Thursday, 15 December 2016
Wednesday, 14 December 2016
3 Ways Mobile Apps Can Boost Your Email Marketing
Does your email marketing strategy start with a signup and end with a send? Are all of your conversions happening solely on your website? Are you typically out of the office and struggling to write engaging content?
If so, it’s time to level up and do more with email on-the-go.
An effective email marketing campaign is always on, always connected and constantly working for you and your business – much like your trusted mobile phone or tablet.
Here are three strategies to help you visualize the data that drives your success, grow your list (no matter where you are) and create a strategic workflow for curating engaging email content.
Let your email stats tell a story
Your email marketing statistics aren’t just numbers. They tell an important story about how your audience interacts with the content you send them.
Your email stats aren’t just numbers. They tell a story about how your audience interacts with your…
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Open and click rates may rise and fall based on the time you send a message or the subject lines you craft. Subscriber growth may vary based on day of the week. Maybe that last email sent yielded a few spam complaints worth investigating. Keeping track of these email marketing metrics can help you determine the actions you could take to improve your campaigns over time.
Noticing a dip in click-through rate? Try a new tactic like only using one call-to-action, segmenting your emails or creating a greater sense of urgency. Are subscribers unsubscribing, or losing interest? Maybe it’s time to start asking for feedback, adding fun GIFs, or test targeted content.
However you decide to tweak your emails, you won’t know where to start unless you look at your data. Keeping tabs on your email stats with a mobile app can help check out performance wherever you are.
Customer Pro-tip: With the AWeber Stats App, these stories come to life through attractive and intuitive visualizations. Easily navigate your email lists to view subscriber, broadcast and follow up statistics. Don’t take my word for it – download today and see it in action.
Want to learn more about email marketing and mobile apps? Join us for a live hangout on December 20th at a 3PM EST. RSVP today.
Never leave home without your sign up form
Many marketers employ an email strategy of set it and forget it: A sign up form goes on the site, an autoresponder does all the work, and as long as traffic is consistent, the list grows, the emails get sent, and sales start rolling in.
Sounds ideal, right?
While this may feel like a marketer’s dream, there are plenty of off-site conversions that are being left on the table. (Quite literally!)
But not all business is conducted on the web. When you meet a person that could benefit from your emails or offers, there’s a huge opportunity to invite them to join your list. Attracting engaged email subscribers is especially useful at trade shows, live events, networking meet-ups, retail store counters, and anywhere you meet real people in real life.
When you meet a person that could benefit from your emails or offers, there’s a huge opportunity to…
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A simple way to aggregate physical email addresses is with a traditional pen-and-paper list or by collecting business cards. Let your future subscribers know that you’ll be manually adding them to an email list. You can also use text-to-join apps, or a mobile sign up form app.
Customer Pro-tip: Using Atom App, you can hand off a mobile sign up form or set up a digital kiosk and add subscribers in real world settings.
Use content curation to save time and deliver value
A winning formula for saving time and money (while still yielding a huge return on your marketing) is balancing original content creation and strategic content curation.
According to 74 percent of marketers, curation is an important part of their content strategy, and 85 percent say they use curated content to establish themselves as thought leaders.
85 percent of marketers say they use curated content to establish themselves as thought leaders.
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One of the best ways to deliver curated content? Through an attractive and modern email newsletter.
Meet Curate.
Using Curate is simple. Save any content you want to share (articles, videos, links and more) to the app. Curate will automatically format your content into a newsletter that you can edit and personalize for your subscribers.
Customer Pro-Tip: The AWeber team developed Curate to streamline the curation, creation, and delivery of your email content. Discovered something on the web your subscribers would appreciate? Download it now and start building the perfect newsletter.
Download our exclusive Curate holiday sticker pack
To celebrate the holidays, we’ve put together a fun iMessage sticker pack with Curate. iMessage stickers are a fun way to add some holiday cheer to your conversations. These stickers complement our recently released holiday email GIFs and templates.
To use the iMessage stickers:
- Download the latest version of Curate
- Open a conversation in iMessages
- Select the App Store icon
- Tap the 4 dots in the lower left corner to open your apps
- Tap the + to enable the Curate sticker pack
- Select Curate
- Under manage apps, toggle Curate to green
- Start using stickers in your iMessages!
Download the Curate holiday sticker pack for iOS!
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Join us to learn more on a live hangout
Want to catch a demo of AWeber’s mobile apps, learn about mobile email marketing, and join a live Q&A with our team? Join us for a LIVE community hangout next Tuesday, December 20th at a 3PM EST with Meghan Nesta, Mobile Product Manager at AWeber. Only 50 spots are available. RSVP today!
The post 3 Ways Mobile Apps Can Boost Your Email Marketing appeared first on Email Marketing Tips.
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Tuesday, 13 December 2016
This is the first-ever livestreamed surgery using Snapchat’s ‘Spectacles’
A London-based doctor just showed the world what it was like to perform surgery from his perspective, in real time. Dr. Shafi Ahmed used Snap Inc.’s sought-after ‘Spectacles’ to document a first person view of a recent hernia repair surgery at London Independent Hospital. Ahmed captured all the action on the $130 Spectacles while providing not only an in-depth look at the procedure, but offering insight into just what it is he’s doing at any given time. He told Time he did it all so his medical students could watch it as a tutorial. I’ve always thought about the way…
This story continues at The Next Web
Or just read more coverage about: Snapchat
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The 5 Secrets to Building Your Email List
As a small business owner, you know that despite how many subscribers you have on your email list, the search for new ones never stops.
Gaining subscribers — let alone maintaining your current list — can seem like an uphill battle at times, especially when the average email marketing list decreases by approximately 22.5 percent every year.
So what’s the best way to ensure your list continues growing instead of dwindling down? By taking action now that will help replenish your email community and build your audience.
Here are our five top ways to grow your list:
1. Use targeted sign up forms on your blog or website
Adding an embedded sign up form to your website or blog is a great first step to growing your email list. But if you already have one featured, it may be time to consider other ways you can optimize your list growth.
Pop up forms, for example, can be a simple yet effective way to bring more attention to your email list. But it’s important to establish a few ground rules before getting started.
For one, you want to make sure the content in your form describes the value your audience will get when they subscribe. So if you already have an awesome email strategy, be sure to communicate that in your form.
This includes setting clear expectations about your email list in your form. Share details around how often you’ll be sending them emails, the type of content they should expect and the overall benefits of being on your list.
Another thing to keep in mind is that you don’t want to interrupt or annoy your website visitors with too many pop ups. Not all forms have to pop up in the middle of a screen and darken the background content. You can use a “sticky” form that unobtrusively remains on the bottom of the page as a user scrolls, or a slide in form on the side of the screen.
You can also set the timing of your pop up forms, so they can display after a user has been on the page for a certain time. Or, set it so the form displays only when a user takes a specific action (like attempting to exit the page) or reaches the bottom of the page.
Here’s an example from our friends at CrazyEgg, who feature a slide-in form that displayed when I scrolled down to the bottom of the post:
2. Reach out to your social followers
As a business owner, you probably already know a consistent social media presence can help you engage with customers, promote special offers and build brand awareness. But did you know that you can use channels like Facebook and Twitter to grow your email marketing list, too?
By encouraging your social followers to sign up for your email list, you’re able to tap into an audience of people who are already interested in your business and what you have to say.
While you can certainly post about the benefits of your email content along with a link to your sign up form, you can also share past emails you’ve sent by linking to your email archive.
If you want to get more creative, consider launching a social contest or giveaway that requires an email address in order to enter.
Or, explore the native opportunities within your social channels to see if there are any ways to add links back to your site or sign up form. Facebook’s call-to-action feature, for example, allows you to include a link directly in your business page cover photo.
3. Feature a new incentive on your sign up form
When it comes to growing your email marketing list, it’s crucial that you demonstrate the value of your business. After all, most people won’t hand over their email address unless there’s good reason.
That’s why we recommend offering free digital incentives like ebooks, white papers, webinars, or video series as a reward for subscribing to your email list. But if you already offer an incentive, it may be time to consider either updating the content to be more relevant, or swapping it for a new one.
There are tons of digital incentives you could use to gain subscribers, but it’s important to choose ones that fit your business and draw the right audience. Figuring out what types of content get the best response from your subscribers involves some experimenting and varies across industries, but here are some ideas to help you brainstorm:
- Restaurant owner or food bloggers could share exclusive recipes or a discount that goes towards a customer’s next visit.
- Graphic designers can send their subscribers unique desktop backgrounds or printable stationary each week.
- If you’re a coach or teacher, you could offer subscribers a free 1:1 consultation or introductory lesson.
By providing exclusive, high-value bonuses like the ones listed above, you’re giving people a reason to subscribe to your list. It also creates an opportunity to demonstrate thought leadership in your industry and establish yourself as a trustworthy and valuable source.
4. Encourage your subscribers to share with a friend
Enabling your existing customers to tell their networks about you can be a powerful way to grow your email list. In fact, one study found that 78 percent of consumers said “word-of-mouth” was a top influencer in their purchasing decisions.
Since people are more likely to trust a business of if it’s recommended to them by someone they know, it’s important to make your emails easy to share and subscribe to.
Every time you send an email to subscribers, include social sharing buttons to encourage them to promote your content or ask subscribers to share the email with their friends in a P.S. section. You should also include a “Subscribe” call-to-action at the bottom of your message so someone can easily opt into your list when your email is forwarded to them.
Adding these to every email provides access untapped networks of friends and colleagues who may be interested in learning more about your business.
Here’s a great example from AWeber’s Product Marketing Manger (and host of our Podcast!) Tom Tate, who publishes the e-newsletter, Weekly Coffee:
Notice how there is both an option to subscribe to the email list, as well as one to share it with others. Plus, it’s done in a way that isn’t too promotional.
5. Collect email addresses when you’re on-the-go
You never know when you’re going to meet someone interested in signing up for your business’s email list.
That’s why it’s important to be ready when you attend conferences, trade shows, and networking events. By leveraging in-person conversations, you can naturally ask people you meet to sign up to your list. Whether you take their name and email address the old school way with a pen and paper, or download a sign up form app (like our Atom app), it’s an easy way to build relationships with people you meet in person.
Kick-start your email list growth today
Building a list takes time, but there are steps you can take right now to gain subscribers and increase the reach of your audience. I encourage you to choose one tip above, and dedicate time this week to implement it.
Have other ideas for growing your email list? Share in the comments below!
For more ideas on how to grow your email list, download our free case study, How One Blogger Grew Her Email List to 50K and Counting!
The post The 5 Secrets to Building Your Email List appeared first on Email Marketing Tips.
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