You’ve probably heard somewhere that email is dying. Marketers, turn your ears away from that, because email marketing is, in fact, alive and very well. Email has the highest ROI compared to social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter, and even paid search campaigns. For every dollar spent, email marketing makes 44 dollars back. We’ve all heard the same tricks for effective email marketing campaign management before, but the rules were made for a world that no longer exists. Enter: Drift. Drift is a platform that advocates conversational marketing. In January, the company launched Sequences for sales emails, and more recently, Drift for Email Marketing to fulfill their goals of creating a seamless marketing experience full of real-time conversations with clients. It’s too early to make conclusions about their new tool’s performance, but we can take notes on what they learned about successful email marketing and how they utilized this information to create an innovative approach to email marketing. 1. Conversational Email Marketing Builds Trust It’s all in their branding. They address one of the problems with email marketing—emails, no matter how personalized, gather leads through forms. How often do you read the words “sign up”, “register”, or “submit”? Drift knows conversations lead to conversions, not endless forms and clicks. After all, we are trying to reach people. Since Drift is currently the first and only conversational marketing tool in the world, what we can take away from this is their ability to see customers as approachable human beings instead of just potential leads. They know that establishing and maintaining relationships with people involves conversations. You’ve probably read it before: an effective email marketing strategy involves personalization. This can be in the form of addressing each consumer by their first name, or even suggesting content they would most likely be interested in through segmentation. Personalized subject lines are 26 per cent more likely to be opened. Like Drift, you can take personalization up a notch. Find new ways to create trust between your company and your leads. 2. Content Is the Foundation of Building Relationships You’ve probably also heard that device compatibility plays a role in email marketing. Optimizing emails for mobile devices is a “must” because as of 2018, 47 per cent of emails are opened on mobile devices, and only 17 per cent are opened on desktop. Drift takes this information and throws it in the trash bin. Surprised? Drift actually uses this information to shift focus on content rather than design. When you set your attention on creating emails that have less to do with device compatibility and design, you end up prioritizing writing emails tailored for your customers. Marketers can build trust and meaningful relationships better when you’re direct to the point. Drift is still a young platform, and has a lot more steps to take. But learning their approach from lessons we also know from successful email marketing tips can help us think outside the box and make it work for our email marketing campaigns as well. A different approach may be new to you, so if you need help with your next campaign, there are email marketing campaign services that can help your business.
0 Comments
Did you know that the first email marketing campaign happened in 1978? It was made possible by a marketer named Gary Thuerk. He sent an email to 400 people promoting his company’s computers. It proved to be successful and brought about $13 million in sales. This happened when the internet was still living its past life as the ARPANET. Forty years later, successful email campaign management has evolved into more than sending unsolicited emails to recipients. It has become its own challenge for many businesses. Some companies miss the mark in marketing because their goals lack specificity and engagement. Here are two secrets to creating a successful email campaign: Personalize The Internet is becoming more sophisticated. It has evolved into becoming more personalized. This is because businesses know that from a psychological standpoint, people want to feel like their preferences are being considered. People want to be engaged with the content they’re viewing because it gives them a sense of control, according to a study in the University of Texas. Personalization can be achieved by segmenting audiences into different categories like gender, geography, age, interests, and jobs. By filtering content, businesses are able to create personalized options for users. They can offer users content that looks like they are tailor-made for them. Buzzfeed does something similar. They segment their subscribers through different categories like food, DIY, animals, books, and parents. By doing that, they are able to set up distinct subscription options for each category. Even a simple tactic like including the recipient’s first name on an email can prove to be effective. Dropbox is one of many companies that use this method. It makes the recipient feel like he or she is being directly addressed. People want to feel like they are communicating with other people, not robots. Uber does this well, by sending a congratulatory email to first-time consumers. Because at the end of the day, wouldn’t you rather receive emails that feel like someone is talking to you, not a generic message that's been sent to a hundred other users? Have a Clear Call-to-action Plan Like a sale being closed, it is important to let people know why they should engage with your brand. Having a call to action button is said to be the number one driver of click-throughs on your emails. You can entice your readers by giving them a sense of urgency with your offers. Phrases like “get yours now” or “start my free trial today” creates a feeling of doing things now. Meanwhile, keeping your copy short is just as important. It can save your campaign from being skimmed over. People have only 6 seconds of interest embedded in them, so it’s important to get direct to the point. The two most important elements of email campaign marketing are 1. make customers engaged, and 2. let them know they have clear reasons to become engaged. The best email marketing campaign services know these secrets, which is why they should be doing yours too! Lean seasons are nothing new for anyone who makes a living working online. It doesn't discriminate; it doesn’t care if you are a freelancer or the owner of an established digital marketing firm. Everybody has had their fair share of moments when the influx of foreign clients slow down to a trickle. So what do marketers do to keep themselves afloat during such trying times? This is when they start focusing inward and promote their services locally. BPO companies usually market themselves to companies and entrepreneurs from other countries. However, it never hurts to maintain a steady supply of clients based in local areas. It's a good idea to think of them as a business safety net. Imagine if a graphic design firm has finished all their projects with all or most of their overseas clientele, and they decide to part ways and move on. It's a given that their income will be a little bit lower. But at least they'll have a steady flow of money coming in. After all, the foreigners may be gone, but the locals are still there. There are quite a bit of benefits to reap from having customers from your own city, the most notable of which are: In most cases, they are easier to deal with. There are no time zones that need adjusting to (unless they're a frequent flyer). Miscommunication won't be much of an issue, because:
Having clients from your area builds your reputation with the local community. And if you have a good reputation, you'll have no problem with getting new customers to work with. It's a mutualistic relationship--if you help their businesses, they'll help yours too. In a way, it helps you save some money meant for advertising. Clients both current and previous can recommend you to their other entrepreneur friends who are looking to outsource. But of course, it still helps to invest in ads once in a while. You can, for example, start a Facebook ad campaign aimed for a local audience. The social media platform's geo-targeting feature is very helpful in this regard. You'll also want to use more local-related keywords for your SEO strategy. While outsourcing companies always want to be known to global audiences. it's always a good thing to have some local exposure. It gives you more long-term security, and lets you build a network of people who can help you out in the future. ![]() The first quarter of 2018 is already underway, and there are a lot of pieces on the “Top (insert subject here) Trends To Watch Out For This 2018”. Even the customer care support scene isn’t safe from these at all. Publications like Business News Daily and Business 2 Community have released their own versions of top customer service trends for the year. They're always worth the read, though--even if they keep churning them out every single year. Times are always a-changing, so it's important to keep yourself updated so you can keep up with the flow of the industry. There are a few things that stick out in the trend articles on customer service, one of them being: The Growing Significance of Chat It's hard to deny that using live chat customer support on websites is a great boon for businesses. It a much more convenient alternative for people who don't have the time to wait for email replies. It can solve customer issues in a lesser amount of time. And like emails, chat solves the problem of miscommunication that often arises in voice support. It's no surprise that more companies have begun to embrace this for their customer services. They have to watch out for potential pitfalls, however. As live chat becomes more popular, so will the use of chat bots. Artificial intelligence can be helpful in letting support agents deal with harder problems while the bots handle simpler queries. Depending solely on them is a dangerous practice which some companies still do. While it does save them money for them. Another customer service trend you should take note of is: ![]() The Popularity of Social Media and Messaging apps If you don't have, at the very least, a business page on Facebook, you are missing out on so many opportunities, my friend. I mean, it's 2018 already! Virtually everyone and their mother has a social media profile--or several. There are plenty of brands today that do most of their marketing or even set up shop only on social media. While effective for some, it doesn't mean you don't need to have a website anymore. Instead, you can complement your site with social media. You'll be able to reach more people this way. According to Forbes Magazine, lot of customers expect companies to provide support on social media. And there are also those who only use, or prefer, to use only social media to contact businesses. It'll definitely help you out if you have support teams dedicated to your website chat and your social media accounts. Messaging applications like Facebook Messenger, Viber, and Line can be used as another live chat channel like your website's. People use mobiles more than they do desktops, so you'd best provide them with a more convenient way of contacting your business. Annual top trends lists aren't so bad. There's always something new to learn every year. As people who make a living in the online world as customer support providers, we should always keep ourselves in the know. ![]() Can you imagine the internet without words? Imagine not having any text to read. Instead, it will be filled with icons, videos and pictures. I’d like to experience that kind of web surfing but I can’t promise that I won’t get annoyed after a while. Imagine searching for the lyrics of your favourite Beyonce song but find nothing but icons. It doesn’t matter how patient you are. you’ll definitely want to punch your computer screen after minutes of pure confusion. While the internet without words sounds like an idea straight out of a James Wan horror flick, there are some rules that still come into play when writing for the internet. First, you need to think about your audience and what they do when surfing and reading articles. ![]() Here are the most common behaviour of readers on the internet: Selective The people of the internet are quite selective when choosing which articles to read. Remember that this generation is lucky enough to have all the necessary information they need within their reach. One quick search on Google and you’ll find facts about the universe, the life of famous public figures and even the exact words of Fetty Wap’s verse in Fifth Harmony’s All in My Head. With easy access to information, however, came the shortage of attention spans. This is why readers have become more selective on what they read. They don’t have time to search for highfalutin words in dictionaries. Therefore, make your sentences easy to read. Avoid pretentiously long phrases. If you can, make your piece readable to a 12th grader to ensure simplicity without compromising depth and quality. No Time for Long Paragraphs Again, we have short attention spans to blame for this one. Nowadays, long paragraphs are no longer romantic. Have a maximum of four sentences per paragraph. Also, be coherent and concise by sticking to one idea per paragraph. Results-oriented When your readers visit your website, they are there for a reason. They know what information they want. They don’t have the intention of reading something that takes six minutes to finish . They just need an answer to their question and chances are they’ll skim through your article or ‘Ctrl + F’ their way towards finding it. Make their life easier by highlighting important points in your article. Put points in bullets instead of enumerating them. Don’t be afraid to include pictures and videos especially if you think it helps get your point across. Writing for the internet is, of course, different than writing for other platforms. But if there’s one thing they have in common, it is that good writing takes a lot of skill and knowledge about your readers. It is something that is better done by experts. If you're looking for someone who can write for your website, you can look for companies that offer content writing services. This allows you to save time from having to do the writing on your own and the stress of having to figure out what style your audiences want to read. You can also work with companies that offer copywriting services if you’re looking for experts in writing competent ad copies. Overall, you get to save time, money and effort. Who says writing is stressful? It won’t be stressful if you work with experienced folks. That ought to do the trick! Think of writing as a journey. It won’t be stressful if you go through it with the right people who has the right tools. One undeniable fact about our generation today is that social media has become and will always be a part of our life, whether we like it or not. Communication, connection, entertainment, and even business are done on social media on a daily basis. It definitely does a lot to make our lives better and augment our experiences to the next level of convenience. It’s not anymore a surprise that social media optimization is now more important than ever. Before We Actually Begin, What Is SMO? A business that’s smart and been around long enough knows about search engine optimization or SEO and how it works. The idea of SMO is generally the same, except its with social media. The more engagement and the better stats you have on your social media page, the higher your ranking will be on the results. Search engines today also take into account how much your page is searched on Facebook or how well it is performing. In addition to your SEO efforts, this is also an aspect of digital marketing you should definitely not ignore. You should invest time in . Why? Here are some just of them: Distinct and Substantial Web Presence For a business to survive online, they need to have a strong web presence. SEO will help you in climbing the search engine rankings, but don’t forget your presence on social media. There hundreds of millions of internet users on it every day. It’s free after all, and it’s easy to get noticed if you’ve got the right and relevant content for your audience. Wider Reach and Exposure Social media allows you to communicate with anyone from the other side of the world. You can also attract the attention of your target audience wherever they may be on the globe at any given time. Your reach is increased compared to relying on your physical store or waiting for your SEO efforts to bear fruit. More Website Traffic Have you seen how one post can go viral in a matter of minutes? Yes, that’s the power of social media. Imagine that with your website. Placing a link of your website on your social media page can drive more traffic for you without any cost. If anything will cost you, it will be the paid ads, which are still definitely worth it considering the targeting options it has. Faster and Easier Lead Generation As mentioned above, with the scope of your reach on social media, gathering leads will be much easier. This is especially true if you make use of ads. You can filter those who are likely to show interest in your product or service and make a purchase. As it has become a routine to be on social media, we’re not so conscious about how complicated it can be. Once you give it a try, you will realize that. If you find yourself frustrated with how to improve your performance, you can always outsource social media optimization services to your trusted digital marketing company. Google is no longer just a search engine nowadays. As its popularity skyrocketed over these past few years, people use the word “Google” as a noun, verb or even an adjective. Truth be told, Google is one of the reasons why we’re thankful for the internet. You can find all types of content on this platform, no matter how useful or useless. But if you’re running a business, how can Google help you? Go ahead and sip on your coffee, you unconvinced human being. But really. One thing that makes Google so effective for businesses is its advertisements. Google Adwords is one of the most popular ways to be found by your local market. To Advertise or Not to Advertise Advertising on Google, like other types of digital marketing schemes, has its own pros and cons. But if you’re planning to have a localized digital marketing campaign, Google’s advertising campaigns can be of help. Here’s why you should consider this scheme: 1. It’ll show your business to your customers during the right time When was the last time you “Googled” the nearest pizza place in search for a nice place to get dinner? Last month? Last week? Last night? Whether you’re a serial food place searcher like me or not, making sure that your business is on Google’s first page when your customers look for it increases your chances of boosting your sales. One good thing about Google advertising is that people usually make searches with the intent to buy something. If you create your ad campaign with the right keywords and phrases, you can increase brand awareness and sales at the same time. 2. You can set your own budget Like Facebook, you can set a maximum budget for your campaign. You can even do this daily to ensure balanced exposure of your ad to your potential clients. This helps business owners get better grip on their budget. Aside from that, you only pay Google when your ads are clicked by the user. This ensures that there is enough interest in your audience before you pay for anything. It is up to your ad copy then to convert the searcher into a customer. 3. Localized Google’s algorithm and features makes localized searching easier. If you’re running a business with an intent to attract local customers, Google ads can help your business grow. But remember that using the right strategy and working with experts is important if you’re planning campaigns. You can consult a digital marketing expert or work with a business outsourcing company that can guide you in advertising. Of course, the DIY route is always available, although it does not necessarily promise dramatic increase in sales on the get go. Remember that when it comes to business development, one of the best ways to sell is through social listening. Think like your customer so you can sell to them. When you know what they need and when they need it, it’s easier to present your business as the best solution to that need. Have you ever taken a look at your website and thought it needed some work? Say, some pages won’t load, or the text is too difficult to read. When you are faced with such problems, who are you going to call and what kind of service do you actually need? There has been confusion between web development and web design, and there was some point when the terms became interchangeable. However, it’s important to be able to differentiate one from the other as, although they are somehow related, both are different services that require two unique skill sets. You wouldn’t want to accidentally avail web design services when you actually needed web development instead. To provide you some clarity, we’re going to discuss what web development and web design are below so you can learn how they are different from each other. ![]() What is Web Development? Web development is focused on the usability aspect of your website. Professionals who do web development are usually called programmers. So if you don’t have a website yet, you should contact a programmer to build a website for you from scratch. Their job is not only limited to building websites and dealing with codes, though. It also includes optimization, maintenance, and the overall ensurance that your website is fully functioning at all times. Yes, there are free templates available online. You might be tempted to use them instead of hiring a programmer or web developer in order to cut cost, but in actuality, you might be doing more harm than good. Aside from having very limited liberty with how your website will work, you won’t be able to fix issues that may arise here and there. It’s always better to have an expert available for whenever you need some assistance. Furthermore, they can also give you advice on which will work best because they already have plenty of experience in that field. ![]() What is Web Design? As web development is focused on the usability of the website, web design, on the other hand, deals with the aesthetic aspect of your website. The thing about web design is, obviously, you can’t have it if you don’t have a website yet. So make sure you get web developer to build a website for you first before you begin to worry about web design. The goal of web design is to use and incorporate essential design principles to make the site look aesthetically pleasing without compromising its functionality. This allows visitors to have a good user experience when visiting your website. Most importantly, they will be able to view and be more engaged with your content, which is an important aspect in your marketing strategy. Hopefully, the confusion between the two terms has been cleared out for you. You can avoid confusion altogether, however, if you’re fortunate enough to have hired a professional who is knowledgeable in both. Still, it’s better to hire someone who specializes in the field you are looking for. Don’t worry about the cost of availing either or both services as websites are a long term investment for your business. The amount you’re paying can’t compare to the ROI and other benefits lying ahead. If you really want to save money, you can hire from a reliable web development company in Davao. The Philippines is a developing country, so the rates will definitely be lower. They are also a popular country for outsourcing business processes. So are you ready to make your website fit and ready? Social media is now more than posting photos about your vacation or reaching out to friends. If you’re an avid social media user, you also know by now that you can also use it to promote your business. But if there’s one thing you need to know about social media, it is that it never stays the same. It is always shifting, always growing and always catering to the ever-changing preferences of its users. If you have business development in mind when jumping into social media, there are a couple of things you need to be aware of. Reaching People Will Not Be As Easy Anymore (On Facebook At Least) As reported by Forbes, companies might have to work harder to reach more people. Facebook has recently released the “Explore Feed” where posts from companies will be located instead of posted on the timelines of users. It was released in several countries and is expected to be applied on all accounts soon. This can be both good and bad news for companies. The creation of Explore Feed makes it helpful for companies who advertise on Facebook to make sure that their ad stands out. However, this also means that all your other content that are not ads might have a significantly lower reach. You’ll Need Videos Videos are the new currency of the internet. In fact, Cisco estimated that approximately 82% of internet traffic will be video on 2018. If there is anything that this number is telling us, it is that video could be the next big thing for businesses if they want to remain competitive. Videos can be used for social media marketing advertisements. In itself, videos are typically much more entertaining and allow viewers to absorb and retain information. Imagine how having the right type of content (video) and message can benefit your business! Identify Objectives Better This is actually one of the basics of social media management for business. It is also one of the things that’s often neglected or forgotten about. As social media becomes more competitive, remember to reassess where you are currently at in your social media marketing campaign. Take a step back and set definite social media goals and see how you can measure them. The general problem about social media for business nowadays is bridging the gap between sales and social media statistics. You can do social media right by making sure that you have the right ways of measuring your success. Be specific in your goals. Create a specific timeline towards reaching them and make sure that the growth in your social media account is translated on your sales.
At this point, it is safe to say that social media is only about to get bigger. It isn’t bowing out of the marketing scene anytime soon. But it is also changing which is why entrepreneurs should make an effort in their social media campaign to stay relevant and competitive. Social media management is something that can be done by businesses on their own. But if you’re an entrepreneur who isn’t as knowledgeable about social media, working with a company that offers social media optimization services is definitely the way to go. Until you get the success that you want, remember to be patient and consistent in your social media efforts. They do pay off in the end. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you want to advertise your new local business on the Internet? Let me guess--make a page on Facebook, right? It’s a good start, actually. Facebook’s got a lot of features that you need in order to start marketing yourself online and do business, too. You can post pictures, message people, make sponsored advertisements, and so forth. Facebook has, more or less, the whole package. Everything’s nice and comfy when you’re still starting out. Your page and posts are getting a lot of likes from your friends and their friends. You’re having a grand time answering curious folks in your inbox. You even fool around a little and make funny comments with your followers. So it’s all good. More people know about your business now, and so it starts to flourish. But that’s also when things begin to get a little rough. This is when tricky part of using social media for growing businesses. See, a busy business means a busy owner. You might find yourself forgetting about your Facebook page. You won’t post that much anymore, and you may start neglecting your inbox and then the messages will start piling up. As a result, you lose the “magic” that brought you those followers in the first place. How are you going to bring that back now? Of course, you could hire someone for the job and do things in-house, but that could cost you quite a bit, being a new business and all that. Inhouse employees mean more to worry about for the payroll, taxes, benefits, insurance...you get the point. And if you want them to work in the same place as you, you have to answer yet another problem: Do you have space for one more worker? Now you’re starting to realize why there are a lot of people out there who outsource social media management and marketing. When you let a pro take the wheel of your Facebook page, you’re going to realize that there’s more to social media than just interacting with followers. There’s actually a bit of strategizing involved! They’ll introduce you to features you never even thought about exploring--like page insights, which let you study your followers’ behavior on your page. They can figure out the best time to post, the most effective kind of post, and so much more. Simply put, they’ve probably got more knowledge on social media than you, and, more importantly, know how to put it to good use. So why exactly should you get someone from the outside to manage your social media for you, again? It’s because they can help bring the magic back to your page. And since you’re running a local gig, what you’ll want is a fellow local to do the job. They have a better understanding of how to reel in more folks because they can relate with the target market better than a foreigner can. So, for instance, if you’re in Davao City, get a social media agency in Davao City. Easy peasy, right? |