by Marketing Manager | E-Mail Marketing, How To's & Info you can use, Internet Marketing, Lead Generation, Marketing Tips
There’s no denying that email marketing is effective, but it only works if you have a list of qualified and engaged subscribers who are eager to read your content. Sounds easy, right? A lot of businesses have email lists that have stagnated because they’re not doing anything to attract new subscribers. They’re not sure where to start and as a result, the people who visit their website aren’t taking the extra step to opt in for emails. What can you do about it? The answer is right in front of you. All you need is to make it easy for people to sign up and then give them a reason to fork over their email address. Here are 9 things to try. #1: The Pop-up Opt-In I know… I know. Pop-ups have a bad rep and if you use them improperly, they can be a real nuisance. A lot of people use pop-up blockers, and you might worry that a pop-up won’t be effective as a means of attracting new subscribers. The key to using a pop-up effectively is to time its appearance to the moment when the person reading your content is most likely to opt in. You can run A/B tests to figure that out. #2: The Slide-In If you don’t like a true pop-up but like the idea of having your opt-in form appear at an opportune moment, you may want to consider a slide-in instead. They provide many of the same benefits of a pop-up without the stigma. Your slide-in can be timed to appear at the moment when a site visitor has read...
by Marketing Manager | E-Mail Marketing, How To's & Info you can use
Wouldn’t it be great if nobody ever unsubscribed from your list? It’s easy to fantasize about a world where every subscriber is a paying customer, and everybody loves you and your company forever. That is a fantasy. Unsubscribes are a part of life in the world of email marketing. Sometimes people unsubscribe because they’re not in the market for your products or services. That can be a good thing because you won’t be paying to send email to people who aren’t interested in what you’re selling. But sometimes, people unsubscribe for other reasons. They could be in the market for your products – and they might buy them if your emails were engaging. If you have a high unsubscribe rate – the all-industry average is 0.1% — and you want to change that, here are some methods to reduce your rate and keep your subscribers on the hook. Stop Sending So Many (or So Few) Emails How often are you emailing your subscribers? There’s a sweet spot that allows you to stay on their minds without irritating them. I’ve sometimes subscribed to a list that emails me every day. That’s too much and I’m likely to unsubscribe, if only to keep my inbox under control. I’ve also had the reverse experience, where I sign up and the emails come so infrequently that by the time a message arrives, I’ve forgotten why I subscribed in the first place. So, where is that sweet spot? I think the magic number is once a week. Send your emails on the same day and at the same time and subscribers will know what...
by Marketing Manager | Blogging, Content Marketing, E-Mail Marketing, Marketing Tips, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Video Marketing
Digital marketing isn’t optional. The fact remains, though, that only 84% of businesses have a content marketing strategy as of early 2021. 16% don’t. If you’re one of the people who has put off digital marketing or done it haphazardly, it’s time to get serious about it. You may have claimed your Google My Business listing – and that counts as digital marketing. It’s also the bare minimum you can do. So, with that in mind, let’s talk about why every small business – including yours – needs digital marketing, and which marketing strategies we recommend. What is Digital Marketing? Some small business owners don’t understand what digital marketing is and that’s part of the problem, so, let’s start with a definition. Digital marketing is the sum of any efforts you make to promote your business online. It may include: Email marketing Blogging Search engine advertising (PPC) Social media posting Social media advertising Business listings SEO Video marketing The key to making the most of digital marketing is choosing the strategies that are most likely to deliver the results you want. Target Local Keywords The first thing you need to recognize is that in the world of digital marketing, everything is local. If you try to compete for the same keywords used by big corporations with huge marketing budgets, you’re going to lose. You’ll get far more bang for your buck if you think local. Local keywords should be a combination of industry-specific words that identify what your business does and local words that let people know where you are. For example, a dentist in Minneapolis might target words...
by Marketing Manager | E-Mail Marketing, How To's & Info you can use, Internet Marketing, Marketing, Marketing Tips
There’s no denying that direct response marketing – when done right – is hugely effective. The problem is that It is often attempted in ways that are Ill-conceived and poorly executed. When that happens, the results aren’t good, and people give up on it. I’m here to help. What does it take to create a direct response marketing campaign that delivers results? Here’s what you need to know. What is Direct Response Marketing? Let’s start with the basics and explain what direct response marketing is. Direct response marketing is a type of marketing that is designed to provoke an immediate response. An example that most people have probably seen is a sales page for a product. The page might include benefits of the product, customer testimonials, and a personal story that’s engaging and gripping. In most cases, direct response copywriting includes multiple attempts to get the person being targeted to take the desired action. The action might be buying a product, subscribing to a service, or filling out a lead form. When it’s done well, direct response marketing should generate leads and sales at a higher rate than other types of marketing. What Are the Elements of an Effective Direct Response Marketing Campaign? There are four main elements that any effective direct response marketing campaign must have. Here they are. A personalized message for a targeted audience. The only way direct response marketing can be effective is when it is targeted to a carefully chosen audience. That way, the content can be personalized to address the needs and pain points of anybody who reads or watches it. Content that...
by Marketing Manager | E-Mail Marketing, Marketing Tips
Is your email open rate low? If the answer’s yes, then it may be because your bulk emails are being marked as spam. Nobody likes spam. Once your emails are flagged, they’re far more likely to miss your subscribers’ inboxes and land in the junk folders. There’s no denying that’s a bummer. The good news? There’s a process you can use to increase the likelihood that your emails will reach their intended recipients. It might seem involved but once you’ve done it, you should see an increase in your open rates – and it will be easy to maintain your non-spam status going forward. Step 1: List Maintenance It’s common for business owners to believe that having a lot of subscribers is better than having a few subscribers, but that’s not true. You’re better off with a small list of engaged readers than a large list of people who mostly ignore your emails. Start by identifying inactive subscribers, meaning people who haven’t engaged with any of your emails in the past 90 to 180 days. Then: Send one last email to try to reengage them After a few days, delete any addresses that remain inactive Deleting inactive subscribers helps because it minimizes the chances that people who don’t want to be on your list will mark your emails as spam. You’ll also eliminate invalid or abandoned mailboxes where incoming emails are labeled as spam. Finally, you’ll increase your engagement rate and that plays a role in how email providers flag spam. Going forward, it’s a good idea to review your list regularly – once every two months should be...
by Marketing Manager | Content Marketing, E-Mail Marketing, Marketing, Marketing Tips
Even though it has now been around for decades, email marketing is still one of the least expensive, most effective forms of digital marketing. That’s good news because it means you can connect with your target audience without breaking the bank. You already know the basics of email marketing, but you may not know how to get the most for your email marketing investment. Here are tips from email marketing pros to help you. Maintain Your List Email list hygiene is a must if you want to avoid wasting money. Some people aren’t going to open your emails. Others may abandon email addresses or provide fake addresses when they complete your opt-in form. Either way, cleaning up your list can help you save money. You can do it by using a two-step subscription process where leads must enter their email address and then confirm the subscription by clicking a link. Research shows that this process increases open rates. For existing subscribers, send an email asking them to opt in for further emails – and delete anybody who doesn’t respond. Send Emails Regularly You may have heard this tip before, but a lot of companies follow it imperfectly and it hurts them. When experts suggest sticking to a regular email schedule, they don’t mean “send an email two or three times a week and don’t worry too much about the timing.” What they mean is that you should create an email schedule where emails are sent on the same days, and at the same times, every week. If you decide you want your B2B emails to show up at...
