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email marketing
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5 Tactics to Grow Your Email List

Originally posted on Mashable: 5 Tactics to Grow Your Email List.

Back in January, many email marketers said increasing their lists was their top goal for 2013. Well, spring is here. Is your mailing list growing as fast as your flowers and lawn? If not, it’s time to execute a new plan.

Many marketers have email addresses only for 30% or less of their customer and prospect lists. They’re tempted to revert to their direct-mail experience and reach for a quick fix like email append (“e-append”) and list rental/purchase.

But in today’s engagement-based inbox placement world, this “quick fix” approach can give you more headaches than new sales.

If you seek quantity over quality in list growth, you’re practically inviting the ISPs either to block your entire opt-in mailing list or route everything to your recipients’ bulk folders, where they’ll languish in obscurity until the ISPs dump them automatically.

So, what should be in your email list growth plan? Below are five tried-and-true methods to ignite your email list growth, in a safe, permission-based way.

1. Make It Easy to Opt In on Your Website

Your customers and prospects must be able to find your opt-in form easily on your home page. This advice has been around for years, but today’s web designers apparently didn’t get the memo. They position Facebook and Twitter icons prominently but send you on a search-and-rescue mission to find the opt-in field.

Many websites undersell the email value proposition, using just a link saying “Sign Up for Email” relegated to the homepage footer. Worse, the email opt-in call-to-action isn’t even on the page. Make your forms stand out.

If you want to get more opt-ins, make the email invite more visible. Use a benefit-based call-to-action, and test an offer that you subsequently deliver in your welcome series.

2. Don’t Stop at Just One

Add more opt-in forms throughout your site and in various placements: above the fold (the horizontal halfway point on your website, like the fold in a newspaper), below the fold, in the right rail, in left-hand navigation and on a dynamic layer that displays according to visitors’ site activity.

Test these locations to see how many more opt-ins you can drive, each one alone and in combination with each other. One opt-in form on a page might drive X, while having two opt-in form placements on a page might drive 1.5X to 2X.

At the EEC Summit in 2012, Tommy Hilfiger reported that his company drives 2% of all site visitors to opt in by using a dynamic opt-in layer served to new site visitors on site entry.

3. Collect Emails at Your Stores

Ask your customers to opt in for email at your checkout counter or when requesting an email receipt. However, be sure you are collecting high-quality names.

You’ll have to develop a request procedure that helps you overcome two big pitfalls of point-of-sale requests: phony addresses, either provided by reluctant customers who can’t say no to the request or keyed in by sales associates who have to meet email quotas.

Mistakes, which happen when sales people misspell a written address, misunderstand a customer’s spoken address or omit a crucial detail like the “@” symbol.

Here are a few suggestions for collecting more and better addresses:

  • Let customers type in their email addresses on a POS touchpad or credit card terminal.
  • Give them an offer or benefit for signing up in-store.
  • Explain what they’ll be receiving.
  • Get explicit permission before adding the address.

4. Make It Mobile

Consumer adoption of mobile sites and apps makes mobile another important collection point for opt-in for both email and SMS text. The best mobile site home pages have two opt-in forms: one for email, one for SMS. Remember the constraints that mobile puts on viewing and data input.

Don’t ask users to fill out lots of form fields. Keep the form short and simple. You can collect more information later in your welcome series using progressive profiling.

5. Remember Your Social Networks

Give your Facebook followers a simple opt-in form page. Call out the benefits and differences between your social experience and your email communications.

Consider using social login, also known as social sign-in. This uses existing login information from social networks such as Facebook or Twitter to sign in to a website without having to create a separate login account specifically for your website.

You can also use this process to allow your site registrants to quickly and easily sign up to receive your marketing emails.

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customer choice business
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A Question: Valuing Customer Choice

Here is a question I received through my Linkedin account in regards to customer choice – I thought the question was pretty interesting and touched on companies having to build on trust and goodwill to move forward, especially with the new Panda and Penguin releases in Google – so I decided to share it…

Hi Virginia,

I know you deal with a lot of people everyday and as a marketing professional I thought you may be able to give me some feedback. I have now been in a sales role with Paladin Security for just over 8 months. Cutting to the chase here is I wanted to know in your opinion what your feelings are to NOT having to lock into a 3 year contract for a business service such as cell phone service or as in my situation security alarm monitoring (for commercial or residential customers). Would not having to sign a fixed term contract be more attractive to you or people you know in general? Or would your answer be that it wouldn’t influence you in any way? Paladin just went with all services on a no fixed term contracts so I’m trying to see how I can position that in my conversations with decision makers. Thanks for any feedback. Greatly appreciated!
Warm regards,

Christine

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Hi Christine,

Thanks for your message and congrats on your relatively new position!

Personally, I like the idea of a product not being available only on a fixed term. Especially as we are moving toward an era of genuine and transparent B2C interaction. With the importance of social media and socially influence search playing a much bigger role in SEO and other business ranking factors, the more trust you can build with your customers the better.

In my experience when you lock someone into a contract there is a mild feeling of mistrust – like “Why do they have to lock me into a contract? What don’t I know that I may not like down the road?”. Which does not build a feeling of goodwill and trust toward the business, and ultimately a negative impression – if only slightly. This may influence how they talk about your product OR if they talk about your product at all. Your customers want to feel in control about their choice to use your service and that by offering a flexible no-obligation option, you value that choice. I think if your marketing efforts can focus on humanizing your brand and developing a great customer satisfaction strategy, then your company’s move to no-fixed terms will be a success.  Good luck – thank you for your question!

With appreciation,

Virginia-Rae Choquette

 

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content marketing
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4 Ways to Get More from Content Marketing

If you’re reading this, you’re probably already sold on the idea of using content marketing to benefit your business. However, you may still be looking for ways to get the most out of your content marketing endeavors.

Here are four suggestions for making your efforts more worthwhile:

1.    Post content that your customers want: You might think that you should write your blog about your business; after all, a lot of people do just that. However, you need to remember that customers really don’t care about you as much as they care about themselves. You can actually take advantage of this by providing customers with content that they want and getting their attention in exchange. You can post any type of content that you believe will help you achieve this goal. The content might be a video, a how-to article, or a detailed guide, but it should be something that will draw customers to your site and make them more likely to become interested in your business.

2.    Mainly write content that is for the benefit of your customers and only promotes your products occasionally: People are interested in reading articles that benefit them. They do not find posts that praise products particularly appealing. If you provide customers with content that they want to read 9 out of 10 times, you’re more likely to create a reliable target audience.

3.    Post “cornerstone” content on your site: This type of content is categorized and archived in such a way that customers will have no trouble finding it. It also remains valuable for extended periods of time. KISSmetrics provides cornerstone content with its marketing guides, Copyblogger provides it with a sidebar, and River Pools and Spas exemplifies it with its Pool 101 content. Cornerstone content brings you excellent ROI (returns on investment) because it benefits you over time.

4.    Look at  other sites to see the types of content customers want: Visit the websites of other business owners in your industry to get an idea of what people seem to enjoy reading. You can find out how many tweets and shares certain types of content get to figure out what is popular. You should also be aware that creating posts about Twitter or Facebook is sure to get you a lot of shares. Although you shouldn’t limit yourself to writing exclusively about these subjects, doing so on a regular basis will definitely increase traffic to your site.

Contact us to find out how Cloud9 Marketing can help you develop a solid Content Marketing Strategy.

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whistler local social media marketing
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5 Reasons to use a Whistler Social Media Marketer

5 Reasons why you should use a Whistler-based Social Media Marketer if you’re a Whistler business:

1. Local Knowledge: A Whistler-based social media marketer knows the unique local insider tips and info that is valuable to visitors. Secret powder stashes, advice on cheap food, and local’s hangouts. Want to convey a reason why someone should come up for that shoulder season weekend? Maybe there’s an awesome deal on at a restaurant or a great discount on activity that only a local would know about.

2. Timely, Relevant Posts: Social media and blog posts with relevant information is key, and can really only be accomplished while in-resort. A good example: a picture of the first snowfall or a pic accompanied with the “Run of the Day” tweet. That’s a lot more powerful than a link to the weather report!

3. Local Event Coverage: Having your social media presence at the events is so much better than simply posting that it is happening! Provide your followers with up-to-the-minute photos and updates. Plus, in-resort marketers know every little thing that is happening in Whistler, not just the big signature events. “Find unique #Whistler souvenir at the Made in Whistler Artisan Market – Every Saturday!”

4. Location Tagging: It appears a lot more genuine when your social media posts are tagged with a Whistler location. Especially if your posting about mountain or weather conditions!

5. Community: Posts are more engaging within the community, tagging local businesses through developed relationships is a great way for Whistler to help support each other. Plus, social media folks in town know each other, and they constantly share content – spreading the word.

Of course, this applies to any resort or business that relies on tourism to drive business. Social media needs to be genuine in order for it to work – and a company outside of the business area isn’t going to be able to deliver a genuine local voice.

Contact us here at Cloud9 Marketing to learn more about our local Whistler Social Media Management services.

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content social media marketing
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Content vs. Social Media Marketing

Is there really a difference between Content Marketing & Social Media Marketing?

There is definitely some overlap between content marketing and social media marketing. However, these types of online marketing are actually separate and unique. They have their own points of focus as well as goals and processes. To eliminate any confusion you might have regarding content and social marketing, let’s take a look at some of the factors that set them apart from each other.

Primary Focus of the Marketing Work

Social media marketing activity is concentrated within social networking sites themselves. Marketers with a social networking focus post their campaign updates directly onto pages on Twitter, Facebook, and other similar sites. When they create content, they specifically use these sites to reach their target audiences.

In content marketing, on the other hand, the focus of a campaign is the website for a brand or specific product.  Social networks are certainly used in content marketing efforts, but the networking sites are typically used to backlink to content that has been posted on the brand or product website.

Forms and Length of Content

In social media marketing, the content must be adjusted to fit the nature of the networking site that is being used. For example, text must be no more than 140 characters long if it is being posted to Twitter; likewise, marketers fare better on Facebook if they create games and quizzes. In this method of marketing, brands must use social networking sites in the same manner that everyday users do.

In content marketing, however, it is possible to post longer and more diverse pieces of content because a brand website is being used.  Brands can format their postings like media publishers do. They may publish blog posts, eBooks, videos, infographics, and more.

Objectives

Social media marketing and content marketing can both be used for a variety of purposes, but social media marketing mainly focuses on two goals. First, it is used to create brand awareness (i.e., to stimulate discussion and activity in regards to a particular brand). It is also used for the purposes of retaining and satisfying customers. Brands can use social networks to engage in direct discussion with their customers, who may have questions or issues regarding products.

The website-based nature of content marketing allows businesses to better focus on generating demand.  Well-developed content sends prospective customers to a brand’s website, bringing about lead conversions and possible sales.

Online Marketing: The Evolution

Social media marketing is currently the main focus for a majority of marketing departments. Content marketing is still a fairly new concept, and as such remains a less popular option at this point.

However, these two forms of marketing are interrelated. They are both part of the continuing evolution of marketing. The Internet has given every brand the opportunity to communicate with its customers directly, and social media marketing and content marketing both make it easier for brands to do this.

Naturally, social media marketing came first in the evolutionary process. This is partially because it allows brands to access users directly. In general, the content is also posted in shorter pieces, making the publishing process quick and easy.

In time, though, content marketing will have the edge as brands grow more familiar with the idea of being publishers. It is true that this version of marketing involves longer content of a higher quality and that brands must draw in audiences through their own websites. Still, content marketing has the potential to produce more powerful results by allowing brands to communicate more closely with their customers and find more leads.

Contact us to find out how Cloud9 Marketing can help you with your Content Marketing and/or Social Media efforts.

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