Monday, February 29, 2016

9 Things Email Marketers Can Learn From Social Media’s Biggest Names

I just got back from Social Media Week NYC, one of the biggest industry events of the year. Social media marketers from across the globe came together in the Big Apple to learn from some of the most influential names in marketing. Among them were Forbes, BuzzFeed, The Coca-Cola Company and IBM, just to name a few.

Are you starting to feel a twinge of conference FOMO?

So here I am, post-conference, brimming with actionable tactics and inspiration that I just can’t keep to myself. Here are nine things that I learned and how they translate to your email strategy:

1. “Not all reach is created equal.” – @Forbes

If you’re spending all of your time trying to get your content out to the most people in the most places at the most times, you’re doing it wrong. Why?

Because not all reach is created equal.

Shift the conversation from page views (or in the email marketer’s case, open rates), to the people who are actually engaging with your content. Having a big list is impressive, but if those subscribers aren’t opening or responding to your emails, you may want to rethink your strategy.

Pro Tip:

Focus on building a more curated list of people who are genuinely interested in what you have to say. These are your most loyal readers, and the ones who are most likely to do business with you in the future.

2. “Each space tells its own story.” – @Buzzfeed

Adapting original content that works on one platform to many others is the key to extending your reach. Facebook, Twitter, Google+… all of these platforms have different audiences and those audiences respond to different types of content.

What may have been a hit on Twitter may not necessarily translate well to your Facebook audience.

Try turning that listicle into a video, and vice versa. Keep tabs on the types of content that your audience is clicking through and sharing and keep on iterating.

Pro Tip:

Email is no exception. Don’t just copy and paste your latest article into a broadcast. Your emails should hold a level of exclusivity that gives people a reason to subscribe, even if that means simply repurposing content by changing the format.

3. “Brands are what people say they are.” – @RicolaUSA

The media landscape is changing and we’re witnessing a shift in the brand/people relationship. The opinions of friends, family and peers are becoming more influential than ever and this is kind of a big deal.

Brands used to be what brands say they were. Brands are now what people say they are.

It makes sense: relationships are a two-way street. Think of your subscribers as co-authors of your brand story. Acknowledge their voice and find ways to invite collaboration. Allow them to take part in shaping your content. Then what you can expect from them becomes significantly greater.

Pro Tip:

Send out a survey to your subscribers to see what kind of content resonates with them the most. Inviting their feedback is a great way to build trust and gain insights into what’s working within your campaign. Data can reveal a lot about your reader’s behaviors, but only they can tell you the reasons behind it.

4. “Think like a startup.” – @AbsolutVodka

Why? That’s exactly it. Startups are all about the why. The brands that are succeeding are doing a really great job of not only describing what they do and how they do it, but why they do it in the first place.

Pro Tip:

Make sure your message comes across loud and clear on all of your subscriber touch points, from your blog to your landing page to the content within the emails themselves. You have a passion for your business, share it!

(Oh, and don’t be afraid to take a risk. Startups have an appetite for risks.)

5. “Build a community of advocates.” – @Hootsuite

The people on your list are more than just subscribers. They are individuals with valuable opinions and insights that are crucial to improving your business. By building relationships with them, you’re opening the doors to a much bigger conversation.

A good start is identifying those key members of your community. These are the people that are engaging with your brand and sharing your content on a frequent basis. Nurturing and empowering these relationships will help build a solid group of advocates who will then spread the #brandlove amongst their networks.

Pro Tip:

Salute your super fans! Whether it’s sharing user-generated content or simply giving them a shoutout on your blog, a little acknowledgement can go a long way.

6. “It’s all about that data.” – @Seventeen

Data. We love it. It can reveal things about your campaign that your gut just can’t tell you.

That’s right – we can no longer trust our guts to drive when and where we place our marketing dollars when all of this juicy data is easily within reach.

From the best subject line to the optimal time to send your emails, we’re always looking for ways to improve our campaigns. And one of the easiest and most effective ways to do so is through split-testing.

Pro Tip:

Testing doesn’t have to be costly or time consuming. Check out this post for painless ways to set up a split test and ideas that you can start implementing today.

7. “Put the user first.” – @Spotify

How are you creating an optimal experience for your subscribers?

Think about every touch point that they have – from your signup form and landing pages to your newsletters and blog. Each of these should have a consistent look and feel.

Links should work. Images should load. Subject lines should not be forgotten.  (Who hasn’t made these mistakes at least once?)

While these might seem like little things, they’re actually a huge part of creating a great user experience.

Pro Tip:

Always go back and test before you send. Trust us.

8: “GIFs express things better than words or smiley faces can.” – @Giphy

A GIF can speak 1000 words – and delight your subscribers. They also lend an element of delight to your emails. The next time you launch a campaign, try adding a dose of personality with an animated GIF.

Pro Tip:

Looking to create your own? We love tools like DSCO, Boomerang and GifGrabber. And be sure to follow us on Pinterest for more great ideas on how to use GIFs within your emails.

9. “To be successful, you can’t be everything to everyone.” – @Refinery29

Sometimes we become so focused on latching onto “the next big thing”, that we lose sight of our original goals. Not only can this become totally overwhelming, but it can severely diminish the quality of the content we put out.

Pro Tip:

Instead of trying to have it all, focus your efforts on perfecting what you do have.

If you’re a vegan dessert blogger, own that niche. Expanding out into the world of hors d’oeuvres and beyond might seem tempting, but the market might be saturated. Set your sights on being the go-to blog for vegan desserts and ensure that your content is on par.

#WhatsNext

Are you going to try out any of these tips? Were you at Social Media Week? Leave us a comment or send me a tweet @oliviadello to keep the conversation going!

The post 9 Things Email Marketers Can Learn From Social Media’s Biggest Names appeared first on Email Marketing Tips.



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MarketingSherpa Summit 2016 Wrap Up

MarketingSherpa Summit 2016 is in the books and we learned a ton. There’s a lot to digest in the day days worth of live blogs. So, I highlighted many of the key takeaways here.Related Articles
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  3. MarketingSherpa Summit 2016 Live Blog Day Two


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[#EmailChat Recap] 7 Tips For Creating Compelling Calls-to-Action

The call-to-action (or CTA, for short) is arguably the most important part of an email. It’s the difference between subscribers reading your emails and subscribers responding to your emails. How else would you get your readers to do what you want?

Since these seemingly small bits of text are actually quite a big deal, we asked the AWeber community to share their best advice for creating a call-to-action that counts.

From the best length and placement to the power words you should add to your email vocabulary, here’s 7 things we learned about CTAs that will blow your mind (or at least your click-through-rates):

1. It’s the difference between a loyal customer and a missed opportunity.

Key Takeaways:

  • Don’t miss out on an opportunity for more time with your subscribers. A good call-to-action should link out to relevant content or products.
  • Your CTA should be actionable. Make your reader want to do something!
  • Put yourself in your subscribers’ shoes: What would make you click?

2. Think beyond ‘Click Here.’

Key Takeaways:

  • Test everything from language to colors and placement.
  • Keep the focus on your subscriber with first-person language.
  • Copy that feels too aggressive is a turn-off. Keep things fun!

3. Keep things short and sweet.

Key Takeaways:

As a general rule, your CTA copy should be:

  • Short
  • Sweet
  • Specific

4. Where to place your CTA? The answer varies.

Key Takeaways:

  • Your subscribers are always thinking, “What’s in it for me?” Show them value before asking them to click through.
  • Your call-to-action should feel natural and flow with the rest of your email copy. Keep it focused.
  • Testing is key to find out the placement your subscribers will most likely respond to. It’s common to see calls-to-action at both the top and bottom of an email, but a good split test will reveal what’s right for you.

5. But we all agree, your call-to-action should stand out.

Key Takeaways:

  • Your copy should be clear and actionable.
  • Color plays a key role. Make sure it “pops.”
  • Play around with things like type and design. It all comes back to testing!

6. Want more ideas for testing?

Key Takeaways:

  • Color, size, placement, links vs. buttons… these are all easy things to test!
  • Make sure you keep track of what worked best and use it in your campaigns moving forward.
  • But whatever you’re testing, be sure to test one thing at a time.

7. Make note of these powerful call-to-action ideas.

Key Takeaways:

  • Experiment using “you” and “I” in your CTA copy. Give ownership to your readers.
  • Add a little personality with humor, quirky copy, etc.
  • Think like your subscriber. What would get you to click?

Coming Up

Thinking of using video in your email campaigns? Maybe you’re not sure where to start? Join us this Thursday, March 3 at 12pm ET for a special #emailchat on pairing video and email. We’ll be joined by Margot Mazur, Community Manager at Wistia, for some expert commentary.

Follow us on Twitter (@AWeber) to stay up-to-date with the latest news, resources and events.

How are you using calls-to-action? Have you tried any of these split testing ideas? Let us know in the comments!

 

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Friday, February 26, 2016

How to Use Thank You Pages to Convert Subscribers into Customers

The “thank you” page is one of the best places to convert subscribers into customers.

Here’s why:

Your thank you page (also known as a confirmation page) is the very first thing your new subscribers see after joining your email list – even before reading the very first email they get from you.

That makes it a prime opportunity to introduce them to your products or services, or move them deeper into your marketing funnel. (You know, strike while the iron is hot!)

At no other point will your subscribers be more engaged than in the seconds after they sign up.
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Surprisingly, the thank you page is also one of the most overlooked, misunderstood and underutilized tactics by marketers today. But creating a winning thank you page that converts isn’t that difficult.

Here’s how to do it.

Move beyond the basic thank you page.

To convert subscribers into customers using the thank you page, you have to move beyond simply saying “thank you” (although that’s important too).

Many email marketing providers provide you with a basic thank you page. (We offer one to our customers, too. See the example below.)

AWeber Basic Thank You Page

But you also have the option to direct your new subscribers to a custom thank you page on your own website or blog.

For the most part, creating a custom page on your website is pretty easy, especially if you’re using WordPress, Weebly or another hosted solution.

There are two main advantages of creating a custom thank you page on your own website or blog:

  1. It provides your new subscribers with a consistent experience because your thank you page looks like the rest of your website and has the same domain as the page where people are subscribing.
  2. You can control what content you put on your page. (This is where the biggest benefit. I’ll tell you why in a minute.)

Set expectations.

The moment someone subscribes, they’ll want to know “What happens now?”

You can’t assume that your subscribers are going to jump into their email inboxes right away to read your first email… Or that they’ll know what “from” address your emails will be coming from…. Or that they’re going to do whatever you want them to do in that first email.

Don’t keep them guessing or let them jump to their own conclusions. Set the expectation up front on your thank you page to help your new subscribers take action and stay engaged over time. To do so, make sure you answer these questions for them:

  • When do I get my first email?
  • What “from” name and email address will it come from?
  • What is the subject line going to say?
  • What’s inside the email?
  • How often will you email me?
  • What type of information will you be sending?

Using a video is also a helpful way to answer these questions for your new subscribers.

Give direction.

Once you’ve thanked your subscribers and set expectations, it’s time to provide some directions on what you want them to do next.

For example, if you’re using confirmed opt-in (or double opt-in), you’ll want to encourage them to confirm their subscription by clicking the link in their email. Using an image or video in this instance can help your new subscribers know what to look for in their inbox.

You can also ask them to add your email address to their address books to make sure your emails make it into their inbox.

Felicia Ricci, a vocal coach, uses her thank you page to not only thank her new subscribers, but spells out what they can expect next. I love the bulleted format, too – it makes it a lot easier to digest. And she also uses a video to provide a more personal feel.

Felicia Ricci Thank You Page

Here’s another great example from Ryan Robinson, an expert in freelancing and launching businesses. He uses confirmed opt-in. His thank you page does a great job of setting the expectation that they will receive an email asking them to confirm their subscription.  Ryan even takes it one step further by showing them what the email will look like in their inbox.

Ryan Robinson Thank You Page

If you’re an AWeber customer, here’s how to change your “thank you” page. You can even pass subscriber information through to your thank you page to make the experience even more personal.

And if you want to provide different messages to different types of subscribers, you can direct subscribers to different thank you pages based on choices on your sign up form.

Not an AWeber customer? Try it free for 30 days.

Convert subscribers using a thank you page.

Once you’ve welcomed your new subscribers and set expectations, now’s your chance to (a) help them move deeper into your marketing funnel or (b) introduce them to your products or services.

Move subscribers further down the funnel.

The truth is, not everyone is ready to buy the moment they sign up for your list. Some customers may take longer to make a purchase decision than others. By offering them an additional incentive, it helps them progress through your marketing funnel, better qualifying them as potential customers and moving them even closer towards making a purchase.

Not sure what to offer? Fortunately, incentives come in all sorts of formats, including ebooks, webinars, case studies, courses, consultations and more.

Pro tip: Using images and videos captures your new subscribers’ attention and increases the chance that they’ll take advantage of your incentive.

LeadPages, a landing page service, encourages new blog subscribers to join a webinar to learn how to quickly and easily grow your email list using their products:

LeadPages Thank You Page

Or you can follow in the footsteps of Chalene Johnson, a business and life coach, who also encourages new participants in her 30-day challenge to join her free webinar:

Chalene Johnson Thank You Page

Nomadic Matt, an online travel resource, offers his new blog subscribers a book so they can learn new hacks to make travel a little bit more affordable. This also helps better qualify his potential customers.

Nomadic Matt Thank You Page

By offering your new subscribers an incentive, it helps move them closer to making a purchase.

Sell your products or services to your new subscribers.

Now let’s say your marketing funnel is very short and your customers don’t need a lot of “buttering up” before they make a purchase. By introducing your products or services immediately after subscribing, you increase the chance that your new subscribers will learn about your offering and buy.

You can even use thank you pages after your customers have made a purchase to increase your average transaction amount. By upselling new customers to a more valuable offering, you increase the value of your customer. Offering companion offers allows you to bundle multiple, relevant products or services together.

While there are many ways to position your products and services on your thank you page, testimonials and social proof are two great ways to demonstrate the value of your products and services to your new subscribers. It provides credibility and instills trust in your products and services.

Fizzle, an online business training service, uses a personalized note from its co-founder along with testimonials (and photos!) from a few of its customers to make a personal connection and instill trust in its services:

Fizzle Thank You Page

Lewis Howes, an entrepreneurial coach, invites new subscribers buy his book and to subscribe to his School of Greatness podcast. He uses images of the book and podcast as well as videos introducing his purpose for the School of Greatness.

Lewis Howes Thank You Page

Even if you don’t have something to sell, a conversion-optimized thank you page can provide new subscribers with additional information and direction.

Build more revenue with thank you pages.

If you’re serious about monetizing your email marketing, you need to start leveraging your thank you page to turn new subscribers into customers.

How are you using your thank you page to convert? Share in the comments below.

Not an AWeber customer yet? Start your 30-day free trial today.

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A Field Guide to Reviewing Email Marketing Data, Part 3

In the first two parts of our explorative email marketing field guide, we went over deliverability, design, content and messaging. In the last, we’ll talk about a lesser known strategy that elevates your email game to a whole new level. It takes it out of the hands of artistry and into the realm of science – which executives will be thrilled about.Related Articles
  1. A Field Guide to Reviewing Email Marketing Data, Part I
  2. A Field Guide to Reviewing Email Marketing Data, Part 2
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Thursday, February 25, 2016

A Field Guide to Reviewing Email Marketing Data, Part 2

This series isn’t just about identifying what went wrong, it’s about knowing what to look for and how to fix it.Related Articles
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  3. An Overview of Benchmark's Email Marketing Manuals


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Wednesday, February 24, 2016

test

SEO 101: Rank Higher on Google

free webinar

Hosted by Kimber Powers, Marketing Training Specialist, VerticalResponse

Wednesday, February 17, 11AM – Noon PST

© 2016, Jaime Borschuk. All rights reserved.

The post test appeared first on Vertical Response Blog.

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A Field Guide to Reviewing Email Marketing Data, Part I

o help you sound brilliant in your meeting, I’ve whipped together a field guide for key things you should be looking for during your data review.Related Articles
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Tuesday, February 23, 2016

The Best Ways to Promote Your Small Business Event

From ribbon-cuttings to charity auctions, every small business wants to draw a customer-friendly crowd to its event. One undisputed benefit of hosting a live event: reaching your target audience in real-time. That’s why Cathy Mueller, executive director of Mapping Your Future, plans gatherings for soon-to-be college students to educate them about the higher education process.

“We might live in a digital world, but there is no better way to create and maintain customer relationships than a face-to-face meeting,” Mueller says.

The key, Mueller says, is to match your time and energy with your needs. “It takes time and effort to plan the event, so make sure you have the resources to devote to its planning and execution,” she says. “You’ll also want to pick a time that’s appropriate for your customers.”

For example, a new athletic store should schedule a ribbon-cutting around March Madness or a local sporting event. Once you have the basics figured out, it’s time to send out the invites. Here are a few tips and tactics to spread the word quickly and easily.

Use social media tools designed for events

Of course, social media offers a free and easy way to let your customers know about an upcoming event, but Mueller says small businesses can do more than just mention the date, time and place.

You can create a Facebook event or if you have a paper invitation you’re going to send out through the mail, take a picture of it and post it on Instagram or Pinterest. Twitter-based tools such as TweetMyEvents or TweetVite are also a great way to get the word out, Mueller says. Remember, VerticalResponse’s parent company, Deluxe, has social media marketing services that include Facebook to help you promote your event.

Don’t ignore traditional media

While many small businesses gravitate towards social media now, you shouldn’t overlook the ‘old school’ newspaper or television station in your town, Mueller says.

“Keep in mind, not all of your customers use social media, so it’s important to utilize several media vehicles,” she says. “A lot of newspapers and television stations still have community calendars that you can include your event on for free.”

You can also send a press release to local journalists who might be interested in covering the event.

Partner with a non-profit

By teaming up with a non-profit, your event will attract new guests while helping the community, a win-win strategy according to Mueller.

“This collaboration provides an opportunity to draw new and existing customers to the event, and it shows your small business is interested in the success of the local community,” she adds.

Pick a charity that fits your business. For example, a restaurant might team up with their local food bank or soup kitchen.

Create a calendar invitation

Once your event details are set, you’ll want to send an email to invite your loyal customers and remind them to attend.

“Utilize your company email list when you’re having an event, but don’t overwhelm your customers with invite after invite,” she says. “It’s okay to remind your customers about the event as the date draws close, but keep it short and simple.”

Send out a calendar invite, so the event will automatically go into your customers’ daily schedule.

“Anytime you can connect with your customers on a personal level, you win,” Mueller says. It might not turn into massive sales on the day of the event, but customers will remember the experience and will turn to your company when they need products or services in the future.

Ready to host your small business event? Send your next event email for free using VerticalResponse.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in January 2014 and has been revamped and updated for accuracy and relevance.

© 2016, Lisa Furgison. All rights reserved.

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[Podcast] Episode 010: What is Influencer Marketing?

Today on the Ask Me About Email Marketing podcast, we’re covering a hot topic in digital marketing – influencers.

It seems like 2016 is the year of content curation and influencer marketing. Most annual prediction posts claimed these two areas of focus as important trends to watch. There are many ways that brands, businesses, and entrepreneurs are using influencers to help grow their subscriber base and capture the attention of new prospects.

To get to the bottom of this concept of influencer marketing, which is actually not very new, I roped our CMO, Erik Harbison, into the recording booth for a conversation. In this episode, we discussed influencer, advocate, and referral marketing, and how you can leverage these to expand your reach and enhance your email marketing campaigns.

Here are a few things you’ll learn in this episode:

  • What is influencer marketing?
  • What’s the difference between influencers and advocates?
  • How do you find influencers and advocates?
  • How can you activate influencers and advocates?

Listen to this episode below:

Here are the links mentioned in this episode:

What do you think about influencer and advocate marketing?

Ready to ask a question? Visit aweber.com/podcast to drop us a line!

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Kyle James: Coupon Kick Off

Kyle James has been helping shoppers save money for more than a decade.Related Articles
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MarketingSherpa Summit 2016 Live Blog Day Two

Live blogging day two of MarketingSherpa Summit 2016.Related Articles
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Monday, February 22, 2016

Understanding the Marketing Funnel: 5 Strategies to Improve Your Email Marketing

Imagine spending hours writing the best email subject line in history but leaving no time to write the content of your email. That’d be bad planning, right? Although you have an amazing subject line, it doesn’t really matter. You’re missing a huge part of your email: the content.

Without planning, this same thing can happen with your overall email marketing strategy. You could spend hours designing and writing a compelling email series that explains the amazing benefits of your product. But if you send your email series to subscribers that aren’t ready to buy your product yet, you’re wasting your time.

You need a start-to-finish plan for connecting with your subscribers.

Thankfully, there’s a tool that can help you do exactly that. It’s called the marketing funnel.

What is the Marketing Funnel?

The marketing funnel is a tool that helps you visualize the buyer journey, or the path a prospect takes as they become familiar with your company, from introduction to conversion (and hopefully beyond).

A funnel is used to represent the buyer journey, because a prospect either descends into the next stage of the funnel when their interest increases or they exit the funnel when they lose interest. A certain number of prospects enter the funnel, fewer end up purchasing and even fewer absolutely love your product (that’s why the funnel is wider at the top).

For example, if 1,000 prospects visit your website, 20 of them might purchase your product and perhaps two of them will love your company enough to tell their friends about you.

Because there will always be prospects that exit your funnel, you should try to increase the number of prospects that enter the top of your marketing funnel and decrease the percentage of prospects that exit each stage of your funnel.

To accomplish this, have a conversion strategy for each stage of your marketing funnel. What are the stages of the marketing funnel? There are five: awareness, consideration, conversion, loyalty and advocacy.

marketing-funnel

And the best part of the marketing funnel? You can utilize email marketing during every stage. That’s one of the beauties of email. Unlike advertisements or other less personal marketing channels, with email you are in control of when and how you interact with your subscribers throughout their buyer journey.

5 Email Marketing Strategies to Take Your Subscribers from Awareness to Advocacy

Now that you understand what the marketing funnel is, I’ll describe the stages of the marketing funnel and give you email marketing strategies for each stage.

1. Awareness

Goal: To show the value of your product or service, provide educational content and build a relationship with your subscriber.
Do: Educate, be helpful.
Don’t: Sell, give specific details of your products/services too much, try to get your subscribers to purchase.

At the top of your marketing funnel is awareness.  During this stage, prospects that are strangers to your brand and company learn who you are. Focus on establishing yourself as a thought leader within your industry. This is your opportunity to start building a trust relationship with your prospects.

Since prospects in this stage of the funnel don’t know the value of your product yet, they won’t be engaged by product specific content or sales materials. Instead, you should demonstrate the value of your product through free educational content.

Not sure what free content to send in your emails? Let’s say you’re a personal trainer who’s trying to acquire more customers with email. Here are some ideas for content you could include in an automated email series to your subscribers:

  • Blog posts about nutrition or fitness
  • A food tracking calendar worksheet
  • An ebook that explains the health benefits of being fit
  • A live 30-minute workout webinar

Fitness guru Betty Rocker builds a relationship with her subscribers, shows her expertise and demonstrates the value of her services by giving her subscribers a free 30-day exercise program.

For 30 days straight, subscribers receive a motivational email with a video workout and a written description of the workout. Talk about providing free, valuable content.

Screen Shot 2016-02-21 at 11.35.46 PM

2. Consideration

Goal: To build a deeper relationship with your subscriber, introduce them to your product/service and nurture them with contextual or targeted content.
Do: Provide educational content tailored to your subscriber, deliver content that is product specific, be helpful.
Don’t: Be too salesy, send content that isn’t applicable to your subscriber.

Once a subscriber graduates from the awareness stage of the marketing funnel, they enter the consideration stage. In the consideration stage, a subscriber is willing to consider your company and products. They are interested in learning more about you.

Since you know more about your subscriber in this stage than you did during the awareness stage, you can send them more targeted content that addresses their specific pain points. By doing this, you’re demonstrating that you provide the solution to your subscriber’s problems.

Want to know what kind of content to send your subscribers during the consideration stage? Let’s imagine that you are an online fitness instructor trying to get more leads to consider purchasing your 90-day workout program. Here are a few examples of content you could include in your emails:

  • A case study showing how fit a customer is after using your program
  • A live yoga webinar
  • A blog post called “How to Get Muscular Arms in 60 Days or Less”
  • A 15-day core workout email course

In this email, Nerd Fitness includes a case study from a customer who saw amazing fitness results by completing the Nerd Fitness Academy. The case study is appropriate during the consideration stage, because it relates to subscribers’ interests (fitness) and introduces subscribers to the product (Nerd Fitness Academy) while showing the value of that product.

Screen Shot 2016-02-21 at 11.58.35 PM

3. Conversion

Goal: To convince your subscriber to purchase.
Do: Talk about the benefits of your product/service, show off your product/service, offer discounts and promotions to convince subscribers to purchase, create a sense of urgency to compel subscribers to purchase right away.
Don’t: Overwhelm subscribers with sales assets and sales calls.

It has finally arrived: decision time. Once your subscriber knows the value of your product and you have educated them on the product itself through the use of case studies, webinars, blog posts and other educational content, they are ready to decide whether or not to purchase.

At this point in your marketing funnel, you can start talking about why your product and service is better than your competitors’ and why it’s perfect for your prospect. Focus on the benefits of your product/service rather than just explaining features.

Here are a few tactics you can use to convince your subscribers to purchase:

  • Invite subscribers to a sales webinar where you show them your product/service and tell them the benefits.
  • Create an autoresponder email series with five emails that each describe a different benefit of your product/service.
  • Offer a free trial or give away samples so that prospects can see the benefits for themselves.
  • Send subscribers a broadcast email that offers a sale or discount for purchasing within a certain timeframe.

By offering discounts and deals via email, Out of Print creates a sense of urgency for their subscribers. If subscribers are interested in purchasing but hadn’t made the final step yet, this email convinces them that now is the perfect time to take action.

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4. Loyalty

Goal: To retain your customers and instill loyalty by delighting subscribers with helpful content and awesome service.
Do: Give helpful information, send educational content relevant to your customers.
Don’t: Stop interacting with your customers or adding value.

Once a prospect becomes a customer, you may be tempted to pat yourself on the back and move on to the next prospect. However, forgetting about your customers is a bad idea.

Unless you have a plan for developing customer loyalty, you’ll probably lose many of your customers, wasting a lot of your prior marketing efforts during the earlier stages of your funnel.

Repeat customers and longtime customers are too valuable to ignore. So what kind of email content increases loyalty and retention?

Let’s say you have an online coffee store. You sell subscriptions to your coffee-of-the-month club, and you don’t want your coffee-of-the-month members to lose interest and cancel their subscription. Here are a few ideas for valuable content you could include in your emails to increase retention:

  • A monthly 15-minute webinar that describes the coffee-of-the-month and gives coffee brewing best practices.
  • A survey that asks customers how happy they are with the coffees they are receiving and what other kinds of coffee they’d like to get.
  • An ebook about the history of coffee.
  • A 20 percent discount to customers that purchase a yearly subscription of your coffee-of-the-month club.

To retain their customers and encourage loyalty, Canva sends educational emails to teach their customers how to use Canva.

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 5. Advocacy

Goal: To turn your customers into fans who talk about your company and refer you to their friends.
Do: Connect with your loyal customers, keep delighting your customers with awesome content and service.
Don’t: Forget about your customers.

Advocacy happens when your customers become something more than customers: they become fans. Not only have they purchased from you before, but they’ve probably purchased again or continue to pay for your services. And now they love you. They tell their friends about you and brag about you on social media.

Bringing subscribers to this stage of the marketing funnel is extremely valuable. Why? Because the most effective marketing is referral marketing. When your friend tells you a certain product is awesome, you are much more likely to purchase that product because you trust your friend.

What are some ways to use email to turn your customers into raving fans?

  • Identify customers that love you and send them an email asking them to refer you to their friends.
  • Include a survey in an email to learn how you could improve your product/service.
  • Start an affiliate or loyalty program where customers get incentives for referring you.

To make their subscribers feel special, Godiva offers discounts to their exclusive rewards members.

The value of Godiva’s email below is twofold. First, Godiva delights their valued customers with special deals. Second, by offering a one-day deal, they create a sense of urgency that compels their subscribers to purchase right away.

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What Now?

Now that you understand each stage of the marketing funnel and how you can use email marketing to move your subscribers deeper into your funnel, go ahead and plan your own email strategy to guide your subscribers through each stage of the funnel.

By developing your email strategy with the marketing funnel in mind, you’ll convert more prospects into customers and more customers into fans, which means more money for your business. Yay!

Not an AWeber customer yet? Start your 30-day free trial today!

The post Understanding the Marketing Funnel: 5 Strategies to Improve Your Email Marketing appeared first on Email Marketing Tips.



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MarketingSherpa Summit 2016 Live Blog Day 1

Live blogging day one of MarketingSherpa Summit 2016. Stay tuned for updates throughout the day.Related Articles
  1. Benchmark Email To Live Blog MarketingSherpa Summit 2016
  2. How Live Chat Software Is Instrumental to Small Business Success
  3. Crafting the Proper Apology Email for a Print Mistake


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Friday, February 19, 2016

[#EmailChat Recap] Email Marketing Best Practices – The Dos and Don’ts You Need To Know

New to email marketing? Or maybe you’re a seasoned pro looking to share the tips you’ve learned along your journey. Either way, yesterday’s #emailchat was the place to be.

We asked the AWeber community to share their tips and guidelines for sticking to email marketing best practices. Josh, our Best Practices Manager, was there to share his expert advice with everyone. From subject lines to responsive email, we covered the spectrum.

Missed out on the chat? Here are the 7 email marketing best practices that everyone should know:

1. There are lots of ways to grow a healthy email list.

Key Takeaways:

  • Incentives are a great way to get people to join your list. (Get inspiration here and here.)
  • Test different types of sign up forms to find your conversion sweet spot.
  • Be upfront about the types of content and frequency you’ll be sending.

2. There’s no right or wrong time to send.

Key Takeaways:

  • Testing is key to finding the optimal date and send time.
  • Know your audience!
  • Keep subscribers in the loop so they know when to expect your emails.

3. Email frequency: there’s no magic number.

Key Takeaways:

  • Think about the type of content you’re sending. When does it make most sense for you to send?
  • Set expectations with your lists about how often they will hear from you.
  • Check out this recent blog post for more great tips!

4. The ideal subject line? Short and sweet.

Key Takeaways:

  • Optimize your subject lines to get subscribers to click.
  • Short and concise subject lines are a winning combination.
  • Think about how your subject line displays on a mobile inbox.

5. Test before you send!

Key Takeaways:

  • Test.
  • Test.
  • Test.

6. Your metrics depend on your goals.

Key Takeaways:

  • List size, open rate, unsubscribes… all of these metrics are important!
  • Keep an eye on your spam rate!
  • Set goals for every email campaign.

7. Take note of these “email rules.”

Key Takeaways:

  • Set expectations for your content and stay consistent!
  • Whether it’s your sign up form or your email copy, never forget your call-to-action. (Here’s how to write a killer one.)
  • Never buy an email list. Ever.

What’s Next

We’re back next week with an all-new #emailchat! Join our email experts as we talk calls-to-action next Thursday, February 25 at 12 pm ET. Help spread the word:

Follow us on Twitter (@AWeber) to stay updated on the latest news, updates and resources. See you next week!

The post [#EmailChat Recap] Email Marketing Best Practices – The Dos and Don’ts You Need To Know appeared first on Email Marketing Tips.



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Mobile Marketing Words To Know

With U.S. consumers spending 2.8 hours per day on smartphones and the number of mobile-only internet users now exceeding desktop-only users, it’s worth considering how connecting with customers on mobile could benefit your business.

Whether you just started to get the hang of email marketing, or you became a pro back in the 90’s, you’ll notice mobile marketing is not dramatically different from email marketing. It’s like learning Spanish and then realizing you can also understand quite a bit of Italian. Speaking of language, we pulled together this list of the most important mobile marketing words to know. For a complete list, check out the glossary provided by the Mobile Marketing Association.

Acquisition Rate: Percentage of respondents who opted in to participate in a mobile initiative/campaign. To calculate acquisition rate, take the total number of participants and divide by total audience.

Alerts: Notifications, typically in the form of a text or multimedia message, containing time-sensitive information (event details, weather, news, services updates) that are pushed to a mobile subscriber who has opted-in to receive this information. Note: If the mobile subscriber has not opted in to receive said information, the notification would be considered SPAM.

Application: Software solutions that power the business logic for mobile marketing initiative(s).

Bandwidth: A measurement of how much data can be pushed through a connection. The measurement is based on the number of bits per second (bps), kilobits per second (kbps), or megabits per second (mbps).

Call to Action (CTA): A statement or instruction, typically promoted in print, web, TV, radio, on-portal, or other forms of media (often embedded in advertising), that explains to a mobile subscriber how to respond to an opt-in for a particular promotion or mobile initiative, which is typically followed by a notice.

Carrier: A company that provides wireless telecommunications services.

Click-through: The process that takes a mobile subscriber to a jump or landing page once the mobile subscriber has clicked on a link.

Click-through Rate (CTR): A way of measuring the success of an online or mobile advertising campaign. To calculate CTR, take the number of users who clicked on an ad on a Web page and divide by the number of times the ad was delivered (impressions).

Common Short Code (CSC): Short numeric numbers (typically 4-6 digits) to which text messages can be sent from a mobile phone. Wireless subscribers send text messages to common short codes with relevant keywords to access a wide variety of mobile content.

Confirmed opt-in: The process used for verifying a mobile subscriber’s intention, and for gaining the subscriber’s explicit agreement to participate in a mobile program/initiative.

Cost per Thousand: This metric is used to apply costs to advertising banners for websites and other Internet-based advertisements. The fee is calculated based on the number of impressions that would occur when users view the ads.

Coupon: A ticket, message, and/or document that can be exchanged for a financial discount on a product or service.

Data collection: The process by which a marketer collects mobile subscribers’ personally identifiable information.

Direct to Consumer (D2C): The services or products delivered to an end consumer via a “provider.” The provider could be a third party, or direct from the company who is orchestrating the sale of the product or service.

Dedicated short code: The process of running only one service on a common short code at any given time.

Double opt-in: The process of confirming a mobile subscriber’s wish to participate in a mobile program by requesting the subscriber to opt-in twice, prior to engaging the subscriber. Double opt-in is a requirement for many types of mobile communications.

Email opt-in: Inviting a customer (via email) to opt in( in other words, request) to receive mobile messages from your organization.

End User: This is the person who actually uses the product or service that is provided. The end user is sometimes referred to as the consumer as well.

Free to End User (FTEU): An FTEU program is any program to which the subscriber opts-in, with the result that the subscriber receives Mobile Terminated (MT) SMS/MMS messages for which they do not incur any premium or standard messaging charges from their wireless carrier. The subscribers may interact with the service by sending SMS/MMS messages (including, but not limited to, messages for the purpose of opt-in, opt-out and requesting help). The wireless carrier may, at their discretion, charge the subscriber at standard messaging rates for Mobile Originated (MO) messages to the program.

Handset: Term used in reference to a mobile device, or mobile terminal.

Impressions: A business metric for counting the number of times mobile subscribers have viewed a particular page, mobile advertisement on a mobile internet site or embedded within a text message or similar mobile medium.

Information on Demand (IOD): Content delivered in the form of an Alert. Subscriber receives updates of weather, traffic, horoscopes, jokes of the day, etc. via SMS text, at a predetermined time and frequency.

Keyword: A word or name used to distinguish a targeted message within a short code service.

Landing Page: A secondary page to which a user is directed when they click on an ad, where they are provided additional information and/or a mechanism to make a purchase. The user is often driven to a landing page via an ad banner, link or other offer-related communication.

Location Based Services (LBS): A range of services provided to mobile subscribers based on the geographical location of their handsets within their cellular network. Handsets must be equipped with a position-location technology such as GPS to enable the geographical-trigger. Location-based marketing messages could include subscribers receiving a targeted offer upon entering a certain geographic vicinity. 

Messaging: Collectively, SMS and MMS messages sent to mobile phones/devices. This definition does not include advertisements delivered on WAP sites or advertisements delivered into games on mobile devices.

Mobile app: A computer program designed to run on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers.

Mobile native apps: A mobile application in contrast to software applications that run on desktop computers, and to web applications which run in mobile web browsers rather than directly on the mobile device.

Mobile originated message (MO, MOM): An SMS/MMS sent from a mobile device.

Mobile terminated message (MT, MTM): An SMS/MMS message received by a mobile device.

Mobile web: A channel for delivery of web content, which offers and formats content to users in awareness of the mobile context. The mobile context is characterized by the nature of personal user information needs (e.g., updating your blog, accessing travel information, receiving news update), constraints of mobile phones (e.g., screen size, keypad input), and special capabilities (e.g., location, connection type such as 3G or WLAN).

Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS): Standard for telephony messaging systems that enable the sending of messages that include multimedia objects (images, audio, video, rich text).

Non-Personally Identifiable Information (NPII): Data that provides metrics and statistics, but does not provide specific information to contact or identify a specific end user.

Push message: A mobile app notification that delivers information directly to a mobile subscriber’s home screen, pushing them into the app when the message is clicked.

Opt-in: The process where a subscriber provides explicit consent, after receiving Notice from the Mobile Marketer.

Opt-out: The process through which Subscriber revokes consent after receiving Notice from the Mobile Marketer. An example of an Opt-out process includes, but is not limited to, a Subscriber replying to an SMS message with the phrase “stop.”

Page View: Unit of measure that tracks the number of times users load a particular web or WAP site/page.

Pull Messaging: Any content sent to the wireless subscriber upon request, shortly thereafter, on a one-time basis. For example, when a customer requests the local weather from a WAP-capable browser, the content of the response, including any related advertising, is Pull Messaging.

Push Messaging: Any content sent by or on behalf of advertisers and marketers to a wireless mobile divide at a time other than when the subscriber requests it. Push Messaging includes audio, short message service (SMS) messages, e-mail, multimedia messaging, cell broadcast, picture messages, surveys, or any other pushed advertising or content.

QR Code: A specific matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code) that is readable by dedicated QR barcode readers and camera telephones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on white background. The information encoded by be text, URL, or other data.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO): The process of affecting the visibility of a website or a web page in a search engine’s unpaid results – often referred to as “natural,” “organic,” or “earned” results.

SMS Message or Text Message: A message sent via a Short Message Service. 160 characters in length and most commonly referred to as a text (or txt).

Subscriber (mobile subscriber): A customer that enters into an agreement with a carrier. Once executed, the agreement requires the carrier to provide wireless telecommunication services to the customer.

Single Opt-in: When a mobile subscriber opts in to a program via a subscriber-initiated message to a service provider as prompted by the terms of the program. For example, when a subscriber texts JOIN HEALTH ALERTS to a short code, that subscriber is opting in to that service.

Smartphone: A handheld device that integrates mobile phone capabilities with the more common features of a handheld computer or PDA. Smartphones allow users to store information, e-mail, install programs, along with using a mobile phone in one device.

Targeting: Various criteria to make the delivery of a mobile advertisement more precise (age, gender, geographical, day parting, household income, etc.).

Tracking: The ability to assess the performance of a mobile campaign.

Unsubscribe: The process of opting out of a mobile subscription service/application.

Here you can learn how to build your audience and connect with customers through email and your own mobile app. For further reference, other frequently asked questions about mobile apps are answered here.

Ready to explore your mobile marketing options a bit further? We’ve launched a brand new service that makes building mobile apps scalable and affordable. If you’d like to learn more or get early access to our new mobile apps program, click through below, and we’ll be in touch shortly.

Learn More

© 2016, Linzi Breckenridge. All rights reserved.

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