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Email Marketing 101: 6 Ways it Can Boost Your Business

This blog post is the first installment of our new series, The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing. Over the next eight weeks, we’ll feature a new article a week that covers a specific area of focus in email marketing! Want a sneak peek into the content? Check out The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing. Out of all the marketing predictions for this year, there’s one we’re excited about most: Email marketing is going to be bigger and more important than ever to the growth of your business. But taking on email marketing for the first time is easier said than done. With so many different ways to promote your business nowadays, it can be difficult to identify which ones work and are worth putting time and money into. But the benefits of email marketing can’t be tossed aside:

• Almost ⅓ of customers prefer to receive communication from brands via email over any other channel (including social media and print ads)
• Sixty-six percent of consumers have made a purchase as a result of viewing a brand email
• Email marketing delivers a return of 4,300 percent, which means that for every dollar you spend on email, you can earn $43!

And the benefits don’t stop there. In the rest of this article, we’ll cover other ways you can use email marketing to grow your business and reach more people. Prefer listening to reading? Check out the podcast version of this post or watch the video on YouTube:

Discover how email can help your business

There are a number of ways in which email can help drive revenue and nurture customer relationships that grow your business. Here’s what Justin Rondeau from DigitalMarketer says about the power of email: "Email marketing is the lifeblood of any business. If you don’t have a solid email marketing strategy, then you hate money. Email isn’t going anywhere and is still one of the best ways to move a lead to a prospect, a prospect to a buyer and a buyer to a consistent customer." [bctt tweet="If you don't have a solid email marketing strategy, then you hate money. - @jtrondeau"] At the end of the day, the success of your business relies on your ability to connect with people and motivate them to buy your product or service. And when you use email to help achieve that goal, you gain an opportunity to meet people where they are, build relationships, establish trust, prove your value and convince them to take action when they’re ready. So how exactly does email accomplish all of this? Here are six ways email can help transform your business:

1. Turn site visitors into customers.

Launching a website is a huge milestone for any new entrepreneur or small business owner. But with all of the effort you put into creating a website to attract new business, you might notice it’s harder than it seems. While you may receive a couple hundred visitors a day, you’re having a difficult time converting them into actually customers. That’s where email marketing can help. When you have an email list, you can add a sign up form to your website or blog’s homepage and capture the email addresses from your visitors. As you convey the value of your business over time in the emails you send them, you’re able to nurture those relationships. So when people are ready to make a purchase, they go to you instead of a competitor. On Enchanting Marketing’s homepage, for example, the first thing site visitors will notice is the sign up form promoting a “snackable writing course”: Once someone signs up, they then get to experience the value of the founder Henneke’s expertise. Not to mention, as they receive the email content they were promised, it also helps build trust. After delivering the 16-part course, Henneke then encourages subscribers who enjoyed the email series to purchase her book. In it, she explains that they’ll find writing advice similar to what they consumed over the last 16 days: As a result, Henneke’s able to capture visitors from her website and warm them up so they’re ready to make a purchase.   

2. Grow your audience… even without a website!

Don’t have a live website? Email marketing can play a critical role in helping you stay connected with your audience. If you own a brick-and-mortar store or frequently attend conferences and networking events, you can leverage these in-person opportunities to grow your list. Download a sign up form app to your mobile device and use email to share updates with your customers. Or, set up a piece of paper on a clipboard with a pen at your cash register and ask customers to sign up for your email list. If you still want to maintain a presence online, create a dedicated landing page that tells people about your business and features a sign up form. This way you can still be discovered online and capture email addresses in the same way you would if you had a multi-page website.

3. Raise brand awareness.

People love sharing content with friends, family and colleagues if they think they’ll benefit from it. And email can be another great piece of shareable content. If you commit to delivering valuable information to your subscribers, there may be times when your subscribers want to pass it along to others who might also find it interesting.   To encourage subscribers to share your email, include a call-to-action that tells them to forward the email. This way, it can help increase shareability and get your brand in front of new audiences. In this email below from the digital publishing company DMN, you’ll notice the link to share located at the top of the message: By encouraging subscribers to send this message to others who may find it interesting, they also increase the chances that they’ll get in front of new audiences.

4. Increase traffic to your website by sharing new content.

As you regularly send emails to your subscribers, aim to always include at least one call to action. Consider what links you can include to drive them back to your website. Email is the perfect channel for driving people back to your website. You already know they’re interested in what you have to say, so it’s time to feed the content beast and send them links that drive back to your website. A big piece of this will depend on your ability to create new, valuable content subscribers will want to interact with. Whether it’s a blog post or video, give them a reason to read more than what’s in your email. By driving traffic back to your website, you’re able to keep your brand top-of-mind, and hopefully encourage them to buy another product, log into their account or sign up for a service.

5. Boost sales by promoting products/services.

In addition to sending emails with new content published on your website, you can also use email to promote new products and sales or promotions. Consider this: 98 percent of people check their email every single day. With so many people frequently checking their inbox, this makes it a great way to get urgent information out to your audience. You can influence people to take action by crafting subject lines with the promotion discount, or emphasize urgency by including how much time is left for the sale. Fortunately, your product doesn’t have to be a physical item – it can be an ebook, course, event or any other type of property you create to be sold or registered for. Copyblogger, for example, recently ran an email campaign to promote a discount off of their education platform, Rainmaker. In the final emails, they emphasized both urgency and value: The subject line stressed the timeliness of the discount, as well as how much I would save if I took advantage of it. Most importantly, Copyblogger increased the chances that I would see the email.

6. Establish customer loyalty and advocacy.

In addition to using email as a way to acquire new customers and increase revenue, it can also be a powerful tool for establishing loyalty and brand advocacy. Highlighting customers success stories or featuring user-generated content like social posts and images can be great for reinforcing how much you care about your individual fans. As you listen to what your followers say about your brand on social channels like Facebook and Twitter, look for opportunities where you might be able to share the stand-out posts. Or browse through customer reviews if you regularly collect those. Before you post their feedback, however, be sure to get their approval. Here’s an example of using customer testimonials in an email from online mattress company, Casper: By using a raving customer review in an abandoned cart email, Casper shows that there are other happy customers out there – and you can experience a good night’s sleep like them.

Commit to email marketing

While these are only a few of the many benefits of email marketing, there’s only one way for you to learn more about them – and it begins with experiencing its power for yourself. With all of the benefits mentioned in this article, is there one thing you hope to get out of email marketing that wasn’t listed? If so, I’d love to hear about it in the comments! To learn more about email marketing and how you can get started with things like growing your email list and what to write in your emails, check out The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing.

The post Email Marketing 101: 6 Ways it Can Boost Your Business appeared first on Email Marketing Tips.

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Researchers now know the words that make you sound credible (or phony) on Twitter

After scanning 66 million tweets linked to almost 1,400 real-world events, researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology now believe they can identify the words and phrases that lend credibility to Twitter posts about pertaining to specific events — even while they’re on-going. According to Georgia Tech Ph.D. candidate and research lead Tanushree Mitra: There have been many studies about social media credibility in recent years, but very little is known about what types of words or phrases create credibility perceptions during rapidly unfolding events. Tweets with booster words, such as ‘undeniable,’ and positive emotion terms, such as ‘eager’ and ‘terrific,’…

This story continues at The Next Web

Or just read more coverage about: Twitter

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#SproutChat Calendar: Upcoming Topics for February 2017

It’s hard to believe that we’re days away from February 2017! We hope that you’re progressing toward your goals quickly by taking the time to read, learn and connect with industry colleagues. #SproutChat is the perfect place to gain new insight and keep your social strategies moving forward. Just jump on Twitter every Wednesday from 2-3 p.m. CST to learn and share best practices about social media marketing and community building.

Check out the topics we’ll cover this month and be sure to click “Add to Calendar” for the weekly Twitter chats that you don’t want to miss. Are none of the discussions catching your eye? Feel free to discuss your own social media wins and pain points in our Facebook community.

February 1, 2017: Managing Social Media on the Go

Sprout Product Focus: Mobile App

Consumers expect quick responses via social media. That means social media managers must be present and responsive 24/7. How can they maintain this level of service? With great mobile apps, of course. Join us for a discussion about best practices for managing social on the go.

Add to Calendar: Outlook • Google • Yahoo • Outlook.com • Apple Calendar

February 8, 2017: How to Grow Your Business

Getting a business up and running is one thing, but maintaining and growing it is another. Join us for an insightful #SproutChat discussion with Sprout All Star and Owner of Social Media Unicorn, Krista Whitley. Krista joins our discussion with years of experience and expertise in growing her Las Vegas-based agency and personal brand.

Add to Calendar: Outlook • Google • Yahoo • Outlook.com • Apple Calendar

February 15, 2017: Discussing Marketing Success With Evernote

Social media marketers have a plethora of tools in their tool box. One of the tools many marketers rely on to nurture and share ideas and increase productivity for their team is Evernote. This week, Lolitta Gevorkova, Social Media Specialist at Evernote, will be joining our discussion to talk about getting the most out of Sprout’s platform and what quantifies as success on social.

Add to Calendar: Outlook • Google • Yahoo • Outlook.com • Apple Calendar

February 22, 2017: Creating a Good Video

If you haven’t caught on that video needs to be an essential component of your social media strategy, you’ve been living under a rock. So why aren’t more brands embracing video content? When it comes to video and social there are definitely challenges ranging from quality to consistency. Today, we’ll discuss common challenges and offer solutions for producing more effective video content.

Add to Calendar: Outlook • Google • Yahoo • Outlook.com • Apple Calendar

This post #SproutChat Calendar: Upcoming Topics for February 2017 originally appeared on Sprout Social.

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4 Ways to Avoid Google’s Mobile Sign Up Form Penalty

Earlier this month, Google launched an update that has the potential to decrease your website traffic and limit the number of people who see your sign up forms and subscribe to your email lists. Now, websites with intrusive mobile interstitials (aka sign up forms) displaying on mobile devices may see lower rankings in Google search results. Since organic traffic accounts for up to 64 percent of website visits and 33 percent of people click on the first listing in Google search results, this update could significantly impact your website traffic. Read on to learn everything you need to know about the update. Plus, get four tactics you can use to avoid the penalty and continue collecting new subscribers from mobile devices.

Everything you need to know about Google’s mobile interstitial penalty

On January 10, 2017, Google made the following announcement on their Webmaster blog: “Starting today, pages where content is not easily accessible to a user on the transition from the mobile search results may not rank as high.” According to Google, they'll penalize forms that interrupt or impede mobile users from consuming the content on your site. The purpose of the update is to make websites more accessible to mobile users, who account for 51.3 percent of internet usage worldwide. [bctt tweet="Google now penalizes websites with forms that interrupt mobile users from consuming site content."] Here’s an image Google shared in their post that shows what forms they consider intrusive and may penalize: As this image shows, there are certain types of forms that would be affected by this:

• Pop up forms that cover the main content of a page
• Slide in forms that cover the main content of a page
• Full page forms that completely cover the content on a page
• Page takeover forms that need to be dismissed before a user can see content

To avoid Google’s penalty, you should not display any of these forms for your mobile site visitors. [bctt tweet="Don't use pop up, slide in or full page mobile forms that cover the main content of your website."] You can, however, still use these types of forms on desktop devices without the risk of being penalized. Although this rule has some well-intentioned email marketers up in arms, the sad reality is that not everyone uses these types of forms to help and educate visitors. Too often, these intrusive forms are difficult or impossible to exit out of, or don't deliver content visitors would actually want. (I’ve seen many of these types of intrusive forms – ones that block content, take forever to load and can’t be easily dismissed –in recent months.) To ensure you don't run the risk of getting penalized, all you have to do is turn off those forms for mobile device users. Many sign up form builders (such as SumoMe and OptinMonster) allow you to target forms based on the device from which people are accessing your site. And that makes it fairly simple to ensure you're abiding by Google's new policy. While you may be worrying about how this will hurt your list growth, this update doesn’t end your ability to display sign up forms to mobile site visitors and collect subscribers. There are still plenty of non-intrusive ways to show your forms without being penalized by Google.

Four ways to avoid Google’s penalty

1. Use top or bottom bar forms

Top or bottom bar sign up forms avoid the Google penalty because they do not cover the content on your website. Instead, they are located either at the top or bottom of a web page and follow users down the page as they scroll. The advantage of this type of form over a pop up is that it can’t be dismissed or closed by the user. It also creates a much better user experience. For example, TwelveSkip uses a sign up form at the top of their blog post pages: The form catches your eye with its vibrant color and sticks at the top of the page as you scroll down. It’s also responsive, meaning that it resizes to fit the screens of mobile users.

2. Add embedded forms to your site

When compared to pop up forms, embedded forms often get the bad reputation of not earning high conversion rates. The fear is that because these forms don't block a visitor from reading content, they may not capture people's attention and encourage them to opt in to their email list. However, there are ways to make your embedded forms stand out and capture email addresses. And by using these forms, you won't have to worry about getting penalized by Google since these aren't restricted. All you have to do is make sure the design, copy and location are optimized for success. Take a look at this embedded form on DigitalMarketer’s home page: While this form is embedded into the page content, it’s the first thing you see because it’s at the very top of the page and uses a bright blue and green color scheme to capture attention. So while poorly designed embedded forms may not gather many subscribers, using contrasting colors and good placement can turn embedded forms into a subscriber magnet. [optin-monster-shortcode id="p1ybp2w6h2juxuhs"]

3. Create click-to-open forms

Another form type that doesn’t interrupt a user from consuming the content on your website? Click-to-open forms. With this type of form, website visitors must click a link or button in order to expand the full sign up form. For example, SumoMe includes this link to access their secret strategy at the bottom of a blog post: When you click on the link, this form opens up: While this is a more subtle way to add a sign up form to your page, there are psychological studies that support their effectiveness. A study from Stanford, for example, found that people are more likely to meet a larger demand after completing a small request. When you apply that behavior to our click-to-trigger forms, the "small request" is clicking on the link and the "larger demand" is subscribing to an email list. Because people are more likely to do something once they’ve committed themselves, click-to-trigger forms are ideal for convincing people to follow through.

4. Show an exit-intent form before subscribers leave

While exit-intent forms often cover content by popping up on the screen or taking over the page, Google doesn’t consider them intrusive. Google only penalizes sites when forms make the content “Not easily accessible to a user on the transition from the mobile search results.” Exit-intent forms don’t appear on the transition from search results, but rather, when a user tries to exit your site. Since this is the case, Google won't penalize people who use them on their site. And this is great for you, because exit-intent forms often have high conversion rates. In fact, according to OptinMonster, their customers have seen as much as a 600% increase in conversions with exit-intent forms. [bctt tweet="Avoid Google's penalty by using top or bottom bar forms, embedded, click-to-open or exit intent forms."]

Making the internet a better place

While you may worry you’ll see a dip in list growth because of this update, there are still many ways to collect subscribers from mobile devices with non-invasive forms, like the ones mentioned above. Plus, you can continue displaying pop up forms and collecting subscribers for desktop users. And if this update will help make the internet a better place and improve the user experience for all, we know it's one we can support. Ready to build a better sign up form? Enroll in our free, seven-day list building course, Your First 500 Subscribers. During the course, you'll learn how to do things like build a high-converting sign up form, grow your email list with social media, drive more traffic to your website and more.

The post 4 Ways to Avoid Google’s Mobile Sign Up Form Penalty appeared first on Email Marketing Tips.

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Release Notes: Bringing the Data with AWeber Stats 2.1

How do you if know your email marketing strategy is effective? With data, of course. Sweet, sweet data. Fortunately, viewing the performance of your emails just got a heck of lot easier.

Discover what's working with AWeber Stats 

Our recent release of AWeber Stats 2.1 – the ultimate email marketing analytics app – brings all-new data visualizations to help you understand the performance of your emails and identify opportunities to optimize them. “When we set out to improve the Stats experience, we spent a lot of time listening to the needs of email marketers,” says AWeber's product manager, Meghan Nesta. “At first, we encountered a desire to learn more about email marketing performance by bubbling up key data points. Our customers are busy entrepreneurs. They don’t have time to pour through every nook and cranny of their analytics," she adds. "With Stats, we’re elevating the right information so you don’t have to dig for it.”

What’s new?

For this recent release, we incorporated the feedback we heard from email marketers and customers. As a result, the team primarily focused on overhauling the presentation of Broadcast stats.

View more key metrics at-a-glance

From the moment you open the Stats app, you can see essential email marketing metrics right away. Simply tap the Broadcast icon, and you'll get a glimpse of list-level stats like open and click-through rates for all sent broadcasts. You'll also see the percentage of complaints and bounces for those emails. As you continue scrolling, you can view more detailed metrics for individual broadcasts, including the total number of subscribers who received the email, send time, open rate, click-through rate and percentage of complaints. And with that kind of juicy data, you can extract important insights about what's working and what isn't working in your emails – and more importantly, figure out ways to get your subscribers more engaged with your content.  If you notice your open rates decreasing, for example, that might mean it's time to test a new approach to writing subject lines. Or if you have a low click-through rate, you may want to try changing the color of your call-to-action button. You might also like: 14 powerful tactics to increase your email click-through rates.

Understand where subscribers are opting out

The latest updates to Stats 2.1 also allows you to easily view the total number of unsubscribes by list and individual broadcasts sent. Viewing your open and click-through rates alongside your unsubscribe data will help you best understand what content your customers are engaging with, and what content is causing others to opt-out of your emails. “No one likes unsubscribe stats,” Meghan says. “Seeing how many people opted-out can be a bummer, but we know that learning from the emails that people didn’t like is one of the most effective ways to tweak your strategy and send awesome emails that’ll delight your audience.” One powerful tactic that'll allow you to send relevant and contextual emails subscribers will love? Segmentation.   You can segment subscribers based on links they’ve clicked or messages they’ve opened. You can even create segments based on which emails subscribers didn’t open, or more specific attributes like geographical location or custom field selections. If you find that a particular email didn't garner a significant number of opens, for example, you might re-send an email to a segment of subscribers that didn't open the email – but with a different subject line.

Find trends, test changes

Using Stats, you’ll be able to quickly find trends and performance indicators. Perhaps you notice messages sent at a certain time perform better than others, or that differences in your subject lines yield higher open rates. Or maybe emails that promote certain products have higher click-through rates, while emails without a strong call to action yield unsubscribes. You’ll never know until you dig into the data, and with the Stats app, you'll be able to demystify your email analytics and identify opportunities to improve performance that can help grow your business.  Need a few ideas to tweak your emails after you’ve learned more about its performance? Check out our 18 tried-and-true ways to improve your email content, and learn how to keep your subscribers engaged. Whether it’s writing a more compelling call-to-action, or including interactive elements like GIFs or video thumbnails, you’ll be sure to find some ideas to make your stats shine.

Download Stats today

While I've only highlighted our latest updates, the AWeber Stats app also includes subscriber details, follow up stats, the ability to preview sent and scheduled broadcasts and much more. If you’re an AWeber customer, check out Stats for free on Android or iOS. Simply install the app on your phone or tablet, log in with your AWeber username and password and get instant access to all of your data. Not an AWeber customer? Sign up for a 30-day free trial so you can take advantage of our AWesome email marketing features such as email automation, subscriber segmentation, and of course, Stats 2.1!

The post Release Notes: Bringing the Data with AWeber Stats 2.1 appeared first on Email Marketing Tips.

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#SproutChat Recap: Creating Content for the Travel Industry

It’s expected that most people will take a vacation and then post pictures and videos of their trip on social. This makes marketing for travel professionals easy, right? Even in an industry overwhelmed with user-generated-content, there are challenges. How do you get folks to your travel destination when cost and time often get in the way?

Sprout All Star, Keri Jaehnig, has spent years working in the travel industry and has won several state tourism awards for her social media campaigns and marketing efforts. This week, she joined #SproutChat and shared her insights for making the content your travel brand produces stand out and getting visitors in the door.

Create Content That Elicits Emotion

Whether you’re creating content for a hotel, attraction or destination you need to tap into the feelings that people get when they consider or visit your travel option. Storytelling and showcasing a natural, authentic scenery and experience can go a long way. One enticing photo is all that it takes to persuade someone to book a trip. If you don’t have the resources in-house, ask for permission on Instagram to use geotagged posts or hire a freelancer.

A1) In my opinion, LIVE video captured at events & attractions, video of emotion triggering activities & images. #sproutchat

— Keri Jaehnig (@kerijaehnig) January 18, 2017

A2) Sunsets, sunrises, water, sun & water, people enjoying things – All great to entice people! #sproutchat

— Keri Jaehnig (@kerijaehnig) January 18, 2017

@SproutSocial A1: Definitely visual UGC! Travelers like to see what other people have done and experienced #SproutChat

— CrowdRiff (@CrowdRiff) January 18, 2017

A1.

Storytelling.

Invite your audience to share their own travel adventures. #SproutChat

— Gabriela Cardoza (@CardozaGab) January 18, 2017

A1: Our clients love featuring UGC submitted by happy customers after they return from a trip across all their social channels. #sproutchat

— SocialXpresso ☕️ (@socialxpresso) January 18, 2017

A1C Have #travel ambassadors (employees, customers, vendors) that share tips, pics, & opinions. #sproutchat

— Michelle (@michelletweet) January 18, 2017

@SproutSocial A1. Live, in-the-moment visual content will continue to grow in popularity, among both consumers and brands. #SproutChat [AR]

— ModSquad (@modsquad) January 11, 2017

It’s All About the Blog

If you have the budget and resources to create long-form content consistently, you should definitely have a blog. If you don’t have your own blog, research industry adjacent blogs that you can contribute to in order to gain exposure. If you aren’t comfortable with self promotion, offer complimentary tickets or comped stay to influencers in exchange for an unbiased piece of content.

A3a) Blogs can feature an array of possibilities! Events info, new videos, ideas for itineraries, and more – Images are key! #sproutchat

— Keri Jaehnig (@kerijaehnig) January 18, 2017

A3b) LOVE when attractions contribute to a destination blog – Helps visitors understand where they'll visit! #sproutchat

— Keri Jaehnig (@kerijaehnig) January 18, 2017

A3c) Here's an example of a blog pulling in a local attraction to their blog: https://t.co/sKw4O6OuRi #sproutchat

— Keri Jaehnig (@kerijaehnig) January 18, 2017

A3d) For destinations – Speak to the reason for the visit to attract visitors! Example: https://t.co/sKw4O6OuRi #sproutchat

— Keri Jaehnig (@kerijaehnig) January 18, 2017

@SproutSocial A3.a) Guess Writers, Video Blogging mixed with text summaries, Top 10 photo competitions w recap lists. #SproutChat

— Vishal Rose👾 (@Vishal_Rose) January 18, 2017

A3 – We like reading about hidden gems – things about the destination that you wouldn't find on your typical travel sites. #SproutChat

— Rebel.com (@rebeldotcom) January 18, 2017

A3. Useful suggestions! Think about what travelers would really want to know. #SproutChat

— Reva Minkoff (@revaminkoff) January 18, 2017

A3. Destinations can use blogs to promote places 2 see and things 2 do. They can also write about people's experiences &history #SproutChat

— Plumlytics (@Plumlytics) January 18, 2017

A3 – Always address the readers' top question:
"How can I get the optimum experience during my time at your destination?"#SproutChat https://t.co/c7LpdmCl4g

— Susannah the Geek (@greatergoodgeek) January 18, 2017

Ask for Visitor Reviews

One of the best validations you can have are reviews from visitors. Most people won’t write reviews on their own, so asking is necessary. Try to get in touch a few days after your guests return home and ask for their feedback. Whether they’re raving or ranting, honest insight will always help. Be sure to respond to as many reviews as you can and always say “thank you.”

A5: Get your audience to relate to the review – how does it make them feel #sproutchat

— Adele McIntosh (@AdeleMcIntosh) January 18, 2017

A5: Highlight reviews and testimonials whenever possible, with photos & faces even better, #sproutchat

— Brad Lovett (@Brad_Lovett) January 18, 2017

A5 Storytelling is always an great way of sharing traveller reviews. People trust and relate to others 'stories'. #SproutChat

— Plumlytics (@Plumlytics) January 18, 2017

A5: Our clients use reviews in a lot of their ad creative. Attractions especially love seeing their brand showcased this way. #sproutchat

— SocialXpresso ☕️ (@socialxpresso) January 18, 2017

A5b Travel reviews are also a platform to educate – "didn't like the cold water in June? Best time to surf is August." #sproutchat

— Michelle (@michelletweet) January 18, 2017

A5: Use traveler reviews to improve services, highlight adventures and engage with your community. Start conversations #SproutChat

— Brandie McCallum (@lttlewys) January 18, 2017

Take Note from these Awesome Travel Brands

Get some inspiration as you create content.

Bonus b) Here's a collection of "small town" travel destinations using SM: https://t.co/sKw4O6OuRi #sproutchat

— Keri Jaehnig (@kerijaehnig) January 18, 2017

BONUS Answer: There are many GREAT #travel brands!! @EFExplore does a great job & they are in #Inauguration mode now #sproutchat

— Keri Jaehnig (@kerijaehnig) January 18, 2017

@SproutSocial 😍So many! @HelloBC has an AMAZING trip planner, build from Insta pics called BC Explorer https://t.co/39jpi7xeJ1 #SproutChat

— CrowdRiff (@CrowdRiff) January 18, 2017

BONUS: @condenast @CLIAGlobal #sproutchat

— Adele McIntosh (@AdeleMcIntosh) January 18, 2017

Join us next week for #SproutChat where we’ll discuss getting UGC content from your colleagues–a helpful tactic to fill in your content calendar. In the meantime, join our Facebook community to connect with other marketers and discuss anything social media marketing related.

This post #SproutChat Recap: Creating Content for the Travel Industry originally appeared on Sprout Social.

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4 Goals for Your Email Marketing Campaign

Now that we’re a few weeks into the New Year, the reality that it's time to commit to the goals you've set for yourself is probably settling in right about now. If email marketing is on your to-do list for 2017 (and I hope it is!), you’ll want to start with setting measurable and attainable goals. After all, when you have clear objectives and targets to aim for, it can make it easier for you to stay motivated and execute a game plan that helps you get the list growth, engagement rates and business results you’re looking for. To help you get started, here are four email marketing campaign goals you can work towards this year.

1. Grow your subscriber list

As an email marketer, your subscribers are your most valuable asset. That means in order to run a successful email marketing campaign, you need to build and maintain a list of people who regularly open, read and engage with your messages. Your subscribers are people who voluntarily sign up to receive email updates from your business. Some could be long-time customers, while others might be first-time visitors on your website or blog who want to learn more about your company or get answers to a problem they face.  Even if you have a healthy list of contacts, gaining subscribers is critical to maintaining an engaged audience – after all, the average email marketing list decreases by around 22.5 percent every year. [bctt tweet="Even if you have a healthy email list, gaining new subscribers is critical for an engaged audience."] If you’re hoping to grow your email list this new year, there are a couple of things you should keep in mind. Make it easy for people to subscribe to your emails. Where does your audience interact with your company the most – on your blog, website, social networks, etc.? Adding a sign up form on the platforms where your company is the most visible is a great way to start collecting new contacts. Also consider how you can optimize the positioning of your form on these pages. Placing your sign up form at the top of your homepage or using a pop up or slide-in form, for example, can increase visibility of your form and encourage more people to subscribe to your list. Provide a valuable reason for subscribing to your list in your sign up form. Most people are protective about their personal information and require a compelling reason for giving you their email address. That means it’s crucial that your audience understands the value of your emails from the get-go. Explain what your audience will receive in your emails and how frequently they’ll get them. You might even want to add some positive feedback you've received from current subscribers, if you have the space. This way, you can connect with the right people and set a foundation based on trust when you send them relevant emails. Setting expectations on your form also helps prevent any unpleasant surprises, which could motivate your subscribers to mark your emails as spam if you send them something they didn’t expect. Check out this sign up form below, which visitors will find on DigitalMarketer’s homepage: By using a delayed overlay opt-in form and large text, there’s no doubt viewers will understand the purpose of the form and the value they could potentially get for subscribing. Plus, it makes it easier for people to either sign up or close the form if they’re not interested.

2. Increase your open rates

Open rates are a key measurement for determining the effectiveness of your email marketing campaign. Even though they vary across industries, open rates show how many people were compelled by your subject line to open your message and hopefully read your email content. It can also shed light on your deliverability and list health – average to high open rates mean that a good percentage of your subscribers are receiving your emails and seeing them in their inboxes. The more people open your emails, the more opportunities you’ll have to turn them into loyal customers or advocates of your brand. To improve your open rates, you need to stand out in overcrowded inboxes. [bctt tweet="The more people open your emails, the more chances you’ll have to turn them into loyal customers."] Here are a couple of things to keep in mind when planning your next email send. Spend extra time writing your subject line. The subject line of your email can make or break its overall performance, especially when you consider that the average business user receives up to 121 emails per day (!). To get your subject line to stand out, keep it short and concise. Also, opt for direct, actionable language. Crafting a compelling, persuasive subject line will help capture reader’s attention and entice them to open your email. In some cases, you can try different tactics like creating a sense of urgency in your subject lines to motivate subscribers to read more. Including phrases like “limited-time only”, “Hurry” and “Last chance” are all effective ways to create a sense of urgency. You can also reference specific details around how much time is left on an offer (like specifying the number of days, hours or minutes).  While there are a number of ways you can add a little urgency to your subject lines, here are a couple of examples of what it looks like: You can also use elements like personalization and emojis to help make your emails pop, like the following subject lines: Use confirmed opt-in. To build an email marketing audience that looks forward to your messages, get permission from contacts before adding them to your list and promise them something valuable. After they subscribe, follow through on that promise with each message you send to build an engaged audience who looks forward to your emails. Using confirmed opt-in also allows you to filter out potential subscribers who signed up to your list by accident or aren’t really that interested in your emails. But more importantly, it gives people an opportunity to validate that they definitely want to receive your emails. Remember, the more people you have on your list who actually want to hear from you, the better your open and click-through rates will be.

3. Improve email click-throughs

If you already know that a lot of people are receiving and opening your messages, you might find that not as many are clicking your call-to-action. Click-through rates measure the number of subscribers who click on the links in your message and are one of the most effective ways to quantify audience engagement with your emails. Improving your click-through rate can help build relationships with website visitors, subscribers, and longtime customers, creating an opportunity to bring in more business. If improving your click-through rates is on your to-do list this year, stick to these email essentials:  Always send relevant, valuable information.  Any time your subscribers read an email, they will always ask themselves, “What’s in it for me?” Keep this in mind whenever you prepare an email to send to your audience. If you can clearly identify what subscribers will get out of the email (whether it’s education, an exclusive offer, etc.), then it passes the test. Another way to improve engagement is by segmenting them into like-minded groups and sending relevant, targeted messages tailored to their specific needs and interests. If your emails are crafted for a broader audience, consider segmenting your subscribers and sending them targeted content to help capture their attention. Doing so can help increase engagement and improve your relationship with them. Include a clear call-to-action.  Every email you send to subscribers should include a single call-to-action (CTA) that stands out and visually pops — whether it’s downloading an ebook, reading a blog post or scheduling a free consultation. Each CTA should offer something valuable to subscribers and stand out from the rest of your email. Experiment with its placement, wording and design to determine what kind of CTA creates a higher click-through rate.   In this email below from Candace Payne (aka Chewbacca Mom!), she makes it extremely easy for new subscribers to download the incentive offered on her sign up form: With only one CTA that's offered right at the top of the email, it's easy to take action as soon as the email is opened.

4. Retain customers and turn them into brand advocates

One of the benefits of email marketing is that it engages old and new customers long after the sale is made. Customer retention is crucial to the success of any business, and emails have the unique ability to build relationships with past customers, prompting them to purchase from you again in the future. To boost engagement among your existing customers, here are some tactics to consider: Send exclusive content and targeted offers. While it’s important to nurture leads before a purchase, it’s critical to maintain relationships with them after now that they’ve become customers. This can help establish a relationship that is based on trust, appreciation and authenticity. One of the best ways to do this is to offer exclusive sales and discounts, courses, ebooks and other content based on their interests. Segmenting customers in this way can help you send targeted content to people who want it most. Not only does this encourage customers to make another purchase, but it also demonstrates your vested interest in their relationship with your business. Consider sending emails based on past email engagement (if they clicked a link for a specific product, they may be interested in more content related to that topic), interests or geographical location. Feature user-generated content and customer testimonials. Highlighting customers by sharing feedback or social posts about their experiences with your brand can go a long way in showing them you value their support. [bctt tweet="Featuring customer feedback about their experiences with your brand shows them you value their support."] This also incentivizes other customers to follow suit and share their own experiences, in the hopes of getting recognition from your business. Want a fun way to encourage customer feedback? Turning it into a social contest and offer a prize to a randomly selected individual!

Take your email marketing campaign to the next level

Setting email marketing goals for the year can help grow your email list, increase subscriber engagement and grow your business. And by making these commitments, it makes it easier to identify what tactics you need to try or continue using throughout the year in order to crush your goals. For more on how to improve your strategy, check out our newest resource, The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing. There you’ll find more detailed information on list building, what to write in your emails, how to improve email performance and more!

The post 4 Goals for Your Email Marketing Campaign appeared first on Email Marketing Tips.

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How Tough Conversations Fuel MailChimp’s Community Involvement

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The Complete Guide to Facebook Marketing

Facebook introduces fake news filter in Germany in time for federal elections

The Financial Times is reporting that Facebook is to roll out its fake news filter in Germany. The move comes in time for Germany’s federal elections, which are due to take place later this year. German lawmakers are troubled by the potential for hyper-partisan fake news to unduly influence the outcome of the upcoming election, and in recent months there have been a number of fake stories and hoaxes, the majority of which are critical of Merkel. Now, Facebook users will be able to report suspected fake news stories. These will then be sent to the Berlin-based media non-profit Correctiv.…

This story continues at The Next Web

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#SproutChat Recap: Community 2017 Social Media Predictions

Everyone likes to try and predict what’s next. Whether it’s the next best television show to binge watch or the next big social media marketing best practice, it’s fun to take a stab at predicting what the future holds.

At #SproutChat, we had more than 65 social media marketers join us to talk about what they believe 2017 has in store for the industry. We discussed potential trends in social content, network engagement and social advertising while also touching on what marketers will be abandoning in their 2017 strategies.

Immersive, Multimedia Content Experiences

The #SproutChat community believes that brands should continue to invest in video because it’s the content format that social networks tend to favor and that users want to see. However, in 2017 they believe that live video content will be more common. Larger brands with bigger budgets will also begin to pivot towards augmented reality and more immersive content experiences.

A1: More use of bots, more video but I think there will be user fatigue on that aspect, especially video that interrupts #sproutchat

— Brad Lovett (@Brad_Lovett) January 11, 2017

A1: The short 30-60 sec video will be a thing of the past with FB's new mid roll ads #SproutChat

— Jeff Higgins (@AnnaMariaSocial) January 11, 2017

A1: Social Media content will become more user-involved, engagement focused, include live streaming and augmented reality! #sproutchat

— Nicole Schneider (@nicolemaries__) January 11, 2017

I agree Toby! If #UX was a theme of '16, #CX is a strong digital theme for 2017. #sproutchat https://t.co/uVH4ruHNGo

— Michelle (@michelletweet) January 11, 2017

A1: Social content will be more in the moment in 2017. More live stream video, less quarterly photo shoots. #sproutchat

— Nicole E. Spears (@_NicoleESpears) January 11, 2017

A1: It will become more interactive and people will watch live events. Video will continue to grow #SproutChat

— Brandie McCallum (@lttlewys) January 11, 2017

A1 a lot more video. More pivots for audiences to engage brands. Continuation of 2016 on content authenticy… #SproutChat

— Ross Morrone (@rossmorrone) January 11, 2017

A1 Video/transparency will make it hard for bad companies to survive. They will have to truly be what the consumer wants or die. #sproutchat

— Joshua Aaron (@JAaronCA) January 11, 2017

Instagram & Snapchat Usage Will Grow

As 2016 has shown, Instagram and Snapchat will continue to be two of the favorite social networks. Time will tell how the others stack up in comparison, but it’s apparent that real time content is king right now.

@SproutSocial A3: Instagram vs Snapchat. Insta's got Stories, but Snapchat has Specs and wearables will change everything. #SproutChat

— MyCorporation (@MyCorporation) January 11, 2017

@SproutSocial A3. Snapchat and Instagram. Especially when you consider use of sponsored lenses/filters on the former. #SproutChat [AR]

— ModSquad (@modsquad) January 11, 2017

A3: I'd definitely say Instagram. With everything they're doing with Instagram Live, the platform continues to grow. #SproutChat

— Express Writers (@ExpWriters) January 11, 2017

a3: more instagram, less snapchat (esp. if instagram continues taking what snapchat comes up with & doing it better) #sproutchat #SMM

— molly buccini (@mollybuccini) January 11, 2017

Social Advertising Will Be More Prominent

It’s hard to imagine that we’ll see more advertisements on social media, but that’s exactly what our community believes will happen this year. Brands are shelling out money and seeing results, so social media advertising will continue to grow. If you haven’t figured our your brand’s strategy for paid social yet, it’s time to figure it out–fast.

@SproutSocial A6: Successful ads will look less like ads and deliver some kind of value before asking for $$$. #SproutChat

— Richard Hostler (@CNXN_Hostler) January 11, 2017

@SproutSocial A6. Hopefully more relevant; social advertising in 2016 got a bit too intrusive and impersonal. #SproutChat [AR]

— ModSquad (@modsquad) January 11, 2017

@SproutSocial A6. Social Ads will begin to serve their most optimal purpose-building awareness and directing a new audience #SproutChat

— Vishal Rose👾 (@Vishal_Rose) January 11, 2017

A6. Infiltrated everywhere? #sproutchat (not mine, just platforms in general)

— Alexandra Simone (@reeltake) January 11, 2017

A6: It will look less like ads and more like quality, one-on-one engagements. #SproutChat

— Venture Icon Media (@VentureIcon) January 11, 2017

A6 Marketing budgets seeing a higher spend allocated towards social #sproutchat

— Caitlin Waters (@Cait_Waters) January 11, 2017

Join us next week at #SproutChat when we’ll be joined by Sprout All Star, Keri Jaehnig, to discuss creating compelling social content for the travel industry. Until then, connect with our community by joining our Facebook group.

This post #SproutChat Recap: Community 2017 Social Media Predictions originally appeared on Sprout Social.

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Grab Your Coffee Cup. It’s MailChimp’s 2016 Annual Report.

Dutch journalists hack local politicians’ Twitter accounts to expose weak security

If 2016 showed anything, it’s that almost everyone is vulnerable to hacking. The past year saw a couple of the largest database leaks in history, leaks that spilled out sensitive info from hundreds of millions of accounts – and since most internet users use  one password for multiple accounts, this obviously leads to trouble. Especially when the victims are politicians. Take Mark Zuckerberg, whose Twitter and Pinterest accounts were taken over past June by hacking group OurMine, probably because his password was among the 160 million leaked LinkedIn accounts. Or Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, who had his Twitter account taken over…

This story continues at The Next Web

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You Don’t Need 10,000 Subscribers – Here’s Why

“More subscribers, more sales.” This is the typical New Year’s resolution for an email marketer. Every other marketing blog and guru wants to teach you how get your next 10,000 subscribers or offer “the secret technique” to quadrupling your list growth overnight. You can attend webinars, buy info products and take online courses to help you build an impressively long list of email addresses in a database. And there’s nothing wrong with that, but before you start plugging away daily growth goals in a spreadsheet and investing in high-converting plugins and widgets, take a few moments to solidify a holistic strategy focused on why you are marketing in the first place. You may not need a quarter-million subscribers to hit your goals. Don’t get me wrong. Growing your list is important, exciting and rewarding. Even we used to offer a popular guide for new customers, entitled Your First 5000, and we still host a highly-effective course, Your First 500. Quantity is important, but it’s quality that converts. So rather than defaulting to the mindset of “more, more, more...”, consider these alternative resolutions for 2017. Bonus: Learn about the the FIVE tools and resources that I use everyday to be ultra-productive and achieve my goals. Sign up for our blog newsletter to download the bonus content for this post using the form below. [optin-monster-shortcode id="uys9pvkuzmo9liqt"]

Resolution One: This year I will fine-tune my marketing funnel.

Let’s imagine you’re hosting a party. As the host, you want to know your guests are satisfied and that the experience is meeting their expectations. If 10 people show up, odds are you can meet their needs. If 100 people show up, it’ll be a stretch, but I bet you can work the room and provide everyone with a good experience. If 10,000 people show up… good luck. Managing your email list is no different. Even if you get 10,000 subscribers overnight, you still need to keep them engaged, "well-fed", purchasing your products and services, telling all of their friends how awesome you are and coming back again. A fine-tuned automated marketing funnel will make you feel like you have a staff of 50 and will prime your email strategy to scale up. That cramped restaurant that could only seat a handful of couples now has room to serve hundreds. So what exactly is a marketing funnel? A marketing funnel is a simple way to visualize where your prospects, customers and advocates are in their journey. A person is unlikely to purchase your product or service without first engaging with you or your brand. This engagement can occur through various channels, like your website, social media channels, in-person or email marketing. Providing individuals with the right calls-to-action and opportunities to convert will help boost the likelihood that people will move through the funnel and invest in your business. There are five main stages in the marketing funnel: awareness, consideration, conversion, loyalty and advocacy. If you can increase the rate at which people move through each stage, you can effectively increase your revenue with the same, or even less total subscribers added to your list. Focusing solely on list growth without a strong path to purchase is a missed opportunity. Learn more: Check out this visual infographic on the marketing funnel to dive deeper into crafting conversion using email marketing. Take action: Everyone’s funnel is different. Map out your prospect/customer buyer journey and look for areas to automate and optimize. Start with a strong and engaging automated welcome campaign. Set a goal: Not sure what your conversion rates are throughout the funnel? Start creating benchmarks that you can use in 2017 to improve throughout the year.

Resolution Two: This year I will focus on providing value through contextual content.

A popular adage in digital marketing is “the money is in the list.” This short statement might be why so many focus on list-building above all else. The money is not necessarily in the list, but more so how you engage with it. If you have 10,000 subscribers, but only provide value to a slim fraction of them, it’s unlikely that you’ll retain those subscribers or convert them into paying customers. Sending useless content will quickly lead to unsubscribes, spam complaints and decreased engagement. Gary Vaynerchuk is a marketing practitioner with plenty of snackable pieces of advice. One of the most practical bits that I’ve learned from Gary is to go deep, not wide. Gary writes, “A small, meaningful, intentional act will mean MUCH more than a HUGE one that lacks substance.” Sending a lousy email to 10,000 people will likely yield less results than sending a valuable email to 100 people. This is where segmentation, contextual content and personalization will help you succeed. Email segmentation allows you to create a subset of subscribers based on an action, inaction, attribute or some other piece of data. For example, sending a follow up webinar invitation to subscribers who did not open the first email can be more valuable than sending to the entire list, including those who already opted in or intently declined. Likewise, sending product promotions to customers who already purchased can clutter their inbox. Segmentation shows your subscribers that you know them. You are aware of their behaviors and interests and you are delivering content relevant to them. This content, tailored to meet a subscriber’s needs and interests, or based on their attributes or location, is called contextual content. This reference might date me a bit, but there was (a long time ago, in a galaxy far away), a popular TV show about a bar called Cheers. The sitcom’s iconic theme song declared the bar as the place “Where everybody knows your name”. That’s what made the bar so special. In most cases, you are capturing your subscribers name at the point of sign-up. This a valuable piece of data to help you personalize content. You can experiment with “First Name” in the subject line, or greeting of your email messages, but I recommend casually including this field in the actual body copy of your message. Here’s an example: This implementation is a subtle way to make a connection with an individual subscriber without having it feel forced, automated or mail-merged. Your emails should feel like the Cheers theme song. Learn more: Listen to this podcast to get more insight on creating personalized and contextual content and see how we deliver valuable content using Campaigns. Take action: Develop a segmentation plan. Jot down what you know about your current subscribers, what you want to know and how that data might be used to send better content. Take a look at your broadcast stats, such as open and click rates on specific emails, which might reveal more than you think. Set a goal: Benchmark your average open and click-through rates for emails sent to your entire list. Can you improve these by sending more contextual and valuable messages? Set a goal and track your progress.

Resolution Three: This year I will develop a new product or service.

This resolution might be the most challenging, but it also might be the most rewarding. (And I’m talking about revenue in your business account rewarding, not just pat-yourself-on-the-back rewarding.) If your goal in 2017 is simply to “get more sales,” challenge yourself to consider what you are selling, what you could be selling, how you are selling it and what you ultimately want to earn. Neville Medhora of KopywritingKourse.com has a valuable product profit calculator that illuminates your options. For example, if you want to earn $30,000 dollars this year through a product sale, you can:

• Sell a $6 product to 5,000 people,
• Sell a $30 product to 1,000 people,
• Or sell a $100 product to 300 people.

You could even consider selling a subscription service/product, which gives you even more options, like:

• Offer a $.50/mo service to 5,000 people for 12 months,
• Offer a $2.50/mo service to 1,000 people for 12 months,
• Or offer a ~$8.33/mo service to 300 people for 12 months.

It might seem like common sense, but the pricing of your product or service will impact how many subscribers you’ll need to meet your overall goals. If you increase the value you provide in your product and also increase the price, having a small list of highly engaged subscribers who are ready to invest is more valuable than having a huge list of subscribers who simply aren’t as interested. Pay attention to the other businesses in your niche. What products and services are they offering? How much are they charging? What can you do better? Has anyone introduced a solid subscription-based service yet? You may find that your offerings are underpriced or there’s an opportunity to go to market with a new product. A small engaged email list can help you determine what they product could look like. Your subscribers could even serve as beta testers, or advocates to help you boost sales. Learn more: There are many ways to monetize your email list and create a product. AWeber user Rachael Pontillo successfully launched her own online course. Learn about how she did it to see if launching a course could be right for you. Take action: Set a revenue goal and determine what your product or service price point should be, and how many subscribers you’ll need to purchase. Knowing this, decide what product or service can you realistically create in 2017. Leverage your knowledge of competitors, the market you occupy, feedback from your subscribers, and your strengths to develop the perfect plan. Set a goal: Break down your product creation and launch into milestones and set measurable deadlines throughout the year. The sooner you can release, the sooner you can begin generating revenue and gathering feedback to improve. [optin-monster-shortcode id="xqvlxgpru1mp62hg"]

What will you do?

Whether you read this article and adopt a “less is more” attitude, or keep pushing towards massive list growth, the important thing is that you do something. The new year is a great time to develop plans and resolutions, but true success will come from taking action, not simply deciding to take action. Finding your tribe is challenging, but as many can attest, it’s emotionally, creatively and financially rewarding. To help you along the way, we’ve developed a spreadsheet to track your progress. Simply opt-in here and you’ll get immediate access. We’ll also send you a weekly round-up of our best content to keep you motivated and educated throughout the year. No subscribers yet? Sign up for a live workshop on Tuesday, 1/17 at 12:00pm ET. We’ll be walking through simple starter tactics to grow your list from 0-60 in no time. This is a workshop for beginners and it’s not recommended for email marketers with over 100 subscribers.  

The post You Don’t Need 10,000 Subscribers – Here’s Why appeared first on Email Marketing Tips.

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