The current customer experience is way better than it was decades ago. Fortunately, modern technologies have made it possible for businesses to utilize personalization in advertising online and improve their customer experiences. Personalization is a marketing trend that involves creating marketing messages to suit individual customers. This greatly differs from traditional marketing methods, such as billboards and cold calls, which target the general population.
Unfortunately, despite its perceived benefits, more than 74% of digital marketers still struggle with implementing personalization in their marketing strategies. Even worse, 25% of marketers don't even use personalization at all. However, this is what customers want, with more than 80% of customers saying they prefer doing business with companies that offer personalization.
That said, below are some personalization strategies to implement in your online marketing.
Data is crucial and forms the foundation of personalized online marketing. However, with continuously growing customer and visitor data, most marketers experience infobesity. This is information overload and the inability to choose the right data for marketing goals. Nonetheless, digital marketers should use the available data to create a buyer persona. Use this to enrich your personalization in advertising strategies while improving the customer experience.
However, remember that not all customer and visitors' data is actionable. Below are key data types for a successful personalization;
Obtain accurate data and improve customer experience by using the right tools. For instance, eCommerce personalization software can help gather data about users’ interests and behaviors. This tool also enables you to create detailed data segments and personalize content, product recommendations, and messaging across all customer touchpoints.
Moreover, this personalization tool allows you to run ad experiments and split tests to determine the best ones that can drive more conversions. Unify fragmented data across all digital channels and manage ad personalization efforts from a single location.
Once the marketing team captures the right data, they can easily make better marketing decisions. Thus, allowing them to create personalized experiences, and improve lead scores.
The best way to succeed in email marketing is to create personalized campaigns, operational messages, and campaigns that suit unique customer needs and interests. If done correctly, personalized emails can generate up to 6 times more click-through rates, 66% conversion rates, and 3800% ROI.
Unfortunately, achieving these figures isn't easy. Especially since prospects and customers in email lists delete nearly half of opened emails within 2 seconds. This is due to irrelevancy. Customers will ignore and delete emails that they deem irrelevant, salesy, or overly pushy. Your email subscribers want relevant content that addresses their pain points.
Personalization can improve your email marketing strategy in many ways. For instance, you can personalize your emails by using their first names, humanizing your communication, and creating content that solves customers' specific problems.
In addition, you can create data-driven email campaigns in minutes using email personalization software. With this personalization tool, you can make your emails unique to build meaningful prospect and customer relationships. Catch your target leads’ attention and establish trust and rapport with customized email subject lines.
Moreover, predictive email personalization software programs are drag-and-drop builders. You can build email content blocks and modify them even after sending them.
Personalization also comes in handy in creating dynamic retargeting strategies. You can create ads that specifically target visitors who check into your website or online platform but don't make a purchase. This is an excellent way to remind customers of their interests and probably convince them to complete the purchase.
You can also target returning customers with personalized ads. Including customer data, such as phone numbers, email addresses, and other past purchase data, in your remarketing list can increase purchases. Returning customers convert easily since they have previously shown interest in your products/services.
This strategy can help you develop customized messages and ad creatives for each intent-based group. But you can’t do it without the right tool. Personalization software can help with this task by providing accurate data on consumer behavior and other information. Moreover, you can enhance customer experience by creating relevant ad content.
Surprisingly, only one in every 50 sales is made during the first visit. Even then, the person who buys during the first visit has probably already researched the product. The other 49 might not be ready but are potential customers who can buy once you establish a level of trust and do some convincing.
Convincing customers can be hard, given that most sales representatives only make 2 or 3 follow-up attempts. However, personalization can improve your sales team's ability to onboard and close more sales. Insights from prospective customers' behavior, such as events they register, product demo requests, web pages they visit, and more, can help your team create follow-up messages and emails specifically for them.
Personalization enables businesses to capitalize on customer data to offer better experiences. If done right, personalization in advertising online can reduce customer acquisition costs by 50%, improve marketing efficiency by 30% and increase revenue by 15%. Start personalizing your marketing today to see the benefits for yourself.
2021 wasn’t too bad a year for small businesses. Although over 200,000 SMBs closed doors between March 2020 and February 2021, according to the Federal Reserve, at least 4.3 million new small business applications have been filed since then. This shows the resilience of the average small business. Many business owners are willing to do anything to keep their investments going.
With that in mind, we’ve rounded up a few clever ideas to help you acquire even more customers in the coming year.
The first step to gaining new customers and taking your business forward in 2022 is to have a set plan. Have a vision of where you want to be, then brainstorm and research ways to get there. Also, remember to analyze your 2021 hits and misses. This will allow you to identify gaps you should fill in the coming year. Starting the year with clear goals and business objectives gives you a better shot at success.
The average consumer spends most of their time online. Indeed, 97% of purchase journeys start online. So, hopefully, you already have a beautiful website. If not, that’s where you should begin. In addition, consider diversifying your marketing channels by taking advantage of popular social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. Email, newsletters, search engines, and blogs are other must-have digital marketing platforms you should use if you want to break into new markets.
Although you’re free to dangle whatever you wish in front of your leads to convince them to take the next step, a few proven lead magnets guarantee greater value. Top of the list are workbooks, case studies, and checklists that customers can download. Additionally, consider webinars and white paper guides for more educated demographics. These resources can quickly endear customers to a brand.
You’re likely already aware of the increasing importance of user experience in marketing. But perhaps you’re still not convinced. Well, consider that the top companies leading in user experience outperformed the S&P index by 35% in 2021. For one, better UX design increases website conversion rates by up to 400%. Additionally, 23% of customers who have a positive experience tell ten or more people about it. So, investing some funds into UX is bound to boost your business in the coming year.
Marketing personalization is arguably the most significant trend at the moment. And, why not, when 80% of consumers only buy from companies that provide tailored experiences? In fact, 66% of consumers say they expect brands to understand their individual problems. Additionally, 71% say they are frustrated by impersonal shopping experiences.
Did you know that 54.7% of online shoppers read at least four product reviews before purchasing a product? Additionally, a recent report on Inc.com shows that 84% of consumers trust online reviews as much as friends. Most consumers are also twice as likely to buy after reading positive reviews. Other user-generated content (UGC), including ratings, comments, likes, and retweets, are just as important. Therefore, you should encourage customers to leave reviews and be sure to respond to them as well. This is especially important with any negative feedback.
Business tools such as Business Intelligence (BI) software, are often the difference between a standard business and their highly successful counterparts. This can include analytics solutions, CRM software, and accounting solutions. These software programs can lower the cost of running the business, facilitate internal communications, improve productivity, and, most importantly, drive customer acquisition and loyalty.
Now you know what you should do to get more traffic, convert more leads, and acquire more customers in 2022. The best thing is that you can roll out many of these strategies right away without significant capital investment.
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As a digital marketer, you've probably heard Google's announcement that it will no longer support third-party cookies in 2022 for Chrome browsers. Well, this is a big deal since Chrome is the most popular browser with a 70% market share. Tracking customers across various platforms through cookies is crucial for both businesses and digital marketers. However, user privacy concerns are becoming more important. Thus, the implementation of GDPR laws is taking effect. As such, businesses and digital marketers should be on the lookout for other marketing areas and trends to focus on that will shape the year ahead.
Social media marketing has exploded in recent years and is poised to continue growing. However, even brands with millions of Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter followers essentially don't own them. Therefore, even if these platforms have been working well for your business, you shouldn't get comfortable.
In 2022, businesses need to find ways to own their audience for various reasons. For starters, owning your audience ensures that they receive marketing messages directly. Secondly, several factors and metrics affect message delivery on social platforms. As such, your message may be lost amidst the marketing noise. Especially on social platforms full of many other competing brands.
For instance, with more than 500 million tweets being sent daily, how can you ensure that your marketing tweets reach your target audience? Additionally, more than 6 million brands use Facebook ads, making it easy for your message to disappear. That aside, modern customers often have a short attention span of less than 8 seconds, thanks to information overload.
These are just but a few reasons why you should own your audience in 2022. Unfortunately, this might be difficult to achieve. However, the best place to start is with an email list. Using a few tricks, such as sending personalized newsletters and creating custom content, allows you to be directly in your customers' inboxes.
Your brand image means a lot in the current digital world. Therefore, to create a strong brand image, you should find the right words and communicate correctly with your audience. You should also take advantage of user-generated content to widen your reach. Even though digital marketing will remain a key marketing strategy in 2022, you should invest more time and resources to stand out.
For instance, the cost of Google Ads keeps rising every year because of the bidding format used by Google. Increased online competition means that the cost of these ads will also continue to increase. To avoid costly marketing campaigns, focus on increasing your brand awareness organically. Simple ways of doing this include posting video tutorials and creating insightful web content. You may even want to consider a weekly podcast.
The phrase "content is king" has been the face of content marketing for some years. However, even though consumers want unique and high-quality content, there is so much out there, thus making it challenging to find the best and to wade through the rest. That said, simplicity and clarity will likely replace long-form content next year.
With changing customer behavior, customers no longer want super, long articles and massive third-party reviews. Instead, they want a new and unique twist. This makes it necessary to use unique approaches with personal recommendations and experiences. If you are into blogging, provide educational content with an interactive twist. For example, including short snippets or even polls and quizzes within your blog.
What is marketing automation? The concept of marketing automation stems from using digital technology to hasten the tasks associated with promoting different products and services or a company’s brand. Hence, marketing technology was born, consisting of automation and other technologies to make marketers’ lives easier. Business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customers (B2C) can use marketing automation to generate promising leads and sales.
Because of advanced digital technology, automation empowers marketing tasks. Whether you’re launching a new press release, a social media campaign, email marketing, or content marketing, you can deploy marketing automation to reduce the hassle and stress associated with manually entering data and tracking sales and marketing results.
Predictive analytics, cloud technology, machine learning, and artificial intelligence are just a few of the many technologies that companies can use to automate marketing tasks. Of course, automation comes with risks, such as cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Therefore, choosing the best marketing automation software should also prioritize safety features.
Are you ready to take your business to the top-rank companies in your industry? If yes, then embrace marketing technology. You can simplify your sales and marketing through automation to find out more as you broaden your knowledge and skills on this crucial area to focus on in 2022.
2022 will certainly bring big changes in the marketing space. While these might not be the only impacts or changes, a sure fact is customers will demand more. This is why you should start experimenting with new marketing methods, particularly in the digital marketing arena. Begin by focusing more on personalization, and be ready to review and change your marketing strategies regularly.
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Black Friday is coming soon, and then Cyber Monday quickly follows. Since the two occur on the last weekend of November, in 2021 they will take place on November 26 and November 29, respectively. It's time to think about Black Friday and Cyber Monday marketing strategies.
This means that we’re only a few weeks off from arguably the most significant two days in the small business calendar. Last year, businesses generated $9 billion on Black Friday, that’s 21.6% more than in 2019. Meanwhile, Cyber Monday deals earned small businesses over $10.8 billion, a 15% increase from the year before. However, this year could be even bigger.
As more people than ever before are shopping online over instore, experts project record-breaking Thanksgiving sale revenue. Black Friday sales will likely break the $12 billion mark for the first time, while Cyber Monday sales could hit a record $11.8 billion.
These projections point to increasing sales opportunities for small businesses. However, you must be smart as the competition will be stiffer given the strong shift to e-commerce in the past two years. We’ve identified five simple hacks to help you set up for success. Try these ideas to jump-start your Black Friday and Cyber Monday marketing strategies.
The first thing you need is a plan that captures your key strategies for the period leading to, during, and immediately after Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Although the details are up to you, we recommend that you schedule at least one Black Friday buzz-building campaign. This should include cutdown sales, deals, or specials. Consider using an influencer and micro-influencer engagement strategy to boost word of mouth, and add in post-Cyber Monday deals and campaigns.
One of the best ways to stay ahead of your competition is to start your marketing early. Our experts recommend buying traffic early (before costs rise) and building social audiences before the competition stiffens. Starting early also increases your chances of staying top of mind throughout the Thanksgiving weekend. Another tip to consider is building anticipation through social media. You should also segment your emails before and during the two days.
Site performance can make or break your Thanksgiving weekend if you’re a small business owner. A reliable site performance guarantees constant traffic and significant sales, however, a slow site can cost you customers. It may even crash before you get to Cyber Monday. So, make sure your website is fast enough, keeping in mind that it can take just a second’s delay to lose 30% of web traffic. Additionally, make sure you optimize your site for mobile searches.
Competing on Black Friday through to Cyber Monday often comes down to savviness. Typically, the smartest businesses will win the traffic. Therefore, you need to begin thinking about some low-cost D-Day strategies with the highest return. Some of the best options that worked in the last two years are;
Personalization has become one of the best ways to generate more leads and close sales. According to one Epsilon Marketing study, 80% of customers are more likely to do business with a brand that offers personalized experiences. Detecting their device type to offer a smooth browsing experience, addressing customers by name in email and chats, and awarding discounts based on user profile are some of the best ways to personalize your marketing campaign.
Ensure a smooth checkout process and make the experience even more satisfying by offering goodies such as free shipping (for selected products) and post-Black Friday/Cyber Monday loyalty points.
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The new Apple iOS14 update has created a lot of excitement for iPhone customers with the new power to control app tracking for ad use. However, this update brings along apprehension to marketers and business owners. The update will affect data tracking permissions and the efficacy of Facebook ads. Notable changes with the iOS14 privacy changes update are to privacy and data sharing policies, otherwise known as Apple’s App Tracking Transparency Framework. This move aims to give Apple users more control over their privacy online.
However, business owners fear that consumers won’t allow tracking across the internet, which they currently require to measure the efficacy of Facebook ad campaigns. This change applies to all apps in the App Store, including Facebook apps such as Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp. If this update will affect your business, the following tips can help you maneuver around the iOS14 privacy changes update.
One way to avoid these changes is to target Android audiences only. The update will only affect iOS users. Therefore the targeting of Android device users won’t be affected. Ideally, you would track both Android and iOS users. However, data collected from iOS users will now be incomplete, thus it may be best to work with Android users only.
That said, when creating Facebook campaigns that target conversions, consider changing the “Specific Mobile Devices & Operating Systems” option to Android devices only.
Once the updates roll out, Facebook and related apps will track very few platform users. However, to compensate for this shortage, Facebook has made some changes for marketers to use value optimization. Value optimization allows marketers to bid for high-value users or target audiences who will most likely take the ideal action.
However, you should prove that you are eligible for value optimization by fulfilling several requirements. These requirements state that marketers should have an active product catalog or pixel. They must also have over 100 optimized purchases within the last ten days, and over ten different purchases within seven days.
iOS 14 will affect the performance and measurement of Facebook ads within apps. Therefore, Facebook recommends that marketers should update their iOS Facebook SDK to version 8.1 or higher. If your adverts require a Facebook login, you should update to version 9 at least. By updating to one of these versions you can continue providing personalized ads to users of iOS.
Some Facebook campaigns will automatically lose efficacy once the iOS14 privacy changes update is fully implemented. Therefore, you should prepare early by exploring alternative strategies for testing the performance of your ads. Begin by using different bid types, events, and audience definitions in your Facebook ad testing.
You can also stop monitoring website conversions from Facebook. Instead, opt to use your website’s tracking system when monitoring where your traffic comes from and their activities on your website.
The update places a limit on the number of events that you can rank and use to track conversions in your Events Manager. Therefore, you should decide on the eight valuable Pixel events that are most important to your business. Initially, Facebook automatically chooses the eight high-priority events. However, you can change the automatic selections and reorder them according to those you deem important. Note that other events not included in the eight priority ad sets will be paused.
The new iOS14 privacy changes update is leaving most business owners and marketers concerned about the ability to target users effectively. Not to mention the concern around measuring conversions, and generating leads from Facebook and Facebook-associated apps. Unfortunately, the true effect of this update remains unknown until the final version is rolled out completely. Nonetheless, marketers should look into finding alternative ways of marketing their business effectively to minimize the effects. Other social media platforms have ad options as well and it may be time to evaluate some shift in strategy.
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Despite many marketing experts writing off the effectiveness of email marketing in the current age, it remains an essential part of marketing strategies. In fact, an estimated 97% of businesses still use it to connect with their customers. There are many great benefits of email marketing to a business, however, the biggest hurdle of this strategy is increasing the open rate. A good open and click-through rate can boost your conversion rate significantly. Implement the following strategies if you are currently struggling with a poor open rate.
Not all emails sent by a business will have an equal effect. Reevaluate the various types of emails you send your customers. From emails with promotional content, newsletters, and birthday rewards to welcome emails. HubSpot statistics estimate that up to 78% of customers unsubscribe from marketing emails because brands send them too many emails. Therefore, you should focus on sending the following four main emails;
All the above are transactional emails that help boost retention rates and receive more open rates.
Customers prefer reading emails specifically crafted for them and not your entire email list. Therefore, make an effort to personalize the emails, such as including the first name of your clients or sending them a promotion for their local store. Without a doubt, any extra effort used to set up personalization on emails is worth it, as they can improve open rates by 14% and convert 10% more.
Poorly written emails will drown all your email marketing efforts as your messages will lose value. Prospective customers look forward to emails that answer their problems and provide tips and tricks, relevant promotions, money-saving deals, or other intriguing information. If you aren’t sure of how to achieve this, check out these examples for some inspiration.
Complementing your social media and email marketing strategies improves the reach of your marketing emails. Making it possible for readers to share your emails through Facebook or Twitter opens up your business to a larger audience. It also provides more engagement opportunities. Besides including a social media share button on your emails, share some emails on your social media platforms.
While everyone will read the subject line, not all will be compelled to open the email. Therefore, to boost your open rates, use the following techniques in your subject line;
Don’t worry too much about desktop readers, instead focus on mobile users. If your emails can’t open properly on mobile devices, you are probably losing a lot of traffic. Smartphones are estimated to contribute to at least 50% of email opens. And, often those that don’t open correctly are deleted within 3 seconds.
The introductory lines of your email are crucial. Therefore, make sure that you state the purpose of the email within the first 25 words to capture immediate attention. Most readers read the first few lines before deciding if it’s worth reading. Take advantage of these few seconds.
Sending fake emails, such as spoofing and phishing, is very easy. Therefore, to protect customers, email providers, such as Gmail, use a system that verifies senders. Make an effort to authenticate your emails to increase open rates. This is a simple way of letting subscribers know that the messages are real.
Even though email marketing is challenging to comprehend and get good results, improving your open rates is possible. Just make sure your marketing email stands out from other competitors.
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Small businesses should always be looking to find opportunities to stay ahead of the competitive market and reach their potential customers where they are. With the currently reduced dependence on physical options, especially during the coronavirus pandemic, many businesses are moving online. However, with this increased reliance on digital landscapes, digital marketing channels provide an opportunity that small businesses should leverage. That said, below are some digital marketing tips for small businesses.
With in-person and physical communication opportunities becoming limited, small businesses should appreciate the use of social media platforms to reach prospects and customers. Over time, social media has grown to be a key digital marketing strategy for most businesses. Social platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, provide endless opportunities of connecting with a new audience.
However, to guarantee success, developing a well-thought-out social media strategy is important. Small businesses can leverage platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to showcase customer testimonials. These platforms also encourage customer engagement, communication and promote brand exposure. Make sure you leverage advertising on social media as well, and find out more about a cookieless advertising solution that can increase revenues by between 20-30%.
While some marketing experts argue that email marketing has become outdated, many businesses still see significant engagement. Small businesses can leverage the power of email marketing to boost personal connections with clients. In fact, HubSpot analytics found out that email marketing is indeed effective in amplifying customer retention. Another study found that 60 percent of participants believe that marketing emails influence their purchase behavior.
Email marketing is key in customer retention, especially as it provides a space to customize and personalize your marketing. The benefits of email marketing go beyond email inboxes. This digital marketing strategy is great for businesses looking to expand their reach and influence.
Showing your face to clients through video is possibly the best way to maintain personal connections with your clients in the current era of social distancing. With more than 5 billion videos being watched daily on YouTube and 40minute average viewing sessions, video marketing can be an effective strategy.
Fortunately, with current technological advancements, creating videos is easy. You don’t need heavy equipment or professionals to shoot the footage. Smartphones with quality cameras make it easy to shoot and share your videos instantly. However, you should ensure that your marketing videos are authentic. Most viewers are savvy enough to note suspicious slick or overly curated videos that shout “marketing.”
Live videos are also increasingly becoming popular on social platforms. For instance, Live Facebook videos have engagement rates of 4.3% compared to 2.2% from non-live videos. That said, adding video to your digital marketing strategy leads to positive engagement. Besides, people are currently spending even more time on video-apps, such as TikTok.
Creating an online presence is completely separate from maintaining an online presence. Live chats on websites are one of the best ways that small businesses can maintain their online presence. Customers have varying schedules, with some working partially, full-time, or engaging with day-to-day activities. Therefore, customers have varying shopping times depending on their schedules.
Since you personally can’t be active throughout to manage your business and respond to clients’ concerns, live chat services come in handy. Live chat’s benefits are evident, with 51% of clients insisting on the benefits of live chats and 92% feeling satisfied after using live chats. Besides providing support, live chats are also effective sales tools for prospects who otherwise would leave your site without a trace.
According to WebFX ‘94% of first impressions relate to your site’s web design.’ It’s important to ensure that your website is visually appealing. Here are a few tips to help:
A good marketing strategy is just as important as quality products and services for business growth. Digital marketing strategies are especially beneficial for small businesses with limited marketing budgets. Besides the tips mentioned above, businesses can also consider improving Google listings, improving local SEO, and expanding website marketing.
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There are various components that make up digital marketing and various things it can do for a business. For instance, digital marketers can increase organic traffic and visibility through Search Engine Optimization, build brand presence in social media, save time with marketing automation, and more. However, with advancing technology, digital marketing components must keep evolving to fit new technologies. With this, every digital marketing agency must stay up to date with the trends because technology is fast pacing.
Constantly updated Facebook and Google algorithms also require that you regularly work on your digital marketing strategies. With this, what worked last year may not work in the coming years. That said, below are the top digital marketing trends for the coming year.
Google and other search engines are at the core of digital marketing. Normally, potential customers would enter their search query and click on a link that provides the necessary information. However, recent developments now show some search results in a paragraph at the top of the results page. Such featured snippets occur at position zero of the search engine results and often provide key information and images that customers might be looking for.
While this is good for customers, it can be frustrating for digital marketers looking to attract visitors and generate traffic into their websites. This is because Google is providing all the answers to potential traffic and customers on its first page. However, this doesn’t mean all is lost. Your website can perform better if the search engine uses your website to provide such snippets.
To achieve this, you should provide information in the snippets that will draw the readers’ attention and possibly click on your website’s link to get more information. The key lies in updating page titles to show what searchers will get on your website, use schema markup to boost your content, and create how-to articles that are accurate.
Local brick and mortar businesses that provide services will benefit significantly from Google My Business Listings. Registering with Google My Business Listings helps establish your operational location and shows searches near your area. At a glance, potential customers can identify your exact location, business hours, address, ratings, and reviews.
With advancing technology, you may no longer have to type your search queries into search engines. Google Lens and Pinterest Lens, which use your camera to take photos, have made this possible. You can simply upload the image of what you want, and Google will provide relevant information. For instance, uploading a landmark elicits historical information while a plant gives the name, species, and other relevant data. Similarly, uploading a product gives information about the product, including the price and where you can buy it.
To take advantage of visual search, digital marketers should upload high-quality photos with descriptive keywords in their online inventories. You can also consider expanding your digital marketing strategies to Pinterest, in case potential customers search with Pinterest. That aside, make use of an image sitemap that increases chances of the image being discovered by search engines, include alternative texts for images, and include descriptive filenames in your photos.
Over time, the use of Artificial intelligence has increasingly been absorbed by various businesses and marketing processes. By leveraging artificial intelligence, businesses can maximize their marketing abilities. From evaluating the effectiveness of marketing strategies to analyzing customer data, and tracking leads and sales. AI also helps to predict market behaviors and ease complex tasks. Despite the current heavy influence, AI’s effects in marketing are on the rise, with an anticipated 53 percent growth in 2021.
The digital marketing sphere is constantly changing, and as such, getting to know some of the expected trends before developing your 2021 digital marketing strategy is important. Use the above trends to begin building your digital marketing plan.
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Sales prospecting is not dead. The hunt for the “key decision-maker” continues, but the process of finding access to those key leaders is shifting. Initially, businesses had to search for email addresses and other forms of contact information from the Internet. This process could be frustrating and endless, as you never were sure of potential customers and their contact information. Fortunately, with advancing technology, if you know the name or the role of the person you want to reach within a company, you can now more easily find their email contact, especially with the help of an online sales tool called Hunter.io.
Hunter.io is a tool you should leverage to find and verify email contacts. This tool enables online marketing experts to conduct domain searches for their potential customers’ email addresses. The tool was launched by Francoise Grante in 2015, now a San Francisco-based company, and is available as an extension to Google Chrome and add-on to Google Sheets, as well as direct use on their website.
Based on its functionality, digital marketers, sales account managers and entrepreneurs who need to reach key decision-makers within a company would want to use this tool. It benefits the sales and marketing departments the most, as they can easily hunt for very specific email contacts.
The sales tool Hunter.io works by searching the internet for email results for you. Once you have integrated the tool into your browser, simply enter the website address in the search bar and click “find email address.” The tool will provide a list of all email contacts from the address. You can then verify and export the email addresses to your email list database.
Installing and getting started with Hunter.io is simple. Just follow these steps;
After the first 50 free searches, you will have to subscribe monthly or annually to enjoy company email contact searches. The following are pricing categories of this tool;
Paying annually instead of monthly can save you 30% of the actual price.
Some of the key features of this powerful sales tool include;
If you think Hunter.io doesn’t suit your needs, you can consider the following sales tool alternatives;
There is no limit to the number of email finders available currently. While all have similar functionality, Hunter.io is a leading tool for various reasons. The first free 50 searches, most definitely, grabs every sales account manager's attention, as other apps do not provide this. You will also like its ease of use and pricing options.
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Every online marketer is actively looking for ways to make more sales and grow their business. However, no matter how great your advertising and sales strategies are, not every customer will take the simple path and complete their purchase. The reality is that every business loses some leads at one point in the customer’s journey. A potential customer may come across your website, search for products, and leave. As a marketer, you should anticipate this behavior and devise a way to help visitors through the buying process. One such effective strategy for conversion optimization is remarketing.
Remarketing, also known as retargeting, is a form of advertising that allows businesses to re-engage prospective customers who once visited their store but did not convert. It lets you target customers by strategically placing ads that remind them of their interest in a particular product. This is a pretty exciting marketing tactic as when a customer is browsing the web or a social media platform, the ads will pop up, which evokes the customer’s reaction, encouraging them to visit your website and complete their purchase.
How exactly does this work? The business owner places a tracking code or pixel on their website or Facebook page. When a prospect or existing customer visits the website, the JavaScript code puts an anonymous cookie into the visitor’s browser. This cookie tracks the visitor’s activity without storing personal information. When the visitor leaves, the tracking cookie shares their activity to a remarketing ad service so they can be served with targeted ads at a later time.
Like any other marketing strategy, it is crucial to define your remarketing goals. Identifying the target audience as well as web pages you’d like to target is a great starting point when setting up your campaign. You can focus your remarketing campaign on people who:
If you want to increase your conversion rate, focus on tagging top-selling product pages. You can increase your ad spend on visitors with abandoned shopping carts as these are more likely to convert. At the same time, focus on nurturing leads that visited the homepage or other pages that are less sales oriented. By doing so, you prime the leads for conversion, so the chances of buying a product are higher.
After setting goals for your campaign, it is time to identify the best channels for your remarketing efforts. You can run ads on Google, mobile applications, or social media platforms such as Facebook. Using social media gives you an edge as ads are more likely to receive likes, comments, and shares from interested audiences. However customers are everywhere, so the key here should be focusing on channels that will give your brand maximum exposure. Do not limit yourself to a single platform; instead, spread your campaigns across multiple platforms.
Remarketing campaigns are more successful when segmented according to the needs of the customers. This is due to different people being interested in different products. Brands, therefore, should customize their campaigns based on visitor information to ensure they present more appealing ads. Ideally, you can segment your campaign to address:
By categorizing prospects, it will be easier to address the needs of the entire customer base better.
Once you’ve segmented your audience, it is time to get the ads up and running. To drive more sales, ensure your ads are creative enough and that they resonate with the target audience. The good thing here is that most advertising platforms allow you to test and track your ads. As such, measuring the performance or progress of your remarketing campaign should not be a challenge. You only need to update your ads after using them for a few weeks.
With remarketing, a lost lead should not mean a lost customer. Follow the above steps to continue to increase conversions and grow your business.
Looking for help? Tired and believing there has got to be a better way?
Let’s talk about your business. With over a decade of experience leading companies and transforming lives, and a Master’s degree in Org. Development and Leadership, Mike can help you find the best way forward!
Contact Mike today to start the breakthrough!
Text message or SMS marketing is becoming one of the most effective, but often untapped newer channels for marketing your business. In today’s world, most people spend a significant amount of time on their smartphones, and messages are all read, making SMS marketing a great way to enhance customer engagement and retention. Apart from its high conversion rate, the starting cost of SMS marketing is relatively low.
This article will walk you through six effective SMS marketing tactics that can boost the response rate and improve your marketing ROI.
The first and most important step when initiating any marketing campaign is adequate preparation to ensure that everything is in place. For SMS marketing, there are some things to consider during the planning process. These include:
Customers love incentives in the form of gifts, coupons, and other deals. As a marketer, it is vital to appreciate consumers who subscribe to your SMS list. These subscribers, if properly nurtured, can turn out to be your most loyal customers.
In the initial stages of your SMS marketing campaign, start with a small incentive to drive opt-ins. This could be a discounted product or service that saves the customer a few dollars. Incentives may also take a non-monetary form such as VIP access, enhanced privileges, or personalized engagement.
When providing your incentive, create a sense of urgency to ensure your customer responds in a timely manner. Allowing you to achieve the desired results as quickly as possible.
Contextually relevant text messages are more likely to have a better click-through rate, and ultimately higher conversions. Therefore, before executing your SMS marketing campaign, craft high-quality messages ahead of time. The best text messages for marketing are short, sweet, and straight to the point. When creating them, ensure they provide value to the reader, such that they understand its meaning and intention. This way, you can minimize recipients who take no action or those that opt-out.
Most marketing campaigns fail because they lack a strong call-to-action. When sending text messages, marketers should come out clear and let the recipients know what they need to do. Whether it’s texting an sms short code, clicking a link, signing up for something, taking advantage of a discount, or any other action, let the recipient know and make it easy for them to do it. Remember, there’s no point in creating an SMS marketing campaign if the recipients don’t know what they should do with the information.
Timing is key when it comes to SMS marketing. It could be the difference between a message that is received positively and one that is ignored. As a rule of thumb, never send marketing messages before 9 am or after 10 pm. Instead, aim for times when the recipient could be at home and not too busy, like during lunch hours or after work. Also, it’s important to understand the TCPA compliance requirements for your SMS marketing and to put systems and processes in place to ensure that you’re meeting those requirements.
Along with sending texts at the right time, be consistent. Regular text messages can remind the audience of a new product release or upcoming flash sale. While striving for consistency, do not overdo it as this can be spammy. Automated messaging and tracking can help marketers remain consistent.
It is always a great idea to move leads collected from the SMS campaign to other marketing channels. In most cases, promotional messages are not enough to help you close a deal. Use SMS marketing to start building the relationship. However, as you connect with the subscriber encourage them to check your website, YouTube channel, or any other platform. SMS should serve as hooks to social media or any other brand resource that allows further engagement.
Additionally, like any other marketing strategy, it is crucial to keep track of your progress by measuring and analyzing your results. You can track performance metrics like subscriber growth, churn rate, cross-channel engagement, redemption rate, cost per redeeming subscriber, and more. These will help you measure the success of your SMS marketing campaign.
SMS marketing, if used correctly, provides a powerful channel for building relationships with your client base and growing your businesses.
Looking for help? Tired and believing there has got to be a better way?
Let’s talk about your business. With over a decade of experience leading companies and transforming lives, and a Master’s degree in Org. Development and Leadership, Mike can help you find the best way forward!
Contact Mike today to start the breakthrough!
The global internet population stands at 4.5 billion. This serves as good news for businesses, as they use digital platforms to get the word out about their brand. It is projected that by 2021, 2.14 billion people will be shopping online. Leveraging the internet and digital platforms in your marketing campaigns is critical nowadays and can take your business to the next level. The digital marketing space is fluid and dynamic. Therefore staying updated with the trends can give you a competitive advantage as you adapt and adjust quickly. Now is the time to put these digital marketing trends, heading into 2020, into action.
Facebook videos get over 8 billion views every day. Customers want videos every step of their buying process. Videos enhance engagement and increase the likelihood of making conversions. Using high-quality videos can help you create a positive perception of your brand.
Live streaming product launches, events, and explainers can help you reach audiences on an unrivaled scale. Investing in videos and live streaming in your marketing campaigns can help you manipulate your audience consuming habits.
Consider “micro live streams” where you go online more frequently but for shorter bursts of 2-5 minutes to share, inform, engage, and connect with your fans and followers. Be where your audience is the most whether that is Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube.
In 2020, 50% of the searches will be either voice search or images. Alexa and Google Assistant and voice on mobile phones simply continue to grow in use. Hence, incorporating voice search options on your website can boost your SEO and your “VO” or voice optimization. Voice assistants are becoming popular with smartphone users and this allows you to reach a prominent and targeted digital-savvy audience.
74% of digital marketers believe that the best way consumers can connect with brands is through influencers. The influencer marketing budget for brands will increase in 2020. The traffic generated through influencer marketing is more targeted and of higher quality. Influencers have an emotional connection with their followers not to mention a large and active following. This makes them the best customer engagement tools. How can you find ways to engage with relevant persons of influence to your audience? Don’t neglect the smaller local influencers! For example, a local sports coach might be valuable for your sporting goods store, or a local florist for your craft store. Think outside the box!
AI adoption in digital marketing is projected to be 155%. Businesses will be using artificial intelligence and machine learning to get accurate marketing insights. Artificial intelligence can be used to predict customer behavior. This can help your brand identify and target customers who are likely to respond to your offer. So be on the lookout for ways you can hone in on your customer audience better through AI tools that emerge.
Data analysis through AI can help you provide users with a personalized experience. Through machine learning, you can understand your audience and unlock opportunities.
The number of email users is projected to grow to 4.1 billion. Email marketing can deliver an excellent ROI for your brand. User-generated content such as reviews, testimonials, and customer feedback can be used to achieve credibility and boost engagement.
Calls-to-action, polls, and surveys conducted through emails can boost responses to your email marketing campaigns and enhance interactivity. Moreover, email marketing will promote data-driven and effective marketing campaigns. Automation, data analytics, and personalization are the email marketing trends to look out for.
As more brands adopt content marketing, it becomes hard for your brand to stand out through this tool. Interactive content will take over in 2020, as consumers’ attention to traditional content decreases. Consumers prefer content they can get active experience from, and they can participate.
Using quizzes and calls-to-actions can make your content more engaging and interactive. Solution builders can also be used to make your content interactive. This tool can help users to make informed purchasing decisions by providing them with detailed answers to their challenges. Interactive content meets your customer’s demand for content that caters to their interests.
In summary, staying updated with digital marketing trends puts you at an advantage. The insights can help you create effective digital marketing strategies that can grow your brand. Live streaming and videos are among the digital marketing trends to leverage in your campaigns. Artificial intelligence can help you take a targeted approach in your marketing efforts.
Consider these 6 digital marketing trends heading into 2020. And for a 7th, consider that text message marketing is emerging as a powerful marketing nurture option. Tools like www.jooksms.com are offering simple ways to send bulk sms text marketing messages that can keep your business top of mind.
Looking for help? Tired and believing there has got to be a better way?
Let’s talk about life, leadership, and business coaching. With over a decade of experience leading companies and transforming lives, and a Master’s degree in Org Development and Leadership, Mike can help you find the best way forward!
Contact Mike today to start the breakthrough!
Although the majority of US small businesses currently use social media marketing, very few have a well-defined and written social media marketing strategy. According to the Social Shakeup Show, a website that keeps small and medium businesses (SMB’s) up-to-date with social media trends, only 47% of SMB owners have an active social media strategy, with a good number not even aware of what a social media marketing strategy looks like.
Perhaps your company is in this boat, or you have a plan but know it could be enhanced and strengthened. Below, we explain, step-by-step, how you can create an effective social media marketing strategy to take your business to the next level.
Every marketing campaign starts with goal-setting, and social media marketing isn’t any different. Begin by listing down what you want to achieve with the campaign. What would constitute success at the end of the campaign?
Some examples of social media marketing goals include; increasing brand awareness, generating more leads, increasing return on investment (ROI), and building a loyal fan base. Make sure to keep your goals Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART).
It is pointless to focus your posts to social media users who aren’t and may never be interested in seeing them. To save on resources, you want to show your marketing messages only to users who wish to see them. Audience research will help you identify and target the right users. You need to identify a definition of who the targets are (demographics), the social networks they prefer, time of day that they’re most likely to be online, and so forth.
This helps you write social content that speaks to them, and it also helps you target your paid advertising on social media to that audience.
We recommend that you consider four primary metrics; reach, engagement, sentiment, and CTR. By watching these, you are getting a gauge on the effectiveness of your social media marketing. Reach is the number of unique users who see your post over a given period (e.g., one day or one week). Engagement (given as a ratio) is the number of social interactions generated divided by impressions. A post's sentiment, meanwhile, is a measure of how well your message is received. Was the message received favorably or negatively? Finally, click-through rate (CTR) is the number of times users click on your posts or links to visit your website.
While not a final list, this helps you know if you are reaching and engaging the right users, and if you are getting the users to your website. Once on your website, you need tracking for leads gained from social media and ultimately sales conversions traced from social media.
Begin by discovering your competition on social media. Who are you directly competing with on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.? Once you’ve identified your competition, dig through their activities to find out what type of campaigns they run. Are they running the same campaigns as you? What keywords do they use? Which unique audiences do they target? Do they use paid ads? These are just some of the questions you need to be asking.
Two things are essential here; content creation and the actual publishing. In regards to content creation, key concerns include who will create the content and what type of content you want to create. Remember to include as many visuals (pictures and videos) in your content as possible.
As for publishing, timing and frequency are the most significant factors. What time of day and day of the week should you publish? How frequently should you post? Since opinions vary widely here, we advise that you stick to the best practices for your industry and the social network to be used. For example, you need to Tweet more to be relevant on Twitter than you need to post on Pinterest as one simple example. On Facebook, your Page will likely need to post at least 4x a week to be seen as active and relevant.
We already discussed the need to identify KPIs for your campaign. In the final step, plan to measure these KPIs and the analysis of your performance. Most of the big social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram come with in-built analytics tools. Hence use these tools for measurement. Where these tools aren’t available or are insufficient, consider third-party analytics software such as Moz Social or Talk Walker.
If you follow these steps, you should, at the very least, begin knowing how your social media is performing. As well as be able to move towards profitable social media marketing campaigns.
Looking for help? Tired and believing there has got to be a better way?
Let’s talk about life, leadership, and business coaching. With over a decade of experience leading companies and transforming lives, and a Master’s degree in Org Development and Leadership, Mike can help you find the best way forward!
Contact Mike today to start the breakthrough!
Location-based marketing is a long-proven marketing strategy. Whenever it becomes apparent that a large portion of one’s best potential customers reside in a particular geographic location, a business will focus its marketing activities on that location. Start the process with this geofencing advertising guide.
Geofencing is an innovative online marketing strategy using location. You can target your ideal customers when they are in a particular geographic area. Also known as geo-targeting, the technology makes use of location data, including; cellular data, Wi-Fi, satellite, global positioning, and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) to target only users meeting your criteria within the specified geographic location, known as a geofence or geo-target.
Once a geo-target is identified (such as a 2-mile radius of your store), location information triggers programmed actions. For instance, a marketer may choose to send a push notification, an SMS message, or display a targeted ad to all subscribed users within that location. With a phone number and permission, a text messaging service can be used to send drip texts over time as well. See a list of the best text messaging service to evaluate options further.
This geofencing advertising guide looks at how marketers can set up and benefit from geo-fenced ad campaigns on Google and Facebook.
To set up a geofenced campaign for Google advertising, begin by selecting the campaign you’d like to geo-fence, click campaign Settings, and select Location settings.
Google Ads allows for geo-fencing of search ads, display ads, and YouTube campaigns. Each campaign can be geo-fenced by country, state, DMA, Metro, Zip Code, and radius. This means that you can set your fence to include only consumers within a one-mile radius.
There are even more options when geofencing an AdWords campaign. In this case, you can target these locations:
As you add the locations, the potential Reach of the selected area(s) is displayed prominently so you can decide whether or not you’re reaching enough people.
It gets better. You can choose to exclude a section or sections of the selected location(s)! For instance, after selecting the entire US, you can exclude certain states or cities. When you do this, your ads do not show to people living in excluded locations.
Geo-fencing in Facebook advertising is set up when selecting audiences. It is at this stage that marketers get to select which countries, states, cities, or ZIP codes to target.
One thing that stands out here is the possibility to define the radius you’d like to target within the selected location. For instance, if you choose to target Dallas, you can decide to concentrate your efforts within a five-mile radius of the Dallas Zoo.
Additionally, as with Google, you can choose to exclude locations from the selected geo-target. This allows marketers to focus their activities in locations where they are certain of getting a high ROI.
According to newgenapps.com, the biggest benefit of geo-fenced advertisement campaigns is increased ROI. On average, marketers see a 20% increase in conversions. Aside from that, marketers can expect;
Data has become more important to marketing than ever; brands with better data easily outperform their competitors. Geo-fencing allows marketers to acquire quality data.
Marketing isn’t just about getting sales. It’s also about doing so with as little effort as possible. Geo-fencing allows marketers to get more with fewer resources.
Geo-fenced ad campaigns also generate better engagement. Why? Because you’re reaching only people with an established interest in your products. Therefore, people who certainly want to learn more.
If used right, geo-fenced campaigns can also help boost customer relationships. If you’re always sending relevant ads and messages, consumers will slowly become attached to your brand and start looking forward to your updates.
Geo-fenced campaigns don’t always deliver instant sales. This doesn’t make the effort pointless. It just means you have to set your objectives right. Instead of aiming for instant purchases, target early-stage metrics such as leads.
A recent HootSuite report shows that Facebook currently has 80 million small and medium-sized business pages, with a year-over-year increase of 23%. Moreover, 52% of these businesses post on their pages every single day.
This shows the growing role of Facebook in marketing. Businesses have discovered that Facebook can help them generate traffic and leads, close sales, and reach new markets, and they’re ready to give the platform a try. If you’re one of these forward-thinking marketers, well done!
On the same note though, we have to warn you against depending exclusively on Facebook pages. It’s just not enough. Pages are a great place to start your Facebook marketing campaign. But if you’re serious about getting value from your digital marketing efforts, you must think big; you must think beyond Facebook pages, beyond Facebook itself, and beyond social media in general.
There are four main reasons a Facebook page isn’t enough to drive your digital marketing campaign;
Facebook currently has about 1.74 billion users worldwide. A big number, yes, but, aren’t there 7 billion people in the world, 4.39 billion of whom use the internet, with up to 3.48 billion on social media? It means that when you confine your marketing to Facebook, you’re locking out over 1.74 billion social media users and at least 2.65 billion internet users.
It’s unlikely to happen any time soon, but if Facebook was to close down, where would you go? Or, consider something more likely. What happens when Facebook decides to suspend your account? They purged millions of accounts recently in the war against fake influencers. What if you were a casualty, even if by accident? These things happen all the time and are another reason you can’t depend 100% on Facebook pages for digital marketing.
This is a warning to businesses that haven’t started using Facebook ads yet. If all you do is share your promotions on your page and wait for fans to comment, like, and share the posts, you’re seriously limiting your business. Organic reach on the platform has steadily declined, from 16% in 2012 to 6% in 2018 and as little as 2% currently when your number of fans hit 500k. Relying on such a small reach to drive your digital campaign isn’t ideal.
The platform is designed in such a way that those who pay enjoy a lot of perks. And, that includes having their ads displayed on competitors’ pages! Seriously, how is this different from giving them the keys to your customer base? It gets worse; Facebook targeting algorithms allow competitors to actually study and target your customers! Unthinkable, right?
First off, you don’t have to stop using Facebook pages. As a business, you need as much exposure as you can find and Facebook pages give you plenty of that. However, never depend exclusively on these pages. We recommend that you;
Start using other Facebook features – Messenger, Facebook ads, and Groups are a few examples of tools you can start using today. These features will help you expand your reach on the platform.
Go beyond Facebook – Start using other social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. There are likely millions of people on these platforms interested in the products or services you offer.
Go beyond social media too – Consider other digital marketing strategies such as search engine marketing, content marketing, and email marketing. Email marketing, for instance, reaches more people and promises a higher ROI than Facebook marketing.
Have a website: A professional, SEO and mobile-optimized business site ties together all your digital marketing efforts. Users on the many digital channels we’ve mentioned who's interested in your products can be directed (through links and CTAs) to your site for conversion.
The key is not put all your efforts into one platform you can't control. The foundation you can control is your website to ensure it is current and functions well on all devices, especially, mobile devices. As well, begin expanding to the likes of Messenger, Facebook ads, Google Ads and ultimately take your business beyond Facebook and social media in general. It’s the only way to have control of your business potential online.
With SMS outperforming every other marketing strategy, including email, marketers are increasingly seeing the need to explore investing in SMS marketing. SMS can be a great way to nurture customers and leads who say they want more information and opt into messages from you. In this case, rather than emails, they get text messages from you which are more direct.
Pony Express HQ, the digital wing named after the famous Pony Express, is one of the most efficient and reliable SMS marketing services in the U.S. The following is an overview of the platform to help you see why it can be a valuable platform to choose for your SMS marketing needs.
Just like the original Pony Express back in 1860, which was the fastest delivery service of its time as a “by-horse” message delivery company, Pony Express HQ connects people by providing the fastest and most convenient messaging options to create enjoyable communication experiences. Furthermore, Pony Express HQ prides itself on providing;
Pony Express HQ is designed to help companies effortlessly manage every aspect of an SMS marketing campaign. Its standout features include;
With so many SMS marketing services out there, it’s easy to get confused. Here’s why Pony Express HQ is different;
If one of your recipient's messages or calls your Pony Express HQ number, the message or call is automatically forwarded to your personal phone number. Messages can also be forwarded to your email account. This way, you’ll never miss important calls or messages.
Many marketers are now sending URLs within SMS messages. Pony Express HQ allows you to closely track such URLs opens to determine the effectiveness of your campaign.
On average, personalization increases revenue by up to 15%. Pony Express HQ allows marketers to mention customers’ first and last names among others to better connect with your audiences.
Smarter marketing, enabled by AI-powered (artificial intelligence) features such as smart timing, channel optimization, smart messaging, frequency optimization, and next-gen nurturing guarantee better engagement that from standard messaging and thus increased ROI.
Pony Express HQ implements a pay-as-you-go pricing system meaning that you only pay for what you need. The prices are as follows;
*1 SMS credit = 1 SMS message
Pony Express HQ’s support comes in the form of an exhaustive knowledge base, an FAQ section, live chat, email support, and phone support. All in all, they cover all the support bases needed, whatever your preferred method.
Simple, feature-packed, and fairly priced, Pony Express HQ is as functional as they come. There are the needed and beneficial bells and whistles, and all the standard features you need to meet your SMS marketing goals. If you haven’t tried it yet, you’re missing out.
Short Message (SMS) Marketing is perhaps the most underrated digital marketing strategy out there today. Despite having the highest open rates (98%), best engagement rates (90%), and extremely high conversion rates (23%), marketers continue to overlook this strategy. SMS marketing isn’t any more tightly regulated than email marketing or social media marketing. You can work within the rules and benefit enormously.
Here are a few ways you can use SMS marketing to engage your audience and drive conversions:
Just one text every few days or 1x a week is enough to keep your customers thinking about your brand and not your competitors, particularly if you offer value and not just sales pushes. In a recent study by e-commerce company mShopper, it was found that B2C brands that send their customers one SMS every day see much higher conversion rates. What’s even more interesting is that consumers rarely click on links in their SMS messages. They just need to know what you have to offer. With this information top of their mind, when the time comes to make a purchase, they’ll only be thinking about one place – your business!
Up to 90% of consumers open their messages immediately when they receive an alert. In fact, the average American checks their phone every 12 minutes even when there are no alerts. This gives you a perfect opportunity to drive campaigns for products or services that are available only for a short time or in limited quantities. For instance, you can send a message saying; “40% off on our tax accounting services. 12 hours left!” or something like; “Claim your 50% discount on Gucci belts. Only 20 left!” Since SMSs are read right upon delivery, interested customers will often take action then to buy.
It’s no secret – customers like to share their opinions. It’s the reason social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are full of polls – it makes your audience feel part of the decision-making process. SMS marketing also makes it easy to run polls and even contests. In the case of polls, send a short message asking the recipient to answer with a NO or YES for a certain question. For contests, ask them to respond to the message or send a new SMS to a given number to participate and get a chance of winning a grand prize!
Customers want to feel valued. They want to feel you appreciate them. One way to show your appreciation is to send them exclusive deals. For example, send a text message saying: “Just for you, <Insert Name>; 30% off on the next purchase above $50.” Many consumers would jump at this offer. It doesn’t end there. Tie these deals to your drip campaign and send offers based on how long the consumer is subscribed to your SMS services.
The average American spends 24 hours on the internet every week. This translates to around 3.4 hours daily. While it may seem high, it’s still less than one-sixth of the 24-hour day. Mobile phones, meanwhile, remain switched on and ready to receive SMSs around the clock. Marketers can capitalize on this opportunity to reach their audiences beyond computer hours. Unless the recipient is asleep or away from their phone (unlikely), they’ll see your message and read it right away.
With these ideas and some creative experimenting with SMS sending services, as well as reviewing some of the best text message marketing services, you can reach, build rapport, and stay top-of-mind with potential customers to ultimately increase sales.
UPDATE 2021: Slide.ly is moving to Promo as of July 2021.
Video marketing is in overdrive. In a January 2018 HubSpot study, 97% of marketers said video marketing has helped increase user understanding of their products and services. Up to 76% also said that videos have helped them increase sales. Here are some of the reasons you should prioritize video in 2019.
You can take your video marketing game to the next level with Slide.ly. A cloud-based visual content creation tool optimized for personal and business use. Slide.ly is a suite of innovative applications that make it possible to effortlessly create and publish stunning videos and video slideshows.
Slide.ly videos can be created on both desktop and mobile as the platform has a mobile app. Videos can be published on your website as well as all the major social media networks including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
It doesn’t end there. With the aid of the platform's style templates and arts, Slide.ly users can create beautiful collages and galleries to share with their audiences. You can also incorporate licensed music into your videos.
Slide.ly has a special service known as PROMO designed to help businesses produce and publish quality commercial videos and supporting content for marketing campaigns. PROMO currently gives you access to 12+ million video clips plus professionally edited music to give you a head start on your next video marketing project. You can use these resources to create product teasers, drive traffic to a website, spread brand awareness, and reduce cost per click.
Successful digital marketing now hinges on personal reviews and experiences. Over 84% of consumers say they trust personal stories more than branding messages. Slide.ly allows you to create personal stories with photos and sequences and share these with your audience. Additionally, as videos are captured (on phone or any other device) awesome effects and fun stickers can be added to make them more engaging.
Collages and video galleries can boost user engagement especially in image-reliant industries like real estate and hotels. When you have stunning galleries for your audience to look at, they’ll stay on your website longer. Thus increasing the probability of conversion. Slide.ly allows you to create the perfect collages and photo galleries and convert them into video slideshows and animated photo galleries.
After creating beautiful videos and captivating slideshows, you can easily publish them on multiple platforms. Publish your posts on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter. You can also publish photos on your website. Above all, the best part is – all the videos you create remain yours forever. You get a lifetime license for each of the creations!
User support on Slide.ly is fantastic. First, all members have access to a Video Marketing Resources section where you’ll find endless tutorials and videos. These resources help you master not just the Slide.ly platform but video marketing in general. Additionally, paying users have access to email, live chat, and 24/7 phone support.
Slide.ly has two broad payment categories, monthly and annual, each comprising four plans; Basic, Plus, Pro, and Agency. In the monthly category, the Basic Plan is priced at $49/month. Plus is priced at $99/month, Pro costs $199/month, and Agency costs $359/month. In the Annual category, the Basic Plan costs $39, Plus costs $69/month, Pro costs $139/month, and Agency is priced at $249/month. Monthly plans are billed per month while annual plans are billed per year.
Videos will improve the engagement with your brand and your sales, Slide.ly is a convenient, easy to use way to create marketing videos for your business.
UPDATED August 2022: Also, go here for our best text message marketing software tools.
SMS text message marketing tools help you send bulk, personalized text messages to a list of contacts when and how often you want to send them. Create the messages yourself or use their tools to automatically and quickly personalize messages before sending.
If you’re considering adding a text message strategy to your overall digital marketing plan, here are top SMS marketing software to consider.
Founded in 2006, Trumpia has established themselves as a leader in SMS marketing and automation. They help clients boost revenue, increase customer engagement, and improve employee satisfaction by offering the most advanced texting software in the market today. It can carry out automated campaigns, learn about your subscribers as they respond to your questions, and use that data to send precisely targeted messages.
Better yet, Trumpia is dedicated to using their vast experience working with clients in a variety of industries to offer expert consulting, helping users maximize their ROI. And to top it off, they have 365-day live support with a 9-minute response time, API integrations, and a variety of other messaging channels, like voice, social media, email, and MMS.
Unlike some of the more complex platforms on this list, SlickText has an easy-to-use, modern interface that you can start using by yourself within minutes, all without having to speak to a pushy sales rep.
Even with its simple dashboard, SlickText supports all the major text message marketing needs like text-in keywords, voting, autoresponders, and drip campaigns. This is the texting software used by household names like Lyft, Fedex, and ESPN just to name a few. Their plans are also simple compared to some competitor's convoluted pricing. Text credits rollover, no annual contracts, and affordable pricing for every budget.
Sign up for a free trial here to start using the platform today with no credit card information required.
Send mass sms text alerts, reminders, promos, notifications & much more with a leader in SMS Marketing, Jooksms.com. A campaign can be setup in just minutes. Try the platform for free with 250 Free Credits. No Contract or Credit Card required to start. As one of the best SMS marketing platforms, Jook offers a free demo with one of their client success representatives. 30 day free trial and monthly costs start at $25/month. Go test and see why several hundred companies are using JookSMS to grow their business with SMS Text messaging.
EngageBay was founded in 2018 as a complete, integrated and affordable marketing, sales and support automation CRM. EngageBay offers powerful SMS marketing features that are a part of its marketing automation platform which may be subscribed to, as a standalone feature. Their SMS Text marketing option allows for personalized messages for better engagement, adding SMS functionality in your marketing automation workflows at any point, segmenting and targeting your subscriber lists, behaviour-based automation, visual workflow builder, and precise tracking and optimizing of your SMS campaigns.
SendPulse, a platform created to help small businesses automate their marketing campaigns, offers a variety of channels to reach a customer. Apart from bulk SMS service, users have the opportunity to send marketing emails, web push notifications as well as to create a chatbot for Facebook messenger or Telegram.
When it comes to SMS service functionality, segmentation and personalization options are available to make your campaigns more targeted. The best thing about SendPulse is that you can actually combine your SMS campaign with other channels on the platform to create a seamless marketing strategy.
Messente helps businesses reach out to anyone on the planet with a mobile phone. They have built a full suite of free high-performance tools and APIs, helping you to deliver business-critical pin codes, notifications, and marketing messages right into your customer's hands.
You can run targeted campaigns with tools like message preview, templates, scheduling, unsubscribe links and CRM integration. And then see how your campaigns are performing in the online dashboard.
Messente is known for its excellent customer service, which comes free with their platform. You can send messages to more than 190 countries and they also give you some free credits to help you get started quickly. By the way, they have a very comprehensive guide on SMS marketing that you should check out.
VOXOX is a robust communication platform that has been dialed down into a simplified solution for businesses of any size. With VOXOX text marketing capabilities, customers can easily set up mass automated messages, scheduled drip campaigns, and auto-responses. Businesses can also implement customer segmentation, build lists and leverage thousands of integrations with tools they already use.
VOXOX’s easy-to-use software is one of the few SMS marketing platforms that offer both text message marketing and cloud phone capabilities. Businesses can transform their mobile devices into a complete communications hub.
What sets VOXOX apart from other SMS marketing platforms is their mission to empower businesses to stand out in a noisy market with out-of-the-box text marketing campaigns that take customers from that first “hello” to a perpetual “OMG”. With VOXOX, you gain an experienced team of experts to help you get started and truly WOW your customers.
In case you want to increase your customer base, you can use TXTImpact services, perhaps a boon as a marketing tool as there is in this digital age. You can use numerous services once you buy their package, like texting through messenger, texting to E-mails, out looking text messaging, and reminders of appointments. Business texting can work seamlessly between IOS, Android and other web browsers. They could be sent to respond to text messages directly from Chrome.
This SMS marketing platform allows you to generate leads and grow subscribers thereby building your brand and driving sales to a great extent. You will notice some advantages over other services. Get the advantage of an autoresponder as you can text your customer and receive a message back. Collect a number of data or maybe existing phone numbers, names, and emails. The data collected could be sent to the professionals for managing CSV, spreadsheet or any other data management services. The text to win features allows you to run contests. You can very well capture customer feedback and surveys through the SMS polling and text survey options. Industries like churches, the retail sector, schools, universities, and call centres are using professional SMS services.
Pony Express HQ is a newcomer to the market on a strong growth curve. Pony Express HQ is designed to help companies effortlessly manage every aspect of an SMS marketing campaign. Its standout features include: Group texting: Create and send deals, news, reminders, and updates to large groups of customers easily; Two-way communication: It is not just a “push” medium where you send information. After a contact responds, you can pursue conversations at a 1-on-1 level. Pony Express HQ also offers Message templates, and important feature it offers is ability to include multi-media elements. While other SMS services limit clients to text-only messages, Pony Express HQ allows you to send MMS elements such as picture messages, emojis, videos, etc. Pricing uses credits and starts at a very affordable $7 for 250 text message credits.
SMS Marketing Services is a text messaging service provided by Promero, Inc. Promero is a leading service provider offering best in class communication hosted software since 2001. SMS Marketing Services provides the only multi-channel SMS/MMS Text messaging, email, voicecast, IM and social media posting software that empowers businesses an All-In-One digital marketing services platform. Service includes unique automated features not found elsewhere: Auto Messaging; TextBot; Easy Subscriber Enrollment; Smart Targeting; Link Text Messages to Contact Center Live Agents Users can add outbound predictive dialing with Artificial Intelligent BOT services that can communicate with prospects using natural language understanding technology powered by Google. SMS Marketing Services offers businesses a free 100 Text per Month plan with no credit card required. SMSMS offers 6 plans starting from $19/mth for 1250 text message credits. Need a different plan? SMSMS will customize one for you.
TXT180 offers all the basic services expected of an SMS marketing service plus more. First off, you enjoy free inbound messaging. Meaning that you don’t pay a cent to see messages coming from your contacts. You can also receive an unlimited number of inbound texts. Messages can be scheduled well in advance and there are even auto-responses to make use of whenever needed. Customer support is through phone and email. Pricing starts at $14.95/month.
Another popular SMS marketing service, ProTexting stands out in many areas. Add an unlimited number of contacts, categorize the contacts as you wish, and run polls and contents with ease. You’ll also find subscription management functions to help keep track of SMS subscriptions. Above all, reporting on the platform is trouble-free. Get detailed, up-to-date reports covering every element of your campaign. Prices start at $49/month.
Finally, founded in 2007, SumoText has been around long enough to earn the trust of millions of users. It has a simple, interactive user interface, is easy to set up, and comes packed with tons of features designed to simplify your SMS marketing while increasing ROI. Whether you’re looking for auto-responders, polls, contests, or keyword management, SumoText has it all. Prices start from $79/month.
SMS text messaging is a great way to remind customers of important events and appointments and give them the great customer service they’ve come to expect from you and your business. As you can see, prices vary broadly based on features and tools within each. In today’s noisy world, text messages go directly to the customer on a device you know they use every single day, so you know they will see your message.
Other services have reached out to me since the original publication and these services have now also made the grade of best text message services to consider:
TextMagic is a text messaging service for businesses that allows sending notifications, alerts, reminders, confirmations and conducting SMS marketing campaigns. This software has a variety of different features, which you may find on their website. Positive testimonials and reviews from customers is one more reason to take a precise look at the service. For more details on prices, you are welcome to contact TextMagic's support team. TextMagic provides a 30 days free trial period and its lowest package starts from $10.
EZ Texting is arguably one of the best SMS marketing services when it comes to personalization. Their tools help you deliver messages in the right words and at the right time to maximize engagement. Unlike other services, you also get delivery alerts so you know when a message reaches its destination. Clients can generate elaborate reports covering everything including keyword performance. The company has a 14-day free trial period and plans start at $49/month.
SimpleTexting provides all the tools needed to run an effective SMS text message marketing campaign. Run polls and content with ease and even schedule your SMSs and set up auto-responses. Something that stands out is that you can add details about each contact on your list such as location and other demographic information. Support is offered via phone, email, and live chat. Prices start from $25/month.
Click the link here for more information on why SMS marketing is a growing marketing powerhouse today.
Why Work With A Marketing Agency
Working with a reputable marketing agency is highly beneficial for you. This is because they also use the best text messaging software tools that are tried and proven effective. Here are some of its advantages:
Conclusion
Having the best text message marketing software tool is beneficial for your company. With the examples of the best text messaging software tools shared in this article, you’ll be able to choose the right one for your business. By using such an example of a marketing tool, you’ll be able to attain your sales and marketing goals according to your business plan.
Some call it a content marketing strategy, others a content strategy, and others a content plan. Whichever name you choose, it’s important to have a well-defined approach for your website content to help improve search ranking and grow traffic. Aimlessly creating content never generates enough traction and can be expensive. A clear, documented strategy provides direction, prepares you for potential challenges, and guarantees you’re budgeting enough to meet your objectives for your website marketing.
Unfortunately, there’s no universal one-size-fits-all for creating a digital content plan since industries vary widely. The most important thing is that your strategy should match your goals and be relevant to your industries competition level. Additionally, it should fit with your company culture, financial muscle, and your overall business goals. As long as you take these points into consideration, you can develop a great plan for your content campaign.
But, if you’re short on time, here’s a toned-down guide to help you understand the basics of creating a solid content marketing strategy.
Why are you creating a website content plan? Is it so you can justify your content marketing spending? Is it because you’re trying to reach a new, specific audience? Are you creating a plan to become more organized? Be specific such as “We want to increase X % traffic on our website per month within 6 months.”
Writing down 1-3 specific goals will help you stick to your targets and avoid possible distractions along the way.
A great content marketing plan revolves around the target audience. Who are they? What type of content do they enjoy? Which digital devices do they use to access content? These are just some of the questions you need to ask yourself. These are the type of visitors that would make ideal customers. Be specific with age range, gender, job titles, interests, etc.
There are nearly a dozen content types you can use on your website. From blog posts to newsletters, infographics, to interactive product builders, testimonials to how to’s and everything in between, you have endless options to choose from. The problem is that you need to know what content type will be the most effective. Which one will help you reach the most people? Which one promises the highest ROI?
So, at this early stage, take time to learn about all the content types, their pros and cons, and their suitability to your marketing campaign. Test some content and see what pages get the most traffic and time spent on the pages.
The good news is that you have access to lots of resources designed specifically to help marketers discover exciting and potent content ideas for their campaigns. HubSpot, for instance, has a tool that analyzes sites and instantly tells marketers the best types of content to focus on. BuzzSumo and Feedly can help you keep track of trending topics. And, What to Write goes one step further to recommend ideal content topics depending on your circumstances.
Content Management Systems (CMS) are software programs designed to automate and simplify content creation, curation, and analytics. Some make your work so easy you won’t even feel the pressures of running a content campaign. But, do you really need one? And if so, which one? Also, these programs have to be paid for (often monthly). Do you have the necessary budget?
Again, use this early opportunity to assess your options and make the best decision, keeping all relevant factors in mind.
Finally, while a CMS does a wonderful job of simplifying content marketing, humans still play a starring role in the process. You’ll need to have people writing the content, editing, scheduling posting, and engaging readers through comments and general feedback.
Find reliable writers and editors. Zery’s is an option to consider. Their work speaks for itself and they have talented and highly experienced writers.
With regards to distribution, your options include social media, video platforms, blogs, guest blogs, and content aggregation channels. Focus on channels with the highest potential.
Let’s make those dreams come true. Contact us today to explore how to make your content marketing plan fail-proof. We can assist in content strategy, writing, and implementation.