretch if you're not a subscriber. Are you going to follow through with whatever action they're asking you to complete? I doubt it. Well, then you can't expect recipients of your newsletter to follow your instructions if they never opted in to receive it in the first place. Give your subscribers options when they are signing up. Here's a great example from HubSpot: HubSpot lets their subscribers decide whether they want to receive messages on a daily or weekly basis. If customers want to hear from you every day, give them what they want. These people are more engaged with your brand and will be more likely to act in response to your newsletter. Start with a clear goal in mindWhy are you sending a newsletter? You should be able to answer this question for each message you send. With coupons or promotional campaigns, this question is a little bit easier to answer. But newsletters usually have an underlying message within the content. Stick to one goal per newsletter. Including too much information in your message will confuse the reader. Here are some popular examples of actionable goals:
Here's a great newsletter from General Assembly: Right off the bat, it's clear what the goal of this message is. They are trying to promote an event in Boston, MA. The newsletter shows the date of the event and has an option for the recipient to RSVP. This goal is consistent throughout the entire newsletter. General Assembly doesn't try to promote products, get downloads, or drive traffic to their website. Instead, they continue providing more information about the event. It's an effective newsletter. The message won't confuse the reader, and the goal is apparent throughout the entire message. In this case, the action is clear. They want subscribers to come to their event. It was successful because they started with a goal. Don't overlook the subject lineI see people make this mistake all the time. They take their time to write awesome content for their newsletter, but then come up with a subject line in 2 seconds. It ends up being something boring like:
Boring. Nobody is going to open that. As I said before when I talked about only emailing subscribers who want to hear from you, the newsletter is useless if the message doesn't get opened. A strong and actionable subject line is arguably more important than the content within your message. This data shows just how important email subject lines really are: Based on this information, your newsletter might even get marked as spam before the recipient has a chance to read it. Come up with a subject line that generates curiosity. Hint at a topic or question that may get answered if the message gets opened. Including information about news or recent topics in the subject line is another great way to generate opens for your newsletter. Make sure your timing is spot on. Nobody wants to hear about news that broke last week. About 40% of Americans get their news from online platforms. If your subject line is highly relevant to something current, your subscribers will want to open it. Be personalApproach your newsletters the same way you approach promotional messages in terms of personalization. Continuing with my last point, you can even use this tactic in the subject line. In fact, personalized subject lines increase open rates by 50%. Clearly, it's an effective approach. But don't stop at the subject line. You can personalize your newsletter by addressing the recipient by their first name. Use the first person perspective when writing so your subscribers know exactly from whom the message is. Your personal email address should be displayed in the sender's field. Always sign newsletters with your name. It will give the message a personalized touch. But remember, you're trying to get the recipient to act, e.g., to click. Recent data shows that personalized newsletters improve both click-through and conversion rates. Another way to get more engagement through personalized content is by segmenting your email lists. Not every recipient should get the same newsletter. As you saw with the HubSpot example earlier, you can segment lists based on delivery frequency. But you can take this idea one step further and segment the content as well. For example, let's say you have a website that sells sporting goods. Your newsletter could cover various topics based on different sports. When a subscriber opts in to receive your newsletter, you can have them select which sports they want to hear about. That way, your newsletters that cover golf or swimming topics won't get sent to someone who would rather read about snowboarding and mountain biking. Your subscribers are much more likely to act if they're interested in the content. Have a clear call to action (CTA)Your CTA should align with the goal you set for your newsletter. If you want subscribers to download something, make sure the CTA directs them accordingly. Refer back to the example I used earlier with the General Assembly newsletter. They were promoting an event. Their CTA was a link through which subscribers could RSVP to that event. Here's another great example from Litmus: This newsletter is promoting an email checklist guide. Rather than including the checklist within the content, they embedded a downloadable link as the CTA. Be professionalJust like everything else associated with your name and brand, your newsletters need to be professional. It's OK to write in a conversational tone, but I recommend staying away from slang and profanity. In some circumstances, it could be acceptable, depending on the image of your company. But it's definitely safer to avoid this approach. You also need to check your newsletter for spelling and grammar mistakes and typos. If your newsletter has lots of errors, your subscribers won't think you care about your company. Don't rush through this procedure. Have an editing process. You can even run newsletters through an editing software like Grammarly to assist you with this. Here's another editing tip. After I'm done writing something, I read it out loud. I find it's easier to catch mistakes or poorly written sentences when I'm speaking as opposed to reading. Depending on who writes your newsletter, you could even have the content checked by another set of eyes before it gets sent out to your subscribers. Tell a storyI've said before you can increase sales by mastering the art of storytelling. Apply those storytelling skills to your newsletter. Stories are a great marketing tactic because they are a source of entertainment. Nobody wants to read a boring newsletter, so talk about something exciting. Look at the positive impact storytelling has on conversion rates for B2B and B2C companies: What kind of story should you tell? Get creative. You can tell your own or someone else's story. It all depends on your goal and the tone of your newsletter. As I said earlier, you want your content to be relevant to your subscribers' needs or current times. If you have some sort of breaking news to discuss, write an engaging story instead of just stating facts. This will captivate your audience and increase the chances of eliciting the desired response from them. ConclusionNewsletters are a great way for any company to engage and connect with their customers. For starters, make sure you're only contacting people who want to hear from you. But if your message doesn't have a purpose, your recipients won't respond in a way you would like them to. That's why for every newsletter, set a clear goal before you start writing. This will keep you on track so the rest of your content, including the CTA, focuses on this goal. Nobody will read your message if they don't open it. Your subject line is just as important as the rest of your newsletter. Your newsletter should be personalized based on the topic and delivery frequency. Make sure your newsletter doesn't have any spelling or grammar issues. It's OK if you want to be conversational, but keep it professional. Stories are one of my favorite ways to capture the attention of an audience. Follow these tips, and you will increase the rate of desired responses from your newsletter subscribers. How often do you send newsletters to the people on your email lists? Katy Jurado Google doodle marks 94th birthday of film star from the Golden Age of Mexican cinema1/16/2018 Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, Jurado won a Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe Award for her role in the 1952 Hollywood classic "High Noon."
The post Katy Jurado Google doodle marks 94th birthday of film star from the Golden Age of Mexican cinema appeared first on Search Engine Land. Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article. |
ABOUT USTargeted Laser SEO provides SEO for surgeons, lawyers, and medical entrepeneurs, medspas, and spas. With an emphasis on local SEO and affordable SEO service packages for our clients, we are able to combine cutting-edge and innovative strategies to help our clients get ranked online in the most advantageous positions. Archives
June 2019
Categories |