Monday 29 February 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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21 Ideas on How to Promote Your Blog

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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!

 

The post [#EmailChat Recap] 7 Tips For Creating Compelling Calls-to-Action appeared first on Email Marketing Tips.



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23 hidden ways to use Twitter advanced search

search, SEO
Every second, on average, around 6,000 tweets are sent on Twitter, which translates to over 500 million tweets per day! Did you know you could search every single one of them? (Plus the multi-million profiles attached to them!) Twitter has an amazing, yet somewhat little-known Advanced Search tool to help you find exactly what we’re looking for. Looking to find your next customers? Advanced Search can help. Want to measure the happiness of your current customers? Yep, Advanced Search is what you need. Advanced Search is a goldmine for marketers and small business owners. In this post I’m super excited to share some top tips…

This story continues at The Next Web

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How to Implement Social Customer Care Across Networks

Social Customer Care Across Networks.001

Across social channels, 7 in 8 messages to brands go unanswered within 72 hours. This is a giant missed opportunity for businesses to respond to customer inquiries, solve challenges and develop long-term relationships.

To provide noteworthy 24/7 customer service, brands need to offer world-class assistance on multiple social channels, not just one. Customer care across networks will help generate awareness and increase social media engagement—concurrently supporting your existing marketing and PR efforts.

Start adapting an overarching approach to social customer service by understanding where to invest and what tools each network offers.

Where Is Your Audience?

Your social customer care efforts are only beneficial if your team is present on the channels where your audience is most active. Demographics play a large role in understanding where your audience is most engaged. Before investing, consult existing data to determine where your efforts will have the most impact.

Use social listening to understand what types of conversations are happening on each network. Examine your website analytics to see which social platforms are driving the most traffic to your web properties. Analyze the networks that are bringing the most engaged traffic by noting page visits and time on site.

Inform Your Audience

Most consumers recognize Twitter and Facebook as hubs for social customer service. This is why brands have invested heavily in both platforms, with many companies creating dedicated Twitter support handles. Stand out among competitors by replying to customer messages wherever those messages are.

Inform your audience that you will be using a specific network to field social customer service messages by announcing this change in the bio of your account. Post information on how customers can connect and when they can expect a response.

Take Advantage of Network Features

It is important to understand the features on each social network that lend themselves to facilitating customer care. Sure, answering a sensitive complaint on Instagram with a comment that leads people to a company email works—but did you know that the network allows brands to discuss in-depth issues via private message?

Identify the features on each channel that can assist with lengthier discussions between consumers and your customer service team.

Instagram

The Instagram Direct feature allows a customer and brand to communicate through text paired with an image or video. Users can send private messages to one another with or without following each other. Once the recipient accepts the message, the Instagram users can communicate with each other freely by using text, photos or videos.

This feature is similar to messaging apps like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Your brand should use Instagram Direct as a more personal communication channel. Create custom photos for Instagram Direct, and use them as templates to answer frequently asked questions.

As with any other network, your brand should always be monitoring and responding to comments on Instagram posts. Rebdolls, an online fashion retailer, posts its latest arrivals on the social network. The brand uses the channel to respond to inquiries and seamlessly direct shoppers to its website.

Screen Shot 2016-02-26 at 11.10.40 AM

Taking the time out to respond to followers on Instagram increases brand engagement and encourages others to ask questions and comment on posts. Responding with a strong, distinct brand voice helps Rebdolls stand out among competitors and remain top of mind for consumers.

YouTube

Video is a powerful medium to deliver social customer care. Since the majority of questions asked on social media are repetitive, video can help scale the process. Save time by leveraging members of your customer service team to produce videos that address frequently asked questions.

Putting your employees in front of your YouTube audience will add depth to your brand and increase engagement. Since 2012, Warby Parker has been creating YouTube video responses to common questions and then sharing these videos on Twitter.

Many of Warby Parker’s videos mention a specific customer by name and are conversational, helpful and concise. Other videos are more highly produced and geared toward a more general, customer audience.

Snapchat

While Snapchat isn’t commonly used as a customer service tool, it has the potential to be one. The network’s recent extension of its chat feature, known as Story Replies, is an untapped opportunity for brands to directly connect with followers and privately answer customer service questions.

To use Story Replies, a user swipes up on a brand’s Story and initiates a private chat. The brand receives a notification of a new chat along with the Snap the chat is referencing. Brands who are willing to enable Story Replies can benefit from a direct dialogue with followers and begin using Snapchat as a customer service tool.

A multichannel approach to customer service on social can help your enterprise stand out for all of the right reasons. Spearhead your approach on the channels where your audience is most active by using feature sets that aren’t commonly explored but have immense potential.

This post How to Implement Social Customer Care Across Networks originally appeared on Sprout Social.



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A Snapchat employee has fallen for the oldest trick in the book

Evan Spiegel
Snapchat suffered a data breach over the weekend after one of its staff fell for a phishing email asking for payroll information and purporting to be from the company’s CEO Evan Spiegel. The company has assured the world that its servers were not breached – so no user data has been compromised – but it has contacted former and current staff whose sensitive information has been shared externally. Snapchat has offered two years of free identity-theft insurance to those people who have been affected and reported the incident to the FBI. When something like this happens, all you can do is own up…

This story continues at The Next Web

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What is HTTP2 and how does it affect us?

The web is about to get faster, with the introduction of the latest version of the HTTP protocol: HTTP/2.

It’s been 17 years since the last update and so many things have changed in almost two decades. Technology has created more demanding users, sites only got heavier and speed is an important factor for most of us while browsing.

As servers already started adapting to HTTP/2, it’s time to learn more about it and try to understand everything we need to know about this significant change on the web. How does it affect us?

What is HTTP/2?

HTTP/2 is an updated version of HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) and it is based on Google’s SPDY protocol, which was developed to improve the speed and the performance of the browsing experience.

The history of HTTP

The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), or what most of us know as the ‘http://’ in a web address, is the protocol that established the connection between a user’s browser and a server’s host.

HTTP was defined back in 1991, while its current version, HTTP/1.1, was introduced in 1999, which means that it was only a matter of time to welcome the next update. Last February the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) formally approved a draft of HTTP/2 and that’s how the standardisation attempt started.

HTTP2-graphic - source akamai

source: http2.akamai.com

Why should I care?

If you are using the web, then you should probably care. You don’t have to be a developer to be interested in this exciting change, as it promises a faster and more functional browsing experience for everyone.

Sites have significantly changed since the last HTTP protocol update almost 20 years ago and it’s time to face the fact that modern sites consist of more images and data, which affect the loading time for a page.

According to Daniel Stenberg,

“When looking at the trend for some of the most popular sites on the web today and what it takes to download their front pages, a clear pattern emerges. Over the years the amount of data that needs to be retrieved has gradually risen up to and above 1.9MB”

HTTP/2 promises to adapt to the needs of our time, by assisting everyone to access any site as fast as possible, even without having a high speed internet connection.

http2 usage (source w3techs.com)

source: w3techs.com

What’s changing?

We don’t need to dive into technical details to discover the most important changes that HTTP/2 brings, so this is a simplified overview:

Multiplexing

Multiple messages can be sent at the same time, with just one TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) connection. This will reduce the required time to process the requests that are sent and received, improving the user experience, by also speeding up the loading time.

Up to now, HTTP/1.1 allowed only one request to be handled at a time, which led to a series of multiple requests and slower connection. What’s more, a page load used to require several connections, while HTTP/2 solves both challenges with multiplexed streams and the use of just one connection while a site is open.

These lead to a cleaner and faster connection, improving latency, which is expected to be highly appreciated.

multiplexing (source cloudflare)

source: Cloudflare

Server Push

Server push is about saving time, with the server analysing the client’s next request, sending additional information, even before they are needed.

There’s no need to wait for the HTML to load until the browser requests the Javascript, or images, etc., as HTTP/2 protocol will allow the server to make faster data transmissions by sending “push” responses. 

No more delays, time for proactively pushed responses!

Prioritization

Prioritization is about understanding the importance of each element, by transferring the most important requests first. It’s the browser that suggests the data to be prioritized, but the final decision is made by the server.

http2 (source google)

source: Google

Binary

HTTP/2 focuses again in boosting the sites’ loading speed by transferring data to a binary format, which is the computer’s native language. This will remove the unnecessary step of translating text messages to binary protocols, which leads to a more efficient result.

Header Compression

HTTP/2 allows the compression of the headers, in order to reduce the header’s size along with the number of round trips needed for each request. This is even more important in mobile browsing, where a page’s assets and its latency may be even more challenging.

isthewebhttp2yet

source: isthewebhttp2yet.com

Is HTTP/2 currently in use?

HTTP/2 may not be the standard protocol yet, but there is a growing interest on its use month by month, with 6.6% of all websites currently using it. In fact, the percentage goes up to 13.5% percent for websites that rank in the top 1,000.

http2 usage1 (source w3techs.com)

source: w3techs.com

According to Can I Use, it is supported by 71.14% of the browsers globally, with Chrome, Firefox and Opera supporting it only through encrypted connection (HTTPS).

It is promising to consider that several top sites and servers are starting to embrace HTTP/2, with CloudFlare and WordPress supporting it for several months now. Beta support is also available from Akamai, Google, and Twitter, while Microsoft and Apple are planning to support it on their future releases.

canuse

source: caniuse.com

In case you’re wondering whether it’s still early for HTTP/2, Mark Nottingham is clear about it:

“It’s just important to remember that HTTP/2 is an infrastructure upgrade for the web, and as such it’s going to take time to see the full benefit. That said, there’s still considerable benefit in adopting them now.”

isthewebhttp2yet (2)

source: isthewebhttp2yet.com

What should I do?

There’s no need to do anything from a user’s point of view, as the change has already started in several sites. As HTTP/2 is backwards compatible with HTTP/1.1, a user won’t notice any difference except for the speed and as more and more servers and browsers eventually adapt to it, we will all enjoy a faster browsing experience.

Here’s an example:

If you’re curious to see the actual performance of HTTP/2, Akamai created a test site for you to compare the latency of each protocol. 

akamai

As you can see, there is a difference in the loading time and according to the initial stats, we are generally expecting a speed boost of 20 – 30%.



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Sunday 28 February 2016

Brand Engagement Strategies From Entertainment’s Best & Brightest

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Friday 26 February 2016

#SproutChat Recap: Best Practices for Using Twitter Search Operators

SproutChat7-01

Twitter Search Operators are a great way for social media mangers to proactively grow their communities. Whether it’s a misspelling of your organization’s name or a conversation with a competitor, Twitter Search Operators can lead you to prospective customers who aren’t directly interacting with your brand.

This week during #SproutChat, we discussed the benefits of using social over a traditional search engine and learned how our community is currently using Twitter Search Operators. Find the highlights from our conversation below and catch a full recap on Storify.

Take Advantage of Key Terms and Phrases

Setting up your search operators can be a daunting and somewhat confusing task. If you’re unsure how to structure a search, check out our Twitter Search Operators cheatsheets to native Twitter and Sprout specific search operators. It may take a bit of creativity and some trial and error, but understanding and implementing key terms and phrases will reveal opportunities to connect with consumers you would have otherwise never encountered.

Research Competitors & Prepare to Swoop In

One of the best things about Twitter is that it’s a public forum. As long as a user’s Tweets aren’t private, anyone can view their updates and conversations. Brands can easily keep tabs on the conversations competitors are having with customers. Smart social media managers are listening closely and identifying opportunities to naturally jump in and offer an alternative solution.

While swooping in on a competitor’s Twitter interaction can be effective, it needs to be tactful. An unhappy customer doesn’t want to be sold to after a bad experience. Treat these conversations carefully and build a relationship before pushing your organization’s product or service.

Real-Time Results

From Moments to trend monitoring, Twitter often provides the most up-to-date information on what’s happening in news and pop culture. Using Twitter management tools can help you stay informed and on top of trends. For conversations occurring around niche subjects or events, more advanced search operators will yield the most accurate results. Searching on Twitter as opposed to a search engine eliminates a lot of noise and more quickly directs you to the conversations you’re looking for.

Join us at 2 p.m. CST, Wednesday, March 2, 2016 as we discuss Snapchat marketing strategies with Sprout Social All Star, Chris Mikulin.

This post #SproutChat Recap: Best Practices for Using Twitter Search Operators originally appeared on Sprout Social.



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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.
Click To Tweet

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.

The post How to Use Thank You Pages to Convert Subscribers into Customers appeared first on Email Marketing Tips.



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Thursday 25 February 2016

How to Create Achievable Social Media Goals

how to create achievable social media goals

How can you tell if your social media marketing efforts are working? That single question has plagued businesses for years, and stopped them from engaging in social media altogether.

However, in 2016, you no longer have the excuse of limited tools to track your social media marketing efforts on networks like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. With all of the resources available that allow you to measure your campaigns, you have the ability to see exactly what’s working and how much social media is paying off for your business. Once you have something to measure, the next question is what are your social media goals?

Goal Setting 101

Read any blog post or book on goal setting, and you’ll most likely see SMART goals mentioned. SMART is an acronym for:

  • Specific: Your goals should be clear, simple and defined.
  • Measurable: Attach a metric to your goal so you can measure your progress. For example, it could be reach, new website visitors or leads.
  • Achievable: Will you actually be able to achieve this goal? Make sure you’re being reasonable with your expectations.
  • Realistic: You should have the resources and desire to achieve your goals. For instance, it’s possible to double your social media traffic within 60 days. But do you have the time, resources or drive it will take to meet that goal?
  • Time sensitive: Your social media goals should have a time frame. The trick here is setting a timetable that’s reachable, but not so far out that there is no pressure to achieve it. Setting a time frame of 12 months to increase your social media reach by 10% is too easy. A good starting point for most social media goals is around 3-6 months.

The purpose of the SMART approach is to help you avoid the pitfalls that stop people from achieving their goals. Marketing Land provides this worksheet to help you manage your goals.

smart goals graph

SMART goals are particularly effective for social media marketing because most companies are too vague about what they want to achieve. It’s common to hear goals like “get more likes” or “increase our followers.” The SMART approach turns those goals into “boost our total number of Facebook followers by 15% in two months through participating in Facebook groups.”

Now that we know the different pieces of what goes into a social media goal, let’s walk through the process of actually creating one.

What Do You Want To Accomplish?

Not everyone wants to use social media for the same reason. Some businesses use it to generate leads, others are active on social to strengthen their brand. You may even have different objectives for each of your social media platforms. Start by defining what it is that you’re trying to accomplish with social media (your objective), then you’ll be able to create goals that will help you attain it. Your objective might be a bit more vague than your SMART goals, but that’s okay.

Here’s what this entire process looks like:

  1. Define the objective you’re trying to achieve with social media marketing. “Grow your brand’s voice on Twitter”
  2. Create goals to help you achieve your objective. “Increase total engagement (replies, Retweets and likes) by 25% in six months”
  3. Write down the steps you need to take to accomplish each goal. “Participate in at least five Twitter chats per month”

Using this systematized technique gives you a framework for what you want to achieve, why you’re doing it and how you’re going to achieve it. Going in blindly without a strategy makes it nearly impossible to track your progress since you’re not working toward anything in particular. Don’t make the mistake of using social media just because all the experts say you should. Put a purpose behind your efforts and you’ll get better results.

How to Choose Your Goals

You’ve determined what the objective is, now you just have to figure out what goals you’re going to set to get there. If you’ve already setup profiles and dabbled in social media marketing before, you can start by analyzing where your current status.

What are your strengths and weaknesses? If you have a large number of followers, but you’re not getting the social media engagement you’d like, your focus would be generating more activity. Maybe you’ve joined several Facebook groups but haven’t been active in them. In that case, your goals could center around being more efficient with Facebook groups.

Taking stock of your current position or performing a social media audit will allow you to look back at what you’ve accomplished and help you set goals to get better results.

If you’re struggling to come up with ideas or starting from scratch, here are some tips to help you set social media goals based on your objective:

  • Branding: If your objective is anything brand related such as improving brand consistency or reaching a new demographic, then your goals may revolve around:
    • Content
    • Outreach
    • Followers
  • Customer service: When you’re aiming to use social media as a customer service platform and to communicate with clients, set goals with these elements in mind:
    • Response rate
    • Engagement
    • Support tickets
  • Lead generation: A lot of businesses use social media as a way to generate new leads. Setting goals involving these metrics can help you create better goals:
    • Web traffic
    • ROI
    • Interactions

As you can see, there is a lot of flexibility when you’re setting social media goals. The key is to customize them to fit your business. Just remember to keep your goals SMART.

Pick Your Metrics

The “M” in SMART goals is arguably the most important part. Measuring a goal lets you quantify your progress. Setting a goal to “get more likes” isn’t effective because once you’ve received one new like, you’ve technically achieved your goal. To make a goal measurable, you need to attach a metric to it.

The metrics you use will depend on your goals. When you choose a social media metric to follow, remember that it needs to be something you can track. Here are some examples:

  • Facebook
    • Page likes
    • Post reach
    • Engagement
    • Page impressions
    • Shares

Facebook Analytics

  • Twitter
    • Engagement (replies, Retweets and likes)
    • Organic impressions
    • Followers
    • Messages sent
    • Response rate & time
    • Mentions
    • Profile visits
    • Tweets linking to you

Twitter Analytics

  • LinkedIn
    • Impressions
    • Clicks
    • Interactions
    • Followers
    • Engagement

LinkedIn Analytics

  • Pinterest
    • Impressions
    • Viewers
    • Average Repins per Pin
    • Pin reach

Pinterest Analytics

  • Instagram
    • Followers
    • Engagement (likes and comments)
    • Engagements per follower
    • Engagements per media
    • Clicks to website

Instagram Analytics

How to Achieve Your Goals

You know what you want to accomplish and the specific metrics you’re going to use to track your progress. The next step is to create a plan to ensure you reach your goals. Your plan should include:

  • The daily, weekly and monthly tasks you need to complete.
  • Milestones you want to meet while trying to achieve your goals.
  • Who is involved for each step.

The daily, weekly and monthly tasks you want to complete will be the meat and potatoes of your plan. Setting goals is useless if you don’t have a plan in place to reach them. These tasks outline the work that needs to be done in order to reach your goal. For instance, if your goal is to increase your number of followers by 15%, your plan should detail how you’re going to get these followers. If your goal is to decrease your average customer service response time to under 60 minutes, your plan must describe the policies and procedures you’re going to put in place to make it happen.

Failing to write down the steps you need to take to reach your social media goals is like going grocery shopping without knowing what you’re going to be cooking throughout the week. You’ll end up getting things you probably don’t even need. Without outlining the steps you need to take to reach your social media goals, you could easily wind up wasting time doing meaningless tasks that won’t get you to your end goal. And the larger your social media team, the more important it becomes to have your tasks clearly defined.

Creating milestones is great for morale and also to make sure you’re progressing on schedule. Your milestones need to be realistic and specific, just like your SMART goals.

For instance, if your goal is to get 6,000 new Instagram followers within six months, that breaks down to an average of 1,000 new followers each month. You could set milestones to have 2,000 new followers by the second month and 4,000 by the fourth month. If the second month comes around and you only have 500 new followers, you can reassess your goal and make the necessary adjustments.

How to Track Your Goals

The final piece of the puzzle is tracking your progress. Most social media goals can be tracked using a combination of:

  • Sprout Social: Great for tracking a wide range of metrics like engagement, audience growth and more.

Sprout Social Social Media Analytics

  • Google Analytics: Google Analytics makes it easy to track your traffic from social media, create campaigns and figure out your ROI. It’s also helpful for tracking metrics for social media sites that don’t give you a great amount of data like Snapchat or Instagram.

Google Analytics Social Media Analytics

  • Individual social media platforms: Certain platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest will give you further insight and metrics that will be helpful depending on your goals.

Twitter Analytics

Are You Reaching Your Social Media Goals?

Setting goals for social media marketing isn’t only about hitting milestones and completing objectives. It helps you become more efficient and cut out anything that’s not giving you results. As a business, a lot of the decisions you make will be based on your ROI. Creating goals and attaching metrics to them allows you to see your social media ROI so you can make better choices for your company.

Make sure you have the right social media analytics tools so you can evaluate and truly assess your incoming statistics. Having a tool to measure your goals makes the process much easier to control and inspect.

What are your social media goals for 2016? And what metrics are you using to track them? Let us know in the comments!

This post How to Create Achievable Social Media Goals originally appeared on Sprout Social.



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