Public To-Do List for info_1436732113
Get your own Toodledo account to manage your to-do list.Added: Aug 18, 2015 Via IFTTT
10 Reasons Your Latest CRO Campaign Failed (And What to Do About It)
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
10 Reasons Your Latest CRO Campaign Failed (And What to Do About It)
A news article pops up in your Feedly account proclaiming that conversion rate optimization (CRO) is the “be all, end all” for online business success these days.
Excited, you pop over to Google Analytics’ Content Experiments tool and launch your first A/B test, confident that the changes you’ve made are going to result in major bottom-line gains for your website. You wait…
And you wait…
And you wait some more.
Finally, the test is done, and the results are… inconclusive. You don’t have a statistically significant winner, and you don’t have any appreciable lift to show for your efforts. What gives? Should you give up on CRO altogether?
Of course not. Your failure to drive measurable results could come down to one of the following easily fixable reasons for CRO campaign failure:
Mistake #1 – You Don’t Know What You’re Testing For
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen marketers get excited about the potential CRO and testing have to improve a site’s bottom line.
So what do they do?
They go out, find an article titled “The 10 Split Tests You Have to Run (Unless You’re a Total Loser)” and put the first suggestion on the list into practice.
I suppose that’s better than doing absolutely nothing. But it’s not going to generate much in the way of worthwhile data for you.
Suppose you run a small wealth management firm. The lifeblood of your business is the referrals you generate through your website’s lead capture form. Now, what happens if that first split test you decide to try involves adding images of faces to your homepage to reduce bounce rate.
Is reducing your homepage bounce rate a bad thing? No.
But is it doing much to impact your business’s bottom line? The answer, again, is no.
That’s why it’s so important to know what you’re testing for. By taking the time to understand the different types of CRO campaigns and split tests you can run – in addition to matching these strategies to your business model – you’ll increase the likelihood of your future efforts actually moving the needle for your company.
Mistake #2 – You Don’t Have Enough Traffic for Testing
That said, even if your goals and campaign objectives are in alignment, you still might not be ready for testing. If your website traffic is low, generating statistically significant results becomes much more complicated.
To understand why, imagine that you’ve asked ten of your friends to choose between your control page and the Web Page A variation you’ve created. Would you be confident that the results of your poll would hold true in the world at large? Would you be more confident if you had polled ten thousand people to start?
The larger sample size you have, the better you’ll be able to identify trends with confidence – and that’s where more traffic comes in handy.
Of course, all is not lost if your traffic resembles a steady stream more than a raging river. As the image below, published by the VWO blog demonstrates, sites with less traffic can still get conclusive results – if they’re willing to wait longer for their results:
Source
Mistake #3 – You’re Optimizing For Traffic Before Conversions
Now, having said that, you might be thinking that I’d encourage webmasters with low traffic to run out and get more visitors before launching their CRO campaigns. But as you’ll see, there are issues there as well.
Before you start with any true CRO effort, your conversion funnel should be relatively well-established. Think about it… Would you prefer to have a website that converts 10 out of every 100 visitors, or one that converts 10 out of every 10,000 visitors?
In the second example, you’ve got more traffic, but that’s not necessarily a good thing because your conversion rate is so low that those extra visitors aren’t helping you make more money. Fixing your conversion funnel before you throw traffic at your site will ensure you get the maximum value out of the visitors you do acquire.
Mistake #4 – You Set Up Your Tests Incorrectly
In an interview with Content Verve, Craig Sullivan of Optimise or Die shared how an unexpected test results taught him the importance of making sure his tests were set up correctly.
The test – which involved significantly different A and B variations – was showing no real difference in performance between the two creatives. With changes that massive, Sullivan knew that there must be something in the code affecting the tests results. In the end, it turned out that a coding error meant that visitors were being exposed to both variations – the test never remembered which versions they’d seen previously.
In Sullivan’s words:
“When it comes to split testing, the most dangerous mistakes are the ones you don’t realise you’re making.”
Mistake #5 – You Blindly Followed CRO Best Practices
A lot of people think that they can circumvent the split testing process entirely by just applying the CRO wisdom other publishers have discovered from their campaigns.
The problem with this line of thinking is that there’s no “one size fits all” set of recommendations that’s going to apply equally well to all websites. Angus Lynch shows how damaging this failure can be in a blog post for Rooster.
Lynch profiles Compare Courses, an Australian education website, which mistakenly follows the advice to move all of their calls-to-action “above the fold.” Here’s what the original page looked like:
And here’s the variation:
Source for both images
Even with the addition of testimonials and social proof, the test page saw a 53.87% decrease in “Send Enquiry” conversions.
If that doesn’t make clear how important it is to base your tests off your own performance goals and data, I don’t know what else will!
Mistake #6 – You’re Focused on The Wrong Metrics
I hinted at this earlier with my example of the wealth management firm, but the idea of tracking the right metrics deserves special mention here.
Ideally, if you’re running split tests, you’re doing so because you want to achieve something. You aren’t just testing for the fun of it – so what kinds of results do you want to see at the end of your campaign?
Keep in mind also that “conversions” doesn’t just mean sales. Our sample wealth management firm was tracking lead generation form completions, but your campaign might be based around:
Social shares
Email newsletter subscriptions
Video views
PDF downloads
Contact form completions
…Or any number of other target actions
There’s no “right” type of conversion to track. What’s important is that you actually make an effort to track metrics, and that the metrics you choose to track are those that matter most to your business’s operations.
Mistake #7 – You Stop Your Tests Too Soon
Peep Laja, writing for ConversionXL, demonstrates why sample size is so important:
The results above come from a split test performed by one of Laja’s clients, just days after the test’s launch. With just over 100 visitors per variation, it would seem that the winner was clear.
But despite the temptation to call test early, Laja persisted. Here’s what happened after each variation received more than 600 visitors:
Source for both images
In this instance, calling the test after 200 visitors would have resulted in an incorrect conclusion being drawn, potentially costing the client money.
For best results, Laja recommends waiting for roughly 100 conversions per variation (if not 200-400) and for the test to proclaim a winner with at least 95% confidence.
Mistake #8 – You Don’t Account for False Positives
Now, just to make things more complicated, consider that, even if you have enough conversions to declare a winner in your split test, you could be facing false positives if you’ve included too many variations in your test.
According to Isaac Rothstein of Infinite Conversions:
“A false positive is when a test result indicates that a condition is true when it is not, usually due to an assumption that has been made from the results. False positives typically occur when a high number of variations are tested.”
Imagine that you’re testing eight different versions of a single web page (Google’s a great example of this, having once tested 41 different shades of blue to see which option customers prefer). At the end of this exercise, can you really be sure that one of them is a conclusive winner? What if none of your variations are actually the right choice?
In all cases, watch out for assumptions about the data you’ve gathered. Test for different variations, but also test to be sure the conclusions you’ve drawn are based on fact, not opinion.
Mistake #9 – You’re Testing Small Tweaks Instead of Major Changes
Search Google for “split test ideas,” and you’ll come across endless lists recommending such simple tweaks as “change your button color” or “use action words in your headlines.”
And those things are great, don’t get me wrong.
But if your site needs major changes, these kinds of small, limited tests aren’t going to get you there.
Marketer extraordinaire Neil Patel is one advocate for making big changes before minor swaps, saying:
“The biggest conversion boosts are going to come from drastic changes. So if you really want to move your conversion rates, don’t focus on small changes. Instead, focus on drastic changes as they are the ones that boost your revenue.”
On his QuickSprout blog, Patel shares an example of how he put this principle into practice on his Crazy Egg website, where changing the homepage into a long sales letter led to huge wins. Only after this major change was complete did Patel go back and test individual calls-to-action, button colors and more.
Mistake #10 – Your Tests Aren’t Timed to Your Sales Cycles
In many retail environments, both online and offline, sales cycles are short, lasting as little as a few hours or a few days between the recognition of a need and the purchase decision.
But what if your company sells bigger-ticket items that come with longer sales funnels? What if your buyers are only making purchase decisions once every few years, making them less likely to take any conversion actions (including form completions, file downloads and more) in the interim?
Ultimately, the length of time your split tests run should be a function of your traffic and your conversion rates. However, if, after you’ve completed your test, you notice that the duration of your test is less than the length of your average sales cycle, consider that the data you’ve generated may not give you a complete pictures of the way your particular buyers interact with your website.
At the end of the day, CRO is a powerful tool for improving your website’s results, but it comes with a pretty significant learning curve. If your campaign results have been lackluster so far, one of the ten reasons described above could be to blame.
Don’t give up. Instead, look for ways to improve your testing and campaign protocols. With time and continual effort, split testing and other CRO techniques can be used to increase conversions and move the needle for your company.
Have you made any other CRO mistakes that deserve a spot on this list? If so, leave a comment below describing your experiences.
About the Author: Alex Bashinsky is the co-founder of Picreel, an online marketing software program that converts bounce traffic into revenue. He’s passionate about helping businesses improve their conversion rates and, in his down time, enjoys reading and playing the guitar. Get in touch with Alex at @abashinsky or check out Picreel.com.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1PkLIBX via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1JgCEhe
August 19, 2015 at 03:33AM
A news article pops up in your Feedly account proclaiming that conversion rate optimization (CRO) is the “be all, end all” for online business success these days.
Excited, you pop over to Google Analytics’ Content Experiments tool and launch your first A/B test, confident that the changes you’ve made are going to result in major bottom-line gains for your website. You wait…
And you wait…
And you wait some more.
Finally, the test is done, and the results are… inconclusive. You don’t have a statistically significant winner, and you don’t have any appreciable lift to show for your efforts. What gives? Should you give up on CRO altogether?
Of course not. Your failure to drive measurable results could come down to one of the following easily fixable reasons for CRO campaign failure:
Mistake #1 – You Don’t Know What You’re Testing For
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen marketers get excited about the potential CRO and testing have to improve a site’s bottom line.
So what do they do?
They go out, find an article titled “The 10 Split Tests You Have to Run (Unless You’re a Total Loser)” and put the first suggestion on the list into practice.
I suppose that’s better than doing absolutely nothing. But it’s not going to generate much in the way of worthwhile data for you.
Suppose you run a small wealth management firm. The lifeblood of your business is the referrals you generate through your website’s lead capture form. Now, what happens if that first split test you decide to try involves adding images of faces to your homepage to reduce bounce rate.
Is reducing your homepage bounce rate a bad thing? No.
But is it doing much to impact your business’s bottom line? The answer, again, is no.
That’s why it’s so important to know what you’re testing for. By taking the time to understand the different types of CRO campaigns and split tests you can run – in addition to matching these strategies to your business model – you’ll increase the likelihood of your future efforts actually moving the needle for your company.
Mistake #2 – You Don’t Have Enough Traffic for Testing
That said, even if your goals and campaign objectives are in alignment, you still might not be ready for testing. If your website traffic is low, generating statistically significant results becomes much more complicated.
To understand why, imagine that you’ve asked ten of your friends to choose between your control page and the Web Page A variation you’ve created. Would you be confident that the results of your poll would hold true in the world at large? Would you be more confident if you had polled ten thousand people to start?
The larger sample size you have, the better you’ll be able to identify trends with confidence – and that’s where more traffic comes in handy.
Of course, all is not lost if your traffic resembles a steady stream more than a raging river. As the image below, published by the VWO blog demonstrates, sites with less traffic can still get conclusive results – if they’re willing to wait longer for their results:
Source
Mistake #3 – You’re Optimizing For Traffic Before Conversions
Now, having said that, you might be thinking that I’d encourage webmasters with low traffic to run out and get more visitors before launching their CRO campaigns. But as you’ll see, there are issues there as well.
Before you start with any true CRO effort, your conversion funnel should be relatively well-established. Think about it… Would you prefer to have a website that converts 10 out of every 100 visitors, or one that converts 10 out of every 10,000 visitors?
In the second example, you’ve got more traffic, but that’s not necessarily a good thing because your conversion rate is so low that those extra visitors aren’t helping you make more money. Fixing your conversion funnel before you throw traffic at your site will ensure you get the maximum value out of the visitors you do acquire.
Mistake #4 – You Set Up Your Tests Incorrectly
In an interview with Content Verve, Craig Sullivan of Optimise or Die shared how an unexpected test results taught him the importance of making sure his tests were set up correctly.
The test – which involved significantly different A and B variations – was showing no real difference in performance between the two creatives. With changes that massive, Sullivan knew that there must be something in the code affecting the tests results. In the end, it turned out that a coding error meant that visitors were being exposed to both variations – the test never remembered which versions they’d seen previously.
In Sullivan’s words:
“When it comes to split testing, the most dangerous mistakes are the ones you don’t realise you’re making.”
Mistake #5 – You Blindly Followed CRO Best Practices
A lot of people think that they can circumvent the split testing process entirely by just applying the CRO wisdom other publishers have discovered from their campaigns.
The problem with this line of thinking is that there’s no “one size fits all” set of recommendations that’s going to apply equally well to all websites. Angus Lynch shows how damaging this failure can be in a blog post for Rooster.
Lynch profiles Compare Courses, an Australian education website, which mistakenly follows the advice to move all of their calls-to-action “above the fold.” Here’s what the original page looked like:
And here’s the variation:
Source for both images
Even with the addition of testimonials and social proof, the test page saw a 53.87% decrease in “Send Enquiry” conversions.
If that doesn’t make clear how important it is to base your tests off your own performance goals and data, I don’t know what else will!
Mistake #6 – You’re Focused on The Wrong Metrics
I hinted at this earlier with my example of the wealth management firm, but the idea of tracking the right metrics deserves special mention here.
Ideally, if you’re running split tests, you’re doing so because you want to achieve something. You aren’t just testing for the fun of it – so what kinds of results do you want to see at the end of your campaign?
Keep in mind also that “conversions” doesn’t just mean sales. Our sample wealth management firm was tracking lead generation form completions, but your campaign might be based around:
Social shares
Email newsletter subscriptions
Video views
PDF downloads
Contact form completions
…Or any number of other target actions
There’s no “right” type of conversion to track. What’s important is that you actually make an effort to track metrics, and that the metrics you choose to track are those that matter most to your business’s operations.
Mistake #7 – You Stop Your Tests Too Soon
Peep Laja, writing for ConversionXL, demonstrates why sample size is so important:
The results above come from a split test performed by one of Laja’s clients, just days after the test’s launch. With just over 100 visitors per variation, it would seem that the winner was clear.
But despite the temptation to call test early, Laja persisted. Here’s what happened after each variation received more than 600 visitors:
Source for both images
In this instance, calling the test after 200 visitors would have resulted in an incorrect conclusion being drawn, potentially costing the client money.
For best results, Laja recommends waiting for roughly 100 conversions per variation (if not 200-400) and for the test to proclaim a winner with at least 95% confidence.
Mistake #8 – You Don’t Account for False Positives
Now, just to make things more complicated, consider that, even if you have enough conversions to declare a winner in your split test, you could be facing false positives if you’ve included too many variations in your test.
According to Isaac Rothstein of Infinite Conversions:
“A false positive is when a test result indicates that a condition is true when it is not, usually due to an assumption that has been made from the results. False positives typically occur when a high number of variations are tested.”
Imagine that you’re testing eight different versions of a single web page (Google’s a great example of this, having once tested 41 different shades of blue to see which option customers prefer). At the end of this exercise, can you really be sure that one of them is a conclusive winner? What if none of your variations are actually the right choice?
In all cases, watch out for assumptions about the data you’ve gathered. Test for different variations, but also test to be sure the conclusions you’ve drawn are based on fact, not opinion.
Mistake #9 – You’re Testing Small Tweaks Instead of Major Changes
Search Google for “split test ideas,” and you’ll come across endless lists recommending such simple tweaks as “change your button color” or “use action words in your headlines.”
And those things are great, don’t get me wrong.
But if your site needs major changes, these kinds of small, limited tests aren’t going to get you there.
Marketer extraordinaire Neil Patel is one advocate for making big changes before minor swaps, saying:
“The biggest conversion boosts are going to come from drastic changes. So if you really want to move your conversion rates, don’t focus on small changes. Instead, focus on drastic changes as they are the ones that boost your revenue.”
On his QuickSprout blog, Patel shares an example of how he put this principle into practice on his Crazy Egg website, where changing the homepage into a long sales letter led to huge wins. Only after this major change was complete did Patel go back and test individual calls-to-action, button colors and more.
Mistake #10 – Your Tests Aren’t Timed to Your Sales Cycles
In many retail environments, both online and offline, sales cycles are short, lasting as little as a few hours or a few days between the recognition of a need and the purchase decision.
But what if your company sells bigger-ticket items that come with longer sales funnels? What if your buyers are only making purchase decisions once every few years, making them less likely to take any conversion actions (including form completions, file downloads and more) in the interim?
Ultimately, the length of time your split tests run should be a function of your traffic and your conversion rates. However, if, after you’ve completed your test, you notice that the duration of your test is less than the length of your average sales cycle, consider that the data you’ve generated may not give you a complete pictures of the way your particular buyers interact with your website.
At the end of the day, CRO is a powerful tool for improving your website’s results, but it comes with a pretty significant learning curve. If your campaign results have been lackluster so far, one of the ten reasons described above could be to blame.
Don’t give up. Instead, look for ways to improve your testing and campaign protocols. With time and continual effort, split testing and other CRO techniques can be used to increase conversions and move the needle for your company.
Have you made any other CRO mistakes that deserve a spot on this list? If so, leave a comment below describing your experiences.
About the Author: Alex Bashinsky is the co-founder of Picreel, an online marketing software program that converts bounce traffic into revenue. He’s passionate about helping businesses improve their conversion rates and, in his down time, enjoys reading and playing the guitar. Get in touch with Alex at @abashinsky or check out Picreel.com.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1PkLIBX via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1JgCEhe
August 19, 2015 at 03:33AM
Added: Aug 19, 2015 Via IFTTT
10 Ways to Improve Your Marketing by Tapping the Power of the Phone Call
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
10 Ways to Improve Your Marketing by Tapping the Power of the Phone Call
If you’re making decisions about your website and using data to optimize your marketing, you need to think about the visitors who call you and convert over the phone. In an increasingly mobile world, customers are more likely than ever before to be visiting your website on mobile then dialing your business to get more information or make a purchase. Even though digital channels drive engagement online, people still want to talk.
As a marketer, you probably understand that these calls are valuable — inbound calls have high conversion rates and provide a treasure trove of information about your customers. But how do you drive more calls that lead to sales? How are you attributing conversions that happen over the phone?
Here are 10 ways to address this blind spot by tapping into the gold mine of insights from phone conversations:
1. Define Lead Quality
Identify the characteristics of qualified versus unqualified leads to improve marketing and sales performance. For instance, by identifying key phrases like “place an order” or “credit card number” versus “customer support” and “account number.”
2. Optimize Your Campaigns
Track what happens on your calls to understand which marketing programs lead to calls that convert to revenue. Increase spend on those campaigns and minimize spend on campaigns that drive low-converting calls.
3. Finesse Your Messaging
Check which products or promotions callers are mentioning on the phone, and make sure your messaging aligns with your their goals and pain points. For example, if customers keep bringing up a specific product, you know it’s time to highlight it on your website.
4. Monitor the Competitive Landscape
See which competitors are mentioned most often to arm your sales teams with the right messaging. If your customers keep mentioning the same competitor, you may need to find new ways of differentiating yourself.
5. Build Better Buyer Personas
Understand the language your key buyer personas use, what products interest them and which marketing campaigns they prefer. These insights will bring life to your buyer personas so your sales and marketing teams know exactly who they’re talking to.
6. Test Your Sales Scripts
Marketers are always updating their content and conducting A/B tests to figure out what works best. Do the same with your sales scripts: test two of them and see which words and phrases result in more sales, and identify the specific messages that contributes to sales won or lost.
7. Identify Effective Search Terms
How many of your PPC keywords truly resonate with your audience? By tracking keywords that relate to your product or service during customer conversations, you can create PPC campaigns based on proven buyer pain points and eliminate the guessing game.
8. Analyze Legit Leads Only
When analyzing calls, it’s important to know which are legitimate leads and which would have been best left unanswered. For instance, if another company has a similar name but sells an entirely different product, you can scan for those keywords and differentiate between quality prospects and people who dialed the wrong number.
9. Improve the Customer Experience
Understanding the needs and motivations of your callers helps you better understand the best way to set up your voice prompts and routing to provide the best possible caller experience. Understand what happened on the call to automatically trigger a specialized lead nurturing track.
10. Prove Marketing ROI
Calls are marketers’ biggest blind spot when it comes to attribution. Get credit for conversations that happen over the phone in near real time rather than weeks or months down the road. If you know what customers say during an inbound call, you can determine which resulted in a purchase or follow-up action. A big part of this is conversation intelligence, technology that scans inbound customer calls for keywords and phrases so you can spot patterns
Improve Your Marketing By Learning From Actual Conversations
Making data-driven marketing decisions involves connecting the dots between all customer interactions, across both online and offline channels. Rather than guessing what happens during conversations with your customers and making decisions based on incomplete data, you can truly optimize your marketing by capturing insights from inbound phone calls.
About the Author: Kyle Christensen is a SaaS veteran, having spent over 15 years working in enterprise software. Before Invoca, he was a VP of Marketing at Responsys, a leader cloud platform for cross-channel digital marketing, where he launched the company’s mobile product line. He has also served in senior strategic product marketing and management roles at Zuora and at Salesforce.com. He holds an MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and a BS in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1TU4BC8 via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1LjSsiJ
August 20, 2015 at 03:02AM
If you’re making decisions about your website and using data to optimize your marketing, you need to think about the visitors who call you and convert over the phone. In an increasingly mobile world, customers are more likely than ever before to be visiting your website on mobile then dialing your business to get more information or make a purchase. Even though digital channels drive engagement online, people still want to talk.
As a marketer, you probably understand that these calls are valuable — inbound calls have high conversion rates and provide a treasure trove of information about your customers. But how do you drive more calls that lead to sales? How are you attributing conversions that happen over the phone?
Here are 10 ways to address this blind spot by tapping into the gold mine of insights from phone conversations:
1. Define Lead Quality
Identify the characteristics of qualified versus unqualified leads to improve marketing and sales performance. For instance, by identifying key phrases like “place an order” or “credit card number” versus “customer support” and “account number.”
2. Optimize Your Campaigns
Track what happens on your calls to understand which marketing programs lead to calls that convert to revenue. Increase spend on those campaigns and minimize spend on campaigns that drive low-converting calls.
3. Finesse Your Messaging
Check which products or promotions callers are mentioning on the phone, and make sure your messaging aligns with your their goals and pain points. For example, if customers keep bringing up a specific product, you know it’s time to highlight it on your website.
4. Monitor the Competitive Landscape
See which competitors are mentioned most often to arm your sales teams with the right messaging. If your customers keep mentioning the same competitor, you may need to find new ways of differentiating yourself.
5. Build Better Buyer Personas
Understand the language your key buyer personas use, what products interest them and which marketing campaigns they prefer. These insights will bring life to your buyer personas so your sales and marketing teams know exactly who they’re talking to.
6. Test Your Sales Scripts
Marketers are always updating their content and conducting A/B tests to figure out what works best. Do the same with your sales scripts: test two of them and see which words and phrases result in more sales, and identify the specific messages that contributes to sales won or lost.
7. Identify Effective Search Terms
How many of your PPC keywords truly resonate with your audience? By tracking keywords that relate to your product or service during customer conversations, you can create PPC campaigns based on proven buyer pain points and eliminate the guessing game.
8. Analyze Legit Leads Only
When analyzing calls, it’s important to know which are legitimate leads and which would have been best left unanswered. For instance, if another company has a similar name but sells an entirely different product, you can scan for those keywords and differentiate between quality prospects and people who dialed the wrong number.
9. Improve the Customer Experience
Understanding the needs and motivations of your callers helps you better understand the best way to set up your voice prompts and routing to provide the best possible caller experience. Understand what happened on the call to automatically trigger a specialized lead nurturing track.
10. Prove Marketing ROI
Calls are marketers’ biggest blind spot when it comes to attribution. Get credit for conversations that happen over the phone in near real time rather than weeks or months down the road. If you know what customers say during an inbound call, you can determine which resulted in a purchase or follow-up action. A big part of this is conversation intelligence, technology that scans inbound customer calls for keywords and phrases so you can spot patterns
Improve Your Marketing By Learning From Actual Conversations
Making data-driven marketing decisions involves connecting the dots between all customer interactions, across both online and offline channels. Rather than guessing what happens during conversations with your customers and making decisions based on incomplete data, you can truly optimize your marketing by capturing insights from inbound phone calls.
About the Author: Kyle Christensen is a SaaS veteran, having spent over 15 years working in enterprise software. Before Invoca, he was a VP of Marketing at Responsys, a leader cloud platform for cross-channel digital marketing, where he launched the company’s mobile product line. He has also served in senior strategic product marketing and management roles at Zuora and at Salesforce.com. He holds an MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and a BS in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1TU4BC8 via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1LjSsiJ
August 20, 2015 at 03:02AM
Added: Aug 24, 2015 Via IFTTT
21 Marketing Experts Share the Top Reasons Why You Should Talk to Your Customers
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
21 Marketing Experts Share the Top Reasons Why You Should Talk to Your Customers
How often do you talk to your customers?
If you’re like most of us, probably not as often as you should.
One of the biggest mistakes I see marketers make is not talking to customers, asking them questions, and listening to what they have to say on a regular basis.
You can learn all sorts of important things by talking to them, for example:
The pain-points and frustrations they experience on the day-to-day
The exact language they use to describe those problems
Questions and objections they have about your product
And once you get their feedback you can use it to market your product better, create useful and relevant content for your audience, and write copy that makes them feel like you’re reading their mind.
But at the end of the day, all these tactics revolve around one thing: giving them a better experience.
When we deliver amazing experiences to our customers, they spend more time with us, buy more from us (hopefully), and tell their friends about us.
Plus, who doesn’t want to make the world a little bit better by delivering great experiences?
Of course, I’m not the only one who thinks you need to be talking to your customers. I reached out to 19 smart and successful marketers and asked them:
“What’s the most important thing marketers can learn from talking to their customers?”
Said differently: “If I never talk to my customers or get their feedback, what am I losing out on?”
Here’s what they had to say:
1. The hesitations and questions customers had before buying or signing up
Peep Laja — Founder of ConversionXL
You get to learn two very important things (among other stuff): the hesitations and questions they had before buying/signing up, and what matters to them about the product.
The first bit helps you understand the friction in the buying process—so you can tweak the website copy and offer accordingly.
The second bit helps you figure out how your customers use the product, and what matters to them when they’re shopping for it.
This again helps you improve the way you sell, and improve the product / offer itself.
2. Where to find and reach your best prospects
Rand Fishkin — Founder of Moz
As a marketer, you need to know where your best customers are—what they read, who they follow, what events they attend, how they consume content, etc.
That’s what I’d urge every inbound marketer to talk to their customers about, so they can effectively reach more people like them.
3. How to improve the onboarding experience or delivery process of your product
Pat Flynn — Founder of Smart Passive Income
Besides the obvious (what they like and dislike about your product), I think one of the most important conversations you can have with a customer is what could have been done to improve the onboarding experience or delivery process of your product.
That ‘first touch’ with your product is incredibly important and that first impression can often determine one’s overall general feeling about a product. This will help with getting reviews and testimonials, retention rate, and obtaining more repeat customers down the road.
4. The exact language your prospects use to describe their problem
Brian Dean — Founder of Backlinko
The #1 thing is the language that they use. Sure, you can learn about your customers’ thoughts, fears, wants and desires by chatting with them over a cup of Starbucks.
But if you don’t know how to speak their language, they’re never going to hand you a single dollar.
For example, I ask all of my new email subscribers, “What’s the #1 thing you’re struggling with?” And to date I’ve received stacks of replies (over 25,000 to be exact).
These replies are solid gold for my business. I used to say thing like “It’s frustrating not to get traffic.” But I noticed a lot of my subscribers referred to their sites as “ghost towns.”
So today I’ll say something like: “I know it’s frustrating to feel like your site is a ghost town.” That copy resonates with them significantly more than text that I pulled out of thin air.
Bottom line: Don’t just study what your customers say, but how they say it. Their words=priceless marketing intel.
5. Why your customers do the things they do
Brian Balfour — VP of Growth at Hubspot, Writer at CoElevate
True growth insights come from blending three things together. The what, the why, and your intuition. It’s impossible to understand those three things, especially the “why,” if you don’t talk to customers.
Why did sign up but not activate? Why did they visit your invite page but not invite a friend? Why did they decide to churn?
Why is one of the most powerful questions in growth, and the only way you answer it is talking to customers.
6. What they’d actually pay for
Neville Medhora — Founder of Kopywriting Kourse
The biggest thing you can learn from talking to your customers is what they’d actually PAY for.
Almost all the time you can tell what people will whip out a wallet for if you keep prodding. Their eyes will light up on certain things, or they’ll just flat out tell you what they need.
What’s the biggest pain the in A$$ for you to do….and would you pay over $100 for it?
7. What the majority your customers actually want
Noah Kagan — Founder of Appsumo and SumoMe
The most important thing they can learn? It’s interesting because many of the times it’s not what people say.
Only 1 out of 10 customers complain or really give a compliment so you have to go out of your way to the 9 people to see what the majority of your customers actually want.
8. Why they came to your website, what’s preventing them from converting, and what will keep them coming back
Dmitry Dragilev — Growth Hacker at Criminally Prolific
Plain and simple if you don’t talk to your customers you’re losing out on:
Finding out why your customers came to your website
What is preventing them from accomplishing the task you want them accomplish on your website.
What can keep them coming back to your website and referring other people to your website
9. What kind of products people want
Nir Eyal — Author of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products
Getting user feedback is the first step to building products people want.
(Note: In his book, Nir points out that while getting user feedback is the first step, “The fundamentals of consumer psychology can help you build the right products not only by understanding what users tell you they want, but by what they’re unable to articulate.”)
10. What your their real needs actually are
Chris Guillebeau — Founder of The Art of Non-Conformity
Without talking to customers, you can only assume what their real needs are—and you know what happens when you assume.
Talking to customers also opens up a whole new set of possibilities for relationship.
11. Find out their biggest pains and struggles
Joanna Wiebe — Founder of Copyhackers
Struggling moments! Only your customers can tell you the actual parts of their workflow and/or day-to-day lives that your solution can (or does) make better.
Once you talk to them, you quickly find out their biggest pains and struggles, and you can then use that brilliant voice-of-customer data to:
Write copy that sounds like you’re reading your prospects’ minds and
Improve your product or service.
(You can also come up with new product ideas—that’s especially useful if you can move fast on your products, like info marketers can.)
Result? More money.
12. The difference between what you think they want and what they actually want
Paul Graham — Co-founder of Y Combinator
The most important thing you can learn from talking to customers is how what they actually want differs from what you think they want.
(Note: Paul goes into more detail in this essay. He said, “They’ll like you even better when you improve in response to their comments, because customers are used to companies ignoring them. If you’re the rare exception—a company that actually listens—you’ll generate fanatical loyalty. You won’t need to advertise, because your users will do it for you.”)
13. Whether or not you’re building the right solution for them
Alex Turnbull — Founder of Groove
The single most important thing you can learn from talking to your customers—and there’s a ton—is whether or not you’re building the right solution for them.
The biggest mistake we made was not doing enough customer development during the building of our prototype, and we spent 6 months and $50,000 building a product that nobody wanted, a mistake that took us over a year (and yes, a lot of conversations with customers) to recover from.
14. How to improve your operations and reduce churn
Jay Baer — Founder of Convince and Convert
Without customer feedback you are literally flying blind. This is especially true for unhappy customers. 95% of dissatisfied customers never mention it, they just fade away forever. This robs you of the insights you could use to improve your operations and reduce churn.
15. Understand and solve their everyday problems
Laura Roeder — Founder of Edgar
People aren’t interested in all the bells and whistles of what you offer so much as whether or not it solves their everyday problems.
The more you talk to your customers, the better you can understand those problems, so you can improve yourself with a clear goal in mind rather than just blindly tinkering and hoping for the best!
16. Understand the needs of your different segments across the entire customer lifecycle
Laurie Kuhn — Head of Strategic Solutions at UserTesting
Increasingly, marketers are acting as the customer experience evangelists for the brand and product/service. Talking to customers helps marketers validate and/or learn the needs of different segments across the entire customer lifecycle.
From there, marketers can drive change and rally an organization by bringing the customer voice to life, helping to break down internal silos that have historically lead to fragmented customer experiences.
17. Build something your potential customers will truly love
Corbett Barr — Co-founder of Fizzle
Unless you’re a mind reader, the best way to ensure you build something your potential customers will truly love is to talk to them directly.
(Note: Corbett dives deeper into the topic of customer feedback in this article. He said, “On The Fizzle Show, we often recommend talking with customers frequently, through both in-depth one-on-one interviews, responsive and frequent email conversations, and through surveys.
Each approach has different benefits. Interviews are great for really getting to know one customer’s perspective, problems, and how your solution fits in. Surveys are great for finding out how well you’re doing across the board.”)
18. Learn the words they use to describe the success they’re having with your product
Oli Gardner — Co-founder of Unbounce
Marketers and business owners often have an over-glorified version of one’s value proposition in their minds, based on internal knowledge and language.
By talking to your customers, you can learn the words they use to describe the success they are having with your product.
A brilliant exercise that you can do to leverage this is to ask a few of your customers to write your homepage headline for you. Fascinating to see your value proposition *actually* written in the voice of the customer.
19. Discover their joys, challenges, problems, and curiosities
Kevan Lee — Content Crafter at Buffer
Talking to customers helps you see the world through their perspective—their joys, their challenges, their problems and curiosities that you can help solve with your content and products.
20. Knowing exactly what they’re struggling with
Bryan Harris — Founder of Videofruit
Most important thing = Being on the frontline and knowing EXACTLY what they are struggling with.
Using their exact words and questions in your marketing copy and sales pages is one of the smartest things you can do.
Then make sure your product actually solves their problems.
21. Understand who truly considers your product a “must have”
Sean Ellis — Founder of Qualaroo and GrowthHackers
The most important thing startup marketers can learn from talking to their customers is understanding who truly considers the product a “must have” and why it is a “must have.”
With this information you’ll know who to target as future customers and which benefits to highlight.
And if no one considers your product a must have, then you should be focused on changing the product rather than growing.
What do you think?
What do you think? What’s the most important thing marketers can learn from talking to their customers? If we never talk to our customers, what are we losing out on? Please share your thoughts and comments below.
P.S. Huge thanks to all the amazing people who contributed to this article! Please share if you think it was useful!
About the Author: Spencer is a Content Marketer at UserTesting — a platform that gives marketers on-demand access to users in their target audience who deliver audio, video, and written feedback on websites and apps in less than one hour. You can follow him on Twitter at @slanoue.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1fBiQco via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1I8DJCg
August 24, 2015 at 09:34PM
How often do you talk to your customers?
If you’re like most of us, probably not as often as you should.
One of the biggest mistakes I see marketers make is not talking to customers, asking them questions, and listening to what they have to say on a regular basis.
You can learn all sorts of important things by talking to them, for example:
The pain-points and frustrations they experience on the day-to-day
The exact language they use to describe those problems
Questions and objections they have about your product
And once you get their feedback you can use it to market your product better, create useful and relevant content for your audience, and write copy that makes them feel like you’re reading their mind.
But at the end of the day, all these tactics revolve around one thing: giving them a better experience.
When we deliver amazing experiences to our customers, they spend more time with us, buy more from us (hopefully), and tell their friends about us.
Plus, who doesn’t want to make the world a little bit better by delivering great experiences?
Of course, I’m not the only one who thinks you need to be talking to your customers. I reached out to 19 smart and successful marketers and asked them:
“What’s the most important thing marketers can learn from talking to their customers?”
Said differently: “If I never talk to my customers or get their feedback, what am I losing out on?”
Here’s what they had to say:
1. The hesitations and questions customers had before buying or signing up
Peep Laja — Founder of ConversionXL
You get to learn two very important things (among other stuff): the hesitations and questions they had before buying/signing up, and what matters to them about the product.
The first bit helps you understand the friction in the buying process—so you can tweak the website copy and offer accordingly.
The second bit helps you figure out how your customers use the product, and what matters to them when they’re shopping for it.
This again helps you improve the way you sell, and improve the product / offer itself.
2. Where to find and reach your best prospects
Rand Fishkin — Founder of Moz
As a marketer, you need to know where your best customers are—what they read, who they follow, what events they attend, how they consume content, etc.
That’s what I’d urge every inbound marketer to talk to their customers about, so they can effectively reach more people like them.
3. How to improve the onboarding experience or delivery process of your product
Pat Flynn — Founder of Smart Passive Income
Besides the obvious (what they like and dislike about your product), I think one of the most important conversations you can have with a customer is what could have been done to improve the onboarding experience or delivery process of your product.
That ‘first touch’ with your product is incredibly important and that first impression can often determine one’s overall general feeling about a product. This will help with getting reviews and testimonials, retention rate, and obtaining more repeat customers down the road.
4. The exact language your prospects use to describe their problem
Brian Dean — Founder of Backlinko
The #1 thing is the language that they use. Sure, you can learn about your customers’ thoughts, fears, wants and desires by chatting with them over a cup of Starbucks.
But if you don’t know how to speak their language, they’re never going to hand you a single dollar.
For example, I ask all of my new email subscribers, “What’s the #1 thing you’re struggling with?” And to date I’ve received stacks of replies (over 25,000 to be exact).
These replies are solid gold for my business. I used to say thing like “It’s frustrating not to get traffic.” But I noticed a lot of my subscribers referred to their sites as “ghost towns.”
So today I’ll say something like: “I know it’s frustrating to feel like your site is a ghost town.” That copy resonates with them significantly more than text that I pulled out of thin air.
Bottom line: Don’t just study what your customers say, but how they say it. Their words=priceless marketing intel.
5. Why your customers do the things they do
Brian Balfour — VP of Growth at Hubspot, Writer at CoElevate
True growth insights come from blending three things together. The what, the why, and your intuition. It’s impossible to understand those three things, especially the “why,” if you don’t talk to customers.
Why did sign up but not activate? Why did they visit your invite page but not invite a friend? Why did they decide to churn?
Why is one of the most powerful questions in growth, and the only way you answer it is talking to customers.
6. What they’d actually pay for
Neville Medhora — Founder of Kopywriting Kourse
The biggest thing you can learn from talking to your customers is what they’d actually PAY for.
Almost all the time you can tell what people will whip out a wallet for if you keep prodding. Their eyes will light up on certain things, or they’ll just flat out tell you what they need.
What’s the biggest pain the in A$$ for you to do….and would you pay over $100 for it?
7. What the majority your customers actually want
Noah Kagan — Founder of Appsumo and SumoMe
The most important thing they can learn? It’s interesting because many of the times it’s not what people say.
Only 1 out of 10 customers complain or really give a compliment so you have to go out of your way to the 9 people to see what the majority of your customers actually want.
8. Why they came to your website, what’s preventing them from converting, and what will keep them coming back
Dmitry Dragilev — Growth Hacker at Criminally Prolific
Plain and simple if you don’t talk to your customers you’re losing out on:
Finding out why your customers came to your website
What is preventing them from accomplishing the task you want them accomplish on your website.
What can keep them coming back to your website and referring other people to your website
9. What kind of products people want
Nir Eyal — Author of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products
Getting user feedback is the first step to building products people want.
(Note: In his book, Nir points out that while getting user feedback is the first step, “The fundamentals of consumer psychology can help you build the right products not only by understanding what users tell you they want, but by what they’re unable to articulate.”)
10. What your their real needs actually are
Chris Guillebeau — Founder of The Art of Non-Conformity
Without talking to customers, you can only assume what their real needs are—and you know what happens when you assume.
Talking to customers also opens up a whole new set of possibilities for relationship.
11. Find out their biggest pains and struggles
Joanna Wiebe — Founder of Copyhackers
Struggling moments! Only your customers can tell you the actual parts of their workflow and/or day-to-day lives that your solution can (or does) make better.
Once you talk to them, you quickly find out their biggest pains and struggles, and you can then use that brilliant voice-of-customer data to:
Write copy that sounds like you’re reading your prospects’ minds and
Improve your product or service.
(You can also come up with new product ideas—that’s especially useful if you can move fast on your products, like info marketers can.)
Result? More money.
12. The difference between what you think they want and what they actually want
Paul Graham — Co-founder of Y Combinator
The most important thing you can learn from talking to customers is how what they actually want differs from what you think they want.
(Note: Paul goes into more detail in this essay. He said, “They’ll like you even better when you improve in response to their comments, because customers are used to companies ignoring them. If you’re the rare exception—a company that actually listens—you’ll generate fanatical loyalty. You won’t need to advertise, because your users will do it for you.”)
13. Whether or not you’re building the right solution for them
Alex Turnbull — Founder of Groove
The single most important thing you can learn from talking to your customers—and there’s a ton—is whether or not you’re building the right solution for them.
The biggest mistake we made was not doing enough customer development during the building of our prototype, and we spent 6 months and $50,000 building a product that nobody wanted, a mistake that took us over a year (and yes, a lot of conversations with customers) to recover from.
14. How to improve your operations and reduce churn
Jay Baer — Founder of Convince and Convert
Without customer feedback you are literally flying blind. This is especially true for unhappy customers. 95% of dissatisfied customers never mention it, they just fade away forever. This robs you of the insights you could use to improve your operations and reduce churn.
15. Understand and solve their everyday problems
Laura Roeder — Founder of Edgar
People aren’t interested in all the bells and whistles of what you offer so much as whether or not it solves their everyday problems.
The more you talk to your customers, the better you can understand those problems, so you can improve yourself with a clear goal in mind rather than just blindly tinkering and hoping for the best!
16. Understand the needs of your different segments across the entire customer lifecycle
Laurie Kuhn — Head of Strategic Solutions at UserTesting
Increasingly, marketers are acting as the customer experience evangelists for the brand and product/service. Talking to customers helps marketers validate and/or learn the needs of different segments across the entire customer lifecycle.
From there, marketers can drive change and rally an organization by bringing the customer voice to life, helping to break down internal silos that have historically lead to fragmented customer experiences.
17. Build something your potential customers will truly love
Corbett Barr — Co-founder of Fizzle
Unless you’re a mind reader, the best way to ensure you build something your potential customers will truly love is to talk to them directly.
(Note: Corbett dives deeper into the topic of customer feedback in this article. He said, “On The Fizzle Show, we often recommend talking with customers frequently, through both in-depth one-on-one interviews, responsive and frequent email conversations, and through surveys.
Each approach has different benefits. Interviews are great for really getting to know one customer’s perspective, problems, and how your solution fits in. Surveys are great for finding out how well you’re doing across the board.”)
18. Learn the words they use to describe the success they’re having with your product
Oli Gardner — Co-founder of Unbounce
Marketers and business owners often have an over-glorified version of one’s value proposition in their minds, based on internal knowledge and language.
By talking to your customers, you can learn the words they use to describe the success they are having with your product.
A brilliant exercise that you can do to leverage this is to ask a few of your customers to write your homepage headline for you. Fascinating to see your value proposition *actually* written in the voice of the customer.
19. Discover their joys, challenges, problems, and curiosities
Kevan Lee — Content Crafter at Buffer
Talking to customers helps you see the world through their perspective—their joys, their challenges, their problems and curiosities that you can help solve with your content and products.
20. Knowing exactly what they’re struggling with
Bryan Harris — Founder of Videofruit
Most important thing = Being on the frontline and knowing EXACTLY what they are struggling with.
Using their exact words and questions in your marketing copy and sales pages is one of the smartest things you can do.
Then make sure your product actually solves their problems.
21. Understand who truly considers your product a “must have”
Sean Ellis — Founder of Qualaroo and GrowthHackers
The most important thing startup marketers can learn from talking to their customers is understanding who truly considers the product a “must have” and why it is a “must have.”
With this information you’ll know who to target as future customers and which benefits to highlight.
And if no one considers your product a must have, then you should be focused on changing the product rather than growing.
What do you think?
What do you think? What’s the most important thing marketers can learn from talking to their customers? If we never talk to our customers, what are we losing out on? Please share your thoughts and comments below.
P.S. Huge thanks to all the amazing people who contributed to this article! Please share if you think it was useful!
About the Author: Spencer is a Content Marketer at UserTesting — a platform that gives marketers on-demand access to users in their target audience who deliver audio, video, and written feedback on websites and apps in less than one hour. You can follow him on Twitter at @slanoue.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1fBiQco via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1I8DJCg
August 24, 2015 at 09:34PM
Added: Sep 10, 2015 Via IFTTT
23 Marketing Techniques That Cost You Time Not Money
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
23 Marketing Techniques That Cost You Time, Not Money
Here is the common situation of many startups. They have no money, but they have to do marketing.
What’s to be done? Instead of focusing on costly marketing methods, such startups must focus on low-budget marketing hacks.
The beauty of growth hacking is that it engages alternate methods of growth, methods which are sometimes lower cost.
Where marketing and engineering meet, growth hacking happens.
Obviously, growth hacking isn’t free. Strictly speaking none of the techniques in this article are “free.” Anytime you involve people, employees of the company, there will be payroll and associated costs.
But here’s why these methods are so powerful. They don’t require a huge marketing budget. All you need is some time, some savvy, and the kind of focused and driven perspective that smart marketing requires.
1. Get Links From Your Service Providers
To rank well, a website needs high-quality backlinks. Where do you get these backlinks? Obviously, buying links is not advised. What should you do?
If you’ve built partnerships with service providers or business partners, you have an instant source of untapped link potential. Reach out to these service providers and ask them to link to your website.
You gain a few nice links,and all it cost you was a few minutes of emailing.
2. Search For Unlinked Mentions
Another great way to get links and boost your site authority is to look for unlinked mentions of your brand or company name.
If you find such mentions in online publications or websites, email the site editor and ask them to provide a link. You might discover plenty of brand mentions all over the web.
A quick search and a few emails later — presto. Free backlinks. The good kind.
3. Host a Webinar
Free webinars introduce your brand and product to a wider audience. The more appealing the topic, the better you’ll attract interest.
Kissmetrics has been hosting webinars on a regular basis for a long time, with surprisingly powerful results.
Webinars take time. You’ve got to brainstorm topics, plan the webinar, and spread the word. The benefits, however, are top-notch.
4. Cross-promote
One explosive method of marketing that some companies use is cross-promotion. Cross promotion allows you to partner with related businesses who can market your services, in exchange for your marketing their services.
For example, if you are providing consulting services for online business owners, you may recommend that they use a certain web designer to create their website. The web designer is your cross promoting partner. This web designer works with business clients, and she points these clients your way for consulting services.
It’s a win-win, and apart from a signed document and an easy conversation, doesn’t require much work at all.
5. Be a Blog Commenter
The idea of marketing is to make your brand presence as well known as possible. One way of doing so is by commenting on blogs. Here’s how this works:
Identify the top 5 blogs in your niche.
Read and comment on the blogs on a regular basis.
As people see your name and associated brand, they become familiar with it and perhaps even curious about it.
With every comment, you’re establishing a persistent brand presence. Just make sure you’re not making dumb comments. Customers’ perception of your brand is shaped by the quality of your comments.
6. Help a Reporter Out
Occasionally, you’re going to come across some newsworthy information in your niche or business. Sign up for Help a Reporter Out (HARO). It’s a free service that reporters often use to find stories. If you have a story you can help a reporter out, and gain publicity.
7. Create a Robust Google+ Presence
Google+ is one of the web’s foremost places for building brand exposure. Google uses your business information to form a web presence in Knowledge Graph boxes and wider indexation.
The better your Google+ profile, the better your brand will be featured and published organically across the web.
8. Network in Person
Don’t neglect the opportunity to market in person. You’ll meet great people in person whom you may never come across online.
Every person you meet is another marketing possibility. Obviously, you don’t want to go around shoving your business into people’s faces, but as the issue of work comes up in conversation, tell them about it.
The whole idea of networking is basically marketing. You get to introduce other people to your business live and in person.
9. Go Ahead and Run a Contest
As much as they’ve been sullied and scammed, online contests are still a great way to get low-cost marketing publicity. Giving away the cliche iPad, cash prizes, or other merchandise is an easy way to gain some viral potential and improve your brand’s image.
10. Build a Referral Program
The best forms of marketing are those that you can set up, turn on, and they grow — organically, automatically, and without too much effort. A referral program or affiliate program may not work for every business, but it’s worth a try.
Creating an affiliate program essentially turns your customers into a de facto marketing department. You don’t spend marketing money unless they first make a sale on your behalf.
11. Tweet Up a Storm In Your Niche
Twitter is a killer marketing platform. With its instant reach and massive output, Twitter can produce high levels of referral traffic, plenty of brand exposure, and nonstop social buzz.
What I suggest is following at least ten influencers in your niche, following their followers, retweeting their tweets, and mentioning them in comments. As you associate with their platform, you’ll begin to build your own platform.
12. Upsell Your Existing Customers
Too often, we view “marketing” solely as a method of gaining new customers. In reality, some of the best marketing happens with existing customers. Econsultancy and PredictiveIntent report that upselling is “20 times better than cross-selling.”
Source
Marketing back at your own customers is relatively easy and low-cost. The benefits are extraordinary.
13. Get Cozy With Niche Influencers
Within every industry are a group of power players. They control the conversation, shape the contours of the market, and reach a huge audience.
Make these people your friends. You don’t need to be schmoozy about it. You can be direct. Providing them with a product or partnering with them on a project are simple and mutually helpful ways to grow your brand and ride their wave of influence.
14. Claim a Hashtag
Hashtags are the billboards of the Internet. Since hashtags are now available on every major social platform, you can create a hashtag for your business and use it everywhere you post.
A hashtag is a searchable and interactive extension of your brand, and has the potential to spread virally.
15. Get More Email Addresses
Growing your email list is one of the most enduring and effective methods of marketing. I suggest using Hello Bar as a simple and cost-effective way of harvesting more addresses.
16. Get More User-Generated Content
Everyone knows that content marketing is effective for inbound marketing. If you’re not careful, however, content marketing can be expensive. How can you gain more content without blowing your entire marketing budget?
The answer is user-generated content. Motivate your existing fans and customers to tell their own story and write content, and you’ll instantly open the floodgates to tons of fresh and engaging content that your audience will love. Your fans will be creating and sharing content for you.
17. Talk to Your Fans
Customers and fans love to be loved. The way you show that love is by retweeting, favoriting tweets, liking the comments, and sharing their status. Don’t simply expect that your social media presence is going to work for you. You have to work for it, by talking to your fans.
They will return the favor, and engage at a deeper level.
18. Produce High-Quality Press Releases
Press releases have past their heyday as an SEO tool, but they still hold sway in marketing. If you use a source like PRWeb, you’ll be out a few hundred bucks anytime you pop out a press release.
A source like PRLog.org, however, is free of charge. The amount of syndication you get may not be as high quality, but it’s something. And, hey, it’s something for nothing.
Just be sure to write very high-quality releases, and nofollow any links back to your website.
19. Hack Craigslist
Craigslist is the 59th most popular website in the world. Airbnb, valued at 24 billion, used Craigslist to skyrocket its growth. You can use Craigslist, too. Try using Craigslist’s geographic focus to target specific areas and markets.
Make sure that you’re complying with the site’s terms of service. Use Craigslist in the way that it was intended. Violators will be banned from the site.
20. Blog
I can’t create list of marketing techniques without mentioning blogging. A business blog is an indispensable strategy for online marketing. Use it, work at it, and make it work for you.
If you’re frustrated with the current condition of your business blog, read these 35 tips that will make it better. If you’re struggling with traffic, read this post.
21. Guest blog
If blogging is awesome, then guest blogging is doubly awesome. When you post an article on another blog, you are instantly gaining that blog’s audience. The cost of guest blogging is free, less the time you spend. Create a killer article, appeal to the blog’s audience, and you may be invited back to contribute more.
I’ve used guest blogging with incredible success. My 300-and-counting guest blogs are still paying me back in terms of referral traffic, leads, and customers.
22. Create a LinkedIn Group
LinkedIn is free, and yet it gives you incredible marketing opportunities. Many professionals use LinkedIn as static social media tool — a place to put up their resume, and not much else.
LinkedIn is so much more than an online resume. I’ve used LinkedIn to publish content, connect with powerful people, and build a marketing group with thousands of members.
All of this cost me zero dollars and zero cents, but the marketing upside has been incredible.
23. Give Free Help to Others
If you make marketing all about you and your business, you’re going to be frustrated and unfulfilled. Try giving to others, free of charge.
Obviously, you’re not a charity; you’re a business. But why not give away a product, an hour of your time, or a membership for a customer who can’t afford your services?
Some of the best business opportunities I’ve had were consulting gigs with customers who couldn’t pay. These opportunities have been beneficial in ways that I couldn’t have predicted.
Even today, I give away virtually all of my content without charge. Doing so is fulfilling for me personally, and it provides an opportunity for improved marketing.
Conclusion
Marketing doesn’t have to break your bank, blow your budget, or cost you thousands of dollars. Like I mentioned in the beginning of this article, marketing can require nothing more than the investment of time.
Chances are, you can increase your marketing presence today by implementing one of these methods. Pick one and run with it.
What is your favorite no-cost marketing technique?
About the Author: Neil Patel is a lifelong evangelist of Kissmetrics and blogs at Quick Sprout.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1MegTBt via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1EQniAe
September 10, 2015 at 10:18PM
Here is the common situation of many startups. They have no money, but they have to do marketing.
What’s to be done? Instead of focusing on costly marketing methods, such startups must focus on low-budget marketing hacks.
The beauty of growth hacking is that it engages alternate methods of growth, methods which are sometimes lower cost.
Where marketing and engineering meet, growth hacking happens.
Obviously, growth hacking isn’t free. Strictly speaking none of the techniques in this article are “free.” Anytime you involve people, employees of the company, there will be payroll and associated costs.
But here’s why these methods are so powerful. They don’t require a huge marketing budget. All you need is some time, some savvy, and the kind of focused and driven perspective that smart marketing requires.
1. Get Links From Your Service Providers
To rank well, a website needs high-quality backlinks. Where do you get these backlinks? Obviously, buying links is not advised. What should you do?
If you’ve built partnerships with service providers or business partners, you have an instant source of untapped link potential. Reach out to these service providers and ask them to link to your website.
You gain a few nice links,and all it cost you was a few minutes of emailing.
2. Search For Unlinked Mentions
Another great way to get links and boost your site authority is to look for unlinked mentions of your brand or company name.
If you find such mentions in online publications or websites, email the site editor and ask them to provide a link. You might discover plenty of brand mentions all over the web.
A quick search and a few emails later — presto. Free backlinks. The good kind.
3. Host a Webinar
Free webinars introduce your brand and product to a wider audience. The more appealing the topic, the better you’ll attract interest.
Kissmetrics has been hosting webinars on a regular basis for a long time, with surprisingly powerful results.
Webinars take time. You’ve got to brainstorm topics, plan the webinar, and spread the word. The benefits, however, are top-notch.
4. Cross-promote
One explosive method of marketing that some companies use is cross-promotion. Cross promotion allows you to partner with related businesses who can market your services, in exchange for your marketing their services.
For example, if you are providing consulting services for online business owners, you may recommend that they use a certain web designer to create their website. The web designer is your cross promoting partner. This web designer works with business clients, and she points these clients your way for consulting services.
It’s a win-win, and apart from a signed document and an easy conversation, doesn’t require much work at all.
5. Be a Blog Commenter
The idea of marketing is to make your brand presence as well known as possible. One way of doing so is by commenting on blogs. Here’s how this works:
Identify the top 5 blogs in your niche.
Read and comment on the blogs on a regular basis.
As people see your name and associated brand, they become familiar with it and perhaps even curious about it.
With every comment, you’re establishing a persistent brand presence. Just make sure you’re not making dumb comments. Customers’ perception of your brand is shaped by the quality of your comments.
6. Help a Reporter Out
Occasionally, you’re going to come across some newsworthy information in your niche or business. Sign up for Help a Reporter Out (HARO). It’s a free service that reporters often use to find stories. If you have a story you can help a reporter out, and gain publicity.
7. Create a Robust Google+ Presence
Google+ is one of the web’s foremost places for building brand exposure. Google uses your business information to form a web presence in Knowledge Graph boxes and wider indexation.
The better your Google+ profile, the better your brand will be featured and published organically across the web.
8. Network in Person
Don’t neglect the opportunity to market in person. You’ll meet great people in person whom you may never come across online.
Every person you meet is another marketing possibility. Obviously, you don’t want to go around shoving your business into people’s faces, but as the issue of work comes up in conversation, tell them about it.
The whole idea of networking is basically marketing. You get to introduce other people to your business live and in person.
9. Go Ahead and Run a Contest
As much as they’ve been sullied and scammed, online contests are still a great way to get low-cost marketing publicity. Giving away the cliche iPad, cash prizes, or other merchandise is an easy way to gain some viral potential and improve your brand’s image.
10. Build a Referral Program
The best forms of marketing are those that you can set up, turn on, and they grow — organically, automatically, and without too much effort. A referral program or affiliate program may not work for every business, but it’s worth a try.
Creating an affiliate program essentially turns your customers into a de facto marketing department. You don’t spend marketing money unless they first make a sale on your behalf.
11. Tweet Up a Storm In Your Niche
Twitter is a killer marketing platform. With its instant reach and massive output, Twitter can produce high levels of referral traffic, plenty of brand exposure, and nonstop social buzz.
What I suggest is following at least ten influencers in your niche, following their followers, retweeting their tweets, and mentioning them in comments. As you associate with their platform, you’ll begin to build your own platform.
12. Upsell Your Existing Customers
Too often, we view “marketing” solely as a method of gaining new customers. In reality, some of the best marketing happens with existing customers. Econsultancy and PredictiveIntent report that upselling is “20 times better than cross-selling.”
Source
Marketing back at your own customers is relatively easy and low-cost. The benefits are extraordinary.
13. Get Cozy With Niche Influencers
Within every industry are a group of power players. They control the conversation, shape the contours of the market, and reach a huge audience.
Make these people your friends. You don’t need to be schmoozy about it. You can be direct. Providing them with a product or partnering with them on a project are simple and mutually helpful ways to grow your brand and ride their wave of influence.
14. Claim a Hashtag
Hashtags are the billboards of the Internet. Since hashtags are now available on every major social platform, you can create a hashtag for your business and use it everywhere you post.
A hashtag is a searchable and interactive extension of your brand, and has the potential to spread virally.
15. Get More Email Addresses
Growing your email list is one of the most enduring and effective methods of marketing. I suggest using Hello Bar as a simple and cost-effective way of harvesting more addresses.
16. Get More User-Generated Content
Everyone knows that content marketing is effective for inbound marketing. If you’re not careful, however, content marketing can be expensive. How can you gain more content without blowing your entire marketing budget?
The answer is user-generated content. Motivate your existing fans and customers to tell their own story and write content, and you’ll instantly open the floodgates to tons of fresh and engaging content that your audience will love. Your fans will be creating and sharing content for you.
17. Talk to Your Fans
Customers and fans love to be loved. The way you show that love is by retweeting, favoriting tweets, liking the comments, and sharing their status. Don’t simply expect that your social media presence is going to work for you. You have to work for it, by talking to your fans.
They will return the favor, and engage at a deeper level.
18. Produce High-Quality Press Releases
Press releases have past their heyday as an SEO tool, but they still hold sway in marketing. If you use a source like PRWeb, you’ll be out a few hundred bucks anytime you pop out a press release.
A source like PRLog.org, however, is free of charge. The amount of syndication you get may not be as high quality, but it’s something. And, hey, it’s something for nothing.
Just be sure to write very high-quality releases, and nofollow any links back to your website.
19. Hack Craigslist
Craigslist is the 59th most popular website in the world. Airbnb, valued at 24 billion, used Craigslist to skyrocket its growth. You can use Craigslist, too. Try using Craigslist’s geographic focus to target specific areas and markets.
Make sure that you’re complying with the site’s terms of service. Use Craigslist in the way that it was intended. Violators will be banned from the site.
20. Blog
I can’t create list of marketing techniques without mentioning blogging. A business blog is an indispensable strategy for online marketing. Use it, work at it, and make it work for you.
If you’re frustrated with the current condition of your business blog, read these 35 tips that will make it better. If you’re struggling with traffic, read this post.
21. Guest blog
If blogging is awesome, then guest blogging is doubly awesome. When you post an article on another blog, you are instantly gaining that blog’s audience. The cost of guest blogging is free, less the time you spend. Create a killer article, appeal to the blog’s audience, and you may be invited back to contribute more.
I’ve used guest blogging with incredible success. My 300-and-counting guest blogs are still paying me back in terms of referral traffic, leads, and customers.
22. Create a LinkedIn Group
LinkedIn is free, and yet it gives you incredible marketing opportunities. Many professionals use LinkedIn as static social media tool — a place to put up their resume, and not much else.
LinkedIn is so much more than an online resume. I’ve used LinkedIn to publish content, connect with powerful people, and build a marketing group with thousands of members.
All of this cost me zero dollars and zero cents, but the marketing upside has been incredible.
23. Give Free Help to Others
If you make marketing all about you and your business, you’re going to be frustrated and unfulfilled. Try giving to others, free of charge.
Obviously, you’re not a charity; you’re a business. But why not give away a product, an hour of your time, or a membership for a customer who can’t afford your services?
Some of the best business opportunities I’ve had were consulting gigs with customers who couldn’t pay. These opportunities have been beneficial in ways that I couldn’t have predicted.
Even today, I give away virtually all of my content without charge. Doing so is fulfilling for me personally, and it provides an opportunity for improved marketing.
Conclusion
Marketing doesn’t have to break your bank, blow your budget, or cost you thousands of dollars. Like I mentioned in the beginning of this article, marketing can require nothing more than the investment of time.
Chances are, you can increase your marketing presence today by implementing one of these methods. Pick one and run with it.
What is your favorite no-cost marketing technique?
About the Author: Neil Patel is a lifelong evangelist of Kissmetrics and blogs at Quick Sprout.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1MegTBt via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1EQniAe
September 10, 2015 at 10:18PM
Added: Sep 12, 2015 Via IFTTT
3 Outbound Email Automation Tactics
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
3 Outbound Email Automation Tactics
When considering email marketing, most of us are thinking: Not this; not again! And we shouldn’t be surprised either, because checking our inbox takes up 28 percent of our time and the word email reminds us of the tons of spam awaiting.
There are 196.3 billion emails sent everyday, and 64 percent of those are spam!
Maybe it’s a cliché, but there are only two approaches to email marketing: you either love it or hate it. The fact is that:
According to Salesforce, 95 percent of consumers use email.
61 percent of emails are opened on smart devices.
For every dollar spent, there is average return of $44.25.
These few statistics are a friendly reminder that the risk is worth the gamble. Why? Because email is about to change. Let me explain.
As I stated before, a lot of companies underestimate emails, mostly because their marketing is ineffective – they keep trying, but get poor results. Take a moment to think of three emails you like – three newsletters you are waiting for. That isn’t an easy task, is it? But hey, truth to be told, it’s good news for you.
As full stack marketers, startup founders, growth hackers, and sales guys (and gals), we should benefit from the ignorance of average marketers. It sounds harsh, I know, but believe me, it’s the only way to restore faith in emails and achieve the results we all need and/or want.
Here’s the theory: email isn’t stagnating, but the way we use it is. If we approach email marketing as one of our many responsibilities, we simply won’t find a golden mean. We should keep evolving. Let’s take a look at Sparrow.
Sparrow was an iPhone email client designed to provide an efficient and pleasant mailing experience. This startup from France changed the email inbox forever. Sparrow’s panel navigation, threading system and many features led to its 2012 acquisition by Google. I encourage you to read the whole Sparrow story, as it’s a very interesting and valuable one.
Another example of handling email with pleasure is Mailbox. Mailbox allowed different ways of accessing email, including retrieving a message after a few days or hours, and organization of color-coding. In case you missed it, watch this video:
Such experience is valuable – 37 days after launch, Dropbox acquired Mailbox for a reported $100 million.
The last example of a growing trend in email marketing is Paperfold. Paperfold has designed a fast and functional iPad app that lets you “see” the visual story of your email.
I read the transcript of an interview with Paperfold’s team. Co-Founder Eva Liparova said:
“Good design can change behaviors… I’m interested in how brands can engage customers. When I saw Paperfold, I thought, this feels really good. It doesn’t look like email. It creates emotion. There are emails out there that have changed our lives”.
If There is a Demand For Beautiful Email Apps, Email Marketing Has to Keep Up
The evolution of email apps and the inevitable trend of beautiful usability aren’t mentioned here to inspire you to change the face of email marketing (but of course – dream big!). I have a strong background in running startups, and what I always love to repeat is this: automation is the key.
Let’s be realistic. Even if we are capable doers, we won’t reinvent emails. Building a company email marketing strategy is a long and tiring process – it’s one of the major pains in your sales & marketing plan. I am not the first, and I won’t be the last, to state that you have to test and optimize until your results are satisfactory. But this process gives you more than failures, disappointments and a feeling of resignation – it gives you experience. And that’s something that’s hard to ignore. Once you hit the spot with flow and content, you should take one step more. Emails can be easily automated without losing quality.
It’s almost the same as content marketing on your blog. All you want to do is give quality stuff to people who want it. But emails have one tiny advantage: you can deliver them to specific people. What’s more, you can collect more information about this person than you can extract from Google Analytics.
This is lead “pre-warming”, and it’s not complicated. Let’s start with 3 pretty popular places.
I would like to show you one easy example of finding and winning a lead. I assume you have a blog with solid content that solves one of the many problems of your customers.
Quora
Check out Quora – it’s the most incredible source of content inspiration. There are lots of questions waiting for an answer. I picked one question on Quora which, in my opinion, may get very interesting answers.
126 potential leads on Quora (notice the amount of people that want an answer)
It’s a good question, and you can write an amazing post on your blog about it if it’s your niche (Sprout Social did). But take a closer look. I just found 126 people potentially interested in your product/service, 126 people with names and social media accounts hooked up. For me, that’s a lot of leads.
I bet Quora isn’t a big surprise to you. To be honest, there are a lot of places like that where you can find a batch of quality leads. For sure, there’s input needed to get them, but I would like to remark that this way is somehow scalable. So, if it turns out fine for you, then you probably just hit the jackpot.
Yelp
Another example of a place full of leads is Yelp. It might be a great source of contact information such as addresses, post codes, emails, websites, etc. Finding a target on Yelp and building your database there can be useful for your email marketing and lead generation. Thinking about and researching this case I found two interesting things: first, a Yelp scraper tool. As you can see, the creativity and business instinct of some people is alive and well.
Udemy Course
Second, and more serious, a Udemy course about Web scraping. Matt Ellsworth, owner of the course, claims you can get the data you need from Twitter, Yelp, Reddit, Hacker News and many more.
The idea in itself is quite interesting, and with such tricks you can find people with specific demands you can probably fulfill. It seems to be the direct way to grow your business.
GitHub
As a last example of such place, something a little bit different – GitHub. It may be a place unfamiliar to marketers, but GitHub offers plans for repositories and free accounts that are usually used to host open-source software projects. As of 2015, GitHub claims to have 10.9 million users, which makes it the largest code host in the world. As you are probably already figuring out, it’s a great place for lead generation. Just take a look at the user accounts – there’s a lot of data available with clearly specified requirements.
As a bonus, I present to you Scrapy, an open-source framework for extracting the data you need from websites.
These three examples are perfect for preparing a lead-generation process and email campaign because of two things:
By knowing the environment and ecosystem of every targeted group, you are making your goal measurable and achievable.
By combining knowledge and cleverness, you are getting tools to achieve your goals.
Since we have a base full of leads, let’s warm them up with 3 killer outbound tactics!
I like to rely on Twitter and LinkedIn, especially when we’re talking about outbound. Here are three step-by-step ways to pre-warm your target using social media channels:
#1: We got 10% conversion rate from a tweet to inbound leads. How?
We made a list of 100 potential customers active on Twitter and put them on the list – they have to be a really great fit.
We checked the list everyday and tried to start a conversation/share their blog post, etc. (Focus on commenting on articles they share – it gives the best response rate).
When they discovered our engagement, they checked our site and asked about the product themselves (keep communication consistent).
From a tweet to inbound lead:
And even to a homepage testimonial:
#2: We generated a 75% response rate after the first email (using Twitter + email). How?
We used the sequence described in way number one, but we added email as one of the steps but…
This can’t feel like a crappy generic email. Here’s an example of our template:
“I’m Greg (@pietruszynski) from Growbots. We were tweeting about the article you shared: ‘[title]’. I did some research and saw that you may be responsible for outbound sales at [company_name], so I decided to get in touch.
With our tool you can generate a new list of prospects, send automatic email campaign – leads are automatically uploaded to CRM. I’d really love to show you our tool and get your feedback – would you like to have a look?”
Can you see the pattern? Point of touch, openness to discussion on shared interest, and awesome pitch.
#3: We created an outreach campaign which aimed for 100% response rate (using Twitter + email + LinkedIn + call). How?
We used the second strategy but added LinkedIn, Twitter Ads and a call. We made a cadence out of it, which looks like this:
a. Twitter Ad (lead prewarming)
b. Tweet
c. Email
d. Call
e. LinkedIn invitation
f. Second email
g. Second call
h. Second Tweet
i. LinkedIn message
j. Third email
k. Third call
It’s a long road, but believe me – it’s worth it!
Since we know what to do and what our goal is, let’s take a look at things that can help us. But here’s a disclaimer: these are just tools. They will make your job easier and save you time, but never mistake tools for know-how. Your abilities, skills and ideas are the most important things here.
Klaviyo
Klaviyo is a powerful tool for creating personalized, automated and effective newsletters and targeted emails. It has a built-in analytics section that allows segmentation, conversion analytics and tracking your email campaigns.
Klaviyo cites nice examples on their blog. In How Tortuga Backpacks Increased Email Subscriptions 7x With Content Marketing they describe how Packsmith used the Klaviyo Shopify app to drive subscribers with their content. The trick is simple: after leaving your email on their landing page, you receive a packing list so you won’t forget anything for your trip. They claim that since adding the list guide to their blog’s homepage, they have increased monthly email subscriptions by seven times. That’s a lot, isn’t it?
PersistIQ
I read an article on TechCrunch in which the founder of PersistIQ said that sales statistics show that it often takes up to seven interactions with a potential client before you get a response, and most sales people don’t have that kind of patience. That was the reason he created a tool for smart drip campaigns for outbound sales. PersistIQ works in three simple steps: it imports your leads, you create a campaign, and finally all you have to do is wait for a response. The level of automation saves you a lot of time.
QuickMail
QuickMail.io provides a process through which cold email prospects transform into warm leads. It allows you to set up automatic follow-ups and run a drip campaign from your inbox.
On QuickMail’s blog you can find a few interesting case studies. I particularly like this one:
“Over four months, Fabi Mersan, CEO of ClinicBuzz, was constantly trying difference sequences to see which one had the most success in her market.
Fabi obtained 39.17% response rate in September:
Initial email response rate: 5.0%
First reminder response rate: 15.0%
Second reminder response rate: 12.5%
Third reminder response rate: 5.0%
Fourth reminder response rate: 1.67%”
First of all, it’s a good idea to think it all through. Take a look at how many reminder responses Fabi set. Second of all, focus on the results – they are pretty amazing. It would be a waste of leads if we had stopped at the first reminder response. As Fabi states in the interview, and I agree with her, smart follow-up is crucial for success.
We wanted make this process scalable. I believe that data and outreach should go along, so we decided to create our own lead generation tool. First, we generate highly qualified prospects lists:
Then we focus on our copy and shoot automatic email campaigns at selected leads (as you can see from Quickmail.io case studies you have to be persistent):
After those steps email campaigns are automated, we only need to use other channels, which we mentioned before.
Recap
To wrap this up in simple steps:
Analyze your existing base of active customers.
Find cool online places where your target hangs out.
Profiles on social media are crucial to the pre-warming process.
Get involved in creating a valuable, persistent and painless email campaign.
Because I’m a sales guy and I use email every single day, I believe that in five years cold emailing won’t exist. No one will open such email. It may sound horrible, but it’s a call to action. Realize it now and start preparing. “Native” email is the future – reaching people with things they want while saving time spent on their inbox is the future.
About the Author: Greg Pietruszynski is a serial entrepreneur and growth hacker. He reached and engaged millions of users for companies such as MTV and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Pietruszynski is responsible for over 200 marketing campaigns. You can follow him on Twitter (@pietruszynski) or his Growth Hacking Blog.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1UIYK34 via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1KJuaSh
September 12, 2015 at 05:31AM
When considering email marketing, most of us are thinking: Not this; not again! And we shouldn’t be surprised either, because checking our inbox takes up 28 percent of our time and the word email reminds us of the tons of spam awaiting.
There are 196.3 billion emails sent everyday, and 64 percent of those are spam!
Maybe it’s a cliché, but there are only two approaches to email marketing: you either love it or hate it. The fact is that:
According to Salesforce, 95 percent of consumers use email.
61 percent of emails are opened on smart devices.
For every dollar spent, there is average return of $44.25.
These few statistics are a friendly reminder that the risk is worth the gamble. Why? Because email is about to change. Let me explain.
As I stated before, a lot of companies underestimate emails, mostly because their marketing is ineffective – they keep trying, but get poor results. Take a moment to think of three emails you like – three newsletters you are waiting for. That isn’t an easy task, is it? But hey, truth to be told, it’s good news for you.
As full stack marketers, startup founders, growth hackers, and sales guys (and gals), we should benefit from the ignorance of average marketers. It sounds harsh, I know, but believe me, it’s the only way to restore faith in emails and achieve the results we all need and/or want.
Here’s the theory: email isn’t stagnating, but the way we use it is. If we approach email marketing as one of our many responsibilities, we simply won’t find a golden mean. We should keep evolving. Let’s take a look at Sparrow.
Sparrow was an iPhone email client designed to provide an efficient and pleasant mailing experience. This startup from France changed the email inbox forever. Sparrow’s panel navigation, threading system and many features led to its 2012 acquisition by Google. I encourage you to read the whole Sparrow story, as it’s a very interesting and valuable one.
Another example of handling email with pleasure is Mailbox. Mailbox allowed different ways of accessing email, including retrieving a message after a few days or hours, and organization of color-coding. In case you missed it, watch this video:
Such experience is valuable – 37 days after launch, Dropbox acquired Mailbox for a reported $100 million.
The last example of a growing trend in email marketing is Paperfold. Paperfold has designed a fast and functional iPad app that lets you “see” the visual story of your email.
I read the transcript of an interview with Paperfold’s team. Co-Founder Eva Liparova said:
“Good design can change behaviors… I’m interested in how brands can engage customers. When I saw Paperfold, I thought, this feels really good. It doesn’t look like email. It creates emotion. There are emails out there that have changed our lives”.
If There is a Demand For Beautiful Email Apps, Email Marketing Has to Keep Up
The evolution of email apps and the inevitable trend of beautiful usability aren’t mentioned here to inspire you to change the face of email marketing (but of course – dream big!). I have a strong background in running startups, and what I always love to repeat is this: automation is the key.
Let’s be realistic. Even if we are capable doers, we won’t reinvent emails. Building a company email marketing strategy is a long and tiring process – it’s one of the major pains in your sales & marketing plan. I am not the first, and I won’t be the last, to state that you have to test and optimize until your results are satisfactory. But this process gives you more than failures, disappointments and a feeling of resignation – it gives you experience. And that’s something that’s hard to ignore. Once you hit the spot with flow and content, you should take one step more. Emails can be easily automated without losing quality.
It’s almost the same as content marketing on your blog. All you want to do is give quality stuff to people who want it. But emails have one tiny advantage: you can deliver them to specific people. What’s more, you can collect more information about this person than you can extract from Google Analytics.
This is lead “pre-warming”, and it’s not complicated. Let’s start with 3 pretty popular places.
I would like to show you one easy example of finding and winning a lead. I assume you have a blog with solid content that solves one of the many problems of your customers.
Quora
Check out Quora – it’s the most incredible source of content inspiration. There are lots of questions waiting for an answer. I picked one question on Quora which, in my opinion, may get very interesting answers.
126 potential leads on Quora (notice the amount of people that want an answer)
It’s a good question, and you can write an amazing post on your blog about it if it’s your niche (Sprout Social did). But take a closer look. I just found 126 people potentially interested in your product/service, 126 people with names and social media accounts hooked up. For me, that’s a lot of leads.
I bet Quora isn’t a big surprise to you. To be honest, there are a lot of places like that where you can find a batch of quality leads. For sure, there’s input needed to get them, but I would like to remark that this way is somehow scalable. So, if it turns out fine for you, then you probably just hit the jackpot.
Yelp
Another example of a place full of leads is Yelp. It might be a great source of contact information such as addresses, post codes, emails, websites, etc. Finding a target on Yelp and building your database there can be useful for your email marketing and lead generation. Thinking about and researching this case I found two interesting things: first, a Yelp scraper tool. As you can see, the creativity and business instinct of some people is alive and well.
Udemy Course
Second, and more serious, a Udemy course about Web scraping. Matt Ellsworth, owner of the course, claims you can get the data you need from Twitter, Yelp, Reddit, Hacker News and many more.
The idea in itself is quite interesting, and with such tricks you can find people with specific demands you can probably fulfill. It seems to be the direct way to grow your business.
GitHub
As a last example of such place, something a little bit different – GitHub. It may be a place unfamiliar to marketers, but GitHub offers plans for repositories and free accounts that are usually used to host open-source software projects. As of 2015, GitHub claims to have 10.9 million users, which makes it the largest code host in the world. As you are probably already figuring out, it’s a great place for lead generation. Just take a look at the user accounts – there’s a lot of data available with clearly specified requirements.
As a bonus, I present to you Scrapy, an open-source framework for extracting the data you need from websites.
These three examples are perfect for preparing a lead-generation process and email campaign because of two things:
By knowing the environment and ecosystem of every targeted group, you are making your goal measurable and achievable.
By combining knowledge and cleverness, you are getting tools to achieve your goals.
Since we have a base full of leads, let’s warm them up with 3 killer outbound tactics!
I like to rely on Twitter and LinkedIn, especially when we’re talking about outbound. Here are three step-by-step ways to pre-warm your target using social media channels:
#1: We got 10% conversion rate from a tweet to inbound leads. How?
We made a list of 100 potential customers active on Twitter and put them on the list – they have to be a really great fit.
We checked the list everyday and tried to start a conversation/share their blog post, etc. (Focus on commenting on articles they share – it gives the best response rate).
When they discovered our engagement, they checked our site and asked about the product themselves (keep communication consistent).
From a tweet to inbound lead:
And even to a homepage testimonial:
#2: We generated a 75% response rate after the first email (using Twitter + email). How?
We used the sequence described in way number one, but we added email as one of the steps but…
This can’t feel like a crappy generic email. Here’s an example of our template:
“I’m Greg (@pietruszynski) from Growbots. We were tweeting about the article you shared: ‘[title]’. I did some research and saw that you may be responsible for outbound sales at [company_name], so I decided to get in touch.
With our tool you can generate a new list of prospects, send automatic email campaign – leads are automatically uploaded to CRM. I’d really love to show you our tool and get your feedback – would you like to have a look?”
Can you see the pattern? Point of touch, openness to discussion on shared interest, and awesome pitch.
#3: We created an outreach campaign which aimed for 100% response rate (using Twitter + email + LinkedIn + call). How?
We used the second strategy but added LinkedIn, Twitter Ads and a call. We made a cadence out of it, which looks like this:
a. Twitter Ad (lead prewarming)
b. Tweet
c. Email
d. Call
e. LinkedIn invitation
f. Second email
g. Second call
h. Second Tweet
i. LinkedIn message
j. Third email
k. Third call
It’s a long road, but believe me – it’s worth it!
Since we know what to do and what our goal is, let’s take a look at things that can help us. But here’s a disclaimer: these are just tools. They will make your job easier and save you time, but never mistake tools for know-how. Your abilities, skills and ideas are the most important things here.
Klaviyo
Klaviyo is a powerful tool for creating personalized, automated and effective newsletters and targeted emails. It has a built-in analytics section that allows segmentation, conversion analytics and tracking your email campaigns.
Klaviyo cites nice examples on their blog. In How Tortuga Backpacks Increased Email Subscriptions 7x With Content Marketing they describe how Packsmith used the Klaviyo Shopify app to drive subscribers with their content. The trick is simple: after leaving your email on their landing page, you receive a packing list so you won’t forget anything for your trip. They claim that since adding the list guide to their blog’s homepage, they have increased monthly email subscriptions by seven times. That’s a lot, isn’t it?
PersistIQ
I read an article on TechCrunch in which the founder of PersistIQ said that sales statistics show that it often takes up to seven interactions with a potential client before you get a response, and most sales people don’t have that kind of patience. That was the reason he created a tool for smart drip campaigns for outbound sales. PersistIQ works in three simple steps: it imports your leads, you create a campaign, and finally all you have to do is wait for a response. The level of automation saves you a lot of time.
QuickMail
QuickMail.io provides a process through which cold email prospects transform into warm leads. It allows you to set up automatic follow-ups and run a drip campaign from your inbox.
On QuickMail’s blog you can find a few interesting case studies. I particularly like this one:
“Over four months, Fabi Mersan, CEO of ClinicBuzz, was constantly trying difference sequences to see which one had the most success in her market.
Fabi obtained 39.17% response rate in September:
Initial email response rate: 5.0%
First reminder response rate: 15.0%
Second reminder response rate: 12.5%
Third reminder response rate: 5.0%
Fourth reminder response rate: 1.67%”
First of all, it’s a good idea to think it all through. Take a look at how many reminder responses Fabi set. Second of all, focus on the results – they are pretty amazing. It would be a waste of leads if we had stopped at the first reminder response. As Fabi states in the interview, and I agree with her, smart follow-up is crucial for success.
We wanted make this process scalable. I believe that data and outreach should go along, so we decided to create our own lead generation tool. First, we generate highly qualified prospects lists:
Then we focus on our copy and shoot automatic email campaigns at selected leads (as you can see from Quickmail.io case studies you have to be persistent):
After those steps email campaigns are automated, we only need to use other channels, which we mentioned before.
Recap
To wrap this up in simple steps:
Analyze your existing base of active customers.
Find cool online places where your target hangs out.
Profiles on social media are crucial to the pre-warming process.
Get involved in creating a valuable, persistent and painless email campaign.
Because I’m a sales guy and I use email every single day, I believe that in five years cold emailing won’t exist. No one will open such email. It may sound horrible, but it’s a call to action. Realize it now and start preparing. “Native” email is the future – reaching people with things they want while saving time spent on their inbox is the future.
About the Author: Greg Pietruszynski is a serial entrepreneur and growth hacker. He reached and engaged millions of users for companies such as MTV and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Pietruszynski is responsible for over 200 marketing campaigns. You can follow him on Twitter (@pietruszynski) or his Growth Hacking Blog.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1UIYK34 via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1KJuaSh
September 12, 2015 at 05:31AM
Added: Aug 19, 2015 Via IFTTT
30 Must-Use Methods for Killing Shopping Cart Abandonment
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
30 Must-Use Methods for Killing Shopping Cart Abandonment
We all know that shopping cart abandonment is big, bad, and pervasive. Baymard’s latest stats peg the average documented online shopping cart abandonment rate at a scary 68%.
In other words, for every ten customers that put an item in their cart, about seven of them will leave the site without completing the purchase.
If you’re like me, you’re sick of reading all the doom-and-gloom stats about shopping cart abandonment.
Why don’t we leave at this? Shopping cart abandonment sucks, and it’s time to lower it. The problem worsens with every passing year, making it even more acute.
Source
With that simple fact in mind, let me give you actual techniques that will slay the monster of abandonment and give you more revenue than you thought possible.
1. Use Email Retargeting
Let’s just say it. If you want to slay abandonment, you need to get on board with email retargeting. Retargeting uses cookies embedded in email messages to display your ads to the user as she browses the web.
Source
Retargeting is the perfect way to win back customers quickly after their abandonment.
2. Display Everything Possible About Extra Costs
The top reason that customers give for abandonment is extra costs.
Source
The easy way to solve this problem is to not give customers any extra costs.
If you absolutely must add in shipping charges, taxes, or other fees, tell the customer so. As early as possible in the process, give them complete information regarding all the extra costs that they will see as they enter the shopping cart.
3. Provide Full Disclosure on Shipping Details
Shipping costs are another big kibosh to shopping carts. Look at this scary graph. High shipping and handling costs were the number one reason Shopify carts were abandoned.
In an age of Amazon Prime and holiday specials, customers have been trained to demand free shipping on just about everything. Chances are, you have some competitors that are beating you because they have free shipping and you don’t.
If you can afford free shipping, great. If you can’t afford free shipping, then be sure to tell the customer everything about the shipping cost. If necessary, provide a built in calculator to determine estimated costs based on weight and quantity of items.
4. Send an Email Immediately After the Customer Abandons
When the customer abandons, you have a few hours to reel them back in. Assuming that you’re using some retargeting technology and email marketing, send an email immediately.
According to Conversion’s data, here’s how likely a customer is to purchase after receiving a reminder:
30% purchase in less than 20 minutes
50% purchase in 20 minutes to an hour
60% purchase in 1 to 3 hours
65% purchase in 3 to 12 hours
Those first few hours post abandonment are the golden window of opportunity to regain lost customers. Capitalize on it.
5. Get Rid of Sign-In Barriers
Are you preventing customers from buying based on sign-in barriers? Just don’t.
Forcing users to create an account may work for some products and services, but in most cases, you’re simply setting yourself up for disappointment. A great alternative to clunky sign-up processes is using social sign-in.
6. Make the Check-Out Process 3-5 Steps
The more complicated your checkout process, the less likely users are to complete it. Make the process consist of 3-5 steps. The shorter, the better.
If you do try to shorten the process, make sure you’re not making a single step in the process consist of too many fields.
7. Give the Customer Clear Progress Indications
It will help the customer if you can show them how far along in the process they are. Users like to have a feeling of progress and forward momentum as they reach for the goal of purchasing an item.
8. Use Simple and Prominent Calls to Action in the Shopping Cart
Every marketer knows the importance of calls to action. Are you using CTAs in your shopping cart, too? They are as important as ever. Users want to know what to do next, and it’s up to you to tell them what to do.
I recommend creating a headline-style set of instructions for each phase of the checkout process. For example, tell the user “Where should we send your stuff? Please fill out your address.”
9. Give Them the Freedom of a “Save For Later” Button
Many shoppers abandon their carts for the simple reason that they’re using it as a wishlist or a place to save things that they want. Instead of funneling them into a shopping cart, make it easy for them to create a wishlist with an easy option to buy later.
You get the benefit of lowered abandonment rates, and they get the upside of a wishlist that will easily funnel them into a later sale.
10. Talk to the Customer During the Process
Make the shopping experience conversational and interactive. There’s no need to be harsh and form-driven. Talk to them.
Brief and casual messages like, “Okay, we’re almost done” and “we just need a little extra info here” make the experience more enjoyable. I don’t know many people who love filling out forms, but if you make it less agonizing for the shopper, you’re more likely to gain their completion.
11. Don’t Throw in Extraneous Links
Avoid placing in links that take the customer away from the shopping cart. The customer might leave the cart of his own volition, but don’t make it easy for him!
One of the common ways that ecommerce retailers lose customers is by trying to upsell with related products. Often, when a customer clicks on these products, they never return to the shopping cart.
12. Create Massively Engaging and Powerful Product Pages
We obsess over shopping cart abandonment, but consider what comes prior to putting something in a shopping cart — the product page.
Take a look at your product page. How engaging is it, really? Russ Henneberry recommends that you create “high-quality, interactive product images.”
13. Create a Seamless Continuity Between What the Customer Sees on the Product Page, and What They See in Their Shopping Cart
If possible, display a thumbnail of the image in the shopping cart. The customer wants to make sure that they are actually purchasing the item that they selected. Making the cart items visible and visual is a great way to keep the customer moving through to completion.
14. Create One-Click Shopping
Amazon has probably made billions off of their one-click shopping button. It’s so easy to just click and buy without even deliberating over the pros and cons of the purchase.
You can steal a page from Amazon’s playbook by creating your own easy-to-buy shopping cart process. It won’t work for unregistered customers, of course, but it can work for members.
15. Avoid Surprises of Any Kind
According to CPC Strategy “Bad surprises are one of the most common contributors to shopping cart abandonment.” Don’t surprise your shoppers, whatever you do.
The shopping process can be a nerve-racking experience for some shoppers. The customer’s mind is tense. They’re pulling out their credit card. They’re a bit nervous. What’s going to happen?
And then it does — BOOM! A confusing pop-up. A discount code request. An “error” message. A missing field. Whatever.
The checkout process goes up in flames. You surprised them (or they surprised themselves) and you lost.
Watch carefully for any “surprises” in your checkout process. Make it clear, deliberate, and completely free of pop-ups, unexpected messages, and other factors that could be seen as an interruption.
16. Boost Site Speed
If your site is slow, then customers will leave.
The shopping cart is one of the most critical places to boost site speed. Site speed and conversions are tightly correlated. Faster websites are just plain better.
17. Add SSL
Take whatever steps are necessary to make customers feel secure. In today’s web, SSL is considered a standard part of good design and development. If your site, and especially your checkout process is lacking in security measures, you’ll scare some customers away.
18. Prominently Display Business Contact Information (Footer)
Another way of enhancing the trustworthiness of your website is by adding contact information. Many online businesses display their NAP (name, address, phone number) in the site footer. This is merely one more way of giving your customers the assurance that you are a legitimate and reliable business.
19. Add Chat or Phone Support Options on the Checkout Page
If a customer has a problem, question, or issue with checkout, what are they going to do? In the absence of support options, they may simply leave.
To prevent this from happening, add an 800-number or online chat support to the checkout process.
20. Make the Cart Easy to Edit
Your cart should be easy to change. Deleting items, changing quantities, and adjusting shipping options should be intuitive and simple. Don’t make the mistake of creating cryptic buttons that can accidentally remove everything in the cart.
21. Show Security Symbols on the Checkout Page
Your checkout page is the place to pile on the security. Obviously, you don’t want to clutter up the page with too many of these, but a few well-placed badges can reassure the skittish customer.
22. Display Your Return Policy
Have you ever experienced buyer’s remorse? Some buyers do. Buyer’s remorse doesn’t just happen after a purchase. The anticipation of remorse can sometimes cripple buyers before they purchase.
To prevent this from happening, give customers a clear and easy understanding of your return policy. Make it simple. “Don’t like it? Just return it, on us. No questions asked.”
23. Limit Cross-Selling on the Checkout Page. It Just Confuses Them
As mentioned before, trying to cross sell or upsell customers in the 11th hour may just contribute to shopping cart abandonment, not bigger buys.
24. Add Testimonials Everywhere
Some people put testimonials only on a devoted page. I suggest putting them everywhere — even in your checkout process. A simple callout or sidebar with a customer quote or two can keep the motivation level high as the customer continues to check out.
25. Personally Review the Checkout Process At Least Once a Month
Do you have first hand experience with your site’s shopping cart? Do you know what customers are experiencing as they proceed through the funnel, fill out each form, and complete each field?
I suggest that you personally take the time to test your own shopping cart. As you continually test, refine, and edit your shopping cart process, you’ll be able to iron out wrinkles that may be contributing to abandonment.
26. Be Careful With Coupon Codes
Coupon codes are a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they may motivate customers to purchase. But on the other hand, they could prevent customers from completing the transaction.
If a customer doesn’t have a coupon code, for instance, they may leave the site to look for one, but never return. Statistics show that more than a quarter (27%) of shoppers abandon their cart because they “wanted a discount coupon.”
27. Make Shipping Times as Quick as Possible
Many online customers will want their order to arrive as soon as possible. Make arrangements for expedited shipping if customers want it.
28. Provide Courteous and Helpful Error Messages
If a user gets frustrated with the checkout process, they are likely to quit. As you develop and enhance your checkout process, create error notifications that are as helpful and direct as possible. There are two angles to this:
Make it easy for them to find the error on the form.
Make it easy for them to fix the error.
29. Accept Any Currency
If you offer international sales, make sure you are providing clear currency conversion information as well as acceptance of other currencies.
30. Allow Multiple Payment Methods
With the proliferation of the commercial web has come the expansion of payment methods. Open the gates as wide as possible and allow buyers to use any credit card, Paypal, Amazon, or any other forms of payment that are common within your niche.
Bonus tip! Optimize your checkout funnel by measuring what matters. Use the Kissmetrics Funnel Report to identify where you’re losing customers and run A/B tests to optimize your funnel. To learn more about how Kissmetrics can help optimize your marketing, request a personal demo.
Conclusion
As eager as you are to capitalize on abandoned users, let’s be honest. There’s no such thing as 0% abandonment. Some customers will abandon their carts, and you’re going to have to accept it.
But don’t use this reality of life as an excuse to keep you from fighting for as many conversions as possible. You’re going to win some back, and it’s worth giving it all you’ve got.
How have you reduced your shopping cart abandonment rates?
About the Author: Neil Patel is a lifelong evangelist of Kissmetrics and blogs at Quick Sprout.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1K5TxvE via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1JqWWq1
August 19, 2015 at 09:02PM
We all know that shopping cart abandonment is big, bad, and pervasive. Baymard’s latest stats peg the average documented online shopping cart abandonment rate at a scary 68%.
In other words, for every ten customers that put an item in their cart, about seven of them will leave the site without completing the purchase.
If you’re like me, you’re sick of reading all the doom-and-gloom stats about shopping cart abandonment.
Why don’t we leave at this? Shopping cart abandonment sucks, and it’s time to lower it. The problem worsens with every passing year, making it even more acute.
Source
With that simple fact in mind, let me give you actual techniques that will slay the monster of abandonment and give you more revenue than you thought possible.
1. Use Email Retargeting
Let’s just say it. If you want to slay abandonment, you need to get on board with email retargeting. Retargeting uses cookies embedded in email messages to display your ads to the user as she browses the web.
Source
Retargeting is the perfect way to win back customers quickly after their abandonment.
2. Display Everything Possible About Extra Costs
The top reason that customers give for abandonment is extra costs.
Source
The easy way to solve this problem is to not give customers any extra costs.
If you absolutely must add in shipping charges, taxes, or other fees, tell the customer so. As early as possible in the process, give them complete information regarding all the extra costs that they will see as they enter the shopping cart.
3. Provide Full Disclosure on Shipping Details
Shipping costs are another big kibosh to shopping carts. Look at this scary graph. High shipping and handling costs were the number one reason Shopify carts were abandoned.
In an age of Amazon Prime and holiday specials, customers have been trained to demand free shipping on just about everything. Chances are, you have some competitors that are beating you because they have free shipping and you don’t.
If you can afford free shipping, great. If you can’t afford free shipping, then be sure to tell the customer everything about the shipping cost. If necessary, provide a built in calculator to determine estimated costs based on weight and quantity of items.
4. Send an Email Immediately After the Customer Abandons
When the customer abandons, you have a few hours to reel them back in. Assuming that you’re using some retargeting technology and email marketing, send an email immediately.
According to Conversion’s data, here’s how likely a customer is to purchase after receiving a reminder:
30% purchase in less than 20 minutes
50% purchase in 20 minutes to an hour
60% purchase in 1 to 3 hours
65% purchase in 3 to 12 hours
Those first few hours post abandonment are the golden window of opportunity to regain lost customers. Capitalize on it.
5. Get Rid of Sign-In Barriers
Are you preventing customers from buying based on sign-in barriers? Just don’t.
Forcing users to create an account may work for some products and services, but in most cases, you’re simply setting yourself up for disappointment. A great alternative to clunky sign-up processes is using social sign-in.
6. Make the Check-Out Process 3-5 Steps
The more complicated your checkout process, the less likely users are to complete it. Make the process consist of 3-5 steps. The shorter, the better.
If you do try to shorten the process, make sure you’re not making a single step in the process consist of too many fields.
7. Give the Customer Clear Progress Indications
It will help the customer if you can show them how far along in the process they are. Users like to have a feeling of progress and forward momentum as they reach for the goal of purchasing an item.
8. Use Simple and Prominent Calls to Action in the Shopping Cart
Every marketer knows the importance of calls to action. Are you using CTAs in your shopping cart, too? They are as important as ever. Users want to know what to do next, and it’s up to you to tell them what to do.
I recommend creating a headline-style set of instructions for each phase of the checkout process. For example, tell the user “Where should we send your stuff? Please fill out your address.”
9. Give Them the Freedom of a “Save For Later” Button
Many shoppers abandon their carts for the simple reason that they’re using it as a wishlist or a place to save things that they want. Instead of funneling them into a shopping cart, make it easy for them to create a wishlist with an easy option to buy later.
You get the benefit of lowered abandonment rates, and they get the upside of a wishlist that will easily funnel them into a later sale.
10. Talk to the Customer During the Process
Make the shopping experience conversational and interactive. There’s no need to be harsh and form-driven. Talk to them.
Brief and casual messages like, “Okay, we’re almost done” and “we just need a little extra info here” make the experience more enjoyable. I don’t know many people who love filling out forms, but if you make it less agonizing for the shopper, you’re more likely to gain their completion.
11. Don’t Throw in Extraneous Links
Avoid placing in links that take the customer away from the shopping cart. The customer might leave the cart of his own volition, but don’t make it easy for him!
One of the common ways that ecommerce retailers lose customers is by trying to upsell with related products. Often, when a customer clicks on these products, they never return to the shopping cart.
12. Create Massively Engaging and Powerful Product Pages
We obsess over shopping cart abandonment, but consider what comes prior to putting something in a shopping cart — the product page.
Take a look at your product page. How engaging is it, really? Russ Henneberry recommends that you create “high-quality, interactive product images.”
13. Create a Seamless Continuity Between What the Customer Sees on the Product Page, and What They See in Their Shopping Cart
If possible, display a thumbnail of the image in the shopping cart. The customer wants to make sure that they are actually purchasing the item that they selected. Making the cart items visible and visual is a great way to keep the customer moving through to completion.
14. Create One-Click Shopping
Amazon has probably made billions off of their one-click shopping button. It’s so easy to just click and buy without even deliberating over the pros and cons of the purchase.
You can steal a page from Amazon’s playbook by creating your own easy-to-buy shopping cart process. It won’t work for unregistered customers, of course, but it can work for members.
15. Avoid Surprises of Any Kind
According to CPC Strategy “Bad surprises are one of the most common contributors to shopping cart abandonment.” Don’t surprise your shoppers, whatever you do.
The shopping process can be a nerve-racking experience for some shoppers. The customer’s mind is tense. They’re pulling out their credit card. They’re a bit nervous. What’s going to happen?
And then it does — BOOM! A confusing pop-up. A discount code request. An “error” message. A missing field. Whatever.
The checkout process goes up in flames. You surprised them (or they surprised themselves) and you lost.
Watch carefully for any “surprises” in your checkout process. Make it clear, deliberate, and completely free of pop-ups, unexpected messages, and other factors that could be seen as an interruption.
16. Boost Site Speed
If your site is slow, then customers will leave.
The shopping cart is one of the most critical places to boost site speed. Site speed and conversions are tightly correlated. Faster websites are just plain better.
17. Add SSL
Take whatever steps are necessary to make customers feel secure. In today’s web, SSL is considered a standard part of good design and development. If your site, and especially your checkout process is lacking in security measures, you’ll scare some customers away.
18. Prominently Display Business Contact Information (Footer)
Another way of enhancing the trustworthiness of your website is by adding contact information. Many online businesses display their NAP (name, address, phone number) in the site footer. This is merely one more way of giving your customers the assurance that you are a legitimate and reliable business.
19. Add Chat or Phone Support Options on the Checkout Page
If a customer has a problem, question, or issue with checkout, what are they going to do? In the absence of support options, they may simply leave.
To prevent this from happening, add an 800-number or online chat support to the checkout process.
20. Make the Cart Easy to Edit
Your cart should be easy to change. Deleting items, changing quantities, and adjusting shipping options should be intuitive and simple. Don’t make the mistake of creating cryptic buttons that can accidentally remove everything in the cart.
21. Show Security Symbols on the Checkout Page
Your checkout page is the place to pile on the security. Obviously, you don’t want to clutter up the page with too many of these, but a few well-placed badges can reassure the skittish customer.
22. Display Your Return Policy
Have you ever experienced buyer’s remorse? Some buyers do. Buyer’s remorse doesn’t just happen after a purchase. The anticipation of remorse can sometimes cripple buyers before they purchase.
To prevent this from happening, give customers a clear and easy understanding of your return policy. Make it simple. “Don’t like it? Just return it, on us. No questions asked.”
23. Limit Cross-Selling on the Checkout Page. It Just Confuses Them
As mentioned before, trying to cross sell or upsell customers in the 11th hour may just contribute to shopping cart abandonment, not bigger buys.
24. Add Testimonials Everywhere
Some people put testimonials only on a devoted page. I suggest putting them everywhere — even in your checkout process. A simple callout or sidebar with a customer quote or two can keep the motivation level high as the customer continues to check out.
25. Personally Review the Checkout Process At Least Once a Month
Do you have first hand experience with your site’s shopping cart? Do you know what customers are experiencing as they proceed through the funnel, fill out each form, and complete each field?
I suggest that you personally take the time to test your own shopping cart. As you continually test, refine, and edit your shopping cart process, you’ll be able to iron out wrinkles that may be contributing to abandonment.
26. Be Careful With Coupon Codes
Coupon codes are a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they may motivate customers to purchase. But on the other hand, they could prevent customers from completing the transaction.
If a customer doesn’t have a coupon code, for instance, they may leave the site to look for one, but never return. Statistics show that more than a quarter (27%) of shoppers abandon their cart because they “wanted a discount coupon.”
27. Make Shipping Times as Quick as Possible
Many online customers will want their order to arrive as soon as possible. Make arrangements for expedited shipping if customers want it.
28. Provide Courteous and Helpful Error Messages
If a user gets frustrated with the checkout process, they are likely to quit. As you develop and enhance your checkout process, create error notifications that are as helpful and direct as possible. There are two angles to this:
Make it easy for them to find the error on the form.
Make it easy for them to fix the error.
29. Accept Any Currency
If you offer international sales, make sure you are providing clear currency conversion information as well as acceptance of other currencies.
30. Allow Multiple Payment Methods
With the proliferation of the commercial web has come the expansion of payment methods. Open the gates as wide as possible and allow buyers to use any credit card, Paypal, Amazon, or any other forms of payment that are common within your niche.
Bonus tip! Optimize your checkout funnel by measuring what matters. Use the Kissmetrics Funnel Report to identify where you’re losing customers and run A/B tests to optimize your funnel. To learn more about how Kissmetrics can help optimize your marketing, request a personal demo.
Conclusion
As eager as you are to capitalize on abandoned users, let’s be honest. There’s no such thing as 0% abandonment. Some customers will abandon their carts, and you’re going to have to accept it.
But don’t use this reality of life as an excuse to keep you from fighting for as many conversions as possible. You’re going to win some back, and it’s worth giving it all you’ve got.
How have you reduced your shopping cart abandonment rates?
About the Author: Neil Patel is a lifelong evangelist of Kissmetrics and blogs at Quick Sprout.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1K5TxvE via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1JqWWq1
August 19, 2015 at 09:02PM
Added: Jul 24, 2015 Via IFTTT
4 Simple Reasons Your Blog Still Isnt Getting Traffic
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
4 Simple Reasons Your Blog Still Isn’t Getting Traffic
Here’s the number one complaint after starting a new blog: Why aren’t we getting traffic?!
I’ve heard this complaint once. I’ve heard it a million times. Eager blog writers get burned out, discouraged, and quit. The decline is simple: They start a blog. The traffic does not materialize. The blog fizzles and dies.
The why-am-I-not-getting traffic question basically sums up the entire industry of SEO, so that doesn’t provide much of a focus for a helpful article. Instead, I want to focus on one angle.
This is my angle: Why isn’t my new blog getting any traffic?
New blogs are the ones at the greatest risk for vanishing in a puff. Without a sturdy understanding of the blog basics, a business’s content marketing may get derailed.
Let’s set a few things straight for the record
In the interest of setting expectations, let’s deal with a few common misconceptions. Having a long-lasting blog doesn’t just require just the teeth-gritting endurance of writing something every day. To have an enduring blog, you need to understand a few principles.
Just because you have a blog doesn’t automatically mean you’re going to get traffic.
Blog does not equal traffic.
Here’s what a lot of people think will happen after they launch a blog:
Source
Unfortunately, that’s not always the case.
In reality, there may be no increase in traffic or a gradual increase in traffic.
You don’t simply need traffic. You need the right kind of traffic.
And what if you do get traffic? Life is good, right?
Yeah, sort of. But what’s the point of having a blog? Is it really just traffic?
I’d argue that the answer is no. Most of the time, a business starts a blog in order to serve a higher purpose — marketing, brand visibility, more clients, higher conversions, etc. A blog does not exist for the sole purpose of publishing more content. The web doesn’t need more content.
A blog exists for conversions, revenue, information, etc. Traffic is simply an indication that your blog may be achieving its real goals.
Gaining traffic is not a good thing unless your blog is also achieving its other purposes. What if you’re getting traffic from all the wrong sources? That traffic is not going to convert, and your blog becomes essentially useless.
Did you know? The Kissmetrics Funnel Report allows you to segment your traffic so you can see where your highest converting traffic is coming from. For more info, check out our blog post or sign up for Kissmetrics today!
Instead of frenetically grasping for traffic, you need to be pursuing the right kind of traffic. What is “the right kind of traffic”? Look for it in point two below.
Maybe a blog isn’t the best strategy for you.
I’m writing this as a die-hard content marketer. I get content marketing. I do content marketing. Heck, I helped write the most extensive and detailed guide of advanced content marketing techniques that exists today.
In spite of this, I’m willing to admit that content marketing may not be the solution to your woes.
Every business is different. Most of the time, content marketing works. That’s why more than 90% of B2Bs and B2Cs use content marketing as part of their overall strategy.
The lingering 10% who don’t utilize content marketing may be doing so intentionally and strategically. There are plenty of other ways to do marketing, and even to do so effectively. Some of the businesses that are doing content marketing might be wasting their time and resources.
I didn’t write this article to help you diagnose your business’s particular situation. I’m simply raising the question. Is content marketing really the best strategy for you?
You have to decide.
Now, let’s dive into a few of the specifics. Remember, we’re asking the question, why isn’t my new blog getting any traffic?
Here are the answers.
1. You Aren’t Sharing it Socially
Issue: Social Signals and Visibility
We’re in the era of the social web.
The social web refers to the fact that the Internet is a place of social interaction and collaboration. As proof, consider this: 74% of all American adults use a social networking site.
Source
When people “go online,” they are likely to do several things — research, email, etc. — but increasingly all these activities are integrated socially.
For example, someone doesn’t simply read an article. They share it, comment on it, tweet it, etc.
It naturally follows that an online strategy devoid of social sharing is missing out on the vast and viral potential of the social web.
Solution: Promote your content
Writing content is only half of content marketing.
The other half is spreading that content. Don’t expect the traffic to come flooding in after you click “publish.” Publish your content, and then promote it.
Here are some tips:
Add sharing buttons to your blog article.
Share content at the peak times for your audience’s social activity.
Share your article on Twitter with images.
Share content multiple times on every social site.
Keep up with your content as it circulates on social, and be sure to participate in the conversation.
Encourage blog authors, contributors, and team members to use their existing social networks to share the article.
2. You Aren’t Focusing on Any One Keyword or Subject
Issue: Keyword Optimization
Much of SEO is fairly common knowledge by this point. Most people are at least aware of keywords, and title tags, and have at least a vague idea of how it all works together.
But in spite of the widespread knowledge, it can be hard to strategically apply it to one’s own blog.
Keyword optimization is one such shortcoming.
Often, a blog writer starts by assembling an editorial calendar, which is basically a list of blog articles with dates. She may select these article titles based on the fact that they are interesting or perceived to be relevant to the target audience.
Solution: Research and target long tail keywords
This approach described above is misguided. Content marketing should not start with articles. It should start with research.
Understand your marketing persona.
Understand what they are searching for.
Understand the intent behind their queries.
Understand the keywords that would gain traffic from these queries.
At this point, you can come up with a list of longtail keywords.
From the list of keywords, you can develop a list of articles. Using the list of articles, you can create your editorial calendar.
Each article should use the selected longtail keyword in the 1) page title, 2) article title, and 3) one or two times in the article itself. Be sure not to stuff the article with the selected keyword.
3. It’s Boring as Heck
Issue: User Experience
I’m convinced that user experience is the sine qua non of Internet marketing. It trumps all other marketing techniques, and stands as the supreme methodology for gaining and retaining customers.
Obviously, user experience is an extremely broad subject. It effectively encompasses nearly every other aspect of digital marketing — from conversion optimization to search engine optimization.
Content marketing falls within the broad realm of user experience. When a user goes to visit your blog and read your content, what is he experiencing? Does it satisfy his needs? Does it answer his questions? Is it easy to read? Does it match his expectations?
One of the reasons why user experience in content marketing is such an issue is because Google says it’s so.
According to the document, the Quality Rating Guide, Google rates content based on expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. Human raters review selected content on the blog in order to refine and streamline the algorithmic formulae behind content quality grading.
Low quality content gets downgraded. High quality content gets upgraded.
Only high quality content will get the ranking improvement that will produce higher traffic levels.
Solution: Improve quality
This is why the quality of your content matters. I’ll point out a few of the issues that are considered low quality — i.e., boring.
It’s all about you. Content marketing should not be exclusively about your business, your products, your awesome sauce, and your employees. It should be about subjects that are relevant in the industry. For a great example of B2B content marketing for a company not tooting it’s own horn, check out TopTal’s blog.
No images. If your blog doesn’t have some sort of visual engagement like pictures, graphs, charts, or videos, it’s boring. Sorry.
Not relevant. If you are producing articles that aren’t relevant to your target audience, you lose. No one cares about content that doesn’t answer a question, solve a problem, or meet a need. For example, on the Kissmetrics blog we aren’t going to write any articles about parenting. Would it get traffic? Probably, but it doesn’t target our audience. And it would alienate our readers.
What happens when you commit these content marketing mistakes?
Your bounce rate rises, your dwell time drops, your clickthrough rate sinks. Google measures these metrics and reduces your site’s rank accordingly.
Read up on what Google views as quality content. It’ll only take 2 minutes to read, and you’ll have a good set of guidelines to follow.
The better your quality, the better your traffic.
4. Your Blog Design is Horrible
Issue: User Experience
Another user experience issue is blog design. Why does it matter? The way your blog looks, feels, and functions affects how users engage with your blog.
If the design is awful, then your users will not engage with the blog.
Solution
Based on my research and analysis, here are the ingredients of a great blog design:
Your website should be responsive. If your website is not mobile optimized, it won’t be featured in mobile search results. Use this tool to see if Google views you as mobile-friendly.
Feature blog snippets on your main blog page. Snippets are brief excerpts of a main article that people can skim through at a glance.
Make your main content prominent. Place it on the left side, where users are most likely to look first.
Use scrolling social buttons to encourage social sharing at any point in the article.
Use an 11px font or larger for the body text.
Use a 17-25px headline font.
Use a sans serif font.
Use a light colored background with dark colored text.
Use headers and short paragraphs to break up the content.
Use plenty of images.
Use headers, bullet points, short paragraphs, and easy vocabulary.
Include the name and possibly a brief bio of the author.
Provide a CTA for users to subscribe to the blog.
Improving your blog’s design can dramatically improve your blog’s quality, readability, and traffic.
Conclusion
If you want your blog to not die, you may need to make some improvements. The reasons your blog may not be getting any traffic are pretty simple. Thankfully, the solutions are relatively simple, too.
Keep in mind that traffic may be slow in coming. Content marketing isn’t a sprint; it’s a marathon. If traffic doesn’t spike overnight, don’t be dismayed.
Be patient. Give it a few months; things will improve. If not, read this article again.
What’s your experience with blog traffic, and the reasons for growth or decline?
About the Author: Neil Patel is a lifelong evangelist of Kissmetrics and blogs at Quick Sprout.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1Kpt2mb via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1GLdjG7
July 24, 2015 at 11:35PM
Here’s the number one complaint after starting a new blog: Why aren’t we getting traffic?!
I’ve heard this complaint once. I’ve heard it a million times. Eager blog writers get burned out, discouraged, and quit. The decline is simple: They start a blog. The traffic does not materialize. The blog fizzles and dies.
The why-am-I-not-getting traffic question basically sums up the entire industry of SEO, so that doesn’t provide much of a focus for a helpful article. Instead, I want to focus on one angle.
This is my angle: Why isn’t my new blog getting any traffic?
New blogs are the ones at the greatest risk for vanishing in a puff. Without a sturdy understanding of the blog basics, a business’s content marketing may get derailed.
Let’s set a few things straight for the record
In the interest of setting expectations, let’s deal with a few common misconceptions. Having a long-lasting blog doesn’t just require just the teeth-gritting endurance of writing something every day. To have an enduring blog, you need to understand a few principles.
Just because you have a blog doesn’t automatically mean you’re going to get traffic.
Blog does not equal traffic.
Here’s what a lot of people think will happen after they launch a blog:
Source
Unfortunately, that’s not always the case.
In reality, there may be no increase in traffic or a gradual increase in traffic.
You don’t simply need traffic. You need the right kind of traffic.
And what if you do get traffic? Life is good, right?
Yeah, sort of. But what’s the point of having a blog? Is it really just traffic?
I’d argue that the answer is no. Most of the time, a business starts a blog in order to serve a higher purpose — marketing, brand visibility, more clients, higher conversions, etc. A blog does not exist for the sole purpose of publishing more content. The web doesn’t need more content.
A blog exists for conversions, revenue, information, etc. Traffic is simply an indication that your blog may be achieving its real goals.
Gaining traffic is not a good thing unless your blog is also achieving its other purposes. What if you’re getting traffic from all the wrong sources? That traffic is not going to convert, and your blog becomes essentially useless.
Did you know? The Kissmetrics Funnel Report allows you to segment your traffic so you can see where your highest converting traffic is coming from. For more info, check out our blog post or sign up for Kissmetrics today!
Instead of frenetically grasping for traffic, you need to be pursuing the right kind of traffic. What is “the right kind of traffic”? Look for it in point two below.
Maybe a blog isn’t the best strategy for you.
I’m writing this as a die-hard content marketer. I get content marketing. I do content marketing. Heck, I helped write the most extensive and detailed guide of advanced content marketing techniques that exists today.
In spite of this, I’m willing to admit that content marketing may not be the solution to your woes.
Every business is different. Most of the time, content marketing works. That’s why more than 90% of B2Bs and B2Cs use content marketing as part of their overall strategy.
The lingering 10% who don’t utilize content marketing may be doing so intentionally and strategically. There are plenty of other ways to do marketing, and even to do so effectively. Some of the businesses that are doing content marketing might be wasting their time and resources.
I didn’t write this article to help you diagnose your business’s particular situation. I’m simply raising the question. Is content marketing really the best strategy for you?
You have to decide.
Now, let’s dive into a few of the specifics. Remember, we’re asking the question, why isn’t my new blog getting any traffic?
Here are the answers.
1. You Aren’t Sharing it Socially
Issue: Social Signals and Visibility
We’re in the era of the social web.
The social web refers to the fact that the Internet is a place of social interaction and collaboration. As proof, consider this: 74% of all American adults use a social networking site.
Source
When people “go online,” they are likely to do several things — research, email, etc. — but increasingly all these activities are integrated socially.
For example, someone doesn’t simply read an article. They share it, comment on it, tweet it, etc.
It naturally follows that an online strategy devoid of social sharing is missing out on the vast and viral potential of the social web.
Solution: Promote your content
Writing content is only half of content marketing.
The other half is spreading that content. Don’t expect the traffic to come flooding in after you click “publish.” Publish your content, and then promote it.
Here are some tips:
Add sharing buttons to your blog article.
Share content at the peak times for your audience’s social activity.
Share your article on Twitter with images.
Share content multiple times on every social site.
Keep up with your content as it circulates on social, and be sure to participate in the conversation.
Encourage blog authors, contributors, and team members to use their existing social networks to share the article.
2. You Aren’t Focusing on Any One Keyword or Subject
Issue: Keyword Optimization
Much of SEO is fairly common knowledge by this point. Most people are at least aware of keywords, and title tags, and have at least a vague idea of how it all works together.
But in spite of the widespread knowledge, it can be hard to strategically apply it to one’s own blog.
Keyword optimization is one such shortcoming.
Often, a blog writer starts by assembling an editorial calendar, which is basically a list of blog articles with dates. She may select these article titles based on the fact that they are interesting or perceived to be relevant to the target audience.
Solution: Research and target long tail keywords
This approach described above is misguided. Content marketing should not start with articles. It should start with research.
Understand your marketing persona.
Understand what they are searching for.
Understand the intent behind their queries.
Understand the keywords that would gain traffic from these queries.
At this point, you can come up with a list of longtail keywords.
From the list of keywords, you can develop a list of articles. Using the list of articles, you can create your editorial calendar.
Each article should use the selected longtail keyword in the 1) page title, 2) article title, and 3) one or two times in the article itself. Be sure not to stuff the article with the selected keyword.
3. It’s Boring as Heck
Issue: User Experience
I’m convinced that user experience is the sine qua non of Internet marketing. It trumps all other marketing techniques, and stands as the supreme methodology for gaining and retaining customers.
Obviously, user experience is an extremely broad subject. It effectively encompasses nearly every other aspect of digital marketing — from conversion optimization to search engine optimization.
Content marketing falls within the broad realm of user experience. When a user goes to visit your blog and read your content, what is he experiencing? Does it satisfy his needs? Does it answer his questions? Is it easy to read? Does it match his expectations?
One of the reasons why user experience in content marketing is such an issue is because Google says it’s so.
According to the document, the Quality Rating Guide, Google rates content based on expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. Human raters review selected content on the blog in order to refine and streamline the algorithmic formulae behind content quality grading.
Low quality content gets downgraded. High quality content gets upgraded.
Only high quality content will get the ranking improvement that will produce higher traffic levels.
Solution: Improve quality
This is why the quality of your content matters. I’ll point out a few of the issues that are considered low quality — i.e., boring.
It’s all about you. Content marketing should not be exclusively about your business, your products, your awesome sauce, and your employees. It should be about subjects that are relevant in the industry. For a great example of B2B content marketing for a company not tooting it’s own horn, check out TopTal’s blog.
No images. If your blog doesn’t have some sort of visual engagement like pictures, graphs, charts, or videos, it’s boring. Sorry.
Not relevant. If you are producing articles that aren’t relevant to your target audience, you lose. No one cares about content that doesn’t answer a question, solve a problem, or meet a need. For example, on the Kissmetrics blog we aren’t going to write any articles about parenting. Would it get traffic? Probably, but it doesn’t target our audience. And it would alienate our readers.
What happens when you commit these content marketing mistakes?
Your bounce rate rises, your dwell time drops, your clickthrough rate sinks. Google measures these metrics and reduces your site’s rank accordingly.
Read up on what Google views as quality content. It’ll only take 2 minutes to read, and you’ll have a good set of guidelines to follow.
The better your quality, the better your traffic.
4. Your Blog Design is Horrible
Issue: User Experience
Another user experience issue is blog design. Why does it matter? The way your blog looks, feels, and functions affects how users engage with your blog.
If the design is awful, then your users will not engage with the blog.
Solution
Based on my research and analysis, here are the ingredients of a great blog design:
Your website should be responsive. If your website is not mobile optimized, it won’t be featured in mobile search results. Use this tool to see if Google views you as mobile-friendly.
Feature blog snippets on your main blog page. Snippets are brief excerpts of a main article that people can skim through at a glance.
Make your main content prominent. Place it on the left side, where users are most likely to look first.
Use scrolling social buttons to encourage social sharing at any point in the article.
Use an 11px font or larger for the body text.
Use a 17-25px headline font.
Use a sans serif font.
Use a light colored background with dark colored text.
Use headers and short paragraphs to break up the content.
Use plenty of images.
Use headers, bullet points, short paragraphs, and easy vocabulary.
Include the name and possibly a brief bio of the author.
Provide a CTA for users to subscribe to the blog.
Improving your blog’s design can dramatically improve your blog’s quality, readability, and traffic.
Conclusion
If you want your blog to not die, you may need to make some improvements. The reasons your blog may not be getting any traffic are pretty simple. Thankfully, the solutions are relatively simple, too.
Keep in mind that traffic may be slow in coming. Content marketing isn’t a sprint; it’s a marathon. If traffic doesn’t spike overnight, don’t be dismayed.
Be patient. Give it a few months; things will improve. If not, read this article again.
What’s your experience with blog traffic, and the reasons for growth or decline?
About the Author: Neil Patel is a lifelong evangelist of Kissmetrics and blogs at Quick Sprout.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1Kpt2mb via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1GLdjG7
July 24, 2015 at 11:35PM
Added: Sep 04, 2015 Via IFTTT
4 Social Media Reports That Will Boost Your Audience Engagement
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
4 Social Media Reports That Will Boost Your Audience Engagement
In the early days of social media marketing, the number one goal for businesses was to amass huge followings, and for good reason. It was a time when there was no limit to organic post reach, and the companies with the largest social audiences benefited the most with totally free advertising.
Unfortunately for those early adopters, the networks have matured, the business models have grown and nowadays brands are lucky if even a fraction of their social following see their posts. That’s why marketers need to completely rethink the way they approach social as an organic channel.
Where before social marketing was all about building a giant audience, today social marketing is about providing quality, relevant content to your audience so that you can engage with them as individuals and attract them as a customer. But in order to really provide your social audience with engaging content, you need to figure out who they are. This can be done with some of the reports available online.
This post will cover how to use data to find your perfect social audience, and how to look at reports on past performance to find out which content resonates with your audience.
1. Demographics Reports
Who are the people that are interacting with you on social media? There’s a chance that you or your community managers can name some of the top influencers within your social following, but who is your average reader? One way to get a tremendous increase in social engagement is to answer this question, and create content that resonates with those individuals. Here are some of the reports available to you that can be used to figure out just who your average social engager is.
Facebook Page Insights
Let’s start with Facebook. Facebook has a plethora of information on your fans and followers. One way to access that information is through the Facebook Insights tab found on your brand’s homepage.
If this is your first time using this tool, take a look around at some of the great data at hand. Otherwise, navigate over to the People tab to start pulling data on your fans and followers.
The above screenshot is looking more specifically at the People Engaged section. It’s better to look at People Engaged since this shows the demographics of the people who are more inclined to actually engage with your social posts.
The first data you’ll see breaks down the various ages and genders of the people who are engaging with your Facebook posts. For example, the graph below shows that of all the people interacting with Sprout Social, 21% are women ages 25-34.
Various age groups and genders are likely to interact with content differently. That’s why it’s a key advantage to figure out your main audience and create posts catered to their interests.
Twitter’s Analytics Tool
Similar to Facebook, Twitter offers audience insights within its analytics dashboard. After you access your analytics page, navigate to the tab addressing your Followers.
Assuming you have enough followers, this tab has information on their gender, income, education and more, which will help you create content on Twitter that this audience is more likely to interact with. However, the tab doesn’t include age data. One option is to use Sprout’s Twitter Analytics.
Followerwonk
Followerwonk is a Twitter tool created by the software company Moz. If you have access to the tool, choose the Analyze tab from your dashboard.
From here you can enter any Twitter handle and scan their followers. The data provided is similar to Twitter’s, but the one we’re most interested in for creating demographic-driven content is the gender section.
Google Analytics
Most of the networks don’t provide as robust data as Facebook and Twitter, but never fear: Google always has your back. Access your account and navigate to Audience > Demographics > Overview.
After that, you need to +Add Segment, that looks at the Traffic Sources you’re interested in finding demographics for, like Pinterest.
2. Location and Language Reports
Location-based geo–targeting is a very powerful tool for social media marketers. It’s possible for you to pull reports to find some of your most engaged cities, states or countries, and then write and distribute topical content to those locations for better response. For instance, creating a post for a specific city could call out the hometown sports team.
Facebook Page Insights
Back on the Facebook Page Insights report, just a little below the age and gender information, you’ll find data on where the people engaged with your page are located.
So the company in the example above could see some increased engagement if they targeted a post to their Chicago audience that called out The Cubs (or the White Sox if that’s what you’re into…).
Twitter’s Analytics Tool
You’ll find location information when you access your Twitter Analytics the same way as in the previous report, but this time you’ll need to navigate over to the second tab.
In the right column you’ll find information provided by Twitter on both the country and region your followers are in.
Followerwonk
Followerwonk preserves your reports for 60 days, so you should be able to find the same presentation you used when looking at the Demographics report. Followerwonk actually puts your followers’ location data in an interactive map.
Google Analytics
Similar to the Demographics Reports, if you can’t find location data for the other networks look to Google Analytics. Access your account and navigate through Audience > Geo > Location.
After you create the custom segment looking at the social source, Google provides data on users by country, city, continent and subcontinent.
3. Sent Message Reports
Now that we know who our audience is, it’s a good idea to think about the content that they like. One way to do that is to look at your past social media performance to see which of your posts received good engagement, then use that information to dictate your strategy moving forward. A few of the platforms that we’ve mentioned so far have the ability to analyze old posts for performance, but I want to focus on two that do a great job.
Followerwonk
Just like with the other reports, you’ll need to navigate to the Analyze tab of your dashboard. The difference this time is that instead of choosing to “analyze their followers’ you want to choose ‘analyze their tweets’.
Followerwonk uses Retweets as the main metric for deciding what makes the most important Tweet. In the example above I chose to look at Social Media Examiner. Followerwonk shows that this is their most important Tweet over the time period.
A day In the life of a #SocialMedia Manager? http://pic.twitter.com/PqhFDl3pgt
— SocialMedia Examiner (@SMExaminer) June 1, 2015
Social Media Examiner can look at this and decide that if they create more fun content that resonates with social media managers, they’ll see more engagement.
Sprout Social
Sprout Social is a social media management platform that also gives you analytics on your past social media performance.
Sprout has a number of key performance indicators (KPIs) that you can look at to find out which of your pieces of content perform well. You can then study those posts so that they can inform your content strategy moving forward.
4. Day and Hour Reports
Once you’ve figured out who to target and what to post, the next question on your mind should be “when to post.” And you wouldn’t be the only one, either. This Google Trends graph shows just how fascinated people are with finding the perfect time for posting.
However, the best time to post for one brand may not be the best time for another. That’s why you should look at these reports to find your unique perfect post time.
Facebook Page Insights
Access your Facebook Page Insights again, and go to the Posts tab. This is where you’ll find additional information on your fans, such as when they’re online.
Although this doesn’t say when you get the most engagement, it does have information on the days of the week and hours of the day when your fans are most likely to be online. Posting content at these peak days and hours should lead to an increase in your engagement.
Manual Reporting
Unfortunately, Facebook is one of the only networks out there that provides data on when your users are accessing the site. However, you can always pull data manually to look at which days are performing best. Or try talking to your community manager; most of them have a good idea of which days and times get great response. If all else fails, try a tool like Sprout Social that automatically post your social messages at the time that will yield the most audience engagement.
Every Audience is Unique
No two brands have an identical social media following, so it really doesn’t make much sense to use a one-size-fits-all content strategy. Taking the time to analyze your unique social media audience allows you to develop a content strategy that caters to them, which will set you leagues above the competition.
About the Author: Michael Patterson is a Digital Marketing Specialist at Sprout Social, a social media platform that helps brands manage their social media efforts. You can find him on Twitter @MPatterson22.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1IOxgwS via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1O29qEL
September 04, 2015 at 09:33PM
In the early days of social media marketing, the number one goal for businesses was to amass huge followings, and for good reason. It was a time when there was no limit to organic post reach, and the companies with the largest social audiences benefited the most with totally free advertising.
Unfortunately for those early adopters, the networks have matured, the business models have grown and nowadays brands are lucky if even a fraction of their social following see their posts. That’s why marketers need to completely rethink the way they approach social as an organic channel.
Where before social marketing was all about building a giant audience, today social marketing is about providing quality, relevant content to your audience so that you can engage with them as individuals and attract them as a customer. But in order to really provide your social audience with engaging content, you need to figure out who they are. This can be done with some of the reports available online.
This post will cover how to use data to find your perfect social audience, and how to look at reports on past performance to find out which content resonates with your audience.
1. Demographics Reports
Who are the people that are interacting with you on social media? There’s a chance that you or your community managers can name some of the top influencers within your social following, but who is your average reader? One way to get a tremendous increase in social engagement is to answer this question, and create content that resonates with those individuals. Here are some of the reports available to you that can be used to figure out just who your average social engager is.
Facebook Page Insights
Let’s start with Facebook. Facebook has a plethora of information on your fans and followers. One way to access that information is through the Facebook Insights tab found on your brand’s homepage.
If this is your first time using this tool, take a look around at some of the great data at hand. Otherwise, navigate over to the People tab to start pulling data on your fans and followers.
The above screenshot is looking more specifically at the People Engaged section. It’s better to look at People Engaged since this shows the demographics of the people who are more inclined to actually engage with your social posts.
The first data you’ll see breaks down the various ages and genders of the people who are engaging with your Facebook posts. For example, the graph below shows that of all the people interacting with Sprout Social, 21% are women ages 25-34.
Various age groups and genders are likely to interact with content differently. That’s why it’s a key advantage to figure out your main audience and create posts catered to their interests.
Twitter’s Analytics Tool
Similar to Facebook, Twitter offers audience insights within its analytics dashboard. After you access your analytics page, navigate to the tab addressing your Followers.
Assuming you have enough followers, this tab has information on their gender, income, education and more, which will help you create content on Twitter that this audience is more likely to interact with. However, the tab doesn’t include age data. One option is to use Sprout’s Twitter Analytics.
Followerwonk
Followerwonk is a Twitter tool created by the software company Moz. If you have access to the tool, choose the Analyze tab from your dashboard.
From here you can enter any Twitter handle and scan their followers. The data provided is similar to Twitter’s, but the one we’re most interested in for creating demographic-driven content is the gender section.
Google Analytics
Most of the networks don’t provide as robust data as Facebook and Twitter, but never fear: Google always has your back. Access your account and navigate to Audience > Demographics > Overview.
After that, you need to +Add Segment, that looks at the Traffic Sources you’re interested in finding demographics for, like Pinterest.
2. Location and Language Reports
Location-based geo–targeting is a very powerful tool for social media marketers. It’s possible for you to pull reports to find some of your most engaged cities, states or countries, and then write and distribute topical content to those locations for better response. For instance, creating a post for a specific city could call out the hometown sports team.
Facebook Page Insights
Back on the Facebook Page Insights report, just a little below the age and gender information, you’ll find data on where the people engaged with your page are located.
So the company in the example above could see some increased engagement if they targeted a post to their Chicago audience that called out The Cubs (or the White Sox if that’s what you’re into…).
Twitter’s Analytics Tool
You’ll find location information when you access your Twitter Analytics the same way as in the previous report, but this time you’ll need to navigate over to the second tab.
In the right column you’ll find information provided by Twitter on both the country and region your followers are in.
Followerwonk
Followerwonk preserves your reports for 60 days, so you should be able to find the same presentation you used when looking at the Demographics report. Followerwonk actually puts your followers’ location data in an interactive map.
Google Analytics
Similar to the Demographics Reports, if you can’t find location data for the other networks look to Google Analytics. Access your account and navigate through Audience > Geo > Location.
After you create the custom segment looking at the social source, Google provides data on users by country, city, continent and subcontinent.
3. Sent Message Reports
Now that we know who our audience is, it’s a good idea to think about the content that they like. One way to do that is to look at your past social media performance to see which of your posts received good engagement, then use that information to dictate your strategy moving forward. A few of the platforms that we’ve mentioned so far have the ability to analyze old posts for performance, but I want to focus on two that do a great job.
Followerwonk
Just like with the other reports, you’ll need to navigate to the Analyze tab of your dashboard. The difference this time is that instead of choosing to “analyze their followers’ you want to choose ‘analyze their tweets’.
Followerwonk uses Retweets as the main metric for deciding what makes the most important Tweet. In the example above I chose to look at Social Media Examiner. Followerwonk shows that this is their most important Tweet over the time period.
A day In the life of a #SocialMedia Manager? http://pic.twitter.com/PqhFDl3pgt
— SocialMedia Examiner (@SMExaminer) June 1, 2015
Social Media Examiner can look at this and decide that if they create more fun content that resonates with social media managers, they’ll see more engagement.
Sprout Social
Sprout Social is a social media management platform that also gives you analytics on your past social media performance.
Sprout has a number of key performance indicators (KPIs) that you can look at to find out which of your pieces of content perform well. You can then study those posts so that they can inform your content strategy moving forward.
4. Day and Hour Reports
Once you’ve figured out who to target and what to post, the next question on your mind should be “when to post.” And you wouldn’t be the only one, either. This Google Trends graph shows just how fascinated people are with finding the perfect time for posting.
However, the best time to post for one brand may not be the best time for another. That’s why you should look at these reports to find your unique perfect post time.
Facebook Page Insights
Access your Facebook Page Insights again, and go to the Posts tab. This is where you’ll find additional information on your fans, such as when they’re online.
Although this doesn’t say when you get the most engagement, it does have information on the days of the week and hours of the day when your fans are most likely to be online. Posting content at these peak days and hours should lead to an increase in your engagement.
Manual Reporting
Unfortunately, Facebook is one of the only networks out there that provides data on when your users are accessing the site. However, you can always pull data manually to look at which days are performing best. Or try talking to your community manager; most of them have a good idea of which days and times get great response. If all else fails, try a tool like Sprout Social that automatically post your social messages at the time that will yield the most audience engagement.
Every Audience is Unique
No two brands have an identical social media following, so it really doesn’t make much sense to use a one-size-fits-all content strategy. Taking the time to analyze your unique social media audience allows you to develop a content strategy that caters to them, which will set you leagues above the competition.
About the Author: Michael Patterson is a Digital Marketing Specialist at Sprout Social, a social media platform that helps brands manage their social media efforts. You can find him on Twitter @MPatterson22.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1IOxgwS via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1O29qEL
September 04, 2015 at 09:33PM
Added: Aug 05, 2015 Via IFTTT
5 Blog Topics to Stop Rehashing Immediately
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
5 Blog Topics to Stop Rehashing Immediately
You work hard to create blog content that people actually want to read. You know it’s an important part of your content marketing efforts that will bring in new customers over time.
But there are a few topics that online readers have seen time and time again—and at this point, they’re just becoming noise.
An Algoso survey found that 88% of people read blogs because they want analysis and opinions, while 74% wanted information on trends within a sector or to learn from others’ experiences.
Source
In order to satisfy those readers’ driving desires, you need to write blog content that says something new, interesting, and insightful—not regurgitates what everyone else has already said.
Here are 5 topics that have been overdone (and that you should steer clear from.)
1. The 10 Best X
With more than 4.9 billion search results for this phrase, it’s safe to say that we’ve all seen our fair share of top 10 lists.
For example: The 10 Best Ways to Get More Followers on Twitter or The 10 Best Ways to Grow Your Email List
The trouble with these posts is that they strive for quantity—not quality—by providing only surface level information rather than taking a deep dive into one particular point.
When we look at a top 10 blog post, we don’t learn much beyond what they are. There’s often no how that explains what makes them qualified to be on this top 10 list or that walks you through how you could emulate what made it so successful.
Plus, research shows that the average content length for a top-ranking site in Google has at least 2,000 words. Therefore, it’s clear that Google defines higher quality content as posts that go into greater detail.
Unfortunately, the average top 10 post falls far short of that minimum. Bottom line: There’s not a lot you can teach in that few words.
Try this instead: Rather than throwing together a quick top 10 post, pick the best example on the list and pick apart what makes it work so well. Create a piece of content like ‘The One Best X to do X’ that teaches the reader something valuable using this singular example—and leave the rest of the top 10 list behind.
2. How X is Like X
Another overdone blog topic is the comparison post that finds some creative similarity between two concepts and trys to spin it into something interesting. There are 1 billion search results for this blog topic—so comparison posts have had a good run.
For example: How Your Business is Like a Computer Processor or How Your Marketing Funnel is Like Baking a Cake
It sounds like a good idea, but is there real substance for the reader that can come from such a far-fetched comparison? Is it going to teach them something they didn’t already know?
Posts that try to use comparisons to teach a concept often miss the mark because the writer is so focused on staying on track with the theme. The content becomes idea-centric rather than based in research, and while it might make for a clever headline, the content itself comes out weak.
The other obstacle that arises from posts that pivot on similarities between concepts or products is that they lack those essential personal opinions and experiences that offer unique insight—which the Algoso survey showed was a top motivator for blog readers.
Try this instead: Comparisons can be powerful when used to demonstrate a finding that others can implement, too. Try something like ‘What We Can Learn from Testing A Against B’ that shows how a test proved that one method was more effective than another.
ContentVerve uses this to effectively showcase results of A/B testing and compares two versions side by side to illustrate the positive impact.
Source
3. News Round-Ups
There are more than 350M search results for news round-ups, but how many of them offer something new to the conversation?
When it comes to these news round-up posts, they often just repeat information that’s already been shared elsewhere and leave out personal insight.
For example: Healthcare News Round-Up for August 2015 or Marketing News Round-Up: The Things You Missed
For the reader, there’s simply not much value. Number one: They may have already read the news elsewhere, so when they encounter it on your blog with no accompanying input, it feels disappointing. When someone visits your blog, they want to hear from you—not from someone else.
Number two: News round-ups also frequently include quote-heavy content that really tells the reader, “Hey, I didn’t have the story, but someone else did.” Is that a message you want to send to your readers?
Try this instead: Rather than just repackaging existing information, try a topic like ‘Highlights of X and What You Can Learn From It.’ This way, you’re still sharing the important information, but you’re doing the legwork for the reader and telling them what they need to read between the lines. Or, share what you know from your past experiences—and weigh in with some fresh perspective.
4. Why X is Cliché/Wrong/Bad
Lots of bloggers and content marketers like to take to the pulpit and express their opinions on business issues, launching lofty statements like, “X is wrong and here’s why.”
For example: Why Blogging is Bad for Your Business or Why Client Thank You Notes are Cliché
Don’t believe me? Check the 1B search results that come up for that title.
Opinion and persuasion are definitely key elements to a great blog post. However, when writers make these bold claims, they often forget to back them up with research, case studies, or experience. They’re purely opinion-based—and there’s where things get tricky.
Commentary that’s not backed in tangible proof can read as trivial for the audience, and can put you in a position to play defense with people who disagree. What might sound like an emotionally charged blog post that you’re really passionate about could actually do harm for your personal brand if you don’t have the ethos and logos to accompany your claims.
Additionally, these posts often lack a strong CTA for the reader. If blogging is part of your content marketing strategy and you throw in an opinion piece that’s missing a strong, relevant CTA, you can cause serious damage to your sales funnel.
Try this instead: Make bold claims by showcasing interesting case studies you conducted that include screenshots, testing methods, and real numbers that prove your point. Think more along the lines of ‘How We Tested (strategy) to Discover You Should Use A Over B’.
5. The Year in Review
999M ‘year in review’ posts exist already.
For example: The Year in Review: Looking Back at My Business in 2015 or Recap: The Year in Review and What I Accomplished
[Insert: GoogleResults.png]
Do we need another? Probably not. Here’s why:
Reflection posts that simply recap the past 365 days don’t typically offer the reader any new insight and instead just recycle ideas, lessons, and events you’ve already talked about.
More importantly, though, think about what motivates your audience to visit your blog in the first place. They might like your writing style and online persona, but really, they want to learn something they can use for themselves.
If you’re just looking back on what you accomplished this year and not showcasing an in-depth lesson you took away from it—you’re probably just rambling.
Try this instead: It’s okay to share what you learned over the past year, but remember to focus in on one key theme. A topic like ‘The Most Important X I Learned in (year) That Helped My Business’ gives the reader serious value—you’re squeezing the best lesson you learned over a the course of a whole year and handing it to them with a pretty bow.
Conclusion
With millions of pieces of content that already exist on the Internet, the blog posts you write need to stand out, provide value, and be backed in research—not pure opinion.
Gary Vaynerchuk said that when it comes to what you’re producing on the Internet, “Someone is always watching.” Readers can see when you’re not giving a solid effort to your blogs and each time you deliver less-than insightful blog posts, you chip away at the trust and authority you’ve earned with your audience.
Stop rehashing these overdone blog topics and start being a unique voice in the noisy world of content.
About the Author: Kaleigh Moore is a social media consultant and copywriter who helps SaaS companies craft intelligent content with a charming human element. Visit her website or follow her on Twitter.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1MPDqTP via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1gKRP7J
August 06, 2015 at 02:23AM
You work hard to create blog content that people actually want to read. You know it’s an important part of your content marketing efforts that will bring in new customers over time.
But there are a few topics that online readers have seen time and time again—and at this point, they’re just becoming noise.
An Algoso survey found that 88% of people read blogs because they want analysis and opinions, while 74% wanted information on trends within a sector or to learn from others’ experiences.
Source
In order to satisfy those readers’ driving desires, you need to write blog content that says something new, interesting, and insightful—not regurgitates what everyone else has already said.
Here are 5 topics that have been overdone (and that you should steer clear from.)
1. The 10 Best X
With more than 4.9 billion search results for this phrase, it’s safe to say that we’ve all seen our fair share of top 10 lists.
For example: The 10 Best Ways to Get More Followers on Twitter or The 10 Best Ways to Grow Your Email List
The trouble with these posts is that they strive for quantity—not quality—by providing only surface level information rather than taking a deep dive into one particular point.
When we look at a top 10 blog post, we don’t learn much beyond what they are. There’s often no how that explains what makes them qualified to be on this top 10 list or that walks you through how you could emulate what made it so successful.
Plus, research shows that the average content length for a top-ranking site in Google has at least 2,000 words. Therefore, it’s clear that Google defines higher quality content as posts that go into greater detail.
Unfortunately, the average top 10 post falls far short of that minimum. Bottom line: There’s not a lot you can teach in that few words.
Try this instead: Rather than throwing together a quick top 10 post, pick the best example on the list and pick apart what makes it work so well. Create a piece of content like ‘The One Best X to do X’ that teaches the reader something valuable using this singular example—and leave the rest of the top 10 list behind.
2. How X is Like X
Another overdone blog topic is the comparison post that finds some creative similarity between two concepts and trys to spin it into something interesting. There are 1 billion search results for this blog topic—so comparison posts have had a good run.
For example: How Your Business is Like a Computer Processor or How Your Marketing Funnel is Like Baking a Cake
It sounds like a good idea, but is there real substance for the reader that can come from such a far-fetched comparison? Is it going to teach them something they didn’t already know?
Posts that try to use comparisons to teach a concept often miss the mark because the writer is so focused on staying on track with the theme. The content becomes idea-centric rather than based in research, and while it might make for a clever headline, the content itself comes out weak.
The other obstacle that arises from posts that pivot on similarities between concepts or products is that they lack those essential personal opinions and experiences that offer unique insight—which the Algoso survey showed was a top motivator for blog readers.
Try this instead: Comparisons can be powerful when used to demonstrate a finding that others can implement, too. Try something like ‘What We Can Learn from Testing A Against B’ that shows how a test proved that one method was more effective than another.
ContentVerve uses this to effectively showcase results of A/B testing and compares two versions side by side to illustrate the positive impact.
Source
3. News Round-Ups
There are more than 350M search results for news round-ups, but how many of them offer something new to the conversation?
When it comes to these news round-up posts, they often just repeat information that’s already been shared elsewhere and leave out personal insight.
For example: Healthcare News Round-Up for August 2015 or Marketing News Round-Up: The Things You Missed
For the reader, there’s simply not much value. Number one: They may have already read the news elsewhere, so when they encounter it on your blog with no accompanying input, it feels disappointing. When someone visits your blog, they want to hear from you—not from someone else.
Number two: News round-ups also frequently include quote-heavy content that really tells the reader, “Hey, I didn’t have the story, but someone else did.” Is that a message you want to send to your readers?
Try this instead: Rather than just repackaging existing information, try a topic like ‘Highlights of X and What You Can Learn From It.’ This way, you’re still sharing the important information, but you’re doing the legwork for the reader and telling them what they need to read between the lines. Or, share what you know from your past experiences—and weigh in with some fresh perspective.
4. Why X is Cliché/Wrong/Bad
Lots of bloggers and content marketers like to take to the pulpit and express their opinions on business issues, launching lofty statements like, “X is wrong and here’s why.”
For example: Why Blogging is Bad for Your Business or Why Client Thank You Notes are Cliché
Don’t believe me? Check the 1B search results that come up for that title.
Opinion and persuasion are definitely key elements to a great blog post. However, when writers make these bold claims, they often forget to back them up with research, case studies, or experience. They’re purely opinion-based—and there’s where things get tricky.
Commentary that’s not backed in tangible proof can read as trivial for the audience, and can put you in a position to play defense with people who disagree. What might sound like an emotionally charged blog post that you’re really passionate about could actually do harm for your personal brand if you don’t have the ethos and logos to accompany your claims.
Additionally, these posts often lack a strong CTA for the reader. If blogging is part of your content marketing strategy and you throw in an opinion piece that’s missing a strong, relevant CTA, you can cause serious damage to your sales funnel.
Try this instead: Make bold claims by showcasing interesting case studies you conducted that include screenshots, testing methods, and real numbers that prove your point. Think more along the lines of ‘How We Tested (strategy) to Discover You Should Use A Over B’.
5. The Year in Review
999M ‘year in review’ posts exist already.
For example: The Year in Review: Looking Back at My Business in 2015 or Recap: The Year in Review and What I Accomplished
[Insert: GoogleResults.png]
Do we need another? Probably not. Here’s why:
Reflection posts that simply recap the past 365 days don’t typically offer the reader any new insight and instead just recycle ideas, lessons, and events you’ve already talked about.
More importantly, though, think about what motivates your audience to visit your blog in the first place. They might like your writing style and online persona, but really, they want to learn something they can use for themselves.
If you’re just looking back on what you accomplished this year and not showcasing an in-depth lesson you took away from it—you’re probably just rambling.
Try this instead: It’s okay to share what you learned over the past year, but remember to focus in on one key theme. A topic like ‘The Most Important X I Learned in (year) That Helped My Business’ gives the reader serious value—you’re squeezing the best lesson you learned over a the course of a whole year and handing it to them with a pretty bow.
Conclusion
With millions of pieces of content that already exist on the Internet, the blog posts you write need to stand out, provide value, and be backed in research—not pure opinion.
Gary Vaynerchuk said that when it comes to what you’re producing on the Internet, “Someone is always watching.” Readers can see when you’re not giving a solid effort to your blogs and each time you deliver less-than insightful blog posts, you chip away at the trust and authority you’ve earned with your audience.
Stop rehashing these overdone blog topics and start being a unique voice in the noisy world of content.
About the Author: Kaleigh Moore is a social media consultant and copywriter who helps SaaS companies craft intelligent content with a charming human element. Visit her website or follow her on Twitter.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1MPDqTP via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1gKRP7J
August 06, 2015 at 02:23AM
Added: Aug 26, 2015 Via IFTTT
5 Hacks to Make the Most of Social Advertising on Mobile
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
5 Hacks to Make the Most of Social Advertising on Mobile
Social and mobile are exploding. That much is a given. With the powerful insights and data that social brings to the table, and the far stretching reach mobile offers, when we put the two together we’re left with digital’s power couple.
Perhaps these numbers will paint a better picture: on Pinterest 92% of users are logging in via their mobile devices, compared to 86% of Twitter users and 68% of Facebookers, not to mention mobile-only networks like SnapChat and Instagram. Needless to say, social on mobile is definitely where you want to be.
Here are five proven hacks to make your social advertising more effective and meaningful on mobile going forward.
1. Utilize Targeting Options Built for Mobile
One of the most useful aspects of social advertising is its plethora of advanced targeting options – the result of an enormous amount of data that’s unique, accurate and tied to specific users with known interests. What unique targeting options do social campaigns offer that are unique to mobile?
Hyper-local Ads: As a mobile marketer working with social media, location based ads will become one of your most powerful tools. Engaging with nearby customers can be extremely valuable whether you’re at an event, an owner of a restaurant, or a brick and mortar shop. By channeling the GPS capabilities of your smartphone, Facebook and Twitter can help businesses by allowing them to enter the business’ address along with a predetermined radius to notify users in the area.
For example, fashion retailers can target users who have an interest in fashion when they are near one of their stores. If they happen to know that a user viewed a stunning new dress in their app, they can retarget that user when she’s near the store by encouraging her to actually try it on. Lots of potential here.
Platform & Device Targeting: Another very useful targeting method for mobile marketers is related to the user’s mobile device. This includes fine tuning based on OS, OS version, device type and model.
OS version enables you, among other things, to exclude users with an out of date OS version that may not be compatible with your app or does not perform as well as with newer versions.
When targeting by device type, it is recommended to customize your ad using images of that same device you’re targeting. In device model, you should target new phones as the ‘new phone’ market is a great one for app developers as they’re the ones currently on the hunt for all of the latest and greatest apps to fill their 32 GB with.
Make sure to optimize your bid for each segment, as competition on prices may vary between different OS versions, device types, and models. This will maximize your ROI by paying the right price for the right audience.
Selecting Android devices to advertise on Twitter
Wi-Fi: If your app is heavy, you should only encourage users to download it when connected to wi-fi. By turning this feature on or off, you’re in control.
Last but not least, know that there is always a tradeoff between depth and reach. The more granular you target, the higher the cost, but also the greater the value generated. So, if you know your audience, great. If not, you can get a fairly good understanding by investing several thousand dollars, starting wide and letting the social networks’ machine learning figure it out.
2. Adapt the Right Native Format
Native advertising is red hot. By creating ads that are in the same format as the editorial content, marketers are providing a much more streamlined user experience, especially on mobile. According to Yahoo, effectively integrated native ads gained 3X more attention than non-native mobile ads, and a 2.6X higher CTR than other Yahoo mobile display ads.
Within native, social will account for the biggest share of ad revenue, according to BI Intelligence. This comes as no surprise as social is perhaps the “nativist” form of native advertising with powerful social sharing tools and an algorithm that most likely increases frequency of sponsored posts liked and shared by your friends.
Before choosing where to run your native ad, think hard about which format best suits your product. Facebook, for example, offers advertisers sponsored news feed posts, photo sharing apps like Instagram offer sponsored photo posts, while Pinterest offers sponsored pins. So if you want to advertise design-related products, Pinterest, with its powerful visual platform is a great match. Likewise, if you’re a travel app you can share images of your spectacular traveling destinations on Instagram.
3. Video in Social on Mobile
If mobile and social are the dynamic duo of digital advertising, video in social on mobile is what makes up the golden triangle. Although more costly, the format’s level of engagement is a world of its own (take Facebook’s video ads that generate 5-6% higher engagement than non-video Facebook ads).
Video ads on mobile are already working strong for YouTube, whose users are 1.4x as likely to watch ads on smartphones and also 1.4 times more likely to share the ads they watch on mobile; for Facebook with its whopping 3 billion views on mobile (many of them auto-played but impressive); and for Twitter where 90% of Promoted Video views take place on mobile devices.
Pinterest has just introduced Cinematic Pins, which can be classified as a form of video ads. They are a new motion-based mobile ad format that moves during scrolling.
If millennials are your aim, social networks like Vine, Instagram, and Snapchat are rising steadily in popularity, with new native video ads expected to be the next big thing.
Having said that, it’s important to note that video advertising is expensive and when it comes to creative it’s fairly static. What this means is that you should start running with video only once you already know what you want to say, and what worked for you on other channels. In other words, video is not the best testing format for new companies with limited budgets.
The auto-play function provides an excellent opportunity to catch your user’s attention. And best of all, you can also use a performance model here as Facebook will only charge you if your video was viewed for at least 10 seconds, while with Twitter you’ll only pay if the video was 100% in-view on a user’s device for at least three seconds.
4. Deep-Links for Optimal Social Sharing
Deeplinking is the technology that connects different mobile environments (app-to-app and mobile web-to-app), while allowing the opening of a specific app screen. Linkage is a non-issue on the web but on mobile it certainly is with lots and lots of broken user experiences.
For example, imagine you’re scrolling through your Facebook newsfeed and you receive an invite from a friend to play a game (Farmville, CandyCrush, whatever floats your boat). The invitation promises some type of reward i.e. 10 free coins, or all new powers, etc. If you want to create a seamless experience for your user, you need to make it as easy as possible for them to cash in on that promised incentive. Deep links allow you to bring users to a unique landing page within your app enabling them to cash-in on their freebie.
There are two ways you can use this feature on Facebook, one being through App Links, Facebook’s deeplinking tool, by following these implementation methods. If you haven’t enabled App Links, Facebook has created a new field in their app creation tool allowing developers to define the exact location they want to link their ads to.
Twitter enables deeplinking as well as allowing users to tap a link in twitter and end up on the specific page within the given app – if they’ve already installed it on their device. If not – they’ll be taken to the app store to download it. In order to enable the deeplinking feature on your Twitter ads, you’ll just need this new set of markup tags.
5. Measure, Measure, Measure
It goes without saying that if you want to become a super ‘social on mobile’ marketer, you need to measure your efforts. And do so tirelessly. You can either use the social networks’ analytics dashboards to understand what’s working and what’s not, or an analytics partner to get advanced functionalities like retention and cohort reports, multi-touch attribution, enhanced lifetime value analysis and comparison to multiple marketing activities across hundreds of media sources.
It is important to stress that the only way to measure campaigns on Facebook and Twitter is by either integrating their SDK in your app or the SDK of its official mobile measurement partners (here’s the Facebook list, and here’s Twitter’s).
Facebook has also announced that as of November 4th, 2015, advertisers will no longer have access to device level data from app install campaigns running on the social network. That means the only way to use this data in your Custom Audiences campaigns is by working with a mobile measurement partner that can transfer this rich in-app event data to Facebook for this purpose.
The Bottom Line
Mobile has taken the popularity of social networks to a whole new level entirely. Social engagement on mobile is dominating digital today, and this includes advertising – because it’s native, it’s video and it’s based on amazing data that leads to super sharp targeting with capabilities unique to mobile devices. When advertisers across the board embrace deeplinking to create unified user experiences and analytics to generate smart, data-driven decision making, the potential will be met in its fullest.
About the Author: Ran Avrahamy is the Head of Marketing at AppsFlyer.com. Managing a complicated relationship with mobile. (Too) early adopter. Loves being an entrepreneur – Hates the word entrepreneur.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1KNkYGD via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1EiKRBd
August 26, 2015 at 09:33PM
Social and mobile are exploding. That much is a given. With the powerful insights and data that social brings to the table, and the far stretching reach mobile offers, when we put the two together we’re left with digital’s power couple.
Perhaps these numbers will paint a better picture: on Pinterest 92% of users are logging in via their mobile devices, compared to 86% of Twitter users and 68% of Facebookers, not to mention mobile-only networks like SnapChat and Instagram. Needless to say, social on mobile is definitely where you want to be.
Here are five proven hacks to make your social advertising more effective and meaningful on mobile going forward.
1. Utilize Targeting Options Built for Mobile
One of the most useful aspects of social advertising is its plethora of advanced targeting options – the result of an enormous amount of data that’s unique, accurate and tied to specific users with known interests. What unique targeting options do social campaigns offer that are unique to mobile?
Hyper-local Ads: As a mobile marketer working with social media, location based ads will become one of your most powerful tools. Engaging with nearby customers can be extremely valuable whether you’re at an event, an owner of a restaurant, or a brick and mortar shop. By channeling the GPS capabilities of your smartphone, Facebook and Twitter can help businesses by allowing them to enter the business’ address along with a predetermined radius to notify users in the area.
For example, fashion retailers can target users who have an interest in fashion when they are near one of their stores. If they happen to know that a user viewed a stunning new dress in their app, they can retarget that user when she’s near the store by encouraging her to actually try it on. Lots of potential here.
Platform & Device Targeting: Another very useful targeting method for mobile marketers is related to the user’s mobile device. This includes fine tuning based on OS, OS version, device type and model.
OS version enables you, among other things, to exclude users with an out of date OS version that may not be compatible with your app or does not perform as well as with newer versions.
When targeting by device type, it is recommended to customize your ad using images of that same device you’re targeting. In device model, you should target new phones as the ‘new phone’ market is a great one for app developers as they’re the ones currently on the hunt for all of the latest and greatest apps to fill their 32 GB with.
Make sure to optimize your bid for each segment, as competition on prices may vary between different OS versions, device types, and models. This will maximize your ROI by paying the right price for the right audience.
Selecting Android devices to advertise on Twitter
Wi-Fi: If your app is heavy, you should only encourage users to download it when connected to wi-fi. By turning this feature on or off, you’re in control.
Last but not least, know that there is always a tradeoff between depth and reach. The more granular you target, the higher the cost, but also the greater the value generated. So, if you know your audience, great. If not, you can get a fairly good understanding by investing several thousand dollars, starting wide and letting the social networks’ machine learning figure it out.
2. Adapt the Right Native Format
Native advertising is red hot. By creating ads that are in the same format as the editorial content, marketers are providing a much more streamlined user experience, especially on mobile. According to Yahoo, effectively integrated native ads gained 3X more attention than non-native mobile ads, and a 2.6X higher CTR than other Yahoo mobile display ads.
Within native, social will account for the biggest share of ad revenue, according to BI Intelligence. This comes as no surprise as social is perhaps the “nativist” form of native advertising with powerful social sharing tools and an algorithm that most likely increases frequency of sponsored posts liked and shared by your friends.
Before choosing where to run your native ad, think hard about which format best suits your product. Facebook, for example, offers advertisers sponsored news feed posts, photo sharing apps like Instagram offer sponsored photo posts, while Pinterest offers sponsored pins. So if you want to advertise design-related products, Pinterest, with its powerful visual platform is a great match. Likewise, if you’re a travel app you can share images of your spectacular traveling destinations on Instagram.
3. Video in Social on Mobile
If mobile and social are the dynamic duo of digital advertising, video in social on mobile is what makes up the golden triangle. Although more costly, the format’s level of engagement is a world of its own (take Facebook’s video ads that generate 5-6% higher engagement than non-video Facebook ads).
Video ads on mobile are already working strong for YouTube, whose users are 1.4x as likely to watch ads on smartphones and also 1.4 times more likely to share the ads they watch on mobile; for Facebook with its whopping 3 billion views on mobile (many of them auto-played but impressive); and for Twitter where 90% of Promoted Video views take place on mobile devices.
Pinterest has just introduced Cinematic Pins, which can be classified as a form of video ads. They are a new motion-based mobile ad format that moves during scrolling.
If millennials are your aim, social networks like Vine, Instagram, and Snapchat are rising steadily in popularity, with new native video ads expected to be the next big thing.
Having said that, it’s important to note that video advertising is expensive and when it comes to creative it’s fairly static. What this means is that you should start running with video only once you already know what you want to say, and what worked for you on other channels. In other words, video is not the best testing format for new companies with limited budgets.
The auto-play function provides an excellent opportunity to catch your user’s attention. And best of all, you can also use a performance model here as Facebook will only charge you if your video was viewed for at least 10 seconds, while with Twitter you’ll only pay if the video was 100% in-view on a user’s device for at least three seconds.
4. Deep-Links for Optimal Social Sharing
Deeplinking is the technology that connects different mobile environments (app-to-app and mobile web-to-app), while allowing the opening of a specific app screen. Linkage is a non-issue on the web but on mobile it certainly is with lots and lots of broken user experiences.
For example, imagine you’re scrolling through your Facebook newsfeed and you receive an invite from a friend to play a game (Farmville, CandyCrush, whatever floats your boat). The invitation promises some type of reward i.e. 10 free coins, or all new powers, etc. If you want to create a seamless experience for your user, you need to make it as easy as possible for them to cash in on that promised incentive. Deep links allow you to bring users to a unique landing page within your app enabling them to cash-in on their freebie.
There are two ways you can use this feature on Facebook, one being through App Links, Facebook’s deeplinking tool, by following these implementation methods. If you haven’t enabled App Links, Facebook has created a new field in their app creation tool allowing developers to define the exact location they want to link their ads to.
Twitter enables deeplinking as well as allowing users to tap a link in twitter and end up on the specific page within the given app – if they’ve already installed it on their device. If not – they’ll be taken to the app store to download it. In order to enable the deeplinking feature on your Twitter ads, you’ll just need this new set of markup tags.
5. Measure, Measure, Measure
It goes without saying that if you want to become a super ‘social on mobile’ marketer, you need to measure your efforts. And do so tirelessly. You can either use the social networks’ analytics dashboards to understand what’s working and what’s not, or an analytics partner to get advanced functionalities like retention and cohort reports, multi-touch attribution, enhanced lifetime value analysis and comparison to multiple marketing activities across hundreds of media sources.
It is important to stress that the only way to measure campaigns on Facebook and Twitter is by either integrating their SDK in your app or the SDK of its official mobile measurement partners (here’s the Facebook list, and here’s Twitter’s).
Facebook has also announced that as of November 4th, 2015, advertisers will no longer have access to device level data from app install campaigns running on the social network. That means the only way to use this data in your Custom Audiences campaigns is by working with a mobile measurement partner that can transfer this rich in-app event data to Facebook for this purpose.
The Bottom Line
Mobile has taken the popularity of social networks to a whole new level entirely. Social engagement on mobile is dominating digital today, and this includes advertising – because it’s native, it’s video and it’s based on amazing data that leads to super sharp targeting with capabilities unique to mobile devices. When advertisers across the board embrace deeplinking to create unified user experiences and analytics to generate smart, data-driven decision making, the potential will be met in its fullest.
About the Author: Ran Avrahamy is the Head of Marketing at AppsFlyer.com. Managing a complicated relationship with mobile. (Too) early adopter. Loves being an entrepreneur – Hates the word entrepreneur.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1KNkYGD via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1EiKRBd
August 26, 2015 at 09:33PM
Added: Sep 24, 2015 Via IFTTT
5 Ways to Align Data and Storytelling for Business Growth
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
5 Ways to Align Data and Storytelling for Business Growth
Data is the most valuable tool in your business. Based on a Gartner survey, 73% of organizations have invested or plan to invest in big data within the next two years.
It’s now the responsibility of both marketing and IT departments to translate data into profitable insights. How your team integrates data into a strategy will help determine your business’s growth.
Equipped with a dash of business acumen and a pinch of creativity, companies can persuade buyers to purchase their products and services. Compelling statements backed by credible data will lead to an increase in conversion rates and ROIs.
Nedra Klein Weinreich, the president and founder of Weinreich Communications, agrees that storytelling is essential in our fast-paced society.
“I believe that the age of the 30-second spot and interruption marketing is just about over. It’s so easy now to skip over TV commercials with our DVRs, block online banner ads, and tune out the pitches being thrown at us constantly,” she says.
Right now, the marketer’s challenge is to create a data-driven recipe to drive sales growth, while presenting a consistent brand messages to customers.
It’s a great opportunity for organizations to transcend traditional norms. Companies that embrace this new way of thinking can separate themselves from competitors and gain an undeniable spot in the marketplace.
Explore these five ways to align data and storytelling into your business strategy:
1. Revamp Your Buyer Personas
To target the most influential consumers, data identifies which buyer personas have the most impact on lead generation. Teams then can create focused messaging to grab the customers’ attention.
Plus, research shows that by adopting marketing personas websites are two to five times more effective and easier to use.
For personas to be helpful, the data must be accurate. The information can be gathered from interviews with sales representatives, customer service interactions, and even customer complaints.
For B2B companies, conversations are concentrated on the client’s expected outcomes. Ardath Albee, a B2B marketing strategist, suggests gaining intel on the following:
What’s important to them, and what’s driving the change?
What’s impeding or speeding their need to change?
What’s the value they visualize once they make a decision?
What could cause the need for this change to lose priority?
In essence, personas assist your team in effectively meeting the buyers’ needs. Here’s an example:
Source
With properly researched buyer personas, you can now craft an intentional brand message. Cohesive content will offer your business as the solution to your clients’ problems. It nurtures prospects’ trust and converts leads.
Here’s a good example by Rain Castle. The creative agency built a CTA library based on solid messaging for the Jim Stengel Company.
Source
2. Influence Your Customer Service Team
With analytics, the goal is to change how we make decisions. Empowering customer service teams with proper data can prepare them for consumer interactions.
It really doesn’t pay to lose a customer. NewVoiceMedia found that the cost of poor customer service in America is $41 billion per year. Moreover, disappointed people tend to share their experiences with family and friends, which leaves a bitter taste in the mouth of both the disgruntled buyer and prospective customers.
Data helps your team fulfill the customer’s interests. For example, a simple analysis report may pinpoint that startups founded by millennials prefer discussing product details over lunch, instead of dinner.
Once the data is sorted, start generating scripts or messages for your customer service teams. Remember that a good story will influence your audience to care.
Your story toolbox should contain a promise and resolution for the client. Connect the story to their needs and focus on your company’s strengths.
Farnell element14, one of the world’s largest distributors of electronic components, tackled a customer perception issue. In a customer satisfaction survey, the company learned that consumers disliked their pricing, despite their competitively priced items.
Working with their pricing, analytics and marketing teams, they created a campaign to show customers “the products they had bought, what they paid last time, what the cost would be now and what the line saving was.” As a result of their initial campaign efforts, Farnell element14 achieved a 13% conversion rate.
Source
3. Reevaluate Your Loyalty Programs
The 2015 Loyalty Report states that 76% of Americans think that loyalty programs are part of their relationships with brands. A well-run rewards system is paramount to your customer retention rate.
Similar to interacting with your friends, loyal followers want you to communicate with them regularly. Give them the latest news and tips to better their endeavors. Social media and the occasional phone call are great ways for your customers to connect with your business.
Be sincere and transparent about your loyalty program’s intentions. Never abuse your customers’ data, like selling it to a third-party without their permission.
When you truly understand your customers, you understand their values and can build a story behind it. Offering a loyalty program centered around those particular values may offer more meaning to your customers than discounts.
Eco-friendly outdoor apparel company Patagonia decided to offer more than coupons to their loyal following. With help from eBay, it launched the Common Threads Initiative to aid customers with the reselling of their Patagonia clothing. The program reflected Patagonia’s brand of sustainability and gave their target audience an opportunity to participate in this shared mission.
Source
4. Freshen Your Content Strategy
Content marketing is transforming how organizations attract and retain consumers. The Content Marketing Institute reported that 70% of B2B marketers are creating more content than they did a year ago.
With the help of analytics, your team can use data to evaluate how the reader reacts (or doesn’t react) to specific content, which gives your team the power to create strategic messaging.
Social data is readily available and will aid your team in learning your audience’s interests. Focus your efforts on the topics and keywords your consumers use. Answer these questions:
What keywords does your audience use when engaging with your brand?
What is your audience most concerned about?
How are your competitors talking about their brands, and what do consumers say about them?
Data without a story results in a lack of interest. Good stories compel people to change. Whether you desire to spark interest amongst your clients or inspire them to take action, your content marketing strategy should appeal to people’s feelings.
Contently leads the industry in offering great content with powerful data. Their online magazine The Content Strategist offers better ways for businesses to connect to their consumers. Even their marketing includes the perfect ingredients‐data and storytelling.
5. Renew Your Email Campaigns
Email campaigns are effective tools when they convey the human experience. Aligning data with storytelling to send personalized campaigns will increase clickthroughs and convert prospects.
Marketers can use storytelling to tie in the emotion of the brand to the email recipient’s passions. Rich customer data gives businesses a sneak peak into every subscriber’s email activity, including when they opened the email and what they clicked. Customer behaviors should influence how you tell your business’s story.
The most engaging stories are sweet, spicy, and everything in-between. They are creative and relevant to the buyer. When the right story is told, sales resistance is lowered. Anecdotes wrap a healthy sales pitch into something delicious for the prospect.
This personalized LinkedIn message applies data-centered storytelling with a relatable twist.
Source
Transcend the Competition
Data is valuable, but most people seek a connection, too. Encourage your team to build customer relationships by weaving data within storytelling. Buyers gain personalized services, while your business can increase its customer lifetime value.
Leverage the power of statistics and stories. When you satisfy your customer’s appetite, your company will experience growth.
About the Author: Shayla Price lives at the intersection of digital marketing, technology and social responsibility. Connect with her on Twitter: @shaylaprice
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1L8EMKE via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1LzMNXO
September 24, 2015 at 10:47PM
Data is the most valuable tool in your business. Based on a Gartner survey, 73% of organizations have invested or plan to invest in big data within the next two years.
It’s now the responsibility of both marketing and IT departments to translate data into profitable insights. How your team integrates data into a strategy will help determine your business’s growth.
Equipped with a dash of business acumen and a pinch of creativity, companies can persuade buyers to purchase their products and services. Compelling statements backed by credible data will lead to an increase in conversion rates and ROIs.
Nedra Klein Weinreich, the president and founder of Weinreich Communications, agrees that storytelling is essential in our fast-paced society.
“I believe that the age of the 30-second spot and interruption marketing is just about over. It’s so easy now to skip over TV commercials with our DVRs, block online banner ads, and tune out the pitches being thrown at us constantly,” she says.
Right now, the marketer’s challenge is to create a data-driven recipe to drive sales growth, while presenting a consistent brand messages to customers.
It’s a great opportunity for organizations to transcend traditional norms. Companies that embrace this new way of thinking can separate themselves from competitors and gain an undeniable spot in the marketplace.
Explore these five ways to align data and storytelling into your business strategy:
1. Revamp Your Buyer Personas
To target the most influential consumers, data identifies which buyer personas have the most impact on lead generation. Teams then can create focused messaging to grab the customers’ attention.
Plus, research shows that by adopting marketing personas websites are two to five times more effective and easier to use.
For personas to be helpful, the data must be accurate. The information can be gathered from interviews with sales representatives, customer service interactions, and even customer complaints.
For B2B companies, conversations are concentrated on the client’s expected outcomes. Ardath Albee, a B2B marketing strategist, suggests gaining intel on the following:
What’s important to them, and what’s driving the change?
What’s impeding or speeding their need to change?
What’s the value they visualize once they make a decision?
What could cause the need for this change to lose priority?
In essence, personas assist your team in effectively meeting the buyers’ needs. Here’s an example:
Source
With properly researched buyer personas, you can now craft an intentional brand message. Cohesive content will offer your business as the solution to your clients’ problems. It nurtures prospects’ trust and converts leads.
Here’s a good example by Rain Castle. The creative agency built a CTA library based on solid messaging for the Jim Stengel Company.
Source
2. Influence Your Customer Service Team
With analytics, the goal is to change how we make decisions. Empowering customer service teams with proper data can prepare them for consumer interactions.
It really doesn’t pay to lose a customer. NewVoiceMedia found that the cost of poor customer service in America is $41 billion per year. Moreover, disappointed people tend to share their experiences with family and friends, which leaves a bitter taste in the mouth of both the disgruntled buyer and prospective customers.
Data helps your team fulfill the customer’s interests. For example, a simple analysis report may pinpoint that startups founded by millennials prefer discussing product details over lunch, instead of dinner.
Once the data is sorted, start generating scripts or messages for your customer service teams. Remember that a good story will influence your audience to care.
Your story toolbox should contain a promise and resolution for the client. Connect the story to their needs and focus on your company’s strengths.
Farnell element14, one of the world’s largest distributors of electronic components, tackled a customer perception issue. In a customer satisfaction survey, the company learned that consumers disliked their pricing, despite their competitively priced items.
Working with their pricing, analytics and marketing teams, they created a campaign to show customers “the products they had bought, what they paid last time, what the cost would be now and what the line saving was.” As a result of their initial campaign efforts, Farnell element14 achieved a 13% conversion rate.
Source
3. Reevaluate Your Loyalty Programs
The 2015 Loyalty Report states that 76% of Americans think that loyalty programs are part of their relationships with brands. A well-run rewards system is paramount to your customer retention rate.
Similar to interacting with your friends, loyal followers want you to communicate with them regularly. Give them the latest news and tips to better their endeavors. Social media and the occasional phone call are great ways for your customers to connect with your business.
Be sincere and transparent about your loyalty program’s intentions. Never abuse your customers’ data, like selling it to a third-party without their permission.
When you truly understand your customers, you understand their values and can build a story behind it. Offering a loyalty program centered around those particular values may offer more meaning to your customers than discounts.
Eco-friendly outdoor apparel company Patagonia decided to offer more than coupons to their loyal following. With help from eBay, it launched the Common Threads Initiative to aid customers with the reselling of their Patagonia clothing. The program reflected Patagonia’s brand of sustainability and gave their target audience an opportunity to participate in this shared mission.
Source
4. Freshen Your Content Strategy
Content marketing is transforming how organizations attract and retain consumers. The Content Marketing Institute reported that 70% of B2B marketers are creating more content than they did a year ago.
With the help of analytics, your team can use data to evaluate how the reader reacts (or doesn’t react) to specific content, which gives your team the power to create strategic messaging.
Social data is readily available and will aid your team in learning your audience’s interests. Focus your efforts on the topics and keywords your consumers use. Answer these questions:
What keywords does your audience use when engaging with your brand?
What is your audience most concerned about?
How are your competitors talking about their brands, and what do consumers say about them?
Data without a story results in a lack of interest. Good stories compel people to change. Whether you desire to spark interest amongst your clients or inspire them to take action, your content marketing strategy should appeal to people’s feelings.
Contently leads the industry in offering great content with powerful data. Their online magazine The Content Strategist offers better ways for businesses to connect to their consumers. Even their marketing includes the perfect ingredients‐data and storytelling.
5. Renew Your Email Campaigns
Email campaigns are effective tools when they convey the human experience. Aligning data with storytelling to send personalized campaigns will increase clickthroughs and convert prospects.
Marketers can use storytelling to tie in the emotion of the brand to the email recipient’s passions. Rich customer data gives businesses a sneak peak into every subscriber’s email activity, including when they opened the email and what they clicked. Customer behaviors should influence how you tell your business’s story.
The most engaging stories are sweet, spicy, and everything in-between. They are creative and relevant to the buyer. When the right story is told, sales resistance is lowered. Anecdotes wrap a healthy sales pitch into something delicious for the prospect.
This personalized LinkedIn message applies data-centered storytelling with a relatable twist.
Source
Transcend the Competition
Data is valuable, but most people seek a connection, too. Encourage your team to build customer relationships by weaving data within storytelling. Buyers gain personalized services, while your business can increase its customer lifetime value.
Leverage the power of statistics and stories. When you satisfy your customer’s appetite, your company will experience growth.
About the Author: Shayla Price lives at the intersection of digital marketing, technology and social responsibility. Connect with her on Twitter: @shaylaprice
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1L8EMKE via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1LzMNXO
September 24, 2015 at 10:47PM
Added: Apr 22, 2019 Via IFTTT
5 Ways to Align Data and Storytelling for Business Growth
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
5 Ways to Align Data and Storytelling for Business Growth
Data is the most valuable tool in your business. Based on a Gartner survey, 73% of organizations have invested or plan to invest in big data within the next two years.
It’s now the responsibility of both marketing and IT departments to translate data into profitable insights. How your team integrates data into a strategy will help determine your business’s growth.
Equipped with a dash of business acumen and a pinch of creativity, companies can persuade buyers to purchase their products and services. Compelling statements backed by credible data will lead to an increase in conversion rates and ROIs.
Nedra Klein Weinreich, the president and founder of Weinreich Communications, agrees that storytelling is essential in our fast-paced society.
“I believe that the age of the 30-second spot and interruption marketing is just about over. It’s so easy now to skip over TV commercials with our DVRs, block online banner ads, and tune out the pitches being thrown at us constantly,” she says.
Right now, the marketer’s challenge is to create a data-driven recipe to drive sales growth, while presenting a consistent brand messages to customers.
It’s a great opportunity for organizations to transcend traditional norms. Companies that embrace this new way of thinking can separate themselves from competitors and gain an undeniable spot in the marketplace.
Explore these five ways to align data and storytelling into your business strategy:
1. Revamp Your Buyer Personas
To target the most influential consumers, data identifies which buyer personas have the most impact on lead generation. Teams then can create focused messaging to grab the customers’ attention.
Plus, research shows that by adopting marketing personas websites are two to five times more effective and easier to use.
For personas to be helpful, the data must be accurate. The information can be gathered from interviews with sales representatives, customer service interactions, and even customer complaints.
For B2B companies, conversations are concentrated on the client’s expected outcomes. Ardath Albee, a B2B marketing strategist, suggests gaining intel on the following:
What’s important to them, and what’s driving the change?
What’s impeding or speeding their need to change?
What’s the value they visualize once they make a decision?
What could cause the need for this change to lose priority?
In essence, personas assist your team in effectively meeting the buyers’ needs. Here’s an example:
Source
With properly researched buyer personas, you can now craft an intentional brand message. Cohesive content will offer your business as the solution to your clients’ problems. It nurtures prospects’ trust and converts leads.
Here’s a good example by Rain Castle. The creative agency built a CTA library based on solid messaging for the Jim Stengel Company.
Source
2. Influence Your Customer Service Team
With analytics, the goal is to change how we make decisions. Empowering customer service teams with proper data can prepare them for consumer interactions.
It really doesn’t pay to lose a customer. NewVoiceMedia found that the cost of poor customer service in America is $41 billion per year. Moreover, disappointed people tend to share their experiences with family and friends, which leaves a bitter taste in the mouth of both the disgruntled buyer and prospective customers.
Data helps your team fulfill the customer’s interests. For example, a simple analysis report may pinpoint that startups founded by millennials prefer discussing product details over lunch, instead of dinner.
Once the data is sorted, start generating scripts or messages for your customer service teams. Remember that a good story will influence your audience to care.
Your story toolbox should contain a promise and resolution for the client. Connect the story to their needs and focus on your company’s strengths.
Farnell element14, one of the world’s largest distributors of electronic components, tackled a customer perception issue. In a customer satisfaction survey, the company learned that consumers disliked their pricing, despite their competitively priced items.
Working with their pricing, analytics and marketing teams, they created a campaign to show customers “the products they had bought, what they paid last time, what the cost would be now and what the line saving was.” As a result of their initial campaign efforts, Farnell element14 achieved a 13% conversion rate.
Source
3. Reevaluate Your Loyalty Programs
The 2015 Loyalty Report states that 76% of Americans think that loyalty programs are part of their relationships with brands. A well-run rewards system is paramount to your customer retention rate.
Similar to interacting with your friends, loyal followers want you to communicate with them regularly. Give them the latest news and tips to better their endeavors. Social media and the occasional phone call are great ways for your customers to connect with your business.
Be sincere and transparent about your loyalty program’s intentions. Never abuse your customers’ data, like selling it to a third-party without their permission.
When you truly understand your customers, you understand their values and can build a story behind it. Offering a loyalty program centered around those particular values may offer more meaning to your customers than discounts.
Eco-friendly outdoor apparel company Patagonia decided to offer more than coupons to their loyal following. With help from eBay, it launched the Common Threads Initiative to aid customers with the reselling of their Patagonia clothing. The program reflected Patagonia’s brand of sustainability and gave their target audience an opportunity to participate in this shared mission.
Source
4. Freshen Your Content Strategy
Content marketing is transforming how organizations attract and retain consumers. The Content Marketing Institute reported that 70% of B2B marketers are creating more content than they did a year ago.
With the help of analytics, your team can use data to evaluate how the reader reacts (or doesn’t react) to specific content, which gives your team the power to create strategic messaging.
Social data is readily available and will aid your team in learning your audience’s interests. Focus your efforts on the topics and keywords your consumers use. Answer these questions:
What keywords does your audience use when engaging with your brand?
What is your audience most concerned about?
How are your competitors talking about their brands, and what do consumers say about them?
Data without a story results in a lack of interest. Good stories compel people to change. Whether you desire to spark interest amongst your clients or inspire them to take action, your content marketing strategy should appeal to people’s feelings.
Contently leads the industry in offering great content with powerful data. Their online magazine The Content Strategist offers better ways for businesses to connect to their consumers. Even their marketing includes the perfect ingredients‐data and storytelling.
5. Renew Your Email Campaigns
Email campaigns are effective tools when they convey the human experience. Aligning data with storytelling to send personalized campaigns will increase clickthroughs and convert prospects.
Marketers can use storytelling to tie in the emotion of the brand to the email recipient’s passions. Rich customer data gives businesses a sneak peak into every subscriber’s email activity, including when they opened the email and what they clicked. Customer behaviors should influence how you tell your business’s story.
The most engaging stories are sweet, spicy, and everything in-between. They are creative and relevant to the buyer. When the right story is told, sales resistance is lowered. Anecdotes wrap a healthy sales pitch into something delicious for the prospect.
This personalized LinkedIn message applies data-centered storytelling with a relatable twist.
Source
Transcend the Competition
Data is valuable, but most people seek a connection, too. Encourage your team to build customer relationships by weaving data within storytelling. Buyers gain personalized services, while your business can increase its customer lifetime value.
Leverage the power of statistics and stories. When you satisfy your customer’s appetite, your company will experience growth.
About the Author: Shayla Price lives at the intersection of digital marketing, technology and social responsibility. Connect with her on Twitter: @shaylaprice
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1L8EMKE via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://bit.ly/2KSpVdG
September 24, 2015 at 10:47PM
Data is the most valuable tool in your business. Based on a Gartner survey, 73% of organizations have invested or plan to invest in big data within the next two years.
It’s now the responsibility of both marketing and IT departments to translate data into profitable insights. How your team integrates data into a strategy will help determine your business’s growth.
Equipped with a dash of business acumen and a pinch of creativity, companies can persuade buyers to purchase their products and services. Compelling statements backed by credible data will lead to an increase in conversion rates and ROIs.
Nedra Klein Weinreich, the president and founder of Weinreich Communications, agrees that storytelling is essential in our fast-paced society.
“I believe that the age of the 30-second spot and interruption marketing is just about over. It’s so easy now to skip over TV commercials with our DVRs, block online banner ads, and tune out the pitches being thrown at us constantly,” she says.
Right now, the marketer’s challenge is to create a data-driven recipe to drive sales growth, while presenting a consistent brand messages to customers.
It’s a great opportunity for organizations to transcend traditional norms. Companies that embrace this new way of thinking can separate themselves from competitors and gain an undeniable spot in the marketplace.
Explore these five ways to align data and storytelling into your business strategy:
1. Revamp Your Buyer Personas
To target the most influential consumers, data identifies which buyer personas have the most impact on lead generation. Teams then can create focused messaging to grab the customers’ attention.
Plus, research shows that by adopting marketing personas websites are two to five times more effective and easier to use.
For personas to be helpful, the data must be accurate. The information can be gathered from interviews with sales representatives, customer service interactions, and even customer complaints.
For B2B companies, conversations are concentrated on the client’s expected outcomes. Ardath Albee, a B2B marketing strategist, suggests gaining intel on the following:
What’s important to them, and what’s driving the change?
What’s impeding or speeding their need to change?
What’s the value they visualize once they make a decision?
What could cause the need for this change to lose priority?
In essence, personas assist your team in effectively meeting the buyers’ needs. Here’s an example:
Source
With properly researched buyer personas, you can now craft an intentional brand message. Cohesive content will offer your business as the solution to your clients’ problems. It nurtures prospects’ trust and converts leads.
Here’s a good example by Rain Castle. The creative agency built a CTA library based on solid messaging for the Jim Stengel Company.
Source
2. Influence Your Customer Service Team
With analytics, the goal is to change how we make decisions. Empowering customer service teams with proper data can prepare them for consumer interactions.
It really doesn’t pay to lose a customer. NewVoiceMedia found that the cost of poor customer service in America is $41 billion per year. Moreover, disappointed people tend to share their experiences with family and friends, which leaves a bitter taste in the mouth of both the disgruntled buyer and prospective customers.
Data helps your team fulfill the customer’s interests. For example, a simple analysis report may pinpoint that startups founded by millennials prefer discussing product details over lunch, instead of dinner.
Once the data is sorted, start generating scripts or messages for your customer service teams. Remember that a good story will influence your audience to care.
Your story toolbox should contain a promise and resolution for the client. Connect the story to their needs and focus on your company’s strengths.
Farnell element14, one of the world’s largest distributors of electronic components, tackled a customer perception issue. In a customer satisfaction survey, the company learned that consumers disliked their pricing, despite their competitively priced items.
Working with their pricing, analytics and marketing teams, they created a campaign to show customers “the products they had bought, what they paid last time, what the cost would be now and what the line saving was.” As a result of their initial campaign efforts, Farnell element14 achieved a 13% conversion rate.
Source
3. Reevaluate Your Loyalty Programs
The 2015 Loyalty Report states that 76% of Americans think that loyalty programs are part of their relationships with brands. A well-run rewards system is paramount to your customer retention rate.
Similar to interacting with your friends, loyal followers want you to communicate with them regularly. Give them the latest news and tips to better their endeavors. Social media and the occasional phone call are great ways for your customers to connect with your business.
Be sincere and transparent about your loyalty program’s intentions. Never abuse your customers’ data, like selling it to a third-party without their permission.
When you truly understand your customers, you understand their values and can build a story behind it. Offering a loyalty program centered around those particular values may offer more meaning to your customers than discounts.
Eco-friendly outdoor apparel company Patagonia decided to offer more than coupons to their loyal following. With help from eBay, it launched the Common Threads Initiative to aid customers with the reselling of their Patagonia clothing. The program reflected Patagonia’s brand of sustainability and gave their target audience an opportunity to participate in this shared mission.
Source
4. Freshen Your Content Strategy
Content marketing is transforming how organizations attract and retain consumers. The Content Marketing Institute reported that 70% of B2B marketers are creating more content than they did a year ago.
With the help of analytics, your team can use data to evaluate how the reader reacts (or doesn’t react) to specific content, which gives your team the power to create strategic messaging.
Social data is readily available and will aid your team in learning your audience’s interests. Focus your efforts on the topics and keywords your consumers use. Answer these questions:
What keywords does your audience use when engaging with your brand?
What is your audience most concerned about?
How are your competitors talking about their brands, and what do consumers say about them?
Data without a story results in a lack of interest. Good stories compel people to change. Whether you desire to spark interest amongst your clients or inspire them to take action, your content marketing strategy should appeal to people’s feelings.
Contently leads the industry in offering great content with powerful data. Their online magazine The Content Strategist offers better ways for businesses to connect to their consumers. Even their marketing includes the perfect ingredients‐data and storytelling.
5. Renew Your Email Campaigns
Email campaigns are effective tools when they convey the human experience. Aligning data with storytelling to send personalized campaigns will increase clickthroughs and convert prospects.
Marketers can use storytelling to tie in the emotion of the brand to the email recipient’s passions. Rich customer data gives businesses a sneak peak into every subscriber’s email activity, including when they opened the email and what they clicked. Customer behaviors should influence how you tell your business’s story.
The most engaging stories are sweet, spicy, and everything in-between. They are creative and relevant to the buyer. When the right story is told, sales resistance is lowered. Anecdotes wrap a healthy sales pitch into something delicious for the prospect.
This personalized LinkedIn message applies data-centered storytelling with a relatable twist.
Source
Transcend the Competition
Data is valuable, but most people seek a connection, too. Encourage your team to build customer relationships by weaving data within storytelling. Buyers gain personalized services, while your business can increase its customer lifetime value.
Leverage the power of statistics and stories. When you satisfy your customer’s appetite, your company will experience growth.
About the Author: Shayla Price lives at the intersection of digital marketing, technology and social responsibility. Connect with her on Twitter: @shaylaprice
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1L8EMKE via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://bit.ly/2KSpVdG
September 24, 2015 at 10:47PM
Added: Jul 27, 2015 Via IFTTT
5 Ways to Become a Better Headline Writer
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
5 Ways to Become a Better Headline Writer
Article headlines make the Internet go round.
Ask any marketer, any writer, any reader, anyone. They’ll tell you: Article headlines are super important.
How important, really, are headlines? Experience, data, and history all point to the fact that headlines are the single most important component of an article, bar none. You’ve heard the statistics repeated ad nauseum — 80% read the headline, 20% read the article, ten seconds to gain someone’s attention, and all the other scary and data-driven statistics.
Source
Recognize this? I thought so.
You know all this. More relevant to you is your own experience with headlines. Why are you even reading this paragraph right now, at this point in the space/time continuum of your mortal existence?
You were beckoned by the headline, formula-driven and hackneyed as it was, right?
Even though we’re Buzzfed up, Upworthyized, Viralnovaed, and Clickholed out of our minds, we can’t shake off this all-important reality: Headlines are freaking important.
In fact, the word “important” isn’t strong enough.
I’ve summed up the X ways that are guaranteed to turn you into a better headline writer. No matter who you are, what language you speak, or your final grade in composition class, you can develop white-hot skills in headline creation. Starting now.
Once you reach this level of awesome, you’ll reap the rewards in traffic, audience, readership, engagement, conversions, and, hey, even feeling really good about yourself.
1. Know Your Audience
I hate to lead off with a boring one, but it’s critical. You have to know your audience.
Let me give you an example to explain what I mean.
Look at this headline: “Neuropeptide Y—a novel brain peptide with structural similarities to peptide YY and pancreatic polypeptide.”
Is that not magnetic? Did it not capture your attention in two seconds? Will you not read the entirety of the article with rapt attention and owl-like eyes?
You might find this headline uncontrollably entrancing if you are a peptide researcher, are a neurobiologist, are K. Tatemoto, or have a side hustle researching pancreatic peptides.
This headline might just be the most electrifying headline in the whole world. Why? Because it could be exactly what some people are interested in. A good headline is relevant to the audience.
Get it? Okay, now, here’s another example: “He Thought He Just Found A Regular Fish, But When He Looked Closer, He Couldn’t Believe It.”
Is that appealing? Absolutely. It has a wider appeal than polypeptides, which is cool, because ViralNova isn’t concerned about targeting a narrow slice of the human population. They are concerned with getting as many eyeballs on their content as possible. Who wouldn’t want to find out about a guy who couldn’t believe it when he thought he just found a regular fish?
What is the difference between the peptide headline and the mind-blowing fish headline?
Audience.
It all comes down to audience. The Nature Science Journal has identified the audience that they want to attract (scientists), and ViralNova has identified the audience that they want to attract (warm bodies with a proclivity for clicking).
The right headline is only the right headline for the right audience. (Yes, I used the word “right” three times in that sentence, and I’m not apologizing.)
So, what’s the takeaway for you who desire to be a better headline writer?
Know your audience.
Once you figure it out who your audience is, really and deeply, and discover what they want, you can create the best headline for them. A good headline is only as good as it is relevant to your audience.
2. Practice
You only get better at something by doing it. A lot.
Improvement gurus call it deliberate practice or DP. Why is Kobe Bryant so good at basketball? How did Misty Copeland become a star ballerina?
Talent is overrated. Practice is everything. It’s no different with writing headlines. You’ve got to do it again, and again, and again, and again to the power of 100.
Sims Wyeth, an Inc. contributor explains, “to get better at almost anything” you have to practice. That practice, deliberate practice to be precise, “consists of endless repetition and excruciating boredom.”
Did you get that? Endless repetition. Excruciating boredom. Getting better at headline writing is an attractive destination, but the path to get there is agonizing. You’re not going to love it. You’re going to loathe it.
Coschedule recommends writing at least 25 headlines per topic/article in order to come up with the best one. After you come up with 25, you eliminate over half, narrow it down to the best five, and poll your friends on the best of the survivors.
25 headlines is a lot of headlines. But it’s not just the number that is important. It’s the practice that goes into writing headline after headline after headline.
Practicing writing headlines produces perfect headlines.
3. Follow Patterns
I’m skeptical of formula-driven headlines. How many “things you didn’t know,” and “7 ways” (oops), and “you’re doing it wrong” articles can a single human being take in during a single lifetime?
But here’s the thing. Headline formulas and patterns become formulas and patterns because of their proven past success. Even though you’ve already read eighteen “how-to” articles and nine list posts today, you’ll probably give in and read another six or so before 5pm.
For example, Brian Clark of Copyblogger wrote an article a while back called “10 Sure-Fire Headline Formulas That Work.” His headline? It worked.
And his formulas? Heck, they work, too!
One of the reasons why they work is because they are psychologically appealing (more on that later) and audience specific.
Let me show you one of Clark’s formulas as an example.
Formula: Here is a Method That is Helping [blank] to [blank]
The title here is ready to be tailored to a specific audience. Here are Clark’s three examples with my description of the intended audience.
Here is a Method That is Helping Homeowners Save Hundreds on InsuranceAudience: Homeowners who want to save money
Here is a Method That is Helping Children Learn to Read SoonerAudience: Parents and child educators
Here is a Method That is Helping Bloggers Write Better Post TitlesAudience: You
The formula-driven technique is only as effective as the titles are relevant to the audience. Go back to point number one and read it again if you’re not entirely clear on this concept.
If all else fails and you simply cannot come up with a good headline, use a formula. They’re like training wheels. The more you write, the better you’ll get. And then you can branch out on your own.
4. Split Test
Split testing is the key to unlocking the potential of your website. I test everything. Images, kerning, headlines, post length, social media frequency, load time, navigation changes — everything.
Why? Because split testing produces improvements.
If you aren’t split testing your headlines, you’re missing out on a major source of knowledge. The better you know how your headlines perform, the greater ability you possess to produce killer headlines.
Let’s say you produce a headline for an article, publish the article, and it gets shared and liked. Good. But what if you had written a different headline? Would it have gotten more shares and more likes? You won’t know unless you test.
In a study released by Unbounce, one website tested three headlines, leading them to discover the winning headline with a 41% boost in conversions.
Another single headline change produced a 68% higher CTR.
Sources for both images
Testing is a scientifically sound and rigorous method of determining the actual best headlines. By running these tests and uncovering the comparative success of your headlines, you can’t help but get better.
A less scientific way to test your headlines is with simple polls. When you come up with a series of headlines, send them to your colleagues and let them vote on which one they think is best. Although it’s not quite as sophisticated as running a split test, you’ll still be able to learn what best resonates with people.
By polling and testing, you overcome one of the greatest roadblocks to writing effective headlines: Your own flawed assumptions. Assumptions are like a rut. You get stuck in it, don’t know you’re in it, and your conversions and clickthroughs are dying as a result.
Kick yourself out of the rut with a little good old-fashioned testing, and you’ll race lightyears ahead in your headline creation skill.
5. Study Human Psychology
This final point sounds a bit weird, but it’s incredibly effective.
Human psychology is the study of the mind — how it works, how it is motivated, how it processes information, etc. By unlocking a few common thinking methods, cognitive biases, and tendencies, you will be able to learn powerful ways of writing headlines that people deeply crave on an elemental level.
For example, are you aware of the self-reference effect? According to the self-reference effect, the human mind interprets events and experiences in a different way if the information is related somehow to themselves. Memory works better when the information being remembered is related to the self.
When this mental effect is applied to headline creation, it lets us know that we need to relate the headlines to the audience. More specifically, the self-reference effect informs us that using the word “you” or equivalents in a headline may improve the memorability and attractiveness of a particular headline.
There’s no reason why issues like the self-reference effect should be locked away in volumes of peer-reviewed cognitive neuroscience medical journals. You should be using such knowledge to enhance your own article titles.
Conclusion
Becoming a better headline writer is the good life. When you can unleash great headlines with skill and ease, everything in online marketing gets better. Conversions. Engagement. Clickthroughs. Shares. Traffic.
It’s all there.
“Getting better,” however, isn’t an accident. It requires intentional and sometimes mind-numbing effort. Remember the whole “endless repetition and excruciating boredom” bit? Yeah, it’s going to feel like that sometimes.
Don’t stop. Success is in the offing. Let’s go make headlines that turn heads.
How have you improved your ability to write great headlines?
About the Author: Neil Patel is a lifelong evangelist of Kissmetrics and blogs at Quick Sprout.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1LPaADD via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1D2YLH8
July 28, 2015 at 01:18AM
Article headlines make the Internet go round.
Ask any marketer, any writer, any reader, anyone. They’ll tell you: Article headlines are super important.
How important, really, are headlines? Experience, data, and history all point to the fact that headlines are the single most important component of an article, bar none. You’ve heard the statistics repeated ad nauseum — 80% read the headline, 20% read the article, ten seconds to gain someone’s attention, and all the other scary and data-driven statistics.
Source
Recognize this? I thought so.
You know all this. More relevant to you is your own experience with headlines. Why are you even reading this paragraph right now, at this point in the space/time continuum of your mortal existence?
You were beckoned by the headline, formula-driven and hackneyed as it was, right?
Even though we’re Buzzfed up, Upworthyized, Viralnovaed, and Clickholed out of our minds, we can’t shake off this all-important reality: Headlines are freaking important.
In fact, the word “important” isn’t strong enough.
I’ve summed up the X ways that are guaranteed to turn you into a better headline writer. No matter who you are, what language you speak, or your final grade in composition class, you can develop white-hot skills in headline creation. Starting now.
Once you reach this level of awesome, you’ll reap the rewards in traffic, audience, readership, engagement, conversions, and, hey, even feeling really good about yourself.
1. Know Your Audience
I hate to lead off with a boring one, but it’s critical. You have to know your audience.
Let me give you an example to explain what I mean.
Look at this headline: “Neuropeptide Y—a novel brain peptide with structural similarities to peptide YY and pancreatic polypeptide.”
Is that not magnetic? Did it not capture your attention in two seconds? Will you not read the entirety of the article with rapt attention and owl-like eyes?
You might find this headline uncontrollably entrancing if you are a peptide researcher, are a neurobiologist, are K. Tatemoto, or have a side hustle researching pancreatic peptides.
This headline might just be the most electrifying headline in the whole world. Why? Because it could be exactly what some people are interested in. A good headline is relevant to the audience.
Get it? Okay, now, here’s another example: “He Thought He Just Found A Regular Fish, But When He Looked Closer, He Couldn’t Believe It.”
Is that appealing? Absolutely. It has a wider appeal than polypeptides, which is cool, because ViralNova isn’t concerned about targeting a narrow slice of the human population. They are concerned with getting as many eyeballs on their content as possible. Who wouldn’t want to find out about a guy who couldn’t believe it when he thought he just found a regular fish?
What is the difference between the peptide headline and the mind-blowing fish headline?
Audience.
It all comes down to audience. The Nature Science Journal has identified the audience that they want to attract (scientists), and ViralNova has identified the audience that they want to attract (warm bodies with a proclivity for clicking).
The right headline is only the right headline for the right audience. (Yes, I used the word “right” three times in that sentence, and I’m not apologizing.)
So, what’s the takeaway for you who desire to be a better headline writer?
Know your audience.
Once you figure it out who your audience is, really and deeply, and discover what they want, you can create the best headline for them. A good headline is only as good as it is relevant to your audience.
2. Practice
You only get better at something by doing it. A lot.
Improvement gurus call it deliberate practice or DP. Why is Kobe Bryant so good at basketball? How did Misty Copeland become a star ballerina?
Talent is overrated. Practice is everything. It’s no different with writing headlines. You’ve got to do it again, and again, and again, and again to the power of 100.
Sims Wyeth, an Inc. contributor explains, “to get better at almost anything” you have to practice. That practice, deliberate practice to be precise, “consists of endless repetition and excruciating boredom.”
Did you get that? Endless repetition. Excruciating boredom. Getting better at headline writing is an attractive destination, but the path to get there is agonizing. You’re not going to love it. You’re going to loathe it.
Coschedule recommends writing at least 25 headlines per topic/article in order to come up with the best one. After you come up with 25, you eliminate over half, narrow it down to the best five, and poll your friends on the best of the survivors.
25 headlines is a lot of headlines. But it’s not just the number that is important. It’s the practice that goes into writing headline after headline after headline.
Practicing writing headlines produces perfect headlines.
3. Follow Patterns
I’m skeptical of formula-driven headlines. How many “things you didn’t know,” and “7 ways” (oops), and “you’re doing it wrong” articles can a single human being take in during a single lifetime?
But here’s the thing. Headline formulas and patterns become formulas and patterns because of their proven past success. Even though you’ve already read eighteen “how-to” articles and nine list posts today, you’ll probably give in and read another six or so before 5pm.
For example, Brian Clark of Copyblogger wrote an article a while back called “10 Sure-Fire Headline Formulas That Work.” His headline? It worked.
And his formulas? Heck, they work, too!
One of the reasons why they work is because they are psychologically appealing (more on that later) and audience specific.
Let me show you one of Clark’s formulas as an example.
Formula: Here is a Method That is Helping [blank] to [blank]
The title here is ready to be tailored to a specific audience. Here are Clark’s three examples with my description of the intended audience.
Here is a Method That is Helping Homeowners Save Hundreds on InsuranceAudience: Homeowners who want to save money
Here is a Method That is Helping Children Learn to Read SoonerAudience: Parents and child educators
Here is a Method That is Helping Bloggers Write Better Post TitlesAudience: You
The formula-driven technique is only as effective as the titles are relevant to the audience. Go back to point number one and read it again if you’re not entirely clear on this concept.
If all else fails and you simply cannot come up with a good headline, use a formula. They’re like training wheels. The more you write, the better you’ll get. And then you can branch out on your own.
4. Split Test
Split testing is the key to unlocking the potential of your website. I test everything. Images, kerning, headlines, post length, social media frequency, load time, navigation changes — everything.
Why? Because split testing produces improvements.
If you aren’t split testing your headlines, you’re missing out on a major source of knowledge. The better you know how your headlines perform, the greater ability you possess to produce killer headlines.
Let’s say you produce a headline for an article, publish the article, and it gets shared and liked. Good. But what if you had written a different headline? Would it have gotten more shares and more likes? You won’t know unless you test.
In a study released by Unbounce, one website tested three headlines, leading them to discover the winning headline with a 41% boost in conversions.
Another single headline change produced a 68% higher CTR.
Sources for both images
Testing is a scientifically sound and rigorous method of determining the actual best headlines. By running these tests and uncovering the comparative success of your headlines, you can’t help but get better.
A less scientific way to test your headlines is with simple polls. When you come up with a series of headlines, send them to your colleagues and let them vote on which one they think is best. Although it’s not quite as sophisticated as running a split test, you’ll still be able to learn what best resonates with people.
By polling and testing, you overcome one of the greatest roadblocks to writing effective headlines: Your own flawed assumptions. Assumptions are like a rut. You get stuck in it, don’t know you’re in it, and your conversions and clickthroughs are dying as a result.
Kick yourself out of the rut with a little good old-fashioned testing, and you’ll race lightyears ahead in your headline creation skill.
5. Study Human Psychology
This final point sounds a bit weird, but it’s incredibly effective.
Human psychology is the study of the mind — how it works, how it is motivated, how it processes information, etc. By unlocking a few common thinking methods, cognitive biases, and tendencies, you will be able to learn powerful ways of writing headlines that people deeply crave on an elemental level.
For example, are you aware of the self-reference effect? According to the self-reference effect, the human mind interprets events and experiences in a different way if the information is related somehow to themselves. Memory works better when the information being remembered is related to the self.
When this mental effect is applied to headline creation, it lets us know that we need to relate the headlines to the audience. More specifically, the self-reference effect informs us that using the word “you” or equivalents in a headline may improve the memorability and attractiveness of a particular headline.
There’s no reason why issues like the self-reference effect should be locked away in volumes of peer-reviewed cognitive neuroscience medical journals. You should be using such knowledge to enhance your own article titles.
Conclusion
Becoming a better headline writer is the good life. When you can unleash great headlines with skill and ease, everything in online marketing gets better. Conversions. Engagement. Clickthroughs. Shares. Traffic.
It’s all there.
“Getting better,” however, isn’t an accident. It requires intentional and sometimes mind-numbing effort. Remember the whole “endless repetition and excruciating boredom” bit? Yeah, it’s going to feel like that sometimes.
Don’t stop. Success is in the offing. Let’s go make headlines that turn heads.
How have you improved your ability to write great headlines?
About the Author: Neil Patel is a lifelong evangelist of Kissmetrics and blogs at Quick Sprout.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1LPaADD via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1D2YLH8
July 28, 2015 at 01:18AM
Added: Aug 03, 2015 Via IFTTT
5 Ways to Take Advantage of the Google/Twitter Partnership
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
5 Ways to Take Advantage of the Google/Twitter Partnership
Here is what we know: Google and Twitter are partners.
Here is what we don’t know: The impact this will have upon search/social marketing.
In February, Google and Twitter agreed to a partnership that gives Google access to Twitter’s firehose, which is the term for Twitter’s stream of Tweets.
What is Google going to do with this information? The answer seems obvious. They will provide tweets in the SERPs for real time search results, right? After all, Google is a search engine.
Most likely, yes. But the fact is, we simply don’t know. Google is a search engine, but they’ve also made a pretty darn big social media platform, smartphone platform, and operating system among other things. They’re even involved in space travel.
Whatever they plan to do with it, we will probably find out in the next few months. Right now, however, we can prepare.
And what should we do to prepare? Since we don’t know how Google will be applying firehose information to their search algorithm, we must focus on the broader issues of search and social.
This article does not promise the end-all solution, but it is an attempt to help marketers get ready for whatever is coming.
1. Understand the extent of social search
We might as well begin with the basics.
Social and search are merging. This is no longer pie-in-the-sky conjecture. It is the reality of the here-and-now.
Already, social platforms have robust search algorithms built in to them.
Facebook’s innocuous search bar can turn into a powerful social search. An advanced search can produce surprisingly focused results. I can even find friends who aren’t my friends.
Twitter’s own advanced search provides even more flexibility. Twitter search can produce results with positive emotion, negative emotion, or questions.
For Google users who are logged in, Google already returns Google+ results, which includes detailed contact information on users.
When I search for the name of someone in my Google+ circles, I get proprietary results drawn directly from my personal network.
With Google and Twitter’s tighter relationship, we can now expect the existing search power of Google applied to Twitter in new and surprising ways.
Social media professionals should understand how search works, both from a social perspective and from a search engine perspective. Having an understanding of search will enable social media strategists to further advance the findability of their brands and specific social media campaigns.
Digital marketing professionals have long struggled with identity crisis, trying to determine how broad or deep they should be. Those who prefer specialized roles tend to clash with those who are digital marketing jack-of-all-trades. SEOs are told that they aren’t actually SEOs, and marketers and agencies alike are trying to shape up into a T.
Whether you’re a search professional or a social professional, you should realize that the boundaries between the two are blurred. Search professionals should understand how social affects their role. Social professionals should realize the impact of search upon their role.
Both must acknowledge that the lines of the playing field are being redrawn in new and startling ways.
2. Employ an ongoing social strategy
Admittedly, this is a broad application, but it’s one that I must insist on.
Twitter and Google’s partnership sends a clarion call to the digital marketing world: Social matters. Big time.
Brands — from enormous companies to individual personalities — must have a social presence. But social presence isn’t enough.
It’s now necessary to have an ongoing methodology for advancing a social media agenda.
In the early days of the web, a business thought that it was doing a good job simply by having a website. Websites were digital placeholders.
Then around 2009 we realized that brands needed to produce content on a regular basis! The blog boom was born.
Source
Greater indexation, more pages, more visitors, more leads, more revenue — good things came to those who blogged.
We’re in a similar situation with social. A company that lacks a consistent output of social content isn’t going to last in the world of social.
As Google and Twitter merge their vast user bases and algorithmic technology, we’re going to see the importance of real time social search results.
Let me be very clear: Tweet regularly. Tweet often. Tweet a lot.
Keep your social output consistent and regular. Presumably, the better your posting velocity, the more likely you are to gain the right kind of attention and traffic.
3. Learn hashtag strategy, and use hashtags regularly
Hashtags will become more important than ever.
It’s likely that hashtags will help to drive search queries and Google’s search results. This is, admittedly, conjecture, but it seems likely that if tweets are part of the search results, then hashtagged terms within those tweets will also be searchable and visible.
It’s not a leap of logic to assume that any hashtagged queries will also produce additional Google results.
How can we be so sure? For one, Google already does this. Hashtagged queries get social results:
The top result for #semrushchat is a Twitter page with that hashtag. SEMRush hosts Twitter chats, so the hashtag #semrushchat has plenty of action, images, and updates.
Hashtags are the new keywords — not just for social activity, but search activity, too.
Since all the major social platforms use hashtags, Google search has been forced to adapt.
Now, your brand must adapt, too. Creating unique hashtags and capitalizing on the use of those hashtags will put you in a strong position to gain additional visibility and exposure s Google rolls out the application of their Twitter partnership.
For a quick visual summary of hashtags, check out this hashtag infographic.
4. Participate in trending topics
Twitter loves its Trends.
Users love it, too. Twitter trends are a way to discover what’s hot on Twitter. Trends can easily explode into worldwide sensations.
As Google jumps into the game, Trends will become even more significant in their real time search application.
Google can ascertain what topics are trending, but not with the same instantaneous algorithmically-powered accuracy that Twitter has.
A Googled trending hashtag can’t compete with Twitter’s live stream.
A Google query for #birdbands will give you this…
You get the idea that #birdbands is trending, but you don’t know why — not at a glance anyway.
Twitter’s live stream, however, shows you this…
Searching on Google means that you won’t get the joke at first. Searching on Twitter gives you complete understanding.
As Twitter and Google cozy up, Trends will be bigger and better than before. Twitter’s recent mobile changes mean that trends are more apparent and easier to find. As Google brings these trends into search visibility, we can expect it to improve even more.
5. Measure, track, and adapt
It will be interesting to see how the Google and Twitter partnership will affect the impact and ROI of social media.
In light of the coming change, keep close tabs on your social media record keeping. Be sure to align your social media efforts with your company goals. To this end, it will be helpful to inform your company’s search marketing team of the efforts.
Conclusion
My final recommendation is perhaps the most significant, but also the most obvious.
Keep using Twitter. If Twitter is partnering with the king of search, there is no way that the 14-character social media platform is on the decline.
This is the perfect opportunity to beef up your Twitter profiles, ramp up your tweet velocity, and strengthen your strategy.
Search and social are finally getting together, and it can only mean good things for social media marketing.
What do you think will be the biggest impact of the Google/Twitter partnership?
About the Author: Neil Patel is a lifelong evangelist of Kissmetrics and blogs at Quick Sprout.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1hfPDFj via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1IAN72b
August 03, 2015 at 11:01PM
Here is what we know: Google and Twitter are partners.
Here is what we don’t know: The impact this will have upon search/social marketing.
In February, Google and Twitter agreed to a partnership that gives Google access to Twitter’s firehose, which is the term for Twitter’s stream of Tweets.
What is Google going to do with this information? The answer seems obvious. They will provide tweets in the SERPs for real time search results, right? After all, Google is a search engine.
Most likely, yes. But the fact is, we simply don’t know. Google is a search engine, but they’ve also made a pretty darn big social media platform, smartphone platform, and operating system among other things. They’re even involved in space travel.
Whatever they plan to do with it, we will probably find out in the next few months. Right now, however, we can prepare.
And what should we do to prepare? Since we don’t know how Google will be applying firehose information to their search algorithm, we must focus on the broader issues of search and social.
This article does not promise the end-all solution, but it is an attempt to help marketers get ready for whatever is coming.
1. Understand the extent of social search
We might as well begin with the basics.
Social and search are merging. This is no longer pie-in-the-sky conjecture. It is the reality of the here-and-now.
Already, social platforms have robust search algorithms built in to them.
Facebook’s innocuous search bar can turn into a powerful social search. An advanced search can produce surprisingly focused results. I can even find friends who aren’t my friends.
Twitter’s own advanced search provides even more flexibility. Twitter search can produce results with positive emotion, negative emotion, or questions.
For Google users who are logged in, Google already returns Google+ results, which includes detailed contact information on users.
When I search for the name of someone in my Google+ circles, I get proprietary results drawn directly from my personal network.
With Google and Twitter’s tighter relationship, we can now expect the existing search power of Google applied to Twitter in new and surprising ways.
Social media professionals should understand how search works, both from a social perspective and from a search engine perspective. Having an understanding of search will enable social media strategists to further advance the findability of their brands and specific social media campaigns.
Digital marketing professionals have long struggled with identity crisis, trying to determine how broad or deep they should be. Those who prefer specialized roles tend to clash with those who are digital marketing jack-of-all-trades. SEOs are told that they aren’t actually SEOs, and marketers and agencies alike are trying to shape up into a T.
Whether you’re a search professional or a social professional, you should realize that the boundaries between the two are blurred. Search professionals should understand how social affects their role. Social professionals should realize the impact of search upon their role.
Both must acknowledge that the lines of the playing field are being redrawn in new and startling ways.
2. Employ an ongoing social strategy
Admittedly, this is a broad application, but it’s one that I must insist on.
Twitter and Google’s partnership sends a clarion call to the digital marketing world: Social matters. Big time.
Brands — from enormous companies to individual personalities — must have a social presence. But social presence isn’t enough.
It’s now necessary to have an ongoing methodology for advancing a social media agenda.
In the early days of the web, a business thought that it was doing a good job simply by having a website. Websites were digital placeholders.
Then around 2009 we realized that brands needed to produce content on a regular basis! The blog boom was born.
Source
Greater indexation, more pages, more visitors, more leads, more revenue — good things came to those who blogged.
We’re in a similar situation with social. A company that lacks a consistent output of social content isn’t going to last in the world of social.
As Google and Twitter merge their vast user bases and algorithmic technology, we’re going to see the importance of real time social search results.
Let me be very clear: Tweet regularly. Tweet often. Tweet a lot.
Keep your social output consistent and regular. Presumably, the better your posting velocity, the more likely you are to gain the right kind of attention and traffic.
3. Learn hashtag strategy, and use hashtags regularly
Hashtags will become more important than ever.
It’s likely that hashtags will help to drive search queries and Google’s search results. This is, admittedly, conjecture, but it seems likely that if tweets are part of the search results, then hashtagged terms within those tweets will also be searchable and visible.
It’s not a leap of logic to assume that any hashtagged queries will also produce additional Google results.
How can we be so sure? For one, Google already does this. Hashtagged queries get social results:
The top result for #semrushchat is a Twitter page with that hashtag. SEMRush hosts Twitter chats, so the hashtag #semrushchat has plenty of action, images, and updates.
Hashtags are the new keywords — not just for social activity, but search activity, too.
Since all the major social platforms use hashtags, Google search has been forced to adapt.
Now, your brand must adapt, too. Creating unique hashtags and capitalizing on the use of those hashtags will put you in a strong position to gain additional visibility and exposure s Google rolls out the application of their Twitter partnership.
For a quick visual summary of hashtags, check out this hashtag infographic.
4. Participate in trending topics
Twitter loves its Trends.
Users love it, too. Twitter trends are a way to discover what’s hot on Twitter. Trends can easily explode into worldwide sensations.
As Google jumps into the game, Trends will become even more significant in their real time search application.
Google can ascertain what topics are trending, but not with the same instantaneous algorithmically-powered accuracy that Twitter has.
A Googled trending hashtag can’t compete with Twitter’s live stream.
A Google query for #birdbands will give you this…
You get the idea that #birdbands is trending, but you don’t know why — not at a glance anyway.
Twitter’s live stream, however, shows you this…
Searching on Google means that you won’t get the joke at first. Searching on Twitter gives you complete understanding.
As Twitter and Google cozy up, Trends will be bigger and better than before. Twitter’s recent mobile changes mean that trends are more apparent and easier to find. As Google brings these trends into search visibility, we can expect it to improve even more.
5. Measure, track, and adapt
It will be interesting to see how the Google and Twitter partnership will affect the impact and ROI of social media.
In light of the coming change, keep close tabs on your social media record keeping. Be sure to align your social media efforts with your company goals. To this end, it will be helpful to inform your company’s search marketing team of the efforts.
Conclusion
My final recommendation is perhaps the most significant, but also the most obvious.
Keep using Twitter. If Twitter is partnering with the king of search, there is no way that the 14-character social media platform is on the decline.
This is the perfect opportunity to beef up your Twitter profiles, ramp up your tweet velocity, and strengthen your strategy.
Search and social are finally getting together, and it can only mean good things for social media marketing.
What do you think will be the biggest impact of the Google/Twitter partnership?
About the Author: Neil Patel is a lifelong evangelist of Kissmetrics and blogs at Quick Sprout.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1hfPDFj via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1IAN72b
August 03, 2015 at 11:01PM
Added: Jul 29, 2015 Via IFTTT
5 Ways to Write Magnetic Call-to-Actions in Just 5 Minutes
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
5 Ways to Write Magnetic Call-to-Actions in Just 5 Minutes
As a business owner, you’re constantly striving to stay on the same page with prospects and clients.
But does your message actually have a compelling substance, or are you just telling beautiful stories that keep your readers entertained for a short while?
Small Business Trends indicates that 70% of most B2B websites lack a call to action. This rookie mistake is automatically affecting that website’s relationship with clients and ultimately, their competitiveness and profit margins.
To consolidate your position on any market, interact with clients the easy way and make them act in a certain manner, you have to upgrade your copy using the right calls to action, designed to convince your readers to do something (besides reading and bouncing off your page).
Maybe you want them to request a quote, download an eBook, give you a call or contact your staff members via email. Either way, to achieve your goal you have to master the art of writing killer, super effective calls to action.
Here’s how you can do that in about five minutes or so.
5 Aspects to Focus On When Crafting Sensational Calls to Action
The copy that you create for your CTAs is an extremely important element that influences the actions of your readers just as much as other key factors, such as the color, size and shape of the CTA button.
Under these circumstances, you are probably wondering how you could polish your copy and come up with the most impactful words to seduce the minds of your prospects and get them in your door.
The good news is that you can count on a great variety of templates that have already returned positive results in any given set of circumstances. But before taking a closer look at key formulas that have already been tested, approved and used by skilled content creators, let’s focus on the main aspects that influence the quality and effectiveness of CTAs.
1. Goals
First of all, what kind of actions are you trying to stimulate? Craft your message based on the objectives that you want to reach. For instance, a download now button is the right choice for lead generation, while a “send me info” is more suitable for business relationship building.
2. A Short String of Action-Oriented Words
Did you know that even the smallest changes in terms of copy can trigger major impact on your conversion rates? From this point of view, it’s always best to choose your words wisely and stick to a formula that has already proven to be effective.
Here’s a strange fact that may make you spend a little more time working on your CTAs: sometimes, you can boost your conversions by simply changing one of the words comprised by your calls to action. A case study mentioned by Unbounce indicates that a B2B website owner has reported a 38.26% increase in conversions after replacing just one action verb with another.
Source
So what does this example actually tell us, aside from the fact that one single word can influence the actions of your prospects in a considerable manner?
This case study reveals that small tweaks can return amazing results, as long as they are focused on ways to add value to your copy. In this particular situation, the term “order” refers to the course of action that the prospect should take, and doesn’t actually highlight the benefit that the user would experience after doing what’s expected of him. On the other hand, the term “get” is more focused on the advantages, rewards and satisfaction that a potential client will automatically profit from after responding to a certain CTA.
All in all, a combination of value and relevance is the winning formula enabling you to take your CTAs to a whole new level and boost their effectiveness.
So now what? Start by revisiting your old calls-to-action positioned on your landing pages. Replace generic orders like “Buy Now”, “Download Now”, which emphasize the action that you want your readers to take, with personalized copy that stresses out the perks that your audience can actually get from you after following your lead.
For example, instead of just writing “Buy Now”, create a button with a message reading “Add to Cart- Save 50% Today”. The latter option is much more personalized and specific than the first one. Always remember that your readers dislike overly generic messages and want you to talk to them like you’ve known each other for decades. Therefore, don’t hesitate to replace a low-impact, concise message like “Submit”, “Call Us” or “Download” with a more meaningful construction that commands attention and also stimulates your reader to take action by focusing on benefits.
Begin your sentences with verbs and subjects to help people grasp the meaning of your CTA at a first glance. According to an article published by Hubspot, you should include numbers to keep your message straightforward and clear. Avoid fluff that could bore and distract your readers.
3. Original Food for Thought Delivered in an Interesting Package
Create a bond with your visitors by using pronouns such as “me” and “you” and focus on the needs of your potential clients. Use the right visuals to support your message and go for a tasteful mix of contrasting colors to capture your visitors’ attention.
4. Size
Keep your message short and clean. Studies have shown that some of the best calls-to-action are under 150 characters. Think about it this way: a CTA like “Buy Now” will most likely convince you that brevity is not the best card that you could play while trying to seduce your readers. At the same time, you have to keep your CTA short and sweet to help your public respond. In addition, the size of your CTA buttons is also important. A too-small version won’t command attention, while a supersized one will make you seem desperate.
Here’s why we like Sprouter’s CTA button: it’s visible, but it doesn’t overshadow the clear message that the company is conveying. It includes the right amount of information and doesn’t rely on a heavy mix of graphics that usually constitutes an eyesore.
Source
Test, test, test! It’s important to test your CTAs and see how they impact conversions. The Kissmetrics A/B Test Report allows you test any part of your funnel. View our blog post for more details.
5. Tone and Flow
Use action-oriented words that imply thought leadership and expertise. However, avoid technical jargon that may confuse or deter your readers. Stress out the benefits of your offer in as few words as possible.
In an article presenting the main ways in which bad copywriting can kill and bury your product, UserTesting reveals just how important it is to speak the language of your readers. Write copy that your visitors can understand and relate to. If possible, avoid industry-specific terms that are difficult to comprehend and humanize your content by using everyday words and adopting a conversational tone.
5 Foolproof CTA Formulas to Easily Replicate (Promise—It Just Takes 5 Minutes or Less)
Next, let’s take a closer look at five insanely effective templates that you can personalize and use to convince your readers to act in a certain manner (download an eBook, subscribe to your newsletter, buy your product, etc).
1. Free […] Case Study/eBook/whitepaper.
The easiest way to convince people to get to know you and your product is to offer them something for free. Opt for a verb that will accentuate the reward, like “get” for example, to maximize the effectiveness of your CTA.
2. Tired of [a Mediocre Job, Ineffective Diets and any other Factor Causing Frustration]?
Another trick is to address the problems, limitations and stressors that could stop your readers from achieving success. Example: Sick of dieting plans that never work? Download my free eBook and find out how you could get the perfect beach body in 3 months. Explore your readers’ pain point and introduce your product as the best solution to their struggle/problem/concern.
3. Want/Need […] Get Our Insanely Effective/Free/Sensational [Product].
Follow a similar principle and ask questions revolving around the needs, cravings and requests of your audience.
“Need the coolest personalized T-shirt on the planet? Find it in our store!” Use verbs that gravitate around your readers’ goals, plans and objects of desire. This is a psychological technique that will help you raise the interest of your visitors.
4. See Why [an Influencer] Is Recommending/Using Our Product.
By relying on the influence of a thought leader who is recommending your product in a few words, you can build credibility and trust.
Research conducted by Nielsen and cited by Forbes reveals that today’s consumers are up to 5 times more dependent on copy than five years ago. At the same time, we have to acknowledge the fact that the information pool that they swim in is incredibly large; therefore, each brand should try to boost its competitive advantage by creating and maintaining a close relationship with an industry influencer.
A CTA reading something like See Why Jamie Oliver Is Deeply in Love with Our Pots and Pans works well for two reasons: it makes people curious (and thus, more inclined to subscribe or download something that you are offering for free) and it enables you to build authority and credibility. By the time you finish reading that CTA, you can actually hear your prospects thinking out loud. “Wow, Jamie is recommending these kitchen supplies. They must be awesome, I should find out more about them.”
5. CTAs based on client testimonials
Last but definitely not least, don’t forget that your satisfied clients are the most convincing brand ambassadors that you could ever meet and work with. Trust us when we say that you can’t go wrong with a short CTA built around the positive buying experience of one of your past customers.
“It’s the very best support system that I have ever used to grow my business”
See for yourself. Profit from our 14-day free trial.
Attract, Tempt, Nurture and Convert Your Audience with Compelling CTAs
Crafting effective calls to action shouldn’t be a challenge. Using the templates listed above, you can personalize your message and make it reflect the unique features and benefits of your brand and products.
At the end of the day, you just have to write compelling copy based on the most relevant keywords, design buttons based on contrasting colors, and weigh, prioritize and place your CTAs on your website. If you can’t find the right words, tools or tactics to get your prospects to take action, choose to rely on the talent and know-how of professional copywriters who can help you create premium content that actually converts.
About the Author: Julia McCoy is a self-taught copywriter and Internet marketer who founded Express Writers at 19 years old. Today, it’s a full-size copywriting team providing agencies and businesses of all sizes with high quality content. Subscribe to her blog to learn insider tips and news on blogging, web content and all things copywriting.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1ShwFP3 via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1H3BiR0
July 30, 2015 at 02:43AM
As a business owner, you’re constantly striving to stay on the same page with prospects and clients.
But does your message actually have a compelling substance, or are you just telling beautiful stories that keep your readers entertained for a short while?
Small Business Trends indicates that 70% of most B2B websites lack a call to action. This rookie mistake is automatically affecting that website’s relationship with clients and ultimately, their competitiveness and profit margins.
To consolidate your position on any market, interact with clients the easy way and make them act in a certain manner, you have to upgrade your copy using the right calls to action, designed to convince your readers to do something (besides reading and bouncing off your page).
Maybe you want them to request a quote, download an eBook, give you a call or contact your staff members via email. Either way, to achieve your goal you have to master the art of writing killer, super effective calls to action.
Here’s how you can do that in about five minutes or so.
5 Aspects to Focus On When Crafting Sensational Calls to Action
The copy that you create for your CTAs is an extremely important element that influences the actions of your readers just as much as other key factors, such as the color, size and shape of the CTA button.
Under these circumstances, you are probably wondering how you could polish your copy and come up with the most impactful words to seduce the minds of your prospects and get them in your door.
The good news is that you can count on a great variety of templates that have already returned positive results in any given set of circumstances. But before taking a closer look at key formulas that have already been tested, approved and used by skilled content creators, let’s focus on the main aspects that influence the quality and effectiveness of CTAs.
1. Goals
First of all, what kind of actions are you trying to stimulate? Craft your message based on the objectives that you want to reach. For instance, a download now button is the right choice for lead generation, while a “send me info” is more suitable for business relationship building.
2. A Short String of Action-Oriented Words
Did you know that even the smallest changes in terms of copy can trigger major impact on your conversion rates? From this point of view, it’s always best to choose your words wisely and stick to a formula that has already proven to be effective.
Here’s a strange fact that may make you spend a little more time working on your CTAs: sometimes, you can boost your conversions by simply changing one of the words comprised by your calls to action. A case study mentioned by Unbounce indicates that a B2B website owner has reported a 38.26% increase in conversions after replacing just one action verb with another.
Source
So what does this example actually tell us, aside from the fact that one single word can influence the actions of your prospects in a considerable manner?
This case study reveals that small tweaks can return amazing results, as long as they are focused on ways to add value to your copy. In this particular situation, the term “order” refers to the course of action that the prospect should take, and doesn’t actually highlight the benefit that the user would experience after doing what’s expected of him. On the other hand, the term “get” is more focused on the advantages, rewards and satisfaction that a potential client will automatically profit from after responding to a certain CTA.
All in all, a combination of value and relevance is the winning formula enabling you to take your CTAs to a whole new level and boost their effectiveness.
So now what? Start by revisiting your old calls-to-action positioned on your landing pages. Replace generic orders like “Buy Now”, “Download Now”, which emphasize the action that you want your readers to take, with personalized copy that stresses out the perks that your audience can actually get from you after following your lead.
For example, instead of just writing “Buy Now”, create a button with a message reading “Add to Cart- Save 50% Today”. The latter option is much more personalized and specific than the first one. Always remember that your readers dislike overly generic messages and want you to talk to them like you’ve known each other for decades. Therefore, don’t hesitate to replace a low-impact, concise message like “Submit”, “Call Us” or “Download” with a more meaningful construction that commands attention and also stimulates your reader to take action by focusing on benefits.
Begin your sentences with verbs and subjects to help people grasp the meaning of your CTA at a first glance. According to an article published by Hubspot, you should include numbers to keep your message straightforward and clear. Avoid fluff that could bore and distract your readers.
3. Original Food for Thought Delivered in an Interesting Package
Create a bond with your visitors by using pronouns such as “me” and “you” and focus on the needs of your potential clients. Use the right visuals to support your message and go for a tasteful mix of contrasting colors to capture your visitors’ attention.
4. Size
Keep your message short and clean. Studies have shown that some of the best calls-to-action are under 150 characters. Think about it this way: a CTA like “Buy Now” will most likely convince you that brevity is not the best card that you could play while trying to seduce your readers. At the same time, you have to keep your CTA short and sweet to help your public respond. In addition, the size of your CTA buttons is also important. A too-small version won’t command attention, while a supersized one will make you seem desperate.
Here’s why we like Sprouter’s CTA button: it’s visible, but it doesn’t overshadow the clear message that the company is conveying. It includes the right amount of information and doesn’t rely on a heavy mix of graphics that usually constitutes an eyesore.
Source
Test, test, test! It’s important to test your CTAs and see how they impact conversions. The Kissmetrics A/B Test Report allows you test any part of your funnel. View our blog post for more details.
5. Tone and Flow
Use action-oriented words that imply thought leadership and expertise. However, avoid technical jargon that may confuse or deter your readers. Stress out the benefits of your offer in as few words as possible.
In an article presenting the main ways in which bad copywriting can kill and bury your product, UserTesting reveals just how important it is to speak the language of your readers. Write copy that your visitors can understand and relate to. If possible, avoid industry-specific terms that are difficult to comprehend and humanize your content by using everyday words and adopting a conversational tone.
5 Foolproof CTA Formulas to Easily Replicate (Promise—It Just Takes 5 Minutes or Less)
Next, let’s take a closer look at five insanely effective templates that you can personalize and use to convince your readers to act in a certain manner (download an eBook, subscribe to your newsletter, buy your product, etc).
1. Free […] Case Study/eBook/whitepaper.
The easiest way to convince people to get to know you and your product is to offer them something for free. Opt for a verb that will accentuate the reward, like “get” for example, to maximize the effectiveness of your CTA.
2. Tired of [a Mediocre Job, Ineffective Diets and any other Factor Causing Frustration]?
Another trick is to address the problems, limitations and stressors that could stop your readers from achieving success. Example: Sick of dieting plans that never work? Download my free eBook and find out how you could get the perfect beach body in 3 months. Explore your readers’ pain point and introduce your product as the best solution to their struggle/problem/concern.
3. Want/Need […] Get Our Insanely Effective/Free/Sensational [Product].
Follow a similar principle and ask questions revolving around the needs, cravings and requests of your audience.
“Need the coolest personalized T-shirt on the planet? Find it in our store!” Use verbs that gravitate around your readers’ goals, plans and objects of desire. This is a psychological technique that will help you raise the interest of your visitors.
4. See Why [an Influencer] Is Recommending/Using Our Product.
By relying on the influence of a thought leader who is recommending your product in a few words, you can build credibility and trust.
Research conducted by Nielsen and cited by Forbes reveals that today’s consumers are up to 5 times more dependent on copy than five years ago. At the same time, we have to acknowledge the fact that the information pool that they swim in is incredibly large; therefore, each brand should try to boost its competitive advantage by creating and maintaining a close relationship with an industry influencer.
A CTA reading something like See Why Jamie Oliver Is Deeply in Love with Our Pots and Pans works well for two reasons: it makes people curious (and thus, more inclined to subscribe or download something that you are offering for free) and it enables you to build authority and credibility. By the time you finish reading that CTA, you can actually hear your prospects thinking out loud. “Wow, Jamie is recommending these kitchen supplies. They must be awesome, I should find out more about them.”
5. CTAs based on client testimonials
Last but definitely not least, don’t forget that your satisfied clients are the most convincing brand ambassadors that you could ever meet and work with. Trust us when we say that you can’t go wrong with a short CTA built around the positive buying experience of one of your past customers.
“It’s the very best support system that I have ever used to grow my business”
See for yourself. Profit from our 14-day free trial.
Attract, Tempt, Nurture and Convert Your Audience with Compelling CTAs
Crafting effective calls to action shouldn’t be a challenge. Using the templates listed above, you can personalize your message and make it reflect the unique features and benefits of your brand and products.
At the end of the day, you just have to write compelling copy based on the most relevant keywords, design buttons based on contrasting colors, and weigh, prioritize and place your CTAs on your website. If you can’t find the right words, tools or tactics to get your prospects to take action, choose to rely on the talent and know-how of professional copywriters who can help you create premium content that actually converts.
About the Author: Julia McCoy is a self-taught copywriter and Internet marketer who founded Express Writers at 19 years old. Today, it’s a full-size copywriting team providing agencies and businesses of all sizes with high quality content. Subscribe to her blog to learn insider tips and news on blogging, web content and all things copywriting.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1ShwFP3 via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1H3BiR0
July 30, 2015 at 02:43AM
Added: Jul 20, 2015 Via IFTTT
6 SaaS Marketing Techniques That Will Instantly Make a Difference In Your Revenue
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
6 SaaS Marketing Techniques That Will Instantly Make a Difference In Your Revenue
As SaaS marketers, we’re always on the hunt for something that will boost sales and improve revenue. Who wouldn’t? After all, that’s kind of the goal of business, right?
Many times, the SaaS startup is so focused on creating and shipping a great product that they accidentally neglect the all-critical aspect of marketing those great products.
But SaaS doesn’t market itself. It takes marketing savvy to push a product outside of the office and into the hands of customers. Then, it takes even more savvy to boost revenue, scale the business, and produce the highest level of revenue possible.
Are there any quick tricks or easy solutions? The answer is no, but wait. As long as you’re aware of several powerful SaaS marketing techniques, you can improve your sales in significant ways.
Here are 6 of my favorite SaaS marketing techniques.
1. Add the right testimonials
Testimonials are one of the key ways to get your product to sell itself.
People don’t care what you say about your product. They care about what other people say about your product. Testimonials are like hiring the most successful salespeople, and getting them to close sales like gangbusters for free.
This guy is selling a SaaS product, and he’s not even on the company’s payroll.
Reviews matter. Sites with customer reviews generally experience an 18% lift in sales. Besides, testimonials are trustworthy — producing an average of 12x more trust than descriptions produced by the business selling the product.
These people can sell the product better than the business can sell the product.
What does a good testimonial look like?
It’s legitimate. Great testimonials are backed up by real people with a first and last name, a photo, a company, and a title. Granted, some of your customers may not be willing to disclose all their personal information to the public eye, but you should gain as much information as possible to prove that the testimonial is legitimate.
It’s detailed. “The product is great!” doesn’t compel anyone to buy. The testimonial needs to be extremely detailed, pointing out what and why about the product is so awesome. Glittering generalities product junk testimonials.
It’s specific. Real numbers are better than adjectives. “Great” and “helpful” are throwaway words in a testimonial. Instead, you want testimonials that provide specific information — ”in three days,” “56% higher,” “4x improvement,” etc. Get better testimonials by insisting that they be specific. In the absence of numbers, the testimonial should describe some level of benefit that the SaaS provided.
It’s relevant. Who cares if Jay Z or Shaq endorses your product? You don’t need celebrity endorsements unless you’re marketing to celebrities. You need real people who comprise your target audience to testify about the product.
Notice how this testimonial is legitimate — a guy with a name and a face. It’s detailed. It’s specific. It’s relevant. He’s a former FreshDesk customer who has 3 users. This is the kind of testimonial that will drive sales.
Check out this testimonial. In just a handful of words, they are improving the quality and potential pricing of the SaaS they reviewed.
As with any feature, you should test testimonials. Test video testimonials, the position of testimonials, the quantity of testimonials, the style of testimonials, and anything else you can test.
Run Better A/B Tests Today! The Kissmetrics A/B Test Report allows you test any part of your funnel. You aren’t limited to testing to the next conversion step – see how a homepage testimonial impacts signup rates. Track, analyze, and optimize your marketing today! Start your free 14-day Kissmetrics trial today!
But keep this in mind: Testimonials will revolutionize your sales, producing a near-instant improvement in revenue.
2. Raise your price
At first glance, this seems ludicrous. Yes, raising your price is a direct form of increasing revenue, but isn’t it short-lived? Won’t existing customers bail on a high-priced product? And won’t potential customers balk at the higher price?
Not necessarily. Hear me out on the rationale for this one.
SaaS is defined not by its price, but by its value. As long as the software provides value greater than the price, it is worth the price. It’s called benefit experiences and it makes all the difference.
SaaS features are worth higher prices. SaaS is best pitched with advanced features, not just solutions. The old-school model of sales tried to sell solutions. That sales methodology does not work anymore. Today’s savvy B2B and B2C buyers already know the solution. They want features. The most appealing SaaS will be stacked with features. These features are what will tip the decision scales in favor of a purchase.
SaaS with higher-than-average price positions itself as higher-than-average quality. A product’s price is an indication of that product’s value. Why do you have to pay so much for a Patek Philippe watch? Because it’s a high-quality watch. Your perception of the timepiece is dependent in large part on its price. But there’s a corollary feature that justifies the high-priced watch. It has brand cachet. You can steal a page from Patek’s playbook by justly demanding high prices and thereby building brand status.
SaaS with higher prices automatically filters out low-quality customers. Who are your best customers? They ones who stay and the ones who pay, right? SaaS success is all about cutting churn, improving retention, lowering the CAC (cost to acquire a customer), and improving the quantity acquisition. One simple way to gain the best possible customers is to bump up your prices, thereby eliminating those who won’t pay, can’t pay, and won’t stay. Boost prices, and you boost the quality of your customers.
You can improve prices without losing revenue. Will you lose customers? Maybe. But maybe those customers weren’t long-term customers anyway. You want customers who are willing and able to pay your prices.
3. Test your trial length
Ah, the length of the free trial.
Few things in SaaS are so frequently disputed yet infrequently tested as the length of the free trial. On the one hand, you have those who say “the shorter the better,” and those who insist “your free trials are way too long.”
Constant Contact offers a two-month trial!
But Match.com only gives you seven days!
Who’s right and who’s wrong?
The length of a free trial all depends on the company, the niche, the customer, the product, and about 875 other factors.
What’s the right length for you? You have to test it. When you’re starting out, you may wish to go for something standard or convention — usually 14-30 days. Track metrics and test everything.
Here are some key considerations for setting a trial length. These considerations should not compel you to pick a short vs. a long one, but rather to weigh the factors as you set your initial trial duration.
How long do customers need to test the product? Can they test it in a few days, or do they have to run processes that can take a week or two?
What length of trial will help to get users engaged? One important factor in SaaS sales is engagement. The free trial is intended to initiate and sustain engagement. How long does this take?
Does the free trial allow users to roll directly into the full version with no interruption? If so, this has an impact on how they can continue to use the product after their trial has expired.
How does the length of a free trial impact the sales cycle? Is the length of your sales cycle important? Does it really impact CAC? If so, then you may wish to give some careful thought to how your free trial can enhance the sales cycle length.
Various businesses have had success with 7-day trials and 60-day trials. Your success depends on more than you can conceive of during a brainstorming session and sales meeting. You need to test.
4. More upsells
At the risk of sounding cliche, upsells are like the holy grail of SaaS marketing.
The reason why is simple: Upselling = profitability.
Check out this image:
To cut through all the colorful lines and arrows, the idea is this: Upselling/upgrades are more profitable and more rapid than other marketing methods.
Besides, upselling is easy. Try to market to a non-customer, and it’s hard. Market to an existing customer, and it’s simple. According to Marketing Metrics, it’s 50% easier to sell to existing customers than it is to new prospects.
5. Focus on retention
Retention doesn’t sound very sexy as a marketing techniques. What about hacks, guerilla tactics, and cool new moves?
Hang on a second. Retention is killer. Stop and listen to the sound of the numbers for just a minute.
Increase your customer retention by 5%, and you will improve your company’s profitability by 75%. Bam. Profit.
Both Gartner and Pareto say that 80% of your future revenue will come from 20% of your current customers.
Your initial sale process is, of course, important. But it’s incomplete. The rest of your revenue can and should come from post-initial sales.
Why? Because that’s where the money is!
This graph from David Skok shows that 5-30% of revenue comes from the initial sale, while 70-95% of the revenue you’ll receive from a customer comes from renewals and upsells.
If you’re trying to boost your profit, try improving your retention. You may not see the kind of killer upticks in the conventional KPIs, but you’ll definitely see an improvement in the long term.
Implement a retention plan, and you’re ready to boost your profitability.
6. Revamp your pricing page
Sales boils down to a single spot of real estate on your website: The pricing page.
If your pricing page is not well-designed, strategically laid out, and cautiously implemented, you could be losing tons of sales.
Like every other SaaS marketing strategy, the specifics of a pricing page depend on your product, customer, etc. The broad brush strokes of pricing pages, however, remain relatively stable. Here are those broad brush strokes.
Simplify your pricing plans
Some SaaS providers think that they need a different plan for every customer type and every life situation. You don’t need that many plans.
The point of creating plans isn’t to reach specific customer types as much as it is to help customers make the right choice. You get to control that choice through the way in which you design and present the pricing page. Customer type differentiation is a byproduct benefit of a well-designed pricing page.
Hubspot does a great job of this. In spite of their massively differentiated market, they are able to segment it with simplicity and strategy: Just three plans.
Tell customers which plan to choose
Here’s a moment of revelation about human nature: People want to be told what to do. And not just because Don Draper said so.
How do you apply this bit of insight to your pricing page?
Tell people which pricing option is best, greatest value, or most popular.
Sprout Social doesn’t beat around the bush. They tell you, this is the plan we recommend.
Getresponse has way too many plans, but at least they tell you which one is the most popular.
Along with these two features — simplicity and recommendations — you can also apply a bit of psychology to your pricing page.
Check out this explanation of some psychological triggers that will absolutely explode sales, along with a few studies for good measure.
Conclusion
I’ll be the first to admit that SaaS marketing is a big hairy beast. It is not for the faint of heart.
But it is absolutely thrilling. It’s fast-paced, soaked with strategy, boosted by psychology, backed by research, and blown apart by the slightest shift in the market.
You’re tasked with taming this beast and making your company more money. And the only way to do that is with some sure-fire strategies that typically boost sales.
You’re looking at the cheat sheet to SaaS marketing techniques that kick revenue into the next gear. Try them, test them, and see what happens.
What’s your favorite SaaS marketing technique?
About the Author: Neil Patel is a lifelong evangelist of Kissmetrics and blogs at Quick Sprout.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1IeCmqz via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1IeF1R1
July 21, 2015 at 12:08AM
As SaaS marketers, we’re always on the hunt for something that will boost sales and improve revenue. Who wouldn’t? After all, that’s kind of the goal of business, right?
Many times, the SaaS startup is so focused on creating and shipping a great product that they accidentally neglect the all-critical aspect of marketing those great products.
But SaaS doesn’t market itself. It takes marketing savvy to push a product outside of the office and into the hands of customers. Then, it takes even more savvy to boost revenue, scale the business, and produce the highest level of revenue possible.
Are there any quick tricks or easy solutions? The answer is no, but wait. As long as you’re aware of several powerful SaaS marketing techniques, you can improve your sales in significant ways.
Here are 6 of my favorite SaaS marketing techniques.
1. Add the right testimonials
Testimonials are one of the key ways to get your product to sell itself.
People don’t care what you say about your product. They care about what other people say about your product. Testimonials are like hiring the most successful salespeople, and getting them to close sales like gangbusters for free.
This guy is selling a SaaS product, and he’s not even on the company’s payroll.
Reviews matter. Sites with customer reviews generally experience an 18% lift in sales. Besides, testimonials are trustworthy — producing an average of 12x more trust than descriptions produced by the business selling the product.
These people can sell the product better than the business can sell the product.
What does a good testimonial look like?
It’s legitimate. Great testimonials are backed up by real people with a first and last name, a photo, a company, and a title. Granted, some of your customers may not be willing to disclose all their personal information to the public eye, but you should gain as much information as possible to prove that the testimonial is legitimate.
It’s detailed. “The product is great!” doesn’t compel anyone to buy. The testimonial needs to be extremely detailed, pointing out what and why about the product is so awesome. Glittering generalities product junk testimonials.
It’s specific. Real numbers are better than adjectives. “Great” and “helpful” are throwaway words in a testimonial. Instead, you want testimonials that provide specific information — ”in three days,” “56% higher,” “4x improvement,” etc. Get better testimonials by insisting that they be specific. In the absence of numbers, the testimonial should describe some level of benefit that the SaaS provided.
It’s relevant. Who cares if Jay Z or Shaq endorses your product? You don’t need celebrity endorsements unless you’re marketing to celebrities. You need real people who comprise your target audience to testify about the product.
Notice how this testimonial is legitimate — a guy with a name and a face. It’s detailed. It’s specific. It’s relevant. He’s a former FreshDesk customer who has 3 users. This is the kind of testimonial that will drive sales.
Check out this testimonial. In just a handful of words, they are improving the quality and potential pricing of the SaaS they reviewed.
As with any feature, you should test testimonials. Test video testimonials, the position of testimonials, the quantity of testimonials, the style of testimonials, and anything else you can test.
Run Better A/B Tests Today! The Kissmetrics A/B Test Report allows you test any part of your funnel. You aren’t limited to testing to the next conversion step – see how a homepage testimonial impacts signup rates. Track, analyze, and optimize your marketing today! Start your free 14-day Kissmetrics trial today!
But keep this in mind: Testimonials will revolutionize your sales, producing a near-instant improvement in revenue.
2. Raise your price
At first glance, this seems ludicrous. Yes, raising your price is a direct form of increasing revenue, but isn’t it short-lived? Won’t existing customers bail on a high-priced product? And won’t potential customers balk at the higher price?
Not necessarily. Hear me out on the rationale for this one.
SaaS is defined not by its price, but by its value. As long as the software provides value greater than the price, it is worth the price. It’s called benefit experiences and it makes all the difference.
SaaS features are worth higher prices. SaaS is best pitched with advanced features, not just solutions. The old-school model of sales tried to sell solutions. That sales methodology does not work anymore. Today’s savvy B2B and B2C buyers already know the solution. They want features. The most appealing SaaS will be stacked with features. These features are what will tip the decision scales in favor of a purchase.
SaaS with higher-than-average price positions itself as higher-than-average quality. A product’s price is an indication of that product’s value. Why do you have to pay so much for a Patek Philippe watch? Because it’s a high-quality watch. Your perception of the timepiece is dependent in large part on its price. But there’s a corollary feature that justifies the high-priced watch. It has brand cachet. You can steal a page from Patek’s playbook by justly demanding high prices and thereby building brand status.
SaaS with higher prices automatically filters out low-quality customers. Who are your best customers? They ones who stay and the ones who pay, right? SaaS success is all about cutting churn, improving retention, lowering the CAC (cost to acquire a customer), and improving the quantity acquisition. One simple way to gain the best possible customers is to bump up your prices, thereby eliminating those who won’t pay, can’t pay, and won’t stay. Boost prices, and you boost the quality of your customers.
You can improve prices without losing revenue. Will you lose customers? Maybe. But maybe those customers weren’t long-term customers anyway. You want customers who are willing and able to pay your prices.
3. Test your trial length
Ah, the length of the free trial.
Few things in SaaS are so frequently disputed yet infrequently tested as the length of the free trial. On the one hand, you have those who say “the shorter the better,” and those who insist “your free trials are way too long.”
Constant Contact offers a two-month trial!
But Match.com only gives you seven days!
Who’s right and who’s wrong?
The length of a free trial all depends on the company, the niche, the customer, the product, and about 875 other factors.
What’s the right length for you? You have to test it. When you’re starting out, you may wish to go for something standard or convention — usually 14-30 days. Track metrics and test everything.
Here are some key considerations for setting a trial length. These considerations should not compel you to pick a short vs. a long one, but rather to weigh the factors as you set your initial trial duration.
How long do customers need to test the product? Can they test it in a few days, or do they have to run processes that can take a week or two?
What length of trial will help to get users engaged? One important factor in SaaS sales is engagement. The free trial is intended to initiate and sustain engagement. How long does this take?
Does the free trial allow users to roll directly into the full version with no interruption? If so, this has an impact on how they can continue to use the product after their trial has expired.
How does the length of a free trial impact the sales cycle? Is the length of your sales cycle important? Does it really impact CAC? If so, then you may wish to give some careful thought to how your free trial can enhance the sales cycle length.
Various businesses have had success with 7-day trials and 60-day trials. Your success depends on more than you can conceive of during a brainstorming session and sales meeting. You need to test.
4. More upsells
At the risk of sounding cliche, upsells are like the holy grail of SaaS marketing.
The reason why is simple: Upselling = profitability.
Check out this image:
To cut through all the colorful lines and arrows, the idea is this: Upselling/upgrades are more profitable and more rapid than other marketing methods.
Besides, upselling is easy. Try to market to a non-customer, and it’s hard. Market to an existing customer, and it’s simple. According to Marketing Metrics, it’s 50% easier to sell to existing customers than it is to new prospects.
5. Focus on retention
Retention doesn’t sound very sexy as a marketing techniques. What about hacks, guerilla tactics, and cool new moves?
Hang on a second. Retention is killer. Stop and listen to the sound of the numbers for just a minute.
Increase your customer retention by 5%, and you will improve your company’s profitability by 75%. Bam. Profit.
Both Gartner and Pareto say that 80% of your future revenue will come from 20% of your current customers.
Your initial sale process is, of course, important. But it’s incomplete. The rest of your revenue can and should come from post-initial sales.
Why? Because that’s where the money is!
This graph from David Skok shows that 5-30% of revenue comes from the initial sale, while 70-95% of the revenue you’ll receive from a customer comes from renewals and upsells.
If you’re trying to boost your profit, try improving your retention. You may not see the kind of killer upticks in the conventional KPIs, but you’ll definitely see an improvement in the long term.
Implement a retention plan, and you’re ready to boost your profitability.
6. Revamp your pricing page
Sales boils down to a single spot of real estate on your website: The pricing page.
If your pricing page is not well-designed, strategically laid out, and cautiously implemented, you could be losing tons of sales.
Like every other SaaS marketing strategy, the specifics of a pricing page depend on your product, customer, etc. The broad brush strokes of pricing pages, however, remain relatively stable. Here are those broad brush strokes.
Simplify your pricing plans
Some SaaS providers think that they need a different plan for every customer type and every life situation. You don’t need that many plans.
The point of creating plans isn’t to reach specific customer types as much as it is to help customers make the right choice. You get to control that choice through the way in which you design and present the pricing page. Customer type differentiation is a byproduct benefit of a well-designed pricing page.
Hubspot does a great job of this. In spite of their massively differentiated market, they are able to segment it with simplicity and strategy: Just three plans.
Tell customers which plan to choose
Here’s a moment of revelation about human nature: People want to be told what to do. And not just because Don Draper said so.
How do you apply this bit of insight to your pricing page?
Tell people which pricing option is best, greatest value, or most popular.
Sprout Social doesn’t beat around the bush. They tell you, this is the plan we recommend.
Getresponse has way too many plans, but at least they tell you which one is the most popular.
Along with these two features — simplicity and recommendations — you can also apply a bit of psychology to your pricing page.
Check out this explanation of some psychological triggers that will absolutely explode sales, along with a few studies for good measure.
Conclusion
I’ll be the first to admit that SaaS marketing is a big hairy beast. It is not for the faint of heart.
But it is absolutely thrilling. It’s fast-paced, soaked with strategy, boosted by psychology, backed by research, and blown apart by the slightest shift in the market.
You’re tasked with taming this beast and making your company more money. And the only way to do that is with some sure-fire strategies that typically boost sales.
You’re looking at the cheat sheet to SaaS marketing techniques that kick revenue into the next gear. Try them, test them, and see what happens.
What’s your favorite SaaS marketing technique?
About the Author: Neil Patel is a lifelong evangelist of Kissmetrics and blogs at Quick Sprout.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1IeCmqz via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1IeF1R1
July 21, 2015 at 12:08AM
Added: Aug 11, 2015 Via IFTTT
6 Types of Visual Content You Need to Use in Your Marketing Campaigns
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
6 Types of Visual Content You Need to Use in Your Marketing Campaigns
If you are about to embark on a content marketing campaign, you need to know exactly what will stimulate online growth and engagement. Text-based content is always going to be an integral part of marketing, but to really set yourself apart in the digital era, visual content must play a pivotal role in all of your efforts.
When you consider that 65% of people are visual learners, 90% of information that comes to the brain is visual, and presentations with visual aides are 43% more persuasive, it makes sense to use content types which people have an innate psychological resonance with. Here are 6 types of visual content which will take your marketing campaign to the next level.
Source
1. Images
When you split up a body of text with some compelling images, people are more inclined to finish reading what you’ve written (provided that the images are high quality and contextually relevant). Marketer Jeff Bullas cites that articles with images get 94% more views than those without. Due to the oversaturation of digital content and the increased adoption of mobile internet access, attention spans are shorter than ever, which makes content presented in the form of big blocks of text very off-putting.
It’s preferable to use original images or ones taken by you, as this adds a much-desired personal touch to your campaign. High quality, attractive images are often expensive to purchase or time consuming to create. Fortunately, with resources such as Canva, you can create unique, captivating images for free with a simplistic drag-and-drop interface. Alternatively, there are an endless amount of excellent quality photos on photo-sharing sites such as Flickr and Morguefile that can be acquired for free. Due to the vast amount of photos on these sites, it’s unlikely that other businesses within your niche will have used them already. Just be sure you have the authority to use them.
2. Videos
Videos are incredibly useful for presenting common problems and then showing the solutions that your product can offer. While there are much cheaper types of visual content available, a great video serves as extra clout for your campaign by demonstrating that you’re prepared to go the extra mile for quality. One study showed that including a video on a landing page increased conversions by 86%.
There are numerous types of videos that can enhance your business – you could consider how-to videos, animated explainer videos, demonstrations or customer testimonials. Whatever your choice, it’s important that the videos are congruent with the overall style and ethos of your brand. A recent study by Moz shows that posts with videos receive nearly 300% more inbound links, so make sure that your video is of the highest caliber, as it can become the chief representation of your brand in the digital realm.
3. Infographics
Infographics are an excellent tool for drawing upon all of your complex data and statistics and collating them into a compelling, easily intelligible visual display. Accompanied by diligent promotional endeavors (including networking with key influencers, landing page optimization and social media), infographics can become an integral part of your content marketing strategy.
To reap the true rewards of an infographic, it’s essential that the layout and design is as impactful as possible. The designer must combine the right colors, shapes and fonts to convey your important data. The information you choose to include in the infographic must be accurate (peer-reviewed sources are ideal) and contextually relevant. Sometimes even the most seemingly mundane statistics can be brought to life when conveyed as stunning visualizations. However, ensure all visual elements actually carry the narrative – it’s not worth disrupting your story just to flaunt your virtuosity with Adobe Illustrator!
Bloggers tend to love a good infographic, so if you promote yours effectively, it’s highly likely that it will be circulated throughout the blogosphere as well as on social media platforms. More shares means more publicity for your brand, especially if it achieves the highly adorned “viral” status. When you share your infographic via social media, it’s best to include a thumbnail image as well as a hyperlink to your site where the full image is hosted. This enables you to bypass any size restrictions on social media platforms and bring more traffic (and inbound links) to your site.
4. Memes
The term ‘meme’ was first coined by Richard Dawkins in 1976 to ascribe an idea the capacity to replicate itself into different meanings from person to person. Memes are now commonly known as images that are accompanied by humorous captions. Not many people envisaged that memes would play a role in content marketing when they first started to gain traction online, as they were primarily shared and made popular by college students as a form of entertainment. However, they now represent an easy-to-create, quirky form of visual content.
Creating your own meme is a great way to evoke positive emotions and set yourself apart from your competitors. Firstly, you must determine if memes are appropriate for your niche and whether or not they will gain actually engagement with your audience. If your brand resonates with a younger demographic, then you have your answer! Another unique benefit of memes is that they allow you to create in-jokes about your industry, which is a great way to make people laugh and build a community around your brand.
5. Presentations
Source
Gone are the days where presentations are restricted to just the boardroom; you can now share your presentation with the world via sites like SlideShare, dramatically expanding the outreach of your business. A great SlideShare presentation allows you to inform and communicate to your audience, no matter what device they are using.
Presentations serve a similar function to infographics, with a large focus on attractive design and color, thereby drawing the reader into the text. Although, they differ though by having a greater scope. Thus, if a topic is too lengthy to be appropriate for an infographic, a beautifully crafted presentation can be extremely effective at keeping people engaged with your content.
Rand Fishkin’s (highly viral) presentation on content marketing mistakes is an excellent example of how to present complex information in humorous, digestible slides. The presentation is not only entertaining, but it also provides the user with actionable advice for how to improve his or her content strategy.
As your presentation is likely to include a lot of information, it’s crucial to remain consistent with things like fonts, borders and colours. Just like with any form of content, proofreading for spelling and grammar mistakes is paramount. As with infographics, always keep your sources as reputable as possible (citing wikipedia.org is far from ideal). Instead, look at who Wikipedia sources, and see if they’re reputable. If they are, you can reference them instead of the Wikipedia article.
6. Screenshots
With a screenshot, you can provide your audience with a glimpse into the inner workings of your product or service. You can show what services and functions you offer from a direct perspective, and you can even combine your screenshot with some marketing copy or a testimonial to boost your credibility.
Screenshots are very useful for backing up the claims you make in your sales content. For example, if you’re marketing an app which can perform certain functions, a screenshot with a caption can be the visual verification your audience needs in order to trust your claims. It’s also possible to annotate your screenshots if you wish to draw attention to a particular part of the image (such as which button to click) or provide a more in-depth explanation of what’s going on behind the scenes.
Despite seeming like the least awe-inspiring type of visual content in this article, screenshots can be hugely beneficial as a trust-building tool. Consider using them to capture customer reviews or testimonials from industry forums or social media (88% of people read reviews to determine the quality of a business). Additionally, you may wish to incorporate screenshots into your infographics and SlideShare presentations, as they can bring forth more meaning to the stats or information you are presenting.
Skitch is a great tool for creating graphics and text on images. It’s simple to use and free.
Take Full Advantage of Visual Content
Visual content taps into the visceral psyche of your audience, encouraging them to discover more about your brand. If you can generate high quality visual content which truly resonates with people and promote it on a regular basis, the reputation and awareness of your brand is sure to skyrocket.
However, if your content is bland or badly designed, you will end up doing more harm than good – always consider the needs of your audience and don’t put out content just to stick to an upload schedule. As with any type of content, it’s the substance that counts, but excellent style is definitely appreciated.
About the Author: Lucien Joyce is the Lead Copywriter at Mammoth Infographics. His background is in creative media and digital marketing. Aside from writing, Lucien enjoys producing music and the occasional globe trot.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1JaU2FQ via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1JT1TXw
August 12, 2015 at 02:48AM
If you are about to embark on a content marketing campaign, you need to know exactly what will stimulate online growth and engagement. Text-based content is always going to be an integral part of marketing, but to really set yourself apart in the digital era, visual content must play a pivotal role in all of your efforts.
When you consider that 65% of people are visual learners, 90% of information that comes to the brain is visual, and presentations with visual aides are 43% more persuasive, it makes sense to use content types which people have an innate psychological resonance with. Here are 6 types of visual content which will take your marketing campaign to the next level.
Source
1. Images
When you split up a body of text with some compelling images, people are more inclined to finish reading what you’ve written (provided that the images are high quality and contextually relevant). Marketer Jeff Bullas cites that articles with images get 94% more views than those without. Due to the oversaturation of digital content and the increased adoption of mobile internet access, attention spans are shorter than ever, which makes content presented in the form of big blocks of text very off-putting.
It’s preferable to use original images or ones taken by you, as this adds a much-desired personal touch to your campaign. High quality, attractive images are often expensive to purchase or time consuming to create. Fortunately, with resources such as Canva, you can create unique, captivating images for free with a simplistic drag-and-drop interface. Alternatively, there are an endless amount of excellent quality photos on photo-sharing sites such as Flickr and Morguefile that can be acquired for free. Due to the vast amount of photos on these sites, it’s unlikely that other businesses within your niche will have used them already. Just be sure you have the authority to use them.
2. Videos
Videos are incredibly useful for presenting common problems and then showing the solutions that your product can offer. While there are much cheaper types of visual content available, a great video serves as extra clout for your campaign by demonstrating that you’re prepared to go the extra mile for quality. One study showed that including a video on a landing page increased conversions by 86%.
There are numerous types of videos that can enhance your business – you could consider how-to videos, animated explainer videos, demonstrations or customer testimonials. Whatever your choice, it’s important that the videos are congruent with the overall style and ethos of your brand. A recent study by Moz shows that posts with videos receive nearly 300% more inbound links, so make sure that your video is of the highest caliber, as it can become the chief representation of your brand in the digital realm.
3. Infographics
Infographics are an excellent tool for drawing upon all of your complex data and statistics and collating them into a compelling, easily intelligible visual display. Accompanied by diligent promotional endeavors (including networking with key influencers, landing page optimization and social media), infographics can become an integral part of your content marketing strategy.
To reap the true rewards of an infographic, it’s essential that the layout and design is as impactful as possible. The designer must combine the right colors, shapes and fonts to convey your important data. The information you choose to include in the infographic must be accurate (peer-reviewed sources are ideal) and contextually relevant. Sometimes even the most seemingly mundane statistics can be brought to life when conveyed as stunning visualizations. However, ensure all visual elements actually carry the narrative – it’s not worth disrupting your story just to flaunt your virtuosity with Adobe Illustrator!
Bloggers tend to love a good infographic, so if you promote yours effectively, it’s highly likely that it will be circulated throughout the blogosphere as well as on social media platforms. More shares means more publicity for your brand, especially if it achieves the highly adorned “viral” status. When you share your infographic via social media, it’s best to include a thumbnail image as well as a hyperlink to your site where the full image is hosted. This enables you to bypass any size restrictions on social media platforms and bring more traffic (and inbound links) to your site.
4. Memes
The term ‘meme’ was first coined by Richard Dawkins in 1976 to ascribe an idea the capacity to replicate itself into different meanings from person to person. Memes are now commonly known as images that are accompanied by humorous captions. Not many people envisaged that memes would play a role in content marketing when they first started to gain traction online, as they were primarily shared and made popular by college students as a form of entertainment. However, they now represent an easy-to-create, quirky form of visual content.
Creating your own meme is a great way to evoke positive emotions and set yourself apart from your competitors. Firstly, you must determine if memes are appropriate for your niche and whether or not they will gain actually engagement with your audience. If your brand resonates with a younger demographic, then you have your answer! Another unique benefit of memes is that they allow you to create in-jokes about your industry, which is a great way to make people laugh and build a community around your brand.
5. Presentations
Source
Gone are the days where presentations are restricted to just the boardroom; you can now share your presentation with the world via sites like SlideShare, dramatically expanding the outreach of your business. A great SlideShare presentation allows you to inform and communicate to your audience, no matter what device they are using.
Presentations serve a similar function to infographics, with a large focus on attractive design and color, thereby drawing the reader into the text. Although, they differ though by having a greater scope. Thus, if a topic is too lengthy to be appropriate for an infographic, a beautifully crafted presentation can be extremely effective at keeping people engaged with your content.
Rand Fishkin’s (highly viral) presentation on content marketing mistakes is an excellent example of how to present complex information in humorous, digestible slides. The presentation is not only entertaining, but it also provides the user with actionable advice for how to improve his or her content strategy.
As your presentation is likely to include a lot of information, it’s crucial to remain consistent with things like fonts, borders and colours. Just like with any form of content, proofreading for spelling and grammar mistakes is paramount. As with infographics, always keep your sources as reputable as possible (citing wikipedia.org is far from ideal). Instead, look at who Wikipedia sources, and see if they’re reputable. If they are, you can reference them instead of the Wikipedia article.
6. Screenshots
With a screenshot, you can provide your audience with a glimpse into the inner workings of your product or service. You can show what services and functions you offer from a direct perspective, and you can even combine your screenshot with some marketing copy or a testimonial to boost your credibility.
Screenshots are very useful for backing up the claims you make in your sales content. For example, if you’re marketing an app which can perform certain functions, a screenshot with a caption can be the visual verification your audience needs in order to trust your claims. It’s also possible to annotate your screenshots if you wish to draw attention to a particular part of the image (such as which button to click) or provide a more in-depth explanation of what’s going on behind the scenes.
Despite seeming like the least awe-inspiring type of visual content in this article, screenshots can be hugely beneficial as a trust-building tool. Consider using them to capture customer reviews or testimonials from industry forums or social media (88% of people read reviews to determine the quality of a business). Additionally, you may wish to incorporate screenshots into your infographics and SlideShare presentations, as they can bring forth more meaning to the stats or information you are presenting.
Skitch is a great tool for creating graphics and text on images. It’s simple to use and free.
Take Full Advantage of Visual Content
Visual content taps into the visceral psyche of your audience, encouraging them to discover more about your brand. If you can generate high quality visual content which truly resonates with people and promote it on a regular basis, the reputation and awareness of your brand is sure to skyrocket.
However, if your content is bland or badly designed, you will end up doing more harm than good – always consider the needs of your audience and don’t put out content just to stick to an upload schedule. As with any type of content, it’s the substance that counts, but excellent style is definitely appreciated.
About the Author: Lucien Joyce is the Lead Copywriter at Mammoth Infographics. His background is in creative media and digital marketing. Aside from writing, Lucien enjoys producing music and the occasional globe trot.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1JaU2FQ via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1JT1TXw
August 12, 2015 at 02:48AM
Added: Sep 23, 2015 Via IFTTT
7 Advanced Ways to Turbocharge AdWords for Breakout Performance
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
7 Advanced Ways to Turbocharge AdWords for Breakout Performance
I need to be honest with you about something.
AdWords is harder than it looks.
From the outside, it seems like you just add keywords, write a few text ads, and then sit back and collect paychecks.
That couldn’t be farther from the truth.
AdWords is incredibly complicated and can run away from you quickly if you don’t know what you’re doing.
For example, it’s really important to know the difference between broad, phrase, exact, and broad match modifier keywords before getting started. If you don’t know the difference between those phrases and terms like Search Network, Display Network, CPA goals, cost per click, conversion rates, etc., then using AdWords is going to be more like playing a slot machine than leveraging a scalable advertising network. That’s just how it is.
You also need to understand the following at a minimum before getting started:
Which keywords will lead to sales and which ones will just rack up clicks.
How to write ad copy that gets clicked and leads to sales.
How to track goals and conversions.
How to adjust bids to achieve your cost per acquisition goal.
How to group your keywords properly to maximize your return.
So now that you understand that AdWords is more complicated than it looks, let’s talk about some advanced ways to improve your results. If you don’t yet grasp the basics, I recommend going back to study up on those first, but for everyone else, here’s a quick breakdown of some advanced tactics you can use to get better results.
#1: Take Advantage of Callout Extensions
The first thing you want to do to take your AdWords account to the next level is to take advantage of callout extensions.
Callouts are a relatively new extension that Google added to allow advertisers to write short, 25-character blurbs to ads that “call out” important features or offers.
For example, some advertisers use callouts to mention things like “Free shipping” or “Save 50%.”
At iSpionage, we use callouts to draw attention to the points below.
You can see these callouts in action in the screenshot below.
The great thing about callouts is that they allow you to draw attention to important product features and offers while also giving you more room to extend your ad copy thereby enabling your ads to take up more space in search results.
Basically, callout extensions are a win for everyone involved. Customers get more information about your product or service, and you get to tell more reasons why your company is awesome.
To take advantage of callout extensions, log into your account, click on “Ad Extensions,” click “View: Callout Extensions,” and then click on the red “+Extensions” button to add a new callout.
Here’s the graphical version of the above instructions.
#2: Increase Continuity Between Keywords, Ads, and Landing Pages
The next thing you can do to turbocharge results is to make sure you have a good continuity between keywords, ad copy, and landing pages.
For example, if someone searches for nike running shoes, you want your ad copy to mention nike running shoes, and your landing page to be product results for nike running shoes.
What you don’t want is ad copy about general running gear and a landing page with non-Nike running shoes. If someone is searching for nike running shoes, then you need to give them what they’re searching for, and that starts with having a good continuity between keywords, ads, and landing pages!
To carry this out, you need to make sure that keywords are broken out into multiple ad groups. Nike running shoes should be it’s own group, as should Xero running shoes and Adidas running shoes, etc.
In addition, you need to write ad copy that matches the keyword being searched. One way to do that is with dynamic keyword insertion, but I recommend studying up on DKI before giving it a try because if you don’t study up, it’s easy to make mistakes that will negatively affect your campaign.
The final step is to make sure your landing page matches the keyword searched. You don’t want to put in the time and effort it takes to create individual keyword groups with custom ad text only to drop traffic on your homepage or a non-related landing page. Instead, create as many landing pages you can to match your ad groups and the term being searched for.
One way to do this so it scales is to use Unbounce’s dynamic text replacement. With dynamic text replacement, you can program the headline and other text to match the term that was searched.
Pretty slick, right?
In the end, whether you use dynamic keyword insertion or dynamic text replacement or not, you definitely want to make sure there’s a good continuity between the keyword searched, the ad copy shown, and the landing page you direct traffic to.
#3: Ensure 100% Impression Share for Branded Terms
A big mistake a lot of advertisers make is not ensuring a 100% impression share for branded terms. The thought process goes something like this…
Option #1:
I already rank #1 for my brand in organic results, so why should I pay for clicks I’ll probably get anyway?
The emphasis here is on probably.
Another way to look at it is like this…
Option #2:
I rank #1 organically for my brand, so let me take a minute to pat myself on the back. Now, let’s log into AdWords and make sure we’re also bidding on our brand terms because if we don’t, our competition will. And if our competition bids on our brand, then they’re going to steal the most valuable clicks for our business, i.e. highly targeted visitors that like us enough and know enough about us to Google our brand in the first place.
You’ll save a little bit of money with option #1, but you’ll get more clicks and more revenue with option #2. It’s annoying to bid on your own brand terms that you already rank for, but that’s the game you have to play if you want to maximize revenue.
Just remember: if you don’t bid on your brand terms, your AdWords competitors will, and that means less money for you and more money for them.
#4: Build Out Your Negative Keyword List
The next step towards turbocharging your account is to build out your negative keywords list. The good news is that it isn’t difficult to do (although it does take time), the bad news is that you’d be surprised at how many advertisers don’t include negative keywords, including accounts that are managed by PPC agencies!
So what are negative keywords?
Negative keywords are terms you add to your campaign that you don’t want to rank for.
For example, if you only sell women’s shoes and don’t want to advertise for men’s shoes, then you can add men’s as a negative keyword. Or if you only sell men’s dress shoes (like Jack Erwin does) and don’t sell running shoes, then you can add running as a negative keyword.
Make sense? If not, you can read more here.
The value of negative keywords is that they allow you to be more specific about which terms you show up for and also make sure you don’t show up for terms that are completely unrelated to what you offer for sale.
To add negative keywords, log into your AdWords account, and then click on a campaign and then an add group. Once you’re in an ad group, click on “Keywords” and then “Negative Keywords.” From here you can add negative keywords at either the ad group level or the campaign level. (Pro Tip: Some keywords should be added campaign wide while others only need to be added to particular ad groups.)
#5: Leverage Sitelinks Extensions
Sitelinks are another AdWords extension a lot of people miss.
With sitelinks, you get to add links to your website that look like this:
As you can imagine, it’s a great way to take up more search engine result page (SERP) real estate while also sharing valuable links searchers might find useful.
One thing to keep in mind, however, is that sitelinks extensions don’t always show up. Google decides when they do, and just because you add them doesn’t mean all of your ads will look like the one above. But when they do, you’ll have a really good looking ad.
To add sitelinks, click on an ad group, and then click “Ad extensions.” From there you’ll click “View: sitelinks,” and then click on the red “+Extensions” button to add your sitelinks.
#6: Adjust Geotargeting Bids Based on Conversion Rates
Not many people realize you can adjust your bids by geography based on which cities, counties, states, etc. convert better for your business.
Here’s how it works.
First, take a look at conversions according to location by clicking on “Settings” then “Locations.”
Next, evaluate your conversions by country. If one country converts better than another, you can adjust your bids up by 25%, 50%, etc. If, on the other hand, one country performs more poorly than the others, you can adjust your bids down as needed.
To adjust bids by geographic region, simply click into the column next to the geographic region you’d like to adjust your bid for.
You can also drill in further by clicking “View location reports.” From here you can select “What triggered your ad (geographic)” or “Where your users were (user locations)”.
At this point you can zoom in further to look at individual states, counties, cities, postal codes, etc.
Drilling in like this means you can adjust your bids at more and more precise levels and don’t have to rely on simply adjusting by country or state. Sometimes you just need to adjust country level bids, but other times you’ll want to adjust at the city or zip code level. It all depends on the type of campaign you’re working on and how much time you or your PPC manager has to tweak the campaign.
#7: Develop a Retargeting Strategy
Last but not least, you want to make sure and develop a retargeting strategy for your AdWords campaign. Here’s a brief description of retargeting for anyone who’s not so familiar with how it works.
Retargeting is an advertising method where you drop a cookie on your visitor’s computer so you can continue advertising to them. First, they visit your website, then you drop a cookie, and after that you can continue advertising to them for 30, 60, or 90 days.
It ends up being a great way to get more conversions because it means you don’t have to convert everyone the first time they land on your site. Instead of needing to hit a hole in one for every single visitor you can introduce your company with the first click, and then follow visitors around the web with retargeting ads until they’re ready to click and make a purchase. It doesn’t always work, but when it does, it works really, really well.
So how should you run a retargeting campaign?
The easiest way is to do it with Google AdWords (this can be either search or display), and here are some resources to help you get started:
How Remarketing Works
Use Remarketing to Target Past Website Visitors
About AdWords Remarketing Lists for Search Ads
Create Your First Display Remarketing Campaign
The Ultimate Guide to AdWords Remarketing
These articles are a good place to start with self-service AdWords retargeting. On the other hand, if you’d prefer to go the full service route, then AdRoll is a great option. AdRoll is slightly more expensive than doing it yourself, but they help with starting and managing retargeting campaigns for people who don’t have time to do it all themselves.
Turbocharging Your Account for Breakthrough Performance
Like we mentioned at the beginning of this article, AdWords is quite a beast. You first have to understand the basics before you can move on to some of these more advanced techniques.
You also need to spend time daily or at least weekly to manage your campaign in order to optimize the results. If you don’t have that kind of time, then you should consider hiring your AdWords management out to someone who does have the time and expertise to deliver breakthrough results.
But if you’re a semi-experienced novice looking to squeeze more profit out of a campaign that’s currently performing well, we hope this article gives you the fuel you need to turbocharge your account so you start getting breakthrough performance from your campaigns.
Did you know? With Kissmetrics, you can track the effectiveness of your online advertising. Optimize your marketing by knowing which campaigns perform and which don’t. Check out our infographic to learn more or request a personal demo of Kissmetrics.
About the Author: Joe Putnam is the Director of Marketing at iSpionage, the only competitive intelligence tool that monitors the entire PPC conversion funnel—from keywords to landing page surveillance and competitor A/B test monitoring. He also recently wrote a free guide on competitive intelligence titled 7 Ways to Use Competitive PPC Intelligence to Dominate the Competition. You definitely want to download the guide if you’re interested in learning how competitive intelligence can help you dominate the competition.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1FftVfF via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1KA1gxu
September 23, 2015 at 10:18PM
I need to be honest with you about something.
AdWords is harder than it looks.
From the outside, it seems like you just add keywords, write a few text ads, and then sit back and collect paychecks.
That couldn’t be farther from the truth.
AdWords is incredibly complicated and can run away from you quickly if you don’t know what you’re doing.
For example, it’s really important to know the difference between broad, phrase, exact, and broad match modifier keywords before getting started. If you don’t know the difference between those phrases and terms like Search Network, Display Network, CPA goals, cost per click, conversion rates, etc., then using AdWords is going to be more like playing a slot machine than leveraging a scalable advertising network. That’s just how it is.
You also need to understand the following at a minimum before getting started:
Which keywords will lead to sales and which ones will just rack up clicks.
How to write ad copy that gets clicked and leads to sales.
How to track goals and conversions.
How to adjust bids to achieve your cost per acquisition goal.
How to group your keywords properly to maximize your return.
So now that you understand that AdWords is more complicated than it looks, let’s talk about some advanced ways to improve your results. If you don’t yet grasp the basics, I recommend going back to study up on those first, but for everyone else, here’s a quick breakdown of some advanced tactics you can use to get better results.
#1: Take Advantage of Callout Extensions
The first thing you want to do to take your AdWords account to the next level is to take advantage of callout extensions.
Callouts are a relatively new extension that Google added to allow advertisers to write short, 25-character blurbs to ads that “call out” important features or offers.
For example, some advertisers use callouts to mention things like “Free shipping” or “Save 50%.”
At iSpionage, we use callouts to draw attention to the points below.
You can see these callouts in action in the screenshot below.
The great thing about callouts is that they allow you to draw attention to important product features and offers while also giving you more room to extend your ad copy thereby enabling your ads to take up more space in search results.
Basically, callout extensions are a win for everyone involved. Customers get more information about your product or service, and you get to tell more reasons why your company is awesome.
To take advantage of callout extensions, log into your account, click on “Ad Extensions,” click “View: Callout Extensions,” and then click on the red “+Extensions” button to add a new callout.
Here’s the graphical version of the above instructions.
#2: Increase Continuity Between Keywords, Ads, and Landing Pages
The next thing you can do to turbocharge results is to make sure you have a good continuity between keywords, ad copy, and landing pages.
For example, if someone searches for nike running shoes, you want your ad copy to mention nike running shoes, and your landing page to be product results for nike running shoes.
What you don’t want is ad copy about general running gear and a landing page with non-Nike running shoes. If someone is searching for nike running shoes, then you need to give them what they’re searching for, and that starts with having a good continuity between keywords, ads, and landing pages!
To carry this out, you need to make sure that keywords are broken out into multiple ad groups. Nike running shoes should be it’s own group, as should Xero running shoes and Adidas running shoes, etc.
In addition, you need to write ad copy that matches the keyword being searched. One way to do that is with dynamic keyword insertion, but I recommend studying up on DKI before giving it a try because if you don’t study up, it’s easy to make mistakes that will negatively affect your campaign.
The final step is to make sure your landing page matches the keyword searched. You don’t want to put in the time and effort it takes to create individual keyword groups with custom ad text only to drop traffic on your homepage or a non-related landing page. Instead, create as many landing pages you can to match your ad groups and the term being searched for.
One way to do this so it scales is to use Unbounce’s dynamic text replacement. With dynamic text replacement, you can program the headline and other text to match the term that was searched.
Pretty slick, right?
In the end, whether you use dynamic keyword insertion or dynamic text replacement or not, you definitely want to make sure there’s a good continuity between the keyword searched, the ad copy shown, and the landing page you direct traffic to.
#3: Ensure 100% Impression Share for Branded Terms
A big mistake a lot of advertisers make is not ensuring a 100% impression share for branded terms. The thought process goes something like this…
Option #1:
I already rank #1 for my brand in organic results, so why should I pay for clicks I’ll probably get anyway?
The emphasis here is on probably.
Another way to look at it is like this…
Option #2:
I rank #1 organically for my brand, so let me take a minute to pat myself on the back. Now, let’s log into AdWords and make sure we’re also bidding on our brand terms because if we don’t, our competition will. And if our competition bids on our brand, then they’re going to steal the most valuable clicks for our business, i.e. highly targeted visitors that like us enough and know enough about us to Google our brand in the first place.
You’ll save a little bit of money with option #1, but you’ll get more clicks and more revenue with option #2. It’s annoying to bid on your own brand terms that you already rank for, but that’s the game you have to play if you want to maximize revenue.
Just remember: if you don’t bid on your brand terms, your AdWords competitors will, and that means less money for you and more money for them.
#4: Build Out Your Negative Keyword List
The next step towards turbocharging your account is to build out your negative keywords list. The good news is that it isn’t difficult to do (although it does take time), the bad news is that you’d be surprised at how many advertisers don’t include negative keywords, including accounts that are managed by PPC agencies!
So what are negative keywords?
Negative keywords are terms you add to your campaign that you don’t want to rank for.
For example, if you only sell women’s shoes and don’t want to advertise for men’s shoes, then you can add men’s as a negative keyword. Or if you only sell men’s dress shoes (like Jack Erwin does) and don’t sell running shoes, then you can add running as a negative keyword.
Make sense? If not, you can read more here.
The value of negative keywords is that they allow you to be more specific about which terms you show up for and also make sure you don’t show up for terms that are completely unrelated to what you offer for sale.
To add negative keywords, log into your AdWords account, and then click on a campaign and then an add group. Once you’re in an ad group, click on “Keywords” and then “Negative Keywords.” From here you can add negative keywords at either the ad group level or the campaign level. (Pro Tip: Some keywords should be added campaign wide while others only need to be added to particular ad groups.)
#5: Leverage Sitelinks Extensions
Sitelinks are another AdWords extension a lot of people miss.
With sitelinks, you get to add links to your website that look like this:
As you can imagine, it’s a great way to take up more search engine result page (SERP) real estate while also sharing valuable links searchers might find useful.
One thing to keep in mind, however, is that sitelinks extensions don’t always show up. Google decides when they do, and just because you add them doesn’t mean all of your ads will look like the one above. But when they do, you’ll have a really good looking ad.
To add sitelinks, click on an ad group, and then click “Ad extensions.” From there you’ll click “View: sitelinks,” and then click on the red “+Extensions” button to add your sitelinks.
#6: Adjust Geotargeting Bids Based on Conversion Rates
Not many people realize you can adjust your bids by geography based on which cities, counties, states, etc. convert better for your business.
Here’s how it works.
First, take a look at conversions according to location by clicking on “Settings” then “Locations.”
Next, evaluate your conversions by country. If one country converts better than another, you can adjust your bids up by 25%, 50%, etc. If, on the other hand, one country performs more poorly than the others, you can adjust your bids down as needed.
To adjust bids by geographic region, simply click into the column next to the geographic region you’d like to adjust your bid for.
You can also drill in further by clicking “View location reports.” From here you can select “What triggered your ad (geographic)” or “Where your users were (user locations)”.
At this point you can zoom in further to look at individual states, counties, cities, postal codes, etc.
Drilling in like this means you can adjust your bids at more and more precise levels and don’t have to rely on simply adjusting by country or state. Sometimes you just need to adjust country level bids, but other times you’ll want to adjust at the city or zip code level. It all depends on the type of campaign you’re working on and how much time you or your PPC manager has to tweak the campaign.
#7: Develop a Retargeting Strategy
Last but not least, you want to make sure and develop a retargeting strategy for your AdWords campaign. Here’s a brief description of retargeting for anyone who’s not so familiar with how it works.
Retargeting is an advertising method where you drop a cookie on your visitor’s computer so you can continue advertising to them. First, they visit your website, then you drop a cookie, and after that you can continue advertising to them for 30, 60, or 90 days.
It ends up being a great way to get more conversions because it means you don’t have to convert everyone the first time they land on your site. Instead of needing to hit a hole in one for every single visitor you can introduce your company with the first click, and then follow visitors around the web with retargeting ads until they’re ready to click and make a purchase. It doesn’t always work, but when it does, it works really, really well.
So how should you run a retargeting campaign?
The easiest way is to do it with Google AdWords (this can be either search or display), and here are some resources to help you get started:
How Remarketing Works
Use Remarketing to Target Past Website Visitors
About AdWords Remarketing Lists for Search Ads
Create Your First Display Remarketing Campaign
The Ultimate Guide to AdWords Remarketing
These articles are a good place to start with self-service AdWords retargeting. On the other hand, if you’d prefer to go the full service route, then AdRoll is a great option. AdRoll is slightly more expensive than doing it yourself, but they help with starting and managing retargeting campaigns for people who don’t have time to do it all themselves.
Turbocharging Your Account for Breakthrough Performance
Like we mentioned at the beginning of this article, AdWords is quite a beast. You first have to understand the basics before you can move on to some of these more advanced techniques.
You also need to spend time daily or at least weekly to manage your campaign in order to optimize the results. If you don’t have that kind of time, then you should consider hiring your AdWords management out to someone who does have the time and expertise to deliver breakthrough results.
But if you’re a semi-experienced novice looking to squeeze more profit out of a campaign that’s currently performing well, we hope this article gives you the fuel you need to turbocharge your account so you start getting breakthrough performance from your campaigns.
Did you know? With Kissmetrics, you can track the effectiveness of your online advertising. Optimize your marketing by knowing which campaigns perform and which don’t. Check out our infographic to learn more or request a personal demo of Kissmetrics.
About the Author: Joe Putnam is the Director of Marketing at iSpionage, the only competitive intelligence tool that monitors the entire PPC conversion funnel—from keywords to landing page surveillance and competitor A/B test monitoring. He also recently wrote a free guide on competitive intelligence titled 7 Ways to Use Competitive PPC Intelligence to Dominate the Competition. You definitely want to download the guide if you’re interested in learning how competitive intelligence can help you dominate the competition.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1FftVfF via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1KA1gxu
September 23, 2015 at 10:18PM
Added: Sep 03, 2015 Via IFTTT
9 Steps to Better Welcome Emails
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
9 Steps to Better Welcome Emails
Your relationship with your users is a lot like any other human relationship. It’s easy to forget this over the internet, but you’re both real people underneath all that data.
Deep down, you’re responding to a need, developing an emotional connection, and exchanging value, all in ways that overlap in what can be a bit of a disorganized mess.
So what’s important to a budding relationship? At the heart of it, people just want to know they’re not wasting their time. The welcome email is your first opportunity to convey that.
Welcome emails generate 3x the transactions and revenue of any other email. So not only is it an important step in developing a long-lasting relationship, your welcome email is, in itself, a valuable conversion opportunity.
9 Ways You Could Be Sending Better Welcome Emails
0) Test Everything
A quick note before we get started. Obviously your business model is going to vary wildly against the selection of everyone reading this, but I’m hoping to bring a little something for everyone, so some of these tips are going to be disparate or straight up contradictory. Please don’t try them all at once.
Of course, if you’re going to be testing everything, you need to develop a strong sense of exactly what the next step of your user activation process is. If you start trying to sell someone in the first email, you might come off as pushy, set simple goals to move them down the line.
1) Make a Human Connection From the Start
Sometimes, this just won’t scale, but if you have a steep learning curve and/or a high LTV for users once they’re up and running, a really simple workaround for all this design and testing business is to just connect your new user with another person.
If you’re really small, you can even do this. The important thing is that there’s a real human shuffling them through the onboarding process and you’re honest about where replies will put a user in the feedback process.
This process can be manual or automated, but remember that the user can tell if an email is sent by marketing software, so don’t pretend it’s not.
2) Kill the Text
Let’s be honest, there’s a pretty good chance that most of the text of your email is going completely unread. If you suspect that this might be the case, try just ditching it.
If your welcome email is essentially a large button and some wrapper text, there’s a singular point of failure: the text of said button. Always make sure that it makes sense without the explanation.
The above example gives you one simple, logical action to follow through on, even if you’re on mobile. All the text is nice and big as well as – importantly – pretty much irrelevant. It’s basically “Welcome to Instacart, click here to Instacart.” You had me at “Shop Now.”
3) Offset Your Fancy Branded Email
You don’t want to leave a new user hanging too long for the confirmation of their new account. The rule of thumb is to make sure they receive it within 5 minutes.
But this means that when they receive the beautiful email you’ve designed, tested, and redesigned into oblivion, they’re probably still on your site in the middle of a workflow.
If your users typically make it through the next couple of steps after signup on their own, it might be a good idea to delay your big, conversion-focused email until they’ve had a chance to move forward.
This Fiverr email is great at dropping you right back in the workflow they want you in: checking out the gigs. It’s just a quick reminder and a button.
4) Make it Personal, But Not in a Weird Way
Did your new user sign up on mobile? Where are they located geographically? Did they join as part of a particular campaign? A lot of this is affected by how deep into your app people can go without signing up.
In this fantastic example, Moz tracked that my signup came while using the free version of the Open Site Explorer, so their welcome email pointed out some of the benefits of the OSE and linked me directly to it.
5) Deliver the Goods
I don’t usually advocate for gating content or utilities, but there are certainly services that do for which it’s a perfectly fair trade. One such service is Death to The Stock Photo; they send a monthly pack of photos meant to replace the standard, cringe-worthy stock photo library.
6) Fly Casual
One thing that’s easy to overlook while crafting a welcome email is the flow that got them there. If you’re using some sort of email capture modal, maybe they’re still reading your blog, but if they just signed up through your standard new user form, they might have just gotten dumped into the middle of your app.
If you’re trying to get people to click through on a welcome email that comes at the same time, make sure the two flows work in parallel.
This welcome email from Sqwiggle is a great way of achieving that: don’t have a CTA, just say hey and move on. There’s some contact info in the footer for reference but this email makes very few demands of the recipient, which is unusual, but kind of awesome.
7) Remind Them What They Like About You
When you sign up for AngelList’s job board as an applicant, this is the email you get:
It starts out letting you know where you are in the onboarding process, what the next steps are to use the service, what happens when you take that next step, and a way to shut it all down.
Then there’s a sample that demonstrates the biggest differences between AngelList and other job boards – salary + equity listing, uninflated language requirements, and one button application.
8) Surprise Them With a Gift
Never underestimate the power of free stuff. Buy one get one, discounts, free shipping, etc. All these make great welcome gifts.
Test, Test, Test (And Test Some More)
If there’s one thing you should be taking away from all this, it’s that you should really just be trying stuff. Keep it in line with your normal voice, tinker and test, and always verify with your analytics.
Then, once you find something that works, take those findings and apply them to all the rest of your email strategy.
About the Author: Alex Mohr runs marketing for Sendwithus in San Francisco. Elsewise, he spends most of his time roasting coffee, baking muffins, and avoiding hills. Follow him on Twitter @alexophile.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1UphW5S via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1OcGkR0
September 03, 2015 at 09:28PM
Your relationship with your users is a lot like any other human relationship. It’s easy to forget this over the internet, but you’re both real people underneath all that data.
Deep down, you’re responding to a need, developing an emotional connection, and exchanging value, all in ways that overlap in what can be a bit of a disorganized mess.
So what’s important to a budding relationship? At the heart of it, people just want to know they’re not wasting their time. The welcome email is your first opportunity to convey that.
Welcome emails generate 3x the transactions and revenue of any other email. So not only is it an important step in developing a long-lasting relationship, your welcome email is, in itself, a valuable conversion opportunity.
9 Ways You Could Be Sending Better Welcome Emails
0) Test Everything
A quick note before we get started. Obviously your business model is going to vary wildly against the selection of everyone reading this, but I’m hoping to bring a little something for everyone, so some of these tips are going to be disparate or straight up contradictory. Please don’t try them all at once.
Of course, if you’re going to be testing everything, you need to develop a strong sense of exactly what the next step of your user activation process is. If you start trying to sell someone in the first email, you might come off as pushy, set simple goals to move them down the line.
1) Make a Human Connection From the Start
Sometimes, this just won’t scale, but if you have a steep learning curve and/or a high LTV for users once they’re up and running, a really simple workaround for all this design and testing business is to just connect your new user with another person.
If you’re really small, you can even do this. The important thing is that there’s a real human shuffling them through the onboarding process and you’re honest about where replies will put a user in the feedback process.
This process can be manual or automated, but remember that the user can tell if an email is sent by marketing software, so don’t pretend it’s not.
2) Kill the Text
Let’s be honest, there’s a pretty good chance that most of the text of your email is going completely unread. If you suspect that this might be the case, try just ditching it.
If your welcome email is essentially a large button and some wrapper text, there’s a singular point of failure: the text of said button. Always make sure that it makes sense without the explanation.
The above example gives you one simple, logical action to follow through on, even if you’re on mobile. All the text is nice and big as well as – importantly – pretty much irrelevant. It’s basically “Welcome to Instacart, click here to Instacart.” You had me at “Shop Now.”
3) Offset Your Fancy Branded Email
You don’t want to leave a new user hanging too long for the confirmation of their new account. The rule of thumb is to make sure they receive it within 5 minutes.
But this means that when they receive the beautiful email you’ve designed, tested, and redesigned into oblivion, they’re probably still on your site in the middle of a workflow.
If your users typically make it through the next couple of steps after signup on their own, it might be a good idea to delay your big, conversion-focused email until they’ve had a chance to move forward.
This Fiverr email is great at dropping you right back in the workflow they want you in: checking out the gigs. It’s just a quick reminder and a button.
4) Make it Personal, But Not in a Weird Way
Did your new user sign up on mobile? Where are they located geographically? Did they join as part of a particular campaign? A lot of this is affected by how deep into your app people can go without signing up.
In this fantastic example, Moz tracked that my signup came while using the free version of the Open Site Explorer, so their welcome email pointed out some of the benefits of the OSE and linked me directly to it.
5) Deliver the Goods
I don’t usually advocate for gating content or utilities, but there are certainly services that do for which it’s a perfectly fair trade. One such service is Death to The Stock Photo; they send a monthly pack of photos meant to replace the standard, cringe-worthy stock photo library.
6) Fly Casual
One thing that’s easy to overlook while crafting a welcome email is the flow that got them there. If you’re using some sort of email capture modal, maybe they’re still reading your blog, but if they just signed up through your standard new user form, they might have just gotten dumped into the middle of your app.
If you’re trying to get people to click through on a welcome email that comes at the same time, make sure the two flows work in parallel.
This welcome email from Sqwiggle is a great way of achieving that: don’t have a CTA, just say hey and move on. There’s some contact info in the footer for reference but this email makes very few demands of the recipient, which is unusual, but kind of awesome.
7) Remind Them What They Like About You
When you sign up for AngelList’s job board as an applicant, this is the email you get:
It starts out letting you know where you are in the onboarding process, what the next steps are to use the service, what happens when you take that next step, and a way to shut it all down.
Then there’s a sample that demonstrates the biggest differences between AngelList and other job boards – salary + equity listing, uninflated language requirements, and one button application.
8) Surprise Them With a Gift
Never underestimate the power of free stuff. Buy one get one, discounts, free shipping, etc. All these make great welcome gifts.
Test, Test, Test (And Test Some More)
If there’s one thing you should be taking away from all this, it’s that you should really just be trying stuff. Keep it in line with your normal voice, tinker and test, and always verify with your analytics.
Then, once you find something that works, take those findings and apply them to all the rest of your email strategy.
About the Author: Alex Mohr runs marketing for Sendwithus in San Francisco. Elsewise, he spends most of his time roasting coffee, baking muffins, and avoiding hills. Follow him on Twitter @alexophile.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1UphW5S via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1OcGkR0
September 03, 2015 at 09:28PM
Added: Jul 30, 2015 Via IFTTT
Are You Ready for the Future of Adaptive Content?
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Are You Ready for the Future of Adaptive Content?
A startling 94% of companies claim that personalization is a key component of their success. Meanwhile, 56% of consumers would happily purchase from a company that provides a good – not even great – personalized experience.
Those kinds of statistics aren’t just impressive, they’re actually driving a new form of content development: adaptive content.
This idea is the new kid on the block. For the purpose of this post, we’ll look at it from a twofold perspective. Adaptive content is a combination of:
Using personalization to enhance the customer experience, and
Preparing content for delivery across multiple platforms.
These two facets of the term work together to create a complete, well-rounded experience. By implementing it in your content strategy, you’ll turbo-charge your ability to build awareness, trust and engagement with prospects and existing customers.
Adaptive Content Provides a Personalized Experience
Every channel, device and scenario serve as puzzle pieces that make up the consumer journey. If you look at the hundreds of pieces individually, they don’t make much sense. But if you join them together, you can see the whole image clearly.
In content marketing, it’s time that we start looking at the big picture.
This happens through the development and implementation of a comprehensive content strategy. Your strategy should provide enough insight into the mind of the customer that you’re able to determine a clear direction for personalization.
The 5 Elements of Adaptive Content
Before we get any further into the nitty-gritty of adaptive content strategy, I want to talk about the elements you’ll want to look for during the initiative.
Karen McGrane is a superhero on this topic. If you haven’t read her book or heard her speak, you’re missing out on some really great information.
She outlines five elements of adaptive content that are critical to your success. Let’s talk about each of them briefly.
Reusable Content – Develop content that you can use on multiple platforms. You also want the ability to create similar content in different formats to reach a wider variety of prospective customers.
Structured Content – Create small chunks of content that can easily be consumed on multiple devices, regardless of their size.
Presentation-Independent Content – This is the bare bones of your piece. It’s the raw content without ornate or ostentatious formatting.
Meaningful Metadata – This hidden data quickly describes the purpose and intent of the content. This helps for easy interpretation by your viewers, as well as enhanced parsing by the search engines.
Usable CMS Interfaces – Ultimately, you want a simple, functioning system that makes the delivery of all of the above elements possible.
Although I love the elements Karen uses, I think we can simplify it even more. I like to think of it in terms of the common phrase Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
Reduce the amount of work by systemizing your workflows and processes.
Reuse content on multiple platforms and broadcast your message on every channel.
Recycle (or, repurpose) the published work into different formats to get the most out of it.
Source
Once you understand what adaptive content looks like, it’s time to create a stellar strategy…
Build a Strategy for Personalization
To begin, we need to first understand the five Ws. You probably remember them from grade school: who, what, when, where and why. By defining the project’s purpose this way, we’ll be better prepared to understand personalization from a strategic perspective.
1. Create Personas for Your Ideal Audience
Who is your audience?
It’s one of the first questions any content developer should ask themselves. Building a strong persona helps you properly cater to them. And that kind of attention can transform the casual visitor into a brand ambassador.
Before you can create effective adaptive content, you must understand your audience.
Step 1: Delve into an analysis of their goals, challenges and pain points. This will help you determine how to best distribute your content. Check out this overview of the 5 Rings of Buying Insight.
Step 2: Create complex, situational overviews of their needs. Get started by answering these questions about each type of audience member.
Who does the audience currently go to to consume a similar product or service?
Who would refer them to you?
Who do they speak to that may also express interest in your brand?
What kind of mood are they in when they find your company?
What devices are they using?
What interests do they have?
Why should they use your brand at all?
Step 3: Conduct primary research that brings even deeper insight. You can gather deeper information through things like:
Interviewing members of your target audience.
Teaching clients through interactive workshops.
Surveying a broad group of audience members.
Ultimately, the research you’ll conduct depends on your specific situation. Focus your efforts on creating a unique approach based on your audience, their needs and the type of business you run.
But one thing is the same, regardless: You must understand the who before you take any further steps.
2. Determine the Best Type of Content
What content best supports the audience?
Too many people have a narrow mindset when it comes to content. They only think of it in terms of written messages or multimedia assets. And while both of those are important components, adaptive content comes from a much higher level of thinking.
Source
To understand what type of content works best, you’ll develop a distinct four-step workflow. These steps take you through research, architecture, development, testing, optimization and a high-powered launch. Once you’ve accomplished it, you’ll know what kind of content works:
Create in-depth personas and use cases.
Model functions and features to support user goals.
Nurture the relationship with the consumer.
Strategically launch, debug and refine the content.
Sound complex? Welcome to the future.
3. Establish Your Adaptive Characteristics
When should you actually adapt content?
By its very nature, adaptive content must adapt. That means, it needs to change based on certain characteristics of the individual audience member.
Step 1: Select the characteristics you’ll use to trigger adaptive content. A few options include:
Their current physical location.
The date or time of day.
What channel brought them to your content.
Recent purchase history from your company.
Where they’re at in the buying cycle.
Micro-conversions they’ve taken through the website.
Step 2: Create adaptive rules that trigger adaptive content based on what you’ve defined.
For example, let’s say you run a digital marketing agency. You could create the following piece of personalized, adaptive content:
When the home page is loaded by a user in a specific city, display: “We want to help a business in [city] grow through digital marketing. Will it be yours?”
Here’s an example of what that type of rule might look like in practice:
This kind of execution is intrinsic to adaptive content. Personalization happens through small pieces of content delivered in the appropriate context. When done well, it creates the kind of unique experience that users want.
4. Consider the Challenges of Different Devices
Where will you display the content?
Determine how you will visually represent your content, and what effect this will have on your content across different devices.
What looks good on a desktop can cause an unfavorable experience in mobile. With the rise of responsive web design, marketers are seeing the harsh reality of poor strategic presentation.
Source
You need to consider the big picture. Truly adaptive content can serve the audience through quality publishing, regardless of the device used. To make this a reality, you’ll need to look at your publishing strategy from a few different angles.
Consider current devices that will consume your content.
Prepare for display challenges for each major device.
Create intelligent content that can handle the quirks of each medium.
Keep new & developing technology in mind for future adaptations (e.g. Google Glass)
Ultimately, you deliver a great experience to every user. That can’t happen with static content that only serves one device. Using these steps helps you focus on the dynamic possibilities.
5. Define Your Reason for Investment
Why are you investing in adaptive content.
You need to build a strong business case for adaptive content. It requires a vast investment of time and resources, so it’s important to understand and apply customer research data.
Build a business case for the executives involved in the decision-making process. You have to justify its benefit for your organization’s specific needs and goals, as well as show how adaptive content truly connects all the pieces of the marketing puzzle together.
Source
Take small steps to start implementing personalized adaptive content if you’re not ready to give it a 100% investment. Even small changes can yield long-term rewards. Start with the training wheels on and make small adaptations that will lead to larger ones down the road.
This is the future of content, and you need to jump on board now before it’s too late.
We’ve talked a lot about high-level complexities today. I’d love to hear your thoughts on adaptive content and how it will shape the future of our content marketing efforts. Share your ideas by leaving a comment below.
About the Author: Aaron Agius is an experienced search, content and social marketer. He has worked with some of the world’s largest and most recognized brands to build their online presence. See more from Aaron at Louder Online, their Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1Jy39z5 via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1VPByON
July 30, 2015 at 09:48PM
A startling 94% of companies claim that personalization is a key component of their success. Meanwhile, 56% of consumers would happily purchase from a company that provides a good – not even great – personalized experience.
Those kinds of statistics aren’t just impressive, they’re actually driving a new form of content development: adaptive content.
This idea is the new kid on the block. For the purpose of this post, we’ll look at it from a twofold perspective. Adaptive content is a combination of:
Using personalization to enhance the customer experience, and
Preparing content for delivery across multiple platforms.
These two facets of the term work together to create a complete, well-rounded experience. By implementing it in your content strategy, you’ll turbo-charge your ability to build awareness, trust and engagement with prospects and existing customers.
Adaptive Content Provides a Personalized Experience
Every channel, device and scenario serve as puzzle pieces that make up the consumer journey. If you look at the hundreds of pieces individually, they don’t make much sense. But if you join them together, you can see the whole image clearly.
In content marketing, it’s time that we start looking at the big picture.
This happens through the development and implementation of a comprehensive content strategy. Your strategy should provide enough insight into the mind of the customer that you’re able to determine a clear direction for personalization.
The 5 Elements of Adaptive Content
Before we get any further into the nitty-gritty of adaptive content strategy, I want to talk about the elements you’ll want to look for during the initiative.
Karen McGrane is a superhero on this topic. If you haven’t read her book or heard her speak, you’re missing out on some really great information.
She outlines five elements of adaptive content that are critical to your success. Let’s talk about each of them briefly.
Reusable Content – Develop content that you can use on multiple platforms. You also want the ability to create similar content in different formats to reach a wider variety of prospective customers.
Structured Content – Create small chunks of content that can easily be consumed on multiple devices, regardless of their size.
Presentation-Independent Content – This is the bare bones of your piece. It’s the raw content without ornate or ostentatious formatting.
Meaningful Metadata – This hidden data quickly describes the purpose and intent of the content. This helps for easy interpretation by your viewers, as well as enhanced parsing by the search engines.
Usable CMS Interfaces – Ultimately, you want a simple, functioning system that makes the delivery of all of the above elements possible.
Although I love the elements Karen uses, I think we can simplify it even more. I like to think of it in terms of the common phrase Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
Reduce the amount of work by systemizing your workflows and processes.
Reuse content on multiple platforms and broadcast your message on every channel.
Recycle (or, repurpose) the published work into different formats to get the most out of it.
Source
Once you understand what adaptive content looks like, it’s time to create a stellar strategy…
Build a Strategy for Personalization
To begin, we need to first understand the five Ws. You probably remember them from grade school: who, what, when, where and why. By defining the project’s purpose this way, we’ll be better prepared to understand personalization from a strategic perspective.
1. Create Personas for Your Ideal Audience
Who is your audience?
It’s one of the first questions any content developer should ask themselves. Building a strong persona helps you properly cater to them. And that kind of attention can transform the casual visitor into a brand ambassador.
Before you can create effective adaptive content, you must understand your audience.
Step 1: Delve into an analysis of their goals, challenges and pain points. This will help you determine how to best distribute your content. Check out this overview of the 5 Rings of Buying Insight.
Step 2: Create complex, situational overviews of their needs. Get started by answering these questions about each type of audience member.
Who does the audience currently go to to consume a similar product or service?
Who would refer them to you?
Who do they speak to that may also express interest in your brand?
What kind of mood are they in when they find your company?
What devices are they using?
What interests do they have?
Why should they use your brand at all?
Step 3: Conduct primary research that brings even deeper insight. You can gather deeper information through things like:
Interviewing members of your target audience.
Teaching clients through interactive workshops.
Surveying a broad group of audience members.
Ultimately, the research you’ll conduct depends on your specific situation. Focus your efforts on creating a unique approach based on your audience, their needs and the type of business you run.
But one thing is the same, regardless: You must understand the who before you take any further steps.
2. Determine the Best Type of Content
What content best supports the audience?
Too many people have a narrow mindset when it comes to content. They only think of it in terms of written messages or multimedia assets. And while both of those are important components, adaptive content comes from a much higher level of thinking.
Source
To understand what type of content works best, you’ll develop a distinct four-step workflow. These steps take you through research, architecture, development, testing, optimization and a high-powered launch. Once you’ve accomplished it, you’ll know what kind of content works:
Create in-depth personas and use cases.
Model functions and features to support user goals.
Nurture the relationship with the consumer.
Strategically launch, debug and refine the content.
Sound complex? Welcome to the future.
3. Establish Your Adaptive Characteristics
When should you actually adapt content?
By its very nature, adaptive content must adapt. That means, it needs to change based on certain characteristics of the individual audience member.
Step 1: Select the characteristics you’ll use to trigger adaptive content. A few options include:
Their current physical location.
The date or time of day.
What channel brought them to your content.
Recent purchase history from your company.
Where they’re at in the buying cycle.
Micro-conversions they’ve taken through the website.
Step 2: Create adaptive rules that trigger adaptive content based on what you’ve defined.
For example, let’s say you run a digital marketing agency. You could create the following piece of personalized, adaptive content:
When the home page is loaded by a user in a specific city, display: “We want to help a business in [city] grow through digital marketing. Will it be yours?”
Here’s an example of what that type of rule might look like in practice:
This kind of execution is intrinsic to adaptive content. Personalization happens through small pieces of content delivered in the appropriate context. When done well, it creates the kind of unique experience that users want.
4. Consider the Challenges of Different Devices
Where will you display the content?
Determine how you will visually represent your content, and what effect this will have on your content across different devices.
What looks good on a desktop can cause an unfavorable experience in mobile. With the rise of responsive web design, marketers are seeing the harsh reality of poor strategic presentation.
Source
You need to consider the big picture. Truly adaptive content can serve the audience through quality publishing, regardless of the device used. To make this a reality, you’ll need to look at your publishing strategy from a few different angles.
Consider current devices that will consume your content.
Prepare for display challenges for each major device.
Create intelligent content that can handle the quirks of each medium.
Keep new & developing technology in mind for future adaptations (e.g. Google Glass)
Ultimately, you deliver a great experience to every user. That can’t happen with static content that only serves one device. Using these steps helps you focus on the dynamic possibilities.
5. Define Your Reason for Investment
Why are you investing in adaptive content.
You need to build a strong business case for adaptive content. It requires a vast investment of time and resources, so it’s important to understand and apply customer research data.
Build a business case for the executives involved in the decision-making process. You have to justify its benefit for your organization’s specific needs and goals, as well as show how adaptive content truly connects all the pieces of the marketing puzzle together.
Source
Take small steps to start implementing personalized adaptive content if you’re not ready to give it a 100% investment. Even small changes can yield long-term rewards. Start with the training wheels on and make small adaptations that will lead to larger ones down the road.
This is the future of content, and you need to jump on board now before it’s too late.
We’ve talked a lot about high-level complexities today. I’d love to hear your thoughts on adaptive content and how it will shape the future of our content marketing efforts. Share your ideas by leaving a comment below.
About the Author: Aaron Agius is an experienced search, content and social marketer. He has worked with some of the world’s largest and most recognized brands to build their online presence. See more from Aaron at Louder Online, their Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1Jy39z5 via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1VPByON
July 30, 2015 at 09:48PM
Added: Aug 31, 2015 Via IFTTT
Avoid These Five Online Advertising No-Nos
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Avoid These Five Online Advertising No-No’s
In today’s world, you don’t have to go to Hollywood to be a star. All you need is a YouTube account, and of course, something interesting to share.
You don’t need to be a director to make a movie. You don’t need to be a newscaster to deliver news. And you don’t need to be a stock broker to trade on the stock market.
With today’s technology, anyone can do anything, and that includes online advertising. What used to be the exclusive purview of advertising companies can now be done by anyone. You simply decide what platform you want to use, and then sign up. More and more businesses are going it alone in what seems to be an under-the-radar trend.
But the tools making the world more accessible are also making it more dangerous. If you play the stock market without knowing what you’re doing, you could end up broke. Online advertising is definitely something you don’t want to do on a whim.
Here are five simple mistakes that can cause big problems:
1. Not Understanding or Noticing Location Options
If you have ever seen an ad on Google that had nothing to do with your location, it was probably a result of the campaign manager not using targeted location.
When setting location in AdWords, there is a small + tab that opens up the advanced options settings. The default setting is “People in, or who show interest in my targeted location.” This means that if you place ads for a pizzeria, and a searcher is looking for “American Pizza,” they will see your ads even if they are located in Africa. To avoid this, always choose “People in my targeted location.”
2. Placing Ads on Your Own Selling Websites
Ad placement such as AdSense is an easy way for websites to fill their ad inventory and make some extra money. This is usually a great fix for large news websites, blogs, and other sites that don’t sell online.
However, often, you can find these ads on sites belonging to SMB’s that don’t understand the ads do more harm than good. For example, you won’t see AdSense on the Kissmetrics site because it degrades the user experience and takes attention away from the messaging.
Having ads on a selling site usually does not generate a lot of revenue, and worse still, it takes customers off your site. Additionally, it opens an option for competitors to promote their products on your site.
3. Being an Advertising Yes-Man
Many advertising platforms, such as AdWords, highlight certain features that sound great but don’t always work to your benefit. For example, when choosing your bid strategy on AdWords, you are offered an option to use “Enhanced CPC”. What this actually does (if you look at the fine print) is allow AdWords to raise your bids by 30% in order to get you better placement.
While it may do just that, if you set a certain budget and forget about this setting, then every time you raise the budget, you will essentially be increasing the 30% allowance.
4. Not Understanding the Platform’s Algorithms
You don’t need to be an engineer, but you should have a general grasp of how the platform you choose to advertise on works. It can make a huge difference. For example, AdWords Search is highly based on relevance (Quality Score). The more relevant your keywords, ads, and landing page, the higher your quality score and the less you will pay per click.
On Facebook, each user has an actual value based on how active they are on the site. A user who spends money on Facebook has a higher value than one who doesn’t. Why is that important? Well, if you have an audience of 100k users and the suggested bid is $2, but you decide to place a bid of $0.50, you are in fact telling the algorithm that you want to show only for users who have a value of $0.50.
If $0.50-value users make up 10% of your total audience, your true audience in this case would be 10k users, not 100k. Your budget, set to reach 100k, will show the ads only to the 10k $0.50-value users in your audience over and over again. Eventually, your frequency will get too high, and you will be spamming that audience, which will in turn make your cost higher. And the worst part is that you will never even reach the value audience you really wanted to reach in the first place.
5. Being Your Own Competition
When it comes to bidding, it’s easy to get carried away with your bids. And most platforms make it easy for you to overspend by suggesting what you should pay in order to beat your competition.
If you underpay, your ads might not appear as often. However, this doesn’t mean you should overpay.
You should bid according to your ROI, not your ego. Overpaying puts all your competitors into overdrive and raises bids for everyone. On most major platforms, there are enough impressions to go around.
On AdWords, some advertisers even overbid on their own brand keywords. This makes no sense at all since usually you are the only one buying your brand keywords. Essentially, raising bids on branded keywords simply lets the algorithm know you are willing to pay more, and so you will.
There are cases where your competition might be buying your keywords. Remember, you should always have a higher quality score than they do, and you can beat them that way.
So, should you tackle online advertising on your own?
At the end of the day, it depends on the scope of your business, the results you expect to gain from your campaigns, the budget you plan to spend, and your willingness to learn a new trade. There are many plusses to running your own campaigns, such as full transparency and the ability to monitor your spending and branding. After all, no one knows your business as well as you do.
It is possible to do your own online marketing, but be aware that the endeavor will require the same amount of preparation as doing your own taxes, representing yourself in court, or flying your own plane. You will need to do some homework, understand the inner workings of the platform, and choose settings carefully. If you don’t know what something means, look it up. That’s what Google is for.
Everyone makes mistakes, even the pro’s. Learning to spot the mistakes is key. If something seems off, if you aren’t getting the results you believe you should be, then investigate, go over your settings, and make sure you’re not committing any major advertising no-no’s.
About the Author: Daniel Rosenfeld is a Digital Marketing Professional, always looking for the smallest details which have the largest impact.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1KnV6qz via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1JHAD9G
September 01, 2015 at 03:18AM
In today’s world, you don’t have to go to Hollywood to be a star. All you need is a YouTube account, and of course, something interesting to share.
You don’t need to be a director to make a movie. You don’t need to be a newscaster to deliver news. And you don’t need to be a stock broker to trade on the stock market.
With today’s technology, anyone can do anything, and that includes online advertising. What used to be the exclusive purview of advertising companies can now be done by anyone. You simply decide what platform you want to use, and then sign up. More and more businesses are going it alone in what seems to be an under-the-radar trend.
But the tools making the world more accessible are also making it more dangerous. If you play the stock market without knowing what you’re doing, you could end up broke. Online advertising is definitely something you don’t want to do on a whim.
Here are five simple mistakes that can cause big problems:
1. Not Understanding or Noticing Location Options
If you have ever seen an ad on Google that had nothing to do with your location, it was probably a result of the campaign manager not using targeted location.
When setting location in AdWords, there is a small + tab that opens up the advanced options settings. The default setting is “People in, or who show interest in my targeted location.” This means that if you place ads for a pizzeria, and a searcher is looking for “American Pizza,” they will see your ads even if they are located in Africa. To avoid this, always choose “People in my targeted location.”
2. Placing Ads on Your Own Selling Websites
Ad placement such as AdSense is an easy way for websites to fill their ad inventory and make some extra money. This is usually a great fix for large news websites, blogs, and other sites that don’t sell online.
However, often, you can find these ads on sites belonging to SMB’s that don’t understand the ads do more harm than good. For example, you won’t see AdSense on the Kissmetrics site because it degrades the user experience and takes attention away from the messaging.
Having ads on a selling site usually does not generate a lot of revenue, and worse still, it takes customers off your site. Additionally, it opens an option for competitors to promote their products on your site.
3. Being an Advertising Yes-Man
Many advertising platforms, such as AdWords, highlight certain features that sound great but don’t always work to your benefit. For example, when choosing your bid strategy on AdWords, you are offered an option to use “Enhanced CPC”. What this actually does (if you look at the fine print) is allow AdWords to raise your bids by 30% in order to get you better placement.
While it may do just that, if you set a certain budget and forget about this setting, then every time you raise the budget, you will essentially be increasing the 30% allowance.
4. Not Understanding the Platform’s Algorithms
You don’t need to be an engineer, but you should have a general grasp of how the platform you choose to advertise on works. It can make a huge difference. For example, AdWords Search is highly based on relevance (Quality Score). The more relevant your keywords, ads, and landing page, the higher your quality score and the less you will pay per click.
On Facebook, each user has an actual value based on how active they are on the site. A user who spends money on Facebook has a higher value than one who doesn’t. Why is that important? Well, if you have an audience of 100k users and the suggested bid is $2, but you decide to place a bid of $0.50, you are in fact telling the algorithm that you want to show only for users who have a value of $0.50.
If $0.50-value users make up 10% of your total audience, your true audience in this case would be 10k users, not 100k. Your budget, set to reach 100k, will show the ads only to the 10k $0.50-value users in your audience over and over again. Eventually, your frequency will get too high, and you will be spamming that audience, which will in turn make your cost higher. And the worst part is that you will never even reach the value audience you really wanted to reach in the first place.
5. Being Your Own Competition
When it comes to bidding, it’s easy to get carried away with your bids. And most platforms make it easy for you to overspend by suggesting what you should pay in order to beat your competition.
If you underpay, your ads might not appear as often. However, this doesn’t mean you should overpay.
You should bid according to your ROI, not your ego. Overpaying puts all your competitors into overdrive and raises bids for everyone. On most major platforms, there are enough impressions to go around.
On AdWords, some advertisers even overbid on their own brand keywords. This makes no sense at all since usually you are the only one buying your brand keywords. Essentially, raising bids on branded keywords simply lets the algorithm know you are willing to pay more, and so you will.
There are cases where your competition might be buying your keywords. Remember, you should always have a higher quality score than they do, and you can beat them that way.
So, should you tackle online advertising on your own?
At the end of the day, it depends on the scope of your business, the results you expect to gain from your campaigns, the budget you plan to spend, and your willingness to learn a new trade. There are many plusses to running your own campaigns, such as full transparency and the ability to monitor your spending and branding. After all, no one knows your business as well as you do.
It is possible to do your own online marketing, but be aware that the endeavor will require the same amount of preparation as doing your own taxes, representing yourself in court, or flying your own plane. You will need to do some homework, understand the inner workings of the platform, and choose settings carefully. If you don’t know what something means, look it up. That’s what Google is for.
Everyone makes mistakes, even the pro’s. Learning to spot the mistakes is key. If something seems off, if you aren’t getting the results you believe you should be, then investigate, go over your settings, and make sure you’re not committing any major advertising no-no’s.
About the Author: Daniel Rosenfeld is a Digital Marketing Professional, always looking for the smallest details which have the largest impact.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1KnV6qz via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1JHAD9G
September 01, 2015 at 03:18AM
Added: Aug 10, 2015 Via IFTTT
Beyond the Click: Whats Truly Driving Your Conversion Rate?
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Beyond the Click: What’s Truly Driving Your Conversion Rate?
You could have the most sale-clinching copy in the world, the most beautiful design, and the most well-thought-out sales funnel, and your conversion rate could still remain stagnant. Have you ever looked at your analytics and thought “what can we do better?” If you’re the kind of marketer who’s always looking to improve, let’s take a look at the core human behaviors and psychological tactics that are powering your conversion rate – and how to use them to their fullest.
Value: The Spark that Ignites Interest
One of the first things you’ll learn in marketing is that you should always create or provide something of value to your customers. This usually ties in with your USP or Unique Selling Proposition – what makes someone want to do business with you?
But how do you actually create value? And even if you do offer something of value to the customer, what can you do to ensure they’ll want to continue doing business with you? On the customer’s end, you have the all-important questions like “what’s in it for me?” and “why should I do business with you [now]?
No matter what you’re selling, the customer needs to know that their most pressing issues will be solved and that they’ll be understood. They’ve gotten this far in the decision-making process and are taking a serious look at you. To keep that spark aflame, you have to go beyond telling them about the value you provide, and actually show them in the way you do business.
A recent report from eConsultancy and Sitecore asked companies and agencies alike what the most effective tactics for improving a customer’s lifetime value were:
The most effective methods for improving customer LTV
No surprise that customer service improvements are at the top, followed by personalization. People find inherent value in being treated well and getting answers to their issues. They appreciate businesses taking the time to make personalized recommendations and sharing information that’s relevant to them.
In other words, the value that customers so eagerly crave is driven just as much by what you’re selling as who you’re selling too, and how you can convert them from casual browser to brand evangelist.
Consistency: The Glue that Holds the Conversion Together
What is consistency when applied to customer loyalty and conversion rates? According to a study by The Society for New Communications Research, quality was the number one factor in how customers form an impression of a company, with pricing and customer service not far behind.
Customers’ impressions of your company are driven primarily by quality
Consistency in these cases means that a customer can depend on the same level of product, service or care from each time they order. A cheeseburger from McDonalds is the same quality whether you’re in California or Maine. Customers rely on that and it drives their expectations.
Their expectations in turn drive your conversion rate. As you might imagine, there’s a certain level of inherent trust here. I trust you’ll be able to provide me with the same caliber of goods and services I’ve come to expect from you. The more companies can do this over time, the more favorable the impression becomes, the more likely they are to recommend, rate, like and share with others because it is a reflection on them.
Even if you have demonstrated value to the customer and ensured a quality process that delivers consistency, you’re still not finished. You have to ensure that what you do present to the customer is clear enough to encourage them to act on it.
Clarity: Making Sense of What’s Presented
How clear is your marketing message? Not just to you and your team, or to your marketing department, but to everyone from the CEO to the janitor. Many companies rebrand themselves every few years to focus on something new in an attempt to appear fresh and vibrant to their consumers.
But look at things from your customer’s point of view, or even better, the perspective of someone who hasn’t visited your site before. All this change makes them question the value of what they’re getting, and consistency gets swept to the wayside. They’re not sure that this company understands or embraces their lifestyle and motivations, much less has a place in it.
This isn’t to say, of course, that you should remain stuck in something that isn’t working or that your company should be perceived as old-fashioned. But change when and where it makes sense to do so – not just because it seems to be the “in” thing to do at the moment.
Creating and living true to a mission statement, a philosophy or a manifesto that affects everything from how the company operates to how it treats its customers paints a perfectly clear picture of what “clarity” truly means when it comes to driving conversion rates. Better yet, share this philosophy with your customers. Don’t just tell them, show them how your company is taking strides to be better in tune with what they want, and make yourself open and available to the two-way communication street that is the social web.
Clarity means complete understanding and reliance on the company to deliver what they promise without a shadow of a doubt. And conversions can only happen when all the other factors come together to make your offer, and the customer’s actions to take advantage of it, crystal clear.
Alleviate Friction and “Action Paralysis”
Two of the issues that plague most conversion optimization touch-points are friction and “action paralysis”. Friction happens when one of these key drivers doesn’t align with the others. For example, you may provide clarity and value to the customer, but consistency isn’t always there. They’re not sure what they’re going to get this time and would rather not turn it into a guessing game.
Or your message is clear and consistent, but the value doesn’t drive the customer to click. They might fear they’re being cheated or duped, and no one wants to look like a fool. In other words, there’s a misalignment of persuasive factors and that can cause your conversion rate to flat-line.
Even if you have all of the key conversion drivers working in perfect harmony, there’s still the ever-looming specter of “action paralysis” which makes the customer second-guess themselves and their decision. Common questions here would include:
How much is shipping going to cost on top of the price? How soon will my order be here?
What happens after my order is complete? What if I don’t get an email confirmation?
Who should I contact if something is wrong with my order when I receive it? What is the return policy? Can I exchange my item for something else?
How does the company use the information I give them?
What are other people saying about this product/service?
The good news is that you can eliminate a lot of these issues by way of a plain English returns/exchange policy, as well as a straightforward privacy policy, concrete details on pricing and shipping and by following up to make sure the customer is satisfied and doesn’t have any questions after the item or service has been received.
Here again, it all goes back to the cycle of what’s driving your conversions – value in your offer, consistency in your methods and quality, and clarity of purpose and message while avoiding frictions that cause the customer to step back and question their decision. Getting these things right may take time and effort, but anything worth improving your conversion rate always does.
Have you used these methods in your own conversion optimization campaigns and processes? How have they worked out for you? Tell us about it in the comments below!
About the Author: Sherice Jacob helps business owners improve website design and increase conversion rates through compelling copywriting, user-friendly design and smart analytics analysis. Learn more at iElectrify.com and download your free web copy tune-up and conversion checklist today!
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1gt7Pus via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1KZOf3z
August 10, 2015 at 09:17PM
You could have the most sale-clinching copy in the world, the most beautiful design, and the most well-thought-out sales funnel, and your conversion rate could still remain stagnant. Have you ever looked at your analytics and thought “what can we do better?” If you’re the kind of marketer who’s always looking to improve, let’s take a look at the core human behaviors and psychological tactics that are powering your conversion rate – and how to use them to their fullest.
Value: The Spark that Ignites Interest
One of the first things you’ll learn in marketing is that you should always create or provide something of value to your customers. This usually ties in with your USP or Unique Selling Proposition – what makes someone want to do business with you?
But how do you actually create value? And even if you do offer something of value to the customer, what can you do to ensure they’ll want to continue doing business with you? On the customer’s end, you have the all-important questions like “what’s in it for me?” and “why should I do business with you [now]?
No matter what you’re selling, the customer needs to know that their most pressing issues will be solved and that they’ll be understood. They’ve gotten this far in the decision-making process and are taking a serious look at you. To keep that spark aflame, you have to go beyond telling them about the value you provide, and actually show them in the way you do business.
A recent report from eConsultancy and Sitecore asked companies and agencies alike what the most effective tactics for improving a customer’s lifetime value were:
The most effective methods for improving customer LTV
No surprise that customer service improvements are at the top, followed by personalization. People find inherent value in being treated well and getting answers to their issues. They appreciate businesses taking the time to make personalized recommendations and sharing information that’s relevant to them.
In other words, the value that customers so eagerly crave is driven just as much by what you’re selling as who you’re selling too, and how you can convert them from casual browser to brand evangelist.
Consistency: The Glue that Holds the Conversion Together
What is consistency when applied to customer loyalty and conversion rates? According to a study by The Society for New Communications Research, quality was the number one factor in how customers form an impression of a company, with pricing and customer service not far behind.
Customers’ impressions of your company are driven primarily by quality
Consistency in these cases means that a customer can depend on the same level of product, service or care from each time they order. A cheeseburger from McDonalds is the same quality whether you’re in California or Maine. Customers rely on that and it drives their expectations.
Their expectations in turn drive your conversion rate. As you might imagine, there’s a certain level of inherent trust here. I trust you’ll be able to provide me with the same caliber of goods and services I’ve come to expect from you. The more companies can do this over time, the more favorable the impression becomes, the more likely they are to recommend, rate, like and share with others because it is a reflection on them.
Even if you have demonstrated value to the customer and ensured a quality process that delivers consistency, you’re still not finished. You have to ensure that what you do present to the customer is clear enough to encourage them to act on it.
Clarity: Making Sense of What’s Presented
How clear is your marketing message? Not just to you and your team, or to your marketing department, but to everyone from the CEO to the janitor. Many companies rebrand themselves every few years to focus on something new in an attempt to appear fresh and vibrant to their consumers.
But look at things from your customer’s point of view, or even better, the perspective of someone who hasn’t visited your site before. All this change makes them question the value of what they’re getting, and consistency gets swept to the wayside. They’re not sure that this company understands or embraces their lifestyle and motivations, much less has a place in it.
This isn’t to say, of course, that you should remain stuck in something that isn’t working or that your company should be perceived as old-fashioned. But change when and where it makes sense to do so – not just because it seems to be the “in” thing to do at the moment.
Creating and living true to a mission statement, a philosophy or a manifesto that affects everything from how the company operates to how it treats its customers paints a perfectly clear picture of what “clarity” truly means when it comes to driving conversion rates. Better yet, share this philosophy with your customers. Don’t just tell them, show them how your company is taking strides to be better in tune with what they want, and make yourself open and available to the two-way communication street that is the social web.
Clarity means complete understanding and reliance on the company to deliver what they promise without a shadow of a doubt. And conversions can only happen when all the other factors come together to make your offer, and the customer’s actions to take advantage of it, crystal clear.
Alleviate Friction and “Action Paralysis”
Two of the issues that plague most conversion optimization touch-points are friction and “action paralysis”. Friction happens when one of these key drivers doesn’t align with the others. For example, you may provide clarity and value to the customer, but consistency isn’t always there. They’re not sure what they’re going to get this time and would rather not turn it into a guessing game.
Or your message is clear and consistent, but the value doesn’t drive the customer to click. They might fear they’re being cheated or duped, and no one wants to look like a fool. In other words, there’s a misalignment of persuasive factors and that can cause your conversion rate to flat-line.
Even if you have all of the key conversion drivers working in perfect harmony, there’s still the ever-looming specter of “action paralysis” which makes the customer second-guess themselves and their decision. Common questions here would include:
How much is shipping going to cost on top of the price? How soon will my order be here?
What happens after my order is complete? What if I don’t get an email confirmation?
Who should I contact if something is wrong with my order when I receive it? What is the return policy? Can I exchange my item for something else?
How does the company use the information I give them?
What are other people saying about this product/service?
The good news is that you can eliminate a lot of these issues by way of a plain English returns/exchange policy, as well as a straightforward privacy policy, concrete details on pricing and shipping and by following up to make sure the customer is satisfied and doesn’t have any questions after the item or service has been received.
Here again, it all goes back to the cycle of what’s driving your conversions – value in your offer, consistency in your methods and quality, and clarity of purpose and message while avoiding frictions that cause the customer to step back and question their decision. Getting these things right may take time and effort, but anything worth improving your conversion rate always does.
Have you used these methods in your own conversion optimization campaigns and processes? How have they worked out for you? Tell us about it in the comments below!
About the Author: Sherice Jacob helps business owners improve website design and increase conversion rates through compelling copywriting, user-friendly design and smart analytics analysis. Learn more at iElectrify.com and download your free web copy tune-up and conversion checklist today!
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1gt7Pus via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1KZOf3z
August 10, 2015 at 09:17PM
Added: Aug 18, 2015 Via IFTTT
Diagnosing Traffic Drops Using Google Analytics
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Diagnosing Traffic Drops Using Google Analytics
It has happened to every marketer out there – you are just going about your daily reporting when you log onto Google Analytics and see an unexpected, and noticeable, decline in traffic.
First off, don’t panic. I know you may feel betrayed by Google Analytics for delivering the bad news, but don’t shoot the messenger. At that moment, it is your most powerful tool to decode the reasons for the dreaded traffic dip. By combining the features from Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools, you can quickly and effectively pinpoint the culprit, or culprits, behind your traffic drop.
Want to diagnose the cause of your traffic drop? Read on and get your web traffic back on track.
Step 1: Look at the Traffic Drop
Okay, you’re probably thinking: “Of course I looked at the traffic drop! That’s how I knew my site had a decline in visitors!”
Yes, but this means you should be thinking critically about the drop by asking yourself these questions:
“Is the decline a sharp, sudden drop-off, or a slow and steady decline?”
“Did the traffic only dip for a few days?”
“Does it look like the traffic is beginning to recover on its own?”
The two photos below show the difference in a slight fluctuation in traffic and a sharp drop-off.
Taking 10 minutes to really look at your Google Analytics line graph can set you on the right path to identifying the reason behind the drop. For instance, if the drop was sharp, sudden, and isn’t recovering you could be suffering from a Google penalty. However, if the dip only lasts a few days and looks like it’s recovering on its own, your site may have just had connectivity issues that were fixed over a few days.
Step 2: Identify Your Traffic Sources
When your traffic takes a dive it’s important not to solely focus on the numbers. You need to dig into where you are losing traffic by looking at your traffic sources. There are 5 main types of traffic sources, including:
Direct – visitors that land on your site either by typing in the URL directly into their search bar or by clicking on a bookmark they have saved to get directly to your site
Organic – visitors who arrive at your site via a search engine. In my experience with clients, Google is almost always the most popular organic search engine, and usually monopolizes around 90% of search users
Paid – visitors that land on your site because of paid advertisements such as banner ads or Google AdWords
Referral – traffic brought to your site by your “referral network,” which are any partners who link your website on their own websites
Social – users who land on your site through social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram
Once you figure out what types of traffic have dropped, you can begin to troubleshoot the drop. For example, if the majority of your traffic used to be Direct but has now fallen off, it is possible that there has been a change in your usual client landscape. Perhaps a competitor site has just launched a widely publicized campaign and your users are heading to their site.
On the other hand, if most of your traffic has been Organic and now you see a sudden drop, you may have been hit with a Google Penalty. These types of penalties can be devastating to your site traffic, and are pretty clear to see if the decline is sudden and significant. You can confirm whether or not you have been hit with a penalty by checking your Google Webmaster Tools account for a penalty notification.
Step 3: Be Aware of New Users vs. Returning Users
It is just as important to know who your users are as where they are coming from.
Depending on which type of user has declined, you can isolate certain reasons for the traffic drop.
For instance, if new user numbers have taken a hit there could be an issue with how users are searching for your site, or how it is appearing on Google. This may mean it’s time to do some new keyword research or it could indicate a Google penalty.
However, if returning users have declined it could indicate an issue with your site structure and ease of use for your users. Maybe the site is reporting multiple 404 Not Found errors or the loading speed of your site is too slow, so users are leaving due to a poor experience.
Step 4: Zoom Out
It’s vital to look at the big picture when it comes to traffic drops. Head over to your date range and really zoom out. Look at the past 6 months, or year even, to see if a traffic drop had occurred during a similar time in the past. You can compare time periods using the compare tool in the Google Analytics calendar, which lets you look at previous weeks, months, or similar time points in the past year in cases of seasonality. This allows you to see any trends or notable differences in user behavior or traffic sources.
One client of mine happened to see a steady traffic drop between May and July of this past year. They were extremely concerned as to why their faithful returning users were suddenly not visiting their site. I began to investigate by isolating the decline to direct traffic and returning users, but I still couldn’t pinpoint an exact reason behind the drop.
However, once I zoomed out, I saw that this same traffic drop always occurred during the summer months, and recovered by the end of September. We were then able to conclude that the drop was due to regular seasonality, which made perfect sense since their product was an educational tool.
Bonus Step: Don’t Forget About Webmaster Tools!
The combination of Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools can be a very powerful thing. Google Webmaster Tools has a messages tab that alerts you to any harmful activity or malfunctions on your site.
You should make it a habit to check on both your Crawl Errors and HTML errors. Both of these reports notate the amount of internal errors your website may have. If your site is reporting a hefty amount of errors, it could be impacting user experience. This could cause new users to be deterred from your site (since it seems unreliable or hard to use) and could drive even faithful users to competitor sites.
It is also important to keep an eye on your top performing keywords. If you check out the “Search Analytics” tab within your GWT account you can see if your high volume keywords have declined in search rankings. If you see that your high volume keywords have dropped in ranking that could be the culprit behind any decline in organic search traffic to your site.
Survive Traffic Drops With the Right Tools
Traffic drops are never fun and, if left unaddressed, they can be extremely damaging to your business. However, with the right tools and a systematic approach to uncovering the reasons behind a drop, you can survive any dip in traffic. So, next time you see the dreaded decline in traffic, reach into your survival kit, use Google Analytics as your weapon, and restore your site to glory.
About the Author: Brittany Pennellatore is a digital marketing analyst at Chimaera Labs. She manages outreach, web analytics, and social media projects for clients in the tech space. You can reach out to her on Twitter.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1MABLCy via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1E3eczm
August 18, 2015 at 09:03PM
It has happened to every marketer out there – you are just going about your daily reporting when you log onto Google Analytics and see an unexpected, and noticeable, decline in traffic.
First off, don’t panic. I know you may feel betrayed by Google Analytics for delivering the bad news, but don’t shoot the messenger. At that moment, it is your most powerful tool to decode the reasons for the dreaded traffic dip. By combining the features from Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools, you can quickly and effectively pinpoint the culprit, or culprits, behind your traffic drop.
Want to diagnose the cause of your traffic drop? Read on and get your web traffic back on track.
Step 1: Look at the Traffic Drop
Okay, you’re probably thinking: “Of course I looked at the traffic drop! That’s how I knew my site had a decline in visitors!”
Yes, but this means you should be thinking critically about the drop by asking yourself these questions:
“Is the decline a sharp, sudden drop-off, or a slow and steady decline?”
“Did the traffic only dip for a few days?”
“Does it look like the traffic is beginning to recover on its own?”
The two photos below show the difference in a slight fluctuation in traffic and a sharp drop-off.
Taking 10 minutes to really look at your Google Analytics line graph can set you on the right path to identifying the reason behind the drop. For instance, if the drop was sharp, sudden, and isn’t recovering you could be suffering from a Google penalty. However, if the dip only lasts a few days and looks like it’s recovering on its own, your site may have just had connectivity issues that were fixed over a few days.
Step 2: Identify Your Traffic Sources
When your traffic takes a dive it’s important not to solely focus on the numbers. You need to dig into where you are losing traffic by looking at your traffic sources. There are 5 main types of traffic sources, including:
Direct – visitors that land on your site either by typing in the URL directly into their search bar or by clicking on a bookmark they have saved to get directly to your site
Organic – visitors who arrive at your site via a search engine. In my experience with clients, Google is almost always the most popular organic search engine, and usually monopolizes around 90% of search users
Paid – visitors that land on your site because of paid advertisements such as banner ads or Google AdWords
Referral – traffic brought to your site by your “referral network,” which are any partners who link your website on their own websites
Social – users who land on your site through social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram
Once you figure out what types of traffic have dropped, you can begin to troubleshoot the drop. For example, if the majority of your traffic used to be Direct but has now fallen off, it is possible that there has been a change in your usual client landscape. Perhaps a competitor site has just launched a widely publicized campaign and your users are heading to their site.
On the other hand, if most of your traffic has been Organic and now you see a sudden drop, you may have been hit with a Google Penalty. These types of penalties can be devastating to your site traffic, and are pretty clear to see if the decline is sudden and significant. You can confirm whether or not you have been hit with a penalty by checking your Google Webmaster Tools account for a penalty notification.
Step 3: Be Aware of New Users vs. Returning Users
It is just as important to know who your users are as where they are coming from.
Depending on which type of user has declined, you can isolate certain reasons for the traffic drop.
For instance, if new user numbers have taken a hit there could be an issue with how users are searching for your site, or how it is appearing on Google. This may mean it’s time to do some new keyword research or it could indicate a Google penalty.
However, if returning users have declined it could indicate an issue with your site structure and ease of use for your users. Maybe the site is reporting multiple 404 Not Found errors or the loading speed of your site is too slow, so users are leaving due to a poor experience.
Step 4: Zoom Out
It’s vital to look at the big picture when it comes to traffic drops. Head over to your date range and really zoom out. Look at the past 6 months, or year even, to see if a traffic drop had occurred during a similar time in the past. You can compare time periods using the compare tool in the Google Analytics calendar, which lets you look at previous weeks, months, or similar time points in the past year in cases of seasonality. This allows you to see any trends or notable differences in user behavior or traffic sources.
One client of mine happened to see a steady traffic drop between May and July of this past year. They were extremely concerned as to why their faithful returning users were suddenly not visiting their site. I began to investigate by isolating the decline to direct traffic and returning users, but I still couldn’t pinpoint an exact reason behind the drop.
However, once I zoomed out, I saw that this same traffic drop always occurred during the summer months, and recovered by the end of September. We were then able to conclude that the drop was due to regular seasonality, which made perfect sense since their product was an educational tool.
Bonus Step: Don’t Forget About Webmaster Tools!
The combination of Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools can be a very powerful thing. Google Webmaster Tools has a messages tab that alerts you to any harmful activity or malfunctions on your site.
You should make it a habit to check on both your Crawl Errors and HTML errors. Both of these reports notate the amount of internal errors your website may have. If your site is reporting a hefty amount of errors, it could be impacting user experience. This could cause new users to be deterred from your site (since it seems unreliable or hard to use) and could drive even faithful users to competitor sites.
It is also important to keep an eye on your top performing keywords. If you check out the “Search Analytics” tab within your GWT account you can see if your high volume keywords have declined in search rankings. If you see that your high volume keywords have dropped in ranking that could be the culprit behind any decline in organic search traffic to your site.
Survive Traffic Drops With the Right Tools
Traffic drops are never fun and, if left unaddressed, they can be extremely damaging to your business. However, with the right tools and a systematic approach to uncovering the reasons behind a drop, you can survive any dip in traffic. So, next time you see the dreaded decline in traffic, reach into your survival kit, use Google Analytics as your weapon, and restore your site to glory.
About the Author: Brittany Pennellatore is a digital marketing analyst at Chimaera Labs. She manages outreach, web analytics, and social media projects for clients in the tech space. You can reach out to her on Twitter.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1MABLCy via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1E3eczm
August 18, 2015 at 09:03PM
Added: Oct 02, 2015 Via IFTTT
Digitalocean Review VPS Tutorial - How to Deploy a VPS Part 1 by WebmasterForum.ws
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Digitalocean Review VPS Tutorial - How to Deploy a VPS Part 1 by WebmasterForum.ws
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Digitalocean Review VPS Tutorial - How to Deploy a VPS Part 1
http://ift.tt/1VueB0G
October 02, 2015 at 05:11PM
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Digitalocean Review VPS Tutorial - How to Deploy a VPS Part 1
http://ift.tt/1VueB0G
October 02, 2015 at 05:11PM
Added: Apr 22, 2019 Via IFTTT
Digitalocean Review VPS Tutorial - How to Deploy a VPS Part 1 by WebmasterForum.ws
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Digitalocean Review VPS Tutorial - How to Deploy a VPS Part 1 by WebmasterForum.ws
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Digitalocean Review VPS Tutorial - How to Deploy a VPS Part 1
http://bit.ly/2KW7Dbp
October 02, 2015 at 05:11PM
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Digitalocean Review VPS Tutorial - How to Deploy a VPS Part 1
http://bit.ly/2KW7Dbp
October 02, 2015 at 05:11PM
Added: Sep 03, 2015 Via IFTTT
Extreme Leadership: The Need for Speed
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Extreme Leadership: The Need for Speed
In this era of extreme digital marketing, leading an organization isn’t too different from competitive mountain biking. Here are a few key tips to keep in mind to help you make it over the finish line successfully without getting bashed up on the way down.
Photo Credit: Maridav www.fotosearch.com
Start Out With the Right Equipment
You wouldn’t set out on a hardcore cross-country trail without a capable bike, strong helmet, tuned suspension, and of course, nice disc brakes – so why would you even attempt to run a web-based organization without being armed with the data and insights you need to achieve top performance?
Set up the systems you need to clearly monitor and measure your business. You don’t need to just buy either the top or bottom shelf to put off your uncertainties. Think about what complexities you’re facing in your business. What problems do you really need to solve? How is your website set up to serve your customers? We’ve seen several clients over purchase or opt for “free” and not have the best solution in place to see and fix their business challenges.
Be Prepared to Go Fast and Win
With speed on your side, all you really need to do is steer with confidence and you’ll come through clean. But if your organization isn’t prepared to go fast with confidence, the bumps and roots are going to hit harder, slow you down and even take you off track.
In fact, you’ll probably find yourself in granny-gear trying to haul yourself uphill while others pass you by. Plus, you won’t have the momentum required to hit the banks and ramps, and you’re likely not enjoy the ride to its fullest potential. Make sure that you have the information you need to quickly and easily monitor your business performance, presented in a format that won’t require you to take your entire organization offline in order to figure out how to make the raw data actionable. Business is faster than ever and you need to be ready to make quick decisions, and adjustments, so you can enjoy the ride.
See Where You Want to Go
When you’re burning down the trail you need to see your path clearly, focus on where you want to go and be ready to react. You can’t possibly navigate successfully if you’re looking off trail or questioning your decisions. You’ll go down, hard.
The beauty of the web is that our customers leave digital data trails that help us understand their behavior and show us the right path. In order to lead effectively, C-suite executives need to start taking a more active role in aligning the entire business with the journey of their customers.
This data can illuminate the path to better performance across the entire company by providing an understanding of the customer journey from beginning to end by showing the actual flow of the audience and identifying potential bottlenecks along the way.
It’s All About Confidence
In this fast paced business climate, decisions need to be made sooner, rather than later, because the meter is running. You simply can’t afford to base decisions solely on instinct or “art”. Data is the key to everything that is happening within your prospect and customer base.
If you have the right data and the correct insight into the customer experience, you can make decisions with speed, precision and confidence. Executives who take an active role in building a data business have a more in-tune view of their businesses and are able to compete more effectively. Those who aren’t taking an active role in mapping and understanding the customer journey are at huge disadvantage, and will soon be left in the dust.
To run a competitive organization, implementing the right systems and delivering the right data will enable you to meet the expectations of your customers and pull away from the competition. And Kissmetrics would love to help – request a personal demo, if you’d like to learn more.
About the Author: Brian Kelly is the CEO of Kissmetrics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1JRbJbU via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1L8g5Ie
September 04, 2015 at 04:34AM
In this era of extreme digital marketing, leading an organization isn’t too different from competitive mountain biking. Here are a few key tips to keep in mind to help you make it over the finish line successfully without getting bashed up on the way down.
Photo Credit: Maridav www.fotosearch.com
Start Out With the Right Equipment
You wouldn’t set out on a hardcore cross-country trail without a capable bike, strong helmet, tuned suspension, and of course, nice disc brakes – so why would you even attempt to run a web-based organization without being armed with the data and insights you need to achieve top performance?
Set up the systems you need to clearly monitor and measure your business. You don’t need to just buy either the top or bottom shelf to put off your uncertainties. Think about what complexities you’re facing in your business. What problems do you really need to solve? How is your website set up to serve your customers? We’ve seen several clients over purchase or opt for “free” and not have the best solution in place to see and fix their business challenges.
Be Prepared to Go Fast and Win
With speed on your side, all you really need to do is steer with confidence and you’ll come through clean. But if your organization isn’t prepared to go fast with confidence, the bumps and roots are going to hit harder, slow you down and even take you off track.
In fact, you’ll probably find yourself in granny-gear trying to haul yourself uphill while others pass you by. Plus, you won’t have the momentum required to hit the banks and ramps, and you’re likely not enjoy the ride to its fullest potential. Make sure that you have the information you need to quickly and easily monitor your business performance, presented in a format that won’t require you to take your entire organization offline in order to figure out how to make the raw data actionable. Business is faster than ever and you need to be ready to make quick decisions, and adjustments, so you can enjoy the ride.
See Where You Want to Go
When you’re burning down the trail you need to see your path clearly, focus on where you want to go and be ready to react. You can’t possibly navigate successfully if you’re looking off trail or questioning your decisions. You’ll go down, hard.
The beauty of the web is that our customers leave digital data trails that help us understand their behavior and show us the right path. In order to lead effectively, C-suite executives need to start taking a more active role in aligning the entire business with the journey of their customers.
This data can illuminate the path to better performance across the entire company by providing an understanding of the customer journey from beginning to end by showing the actual flow of the audience and identifying potential bottlenecks along the way.
It’s All About Confidence
In this fast paced business climate, decisions need to be made sooner, rather than later, because the meter is running. You simply can’t afford to base decisions solely on instinct or “art”. Data is the key to everything that is happening within your prospect and customer base.
If you have the right data and the correct insight into the customer experience, you can make decisions with speed, precision and confidence. Executives who take an active role in building a data business have a more in-tune view of their businesses and are able to compete more effectively. Those who aren’t taking an active role in mapping and understanding the customer journey are at huge disadvantage, and will soon be left in the dust.
To run a competitive organization, implementing the right systems and delivering the right data will enable you to meet the expectations of your customers and pull away from the competition. And Kissmetrics would love to help – request a personal demo, if you’d like to learn more.
About the Author: Brian Kelly is the CEO of Kissmetrics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1JRbJbU via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1L8g5Ie
September 04, 2015 at 04:34AM
Added: Sep 30, 2015 Via IFTTT
Forget Generic Target Individual Users by Tailoring Your Website
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Forget Generic – Target Individual Users by Tailoring Your Website
We all know that no user is the same. Aside from the very basics such as age, gender, socio-economic background and so on–every person differs in their life experiences, interests, and preferences. Since this is the case, why do Marketers continue to use the same tired methodology to reach a diverse customer base? There are lots of excuses: Little man power, not enough resources, and of course—time constraints. But, with today’s technology, customization, segmentation and individualized targeting can be done efficiently without utilizing too many resources.
The importance of individualized messaging for your website cannot be overlooked. After all, there is a strong psychological basis behind the practice. This generation has seen tremendous breakthroughs in terms of promoting the interests of people on a personal level and while it has proven tremendously advantageous in the social arena, it has also lead to higher expectations in terms of customer experience, marketing and sales.
People want their needs to be met right here, right now. As a result, your messaging needs to be in tune with your users specific problems, provide viable solutions and give them maximum bang for their buck in terms of information provided and personal appeal. In other words, your users don’t want to feel like they are being spoken at. Instead, they want to feel valued as an important part of a community.
In order to arrive at the information necessary for individualized website marketing to be successful, you should first consider analyzing your users accordingly.
Demographics
User demographics tell you who they are on the most basic level. This includes information such as age, gender, socio-economic level, location, profession, education level, and marital status. In certain marketing contexts, these elements would be extremely important to note.
For example, if you are creating a landing page meant to increase your jewelry sales, it would be a bad idea to target single people about buying your jewelry as a gift for their spouse. Not only can this be a slap in the face for some, but it also makes people subconsciously feel discluded from your brand’s messaging and by extension, your community as a whole.
To avoid such disasters, you can obtain your users’ demographics in a few different ways. First of all, your website should always be set up to be a two-way conversation. This way, you can casually ask users this information either through conversation or asking them to fill out a short survey. Some great survey tools include SurveyMonkey, Typeform, and Zoho Survey.
Using surveys is highly beneficial since you get the personal information you need while simultaneously empowering your customers and showing them you care about being relevant in their lives.
If surveys don’t cut it, use analytics tools such as Google Analytics Demographics Report along with Facebook Insights. Additionally, products such as Demographics Pro and Quantcast are able to easily provide great insights to classify your customers.
To demonstrate how demographics can make significant impact on a Marketing campaign, check out this great infographic about using demographics for social media marketing:
As you can see, by gaining knowledge of which social media sites are more popular based on age, income, and other factors, marketers are better equipped to decide which social media campaigns to use where. Obviously, the same type of information can be used for websites in general in order to run the right campaigns and write appealing website content.
Psychographic Segmentation
Psychographic segmentation digs deeper. This type of data focuses more on people’s lifestyles, behavior, and belief systems. While this type of information is more difficult to attain, it is by far the most valuable way of appealing to your customers.
Going back to the psychological level, appealing to a person’s intrinsic, emotional beliefs is generally extremely effective. For example, you can appeal to a targeted segment of say– young mothers based on the ideal of providing quick, healthy meals that children love.
In contrast, the exact same message will likely not be a significant core belief of a college aged male and will therefore fail to make a deep impression on his buying habits. Selling people on beliefs and lifestyles rather than products have been a key strategy in marketing for years.
As seen in the ad below, Tiffany and Co. builds an emotional connection with their audience by connecting the emotion of love with their brand. Through this strategy, they as a brand resonate with individuals that identify with this emotion.
At this point, it is important to note that connecting emotionally is not the only way to utilize psychographic data. Often times humor, hobbies, and other motivations are just as effective – if not more so. Check out this landing page by Awesometalk for example. Its messaging is simple and funny, while making a valid point which almost everyone can relate to.
While the data needed to come up with messaging that resonates with your target audience can be obtained through surveys, keyword searches, and your previous effective content – in order to put the values into practice for your marketing efforts, you need to put these beliefs into words. So design landing pages, content, and social campaigns that communicate such themes and messages, and watch your users grow to love your site.
Prior Purchases
Deriving information about previous buys can help you gain insights on the types of products and services that interest a particular person. For example, if a person has previously bought a new comforter for their bed, they may be interested in buying pillows as well.
Therefore, using website features that sell complementary products or services can make your customers’ lives easier. Even prior to purchase, you can give your customers smart options. Many ecommerce sites such as Amazon show similar products that others have looked at so users can compare products and make a purchase.
Thankfully, there are a variety of tools and plugins that will allow you to instantly install this intuitive sales feature. For example, Retail Rocket specializes in real-time ecommerce personalization and product recommendation based on previous purchases and products that have been clicked on. By installing features such as this, your users feel that your site understands their needs and cares about their ease of use. Eventually, this will lead to increased sales and greater customer loyalty.
Previous Behavior
Each browser’s behavior online can show you a lot about their interests and what information is relevant to their lives. Answers (or lack thereof) to email newsletters or taking into account what they’ve clicked, Liked or read on your website can help indicate an individual’s interests and/or place in the buying cycle.
Heatmaps such as Crazy Egg as well as Google Analytics In-Page Analytics can show you where your customers are clicking, scrolling, and reading, which can help you get a feel for how to best approach them.
Obviously, if you see on a heatmap that a person has already watched a demo of your product, they may be more inclined to purchase than someone who is just reading your blog. However, if you notice that a user is constantly coming to your site to read blogs posts on growth hacking, writing more content on the topic and informing them about that content could give that user an extra push.
In addition, getting information about the searches your users are making and how they arrived at your site can help you to figure out messaging that is tailored to their needs.
What’s Next?
So now that you have gotten all the data needed to understand your customer’s needs, how do you actually follow through with your site’s customization? Here are some tips:
Individualize Your Newsfeed, Updates, and Notifications
There’s a reason people keep coming back to Facebook– and there’s no reason your site can’t capitalize from their understanding of targeted website marketing. They came up with the newsfeed so people get a glimpse at what’s happening in their friends’ lives. They then altered the newsfeed and notifications according to their users’ preferences and stories they wanted to see most. The same with Netflix – each users homepage is different. Each user sees different suggestions and recommendations based on their previous viewing history and ratings.
You can do the same. Think about installing updates and notifications based on the type of content specific users want to see. For example, if you have users who repeatedly read content related to growth hacking, display those stories in a special section and ensure they get notifications when a new story on that topic goes up.
You can also employ a comments section where your users can converse amongst themselves about topics that interest them. In this scenario, user’s conversations about growth hacking should also appear on this individual’s newsfeed so he or she is instantly informed and can participate in the conversation.
Targeted Landing Pages
As we have established, your users interests vary. Therefore, creating landing pages that appeal to specific keywords and niche subjects is a great strategy for reeling in segmented audiences.
Landing pages work great because they bring people to your site based on specific interests. For example, you may have users that love gardening. To bring them in initially, you would place an ad about growing beautiful flowers on a different site, targeting these specific individuals. Once the ad is clicked on, they get to an entire page elaborating on how your product can help make a beautiful garden. This eventually guides them to perform a specific action.
So now that we know why landing pages are great for targeting users, here’s how to write one that is sure to convert:
First decide which key messages, subjects, and topics are most relevant to various user-types. Then develop short, concise headlines for each topic along with information that elaborates the main points of what you can offer your customers. Make sure there is one call-to-action in order to ensure users are more likely to actually follow through with what you want them to do. Finally, design it, and watch it do its magic.
For further guidance, check out Kissmetrics’s comprehensive guide to creating an effective landing page.
Power to The People
As we mentioned earlier, your users are not interested in a one-way conversation. They want to feel you are open to their suggestions, input, and knowledge. Therefore, adding a comments section or another area where your users can communicate and discuss ideals is a great way to make them feel you geared their site to fulfill their needs. Not only does it help them to use your site for a social means, but it also helps them to solve their problems and share their beliefs in a manner that is both educational and informal.
Of course, since nothing is more individualistic than voicing an opinion, so by installing such features, you are definitely scoring points with your users.
Individualized Content
Like many sites, your content might cover a variety of different topics. However, not all of these topics have the same meaning to everyone. This is where individualized content comes in. By guiding your users toward information that’s of specific interest to them, you provide them with useful intellectual tools that are relevant to their lives while also enticing them with more reasons they should continue to visit your site.
To take this to the next level, install tools that suggest new content to read at the bottom of each article. This way, you get greater loyalty and user retention by keeping their interests at heart.
Get Personal
Finally, don’t be afraid to take your site to a personal level. Allow your users to have usernames pictures and even gravatars. This way, they can feel they are talking to real people on the other side of the screen and feel that their comments are being noticed and attributed to them.
Individualizing your site is extremely important for creating personal relationships with your users. Your users want to feel that they are valued as people and not just as potential leads. By paying attention to their individual characteristics, you grab their attention and make them feel like a valued, dynamic member of a community.
About the Author: Nadav Shoval is the CEO & Co-Founder of Spot.IM, an on-site community that brings the power back to the publisher. Prior to Spot.IM, Nadav has developed and founded 4 technology startups. Spot.IM is his fifth venture. Nadav is a technology erudite and a sports addict.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1Lk9sso via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1L4a1EE
September 30, 2015 at 09:51PM
We all know that no user is the same. Aside from the very basics such as age, gender, socio-economic background and so on–every person differs in their life experiences, interests, and preferences. Since this is the case, why do Marketers continue to use the same tired methodology to reach a diverse customer base? There are lots of excuses: Little man power, not enough resources, and of course—time constraints. But, with today’s technology, customization, segmentation and individualized targeting can be done efficiently without utilizing too many resources.
The importance of individualized messaging for your website cannot be overlooked. After all, there is a strong psychological basis behind the practice. This generation has seen tremendous breakthroughs in terms of promoting the interests of people on a personal level and while it has proven tremendously advantageous in the social arena, it has also lead to higher expectations in terms of customer experience, marketing and sales.
People want their needs to be met right here, right now. As a result, your messaging needs to be in tune with your users specific problems, provide viable solutions and give them maximum bang for their buck in terms of information provided and personal appeal. In other words, your users don’t want to feel like they are being spoken at. Instead, they want to feel valued as an important part of a community.
In order to arrive at the information necessary for individualized website marketing to be successful, you should first consider analyzing your users accordingly.
Demographics
User demographics tell you who they are on the most basic level. This includes information such as age, gender, socio-economic level, location, profession, education level, and marital status. In certain marketing contexts, these elements would be extremely important to note.
For example, if you are creating a landing page meant to increase your jewelry sales, it would be a bad idea to target single people about buying your jewelry as a gift for their spouse. Not only can this be a slap in the face for some, but it also makes people subconsciously feel discluded from your brand’s messaging and by extension, your community as a whole.
To avoid such disasters, you can obtain your users’ demographics in a few different ways. First of all, your website should always be set up to be a two-way conversation. This way, you can casually ask users this information either through conversation or asking them to fill out a short survey. Some great survey tools include SurveyMonkey, Typeform, and Zoho Survey.
Using surveys is highly beneficial since you get the personal information you need while simultaneously empowering your customers and showing them you care about being relevant in their lives.
If surveys don’t cut it, use analytics tools such as Google Analytics Demographics Report along with Facebook Insights. Additionally, products such as Demographics Pro and Quantcast are able to easily provide great insights to classify your customers.
To demonstrate how demographics can make significant impact on a Marketing campaign, check out this great infographic about using demographics for social media marketing:
As you can see, by gaining knowledge of which social media sites are more popular based on age, income, and other factors, marketers are better equipped to decide which social media campaigns to use where. Obviously, the same type of information can be used for websites in general in order to run the right campaigns and write appealing website content.
Psychographic Segmentation
Psychographic segmentation digs deeper. This type of data focuses more on people’s lifestyles, behavior, and belief systems. While this type of information is more difficult to attain, it is by far the most valuable way of appealing to your customers.
Going back to the psychological level, appealing to a person’s intrinsic, emotional beliefs is generally extremely effective. For example, you can appeal to a targeted segment of say– young mothers based on the ideal of providing quick, healthy meals that children love.
In contrast, the exact same message will likely not be a significant core belief of a college aged male and will therefore fail to make a deep impression on his buying habits. Selling people on beliefs and lifestyles rather than products have been a key strategy in marketing for years.
As seen in the ad below, Tiffany and Co. builds an emotional connection with their audience by connecting the emotion of love with their brand. Through this strategy, they as a brand resonate with individuals that identify with this emotion.
At this point, it is important to note that connecting emotionally is not the only way to utilize psychographic data. Often times humor, hobbies, and other motivations are just as effective – if not more so. Check out this landing page by Awesometalk for example. Its messaging is simple and funny, while making a valid point which almost everyone can relate to.
While the data needed to come up with messaging that resonates with your target audience can be obtained through surveys, keyword searches, and your previous effective content – in order to put the values into practice for your marketing efforts, you need to put these beliefs into words. So design landing pages, content, and social campaigns that communicate such themes and messages, and watch your users grow to love your site.
Prior Purchases
Deriving information about previous buys can help you gain insights on the types of products and services that interest a particular person. For example, if a person has previously bought a new comforter for their bed, they may be interested in buying pillows as well.
Therefore, using website features that sell complementary products or services can make your customers’ lives easier. Even prior to purchase, you can give your customers smart options. Many ecommerce sites such as Amazon show similar products that others have looked at so users can compare products and make a purchase.
Thankfully, there are a variety of tools and plugins that will allow you to instantly install this intuitive sales feature. For example, Retail Rocket specializes in real-time ecommerce personalization and product recommendation based on previous purchases and products that have been clicked on. By installing features such as this, your users feel that your site understands their needs and cares about their ease of use. Eventually, this will lead to increased sales and greater customer loyalty.
Previous Behavior
Each browser’s behavior online can show you a lot about their interests and what information is relevant to their lives. Answers (or lack thereof) to email newsletters or taking into account what they’ve clicked, Liked or read on your website can help indicate an individual’s interests and/or place in the buying cycle.
Heatmaps such as Crazy Egg as well as Google Analytics In-Page Analytics can show you where your customers are clicking, scrolling, and reading, which can help you get a feel for how to best approach them.
Obviously, if you see on a heatmap that a person has already watched a demo of your product, they may be more inclined to purchase than someone who is just reading your blog. However, if you notice that a user is constantly coming to your site to read blogs posts on growth hacking, writing more content on the topic and informing them about that content could give that user an extra push.
In addition, getting information about the searches your users are making and how they arrived at your site can help you to figure out messaging that is tailored to their needs.
What’s Next?
So now that you have gotten all the data needed to understand your customer’s needs, how do you actually follow through with your site’s customization? Here are some tips:
Individualize Your Newsfeed, Updates, and Notifications
There’s a reason people keep coming back to Facebook– and there’s no reason your site can’t capitalize from their understanding of targeted website marketing. They came up with the newsfeed so people get a glimpse at what’s happening in their friends’ lives. They then altered the newsfeed and notifications according to their users’ preferences and stories they wanted to see most. The same with Netflix – each users homepage is different. Each user sees different suggestions and recommendations based on their previous viewing history and ratings.
You can do the same. Think about installing updates and notifications based on the type of content specific users want to see. For example, if you have users who repeatedly read content related to growth hacking, display those stories in a special section and ensure they get notifications when a new story on that topic goes up.
You can also employ a comments section where your users can converse amongst themselves about topics that interest them. In this scenario, user’s conversations about growth hacking should also appear on this individual’s newsfeed so he or she is instantly informed and can participate in the conversation.
Targeted Landing Pages
As we have established, your users interests vary. Therefore, creating landing pages that appeal to specific keywords and niche subjects is a great strategy for reeling in segmented audiences.
Landing pages work great because they bring people to your site based on specific interests. For example, you may have users that love gardening. To bring them in initially, you would place an ad about growing beautiful flowers on a different site, targeting these specific individuals. Once the ad is clicked on, they get to an entire page elaborating on how your product can help make a beautiful garden. This eventually guides them to perform a specific action.
So now that we know why landing pages are great for targeting users, here’s how to write one that is sure to convert:
First decide which key messages, subjects, and topics are most relevant to various user-types. Then develop short, concise headlines for each topic along with information that elaborates the main points of what you can offer your customers. Make sure there is one call-to-action in order to ensure users are more likely to actually follow through with what you want them to do. Finally, design it, and watch it do its magic.
For further guidance, check out Kissmetrics’s comprehensive guide to creating an effective landing page.
Power to The People
As we mentioned earlier, your users are not interested in a one-way conversation. They want to feel you are open to their suggestions, input, and knowledge. Therefore, adding a comments section or another area where your users can communicate and discuss ideals is a great way to make them feel you geared their site to fulfill their needs. Not only does it help them to use your site for a social means, but it also helps them to solve their problems and share their beliefs in a manner that is both educational and informal.
Of course, since nothing is more individualistic than voicing an opinion, so by installing such features, you are definitely scoring points with your users.
Individualized Content
Like many sites, your content might cover a variety of different topics. However, not all of these topics have the same meaning to everyone. This is where individualized content comes in. By guiding your users toward information that’s of specific interest to them, you provide them with useful intellectual tools that are relevant to their lives while also enticing them with more reasons they should continue to visit your site.
To take this to the next level, install tools that suggest new content to read at the bottom of each article. This way, you get greater loyalty and user retention by keeping their interests at heart.
Get Personal
Finally, don’t be afraid to take your site to a personal level. Allow your users to have usernames pictures and even gravatars. This way, they can feel they are talking to real people on the other side of the screen and feel that their comments are being noticed and attributed to them.
Individualizing your site is extremely important for creating personal relationships with your users. Your users want to feel that they are valued as people and not just as potential leads. By paying attention to their individual characteristics, you grab their attention and make them feel like a valued, dynamic member of a community.
About the Author: Nadav Shoval is the CEO & Co-Founder of Spot.IM, an on-site community that brings the power back to the publisher. Prior to Spot.IM, Nadav has developed and founded 4 technology startups. Spot.IM is his fifth venture. Nadav is a technology erudite and a sports addict.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1Lk9sso via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1L4a1EE
September 30, 2015 at 09:51PM
Added: Apr 22, 2019 Via IFTTT
Forget Generic Target Individual Users by Tailoring Your Website
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Forget Generic – Target Individual Users by Tailoring Your Website
We all know that no user is the same. Aside from the very basics such as age, gender, socio-economic background and so on–every person differs in their life experiences, interests, and preferences. Since this is the case, why do Marketers continue to use the same tired methodology to reach a diverse customer base? There are lots of excuses: Little man power, not enough resources, and of course—time constraints. But, with today’s technology, customization, segmentation and individualized targeting can be done efficiently without utilizing too many resources.
The importance of individualized messaging for your website cannot be overlooked. After all, there is a strong psychological basis behind the practice. This generation has seen tremendous breakthroughs in terms of promoting the interests of people on a personal level and while it has proven tremendously advantageous in the social arena, it has also lead to higher expectations in terms of customer experience, marketing and sales.
People want their needs to be met right here, right now. As a result, your messaging needs to be in tune with your users specific problems, provide viable solutions and give them maximum bang for their buck in terms of information provided and personal appeal. In other words, your users don’t want to feel like they are being spoken at. Instead, they want to feel valued as an important part of a community.
In order to arrive at the information necessary for individualized website marketing to be successful, you should first consider analyzing your users accordingly.
Demographics
User demographics tell you who they are on the most basic level. This includes information such as age, gender, socio-economic level, location, profession, education level, and marital status. In certain marketing contexts, these elements would be extremely important to note.
For example, if you are creating a landing page meant to increase your jewelry sales, it would be a bad idea to target single people about buying your jewelry as a gift for their spouse. Not only can this be a slap in the face for some, but it also makes people subconsciously feel discluded from your brand’s messaging and by extension, your community as a whole.
To avoid such disasters, you can obtain your users’ demographics in a few different ways. First of all, your website should always be set up to be a two-way conversation. This way, you can casually ask users this information either through conversation or asking them to fill out a short survey. Some great survey tools include SurveyMonkey, Typeform, and Zoho Survey.
Using surveys is highly beneficial since you get the personal information you need while simultaneously empowering your customers and showing them you care about being relevant in their lives.
If surveys don’t cut it, use analytics tools such as Google Analytics Demographics Report along with Facebook Insights. Additionally, products such as Demographics Pro and Quantcast are able to easily provide great insights to classify your customers.
To demonstrate how demographics can make significant impact on a Marketing campaign, check out this great infographic about using demographics for social media marketing:
As you can see, by gaining knowledge of which social media sites are more popular based on age, income, and other factors, marketers are better equipped to decide which social media campaigns to use where. Obviously, the same type of information can be used for websites in general in order to run the right campaigns and write appealing website content.
Psychographic Segmentation
Psychographic segmentation digs deeper. This type of data focuses more on people’s lifestyles, behavior, and belief systems. While this type of information is more difficult to attain, it is by far the most valuable way of appealing to your customers.
Going back to the psychological level, appealing to a person’s intrinsic, emotional beliefs is generally extremely effective. For example, you can appeal to a targeted segment of say– young mothers based on the ideal of providing quick, healthy meals that children love.
In contrast, the exact same message will likely not be a significant core belief of a college aged male and will therefore fail to make a deep impression on his buying habits. Selling people on beliefs and lifestyles rather than products have been a key strategy in marketing for years.
As seen in the ad below, Tiffany and Co. builds an emotional connection with their audience by connecting the emotion of love with their brand. Through this strategy, they as a brand resonate with individuals that identify with this emotion.
At this point, it is important to note that connecting emotionally is not the only way to utilize psychographic data. Often times humor, hobbies, and other motivations are just as effective – if not more so. Check out this landing page by Awesometalk for example. Its messaging is simple and funny, while making a valid point which almost everyone can relate to.
While the data needed to come up with messaging that resonates with your target audience can be obtained through surveys, keyword searches, and your previous effective content – in order to put the values into practice for your marketing efforts, you need to put these beliefs into words. So design landing pages, content, and social campaigns that communicate such themes and messages, and watch your users grow to love your site.
Prior Purchases
Deriving information about previous buys can help you gain insights on the types of products and services that interest a particular person. For example, if a person has previously bought a new comforter for their bed, they may be interested in buying pillows as well.
Therefore, using website features that sell complementary products or services can make your customers’ lives easier. Even prior to purchase, you can give your customers smart options. Many ecommerce sites such as Amazon show similar products that others have looked at so users can compare products and make a purchase.
Thankfully, there are a variety of tools and plugins that will allow you to instantly install this intuitive sales feature. For example, Retail Rocket specializes in real-time ecommerce personalization and product recommendation based on previous purchases and products that have been clicked on. By installing features such as this, your users feel that your site understands their needs and cares about their ease of use. Eventually, this will lead to increased sales and greater customer loyalty.
Previous Behavior
Each browser’s behavior online can show you a lot about their interests and what information is relevant to their lives. Answers (or lack thereof) to email newsletters or taking into account what they’ve clicked, Liked or read on your website can help indicate an individual’s interests and/or place in the buying cycle.
Heatmaps such as Crazy Egg as well as Google Analytics In-Page Analytics can show you where your customers are clicking, scrolling, and reading, which can help you get a feel for how to best approach them.
Obviously, if you see on a heatmap that a person has already watched a demo of your product, they may be more inclined to purchase than someone who is just reading your blog. However, if you notice that a user is constantly coming to your site to read blogs posts on growth hacking, writing more content on the topic and informing them about that content could give that user an extra push.
In addition, getting information about the searches your users are making and how they arrived at your site can help you to figure out messaging that is tailored to their needs.
What’s Next?
So now that you have gotten all the data needed to understand your customer’s needs, how do you actually follow through with your site’s customization? Here are some tips:
Individualize Your Newsfeed, Updates, and Notifications
There’s a reason people keep coming back to Facebook– and there’s no reason your site can’t capitalize from their understanding of targeted website marketing. They came up with the newsfeed so people get a glimpse at what’s happening in their friends’ lives. They then altered the newsfeed and notifications according to their users’ preferences and stories they wanted to see most. The same with Netflix – each users homepage is different. Each user sees different suggestions and recommendations based on their previous viewing history and ratings.
You can do the same. Think about installing updates and notifications based on the type of content specific users want to see. For example, if you have users who repeatedly read content related to growth hacking, display those stories in a special section and ensure they get notifications when a new story on that topic goes up.
You can also employ a comments section where your users can converse amongst themselves about topics that interest them. In this scenario, user’s conversations about growth hacking should also appear on this individual’s newsfeed so he or she is instantly informed and can participate in the conversation.
Targeted Landing Pages
As we have established, your users interests vary. Therefore, creating landing pages that appeal to specific keywords and niche subjects is a great strategy for reeling in segmented audiences.
Landing pages work great because they bring people to your site based on specific interests. For example, you may have users that love gardening. To bring them in initially, you would place an ad about growing beautiful flowers on a different site, targeting these specific individuals. Once the ad is clicked on, they get to an entire page elaborating on how your product can help make a beautiful garden. This eventually guides them to perform a specific action.
So now that we know why landing pages are great for targeting users, here’s how to write one that is sure to convert:
First decide which key messages, subjects, and topics are most relevant to various user-types. Then develop short, concise headlines for each topic along with information that elaborates the main points of what you can offer your customers. Make sure there is one call-to-action in order to ensure users are more likely to actually follow through with what you want them to do. Finally, design it, and watch it do its magic.
For further guidance, check out Kissmetrics’s comprehensive guide to creating an effective landing page.
Power to The People
As we mentioned earlier, your users are not interested in a one-way conversation. They want to feel you are open to their suggestions, input, and knowledge. Therefore, adding a comments section or another area where your users can communicate and discuss ideals is a great way to make them feel you geared their site to fulfill their needs. Not only does it help them to use your site for a social means, but it also helps them to solve their problems and share their beliefs in a manner that is both educational and informal.
Of course, since nothing is more individualistic than voicing an opinion, so by installing such features, you are definitely scoring points with your users.
Individualized Content
Like many sites, your content might cover a variety of different topics. However, not all of these topics have the same meaning to everyone. This is where individualized content comes in. By guiding your users toward information that’s of specific interest to them, you provide them with useful intellectual tools that are relevant to their lives while also enticing them with more reasons they should continue to visit your site.
To take this to the next level, install tools that suggest new content to read at the bottom of each article. This way, you get greater loyalty and user retention by keeping their interests at heart.
Get Personal
Finally, don’t be afraid to take your site to a personal level. Allow your users to have usernames pictures and even gravatars. This way, they can feel they are talking to real people on the other side of the screen and feel that their comments are being noticed and attributed to them.
Individualizing your site is extremely important for creating personal relationships with your users. Your users want to feel that they are valued as people and not just as potential leads. By paying attention to their individual characteristics, you grab their attention and make them feel like a valued, dynamic member of a community.
About the Author: Nadav Shoval is the CEO & Co-Founder of Spot.IM, an on-site community that brings the power back to the publisher. Prior to Spot.IM, Nadav has developed and founded 4 technology startups. Spot.IM is his fifth venture. Nadav is a technology erudite and a sports addict.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1Lk9sso via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://bit.ly/2KVSY09
September 30, 2015 at 09:51PM
We all know that no user is the same. Aside from the very basics such as age, gender, socio-economic background and so on–every person differs in their life experiences, interests, and preferences. Since this is the case, why do Marketers continue to use the same tired methodology to reach a diverse customer base? There are lots of excuses: Little man power, not enough resources, and of course—time constraints. But, with today’s technology, customization, segmentation and individualized targeting can be done efficiently without utilizing too many resources.
The importance of individualized messaging for your website cannot be overlooked. After all, there is a strong psychological basis behind the practice. This generation has seen tremendous breakthroughs in terms of promoting the interests of people on a personal level and while it has proven tremendously advantageous in the social arena, it has also lead to higher expectations in terms of customer experience, marketing and sales.
People want their needs to be met right here, right now. As a result, your messaging needs to be in tune with your users specific problems, provide viable solutions and give them maximum bang for their buck in terms of information provided and personal appeal. In other words, your users don’t want to feel like they are being spoken at. Instead, they want to feel valued as an important part of a community.
In order to arrive at the information necessary for individualized website marketing to be successful, you should first consider analyzing your users accordingly.
Demographics
User demographics tell you who they are on the most basic level. This includes information such as age, gender, socio-economic level, location, profession, education level, and marital status. In certain marketing contexts, these elements would be extremely important to note.
For example, if you are creating a landing page meant to increase your jewelry sales, it would be a bad idea to target single people about buying your jewelry as a gift for their spouse. Not only can this be a slap in the face for some, but it also makes people subconsciously feel discluded from your brand’s messaging and by extension, your community as a whole.
To avoid such disasters, you can obtain your users’ demographics in a few different ways. First of all, your website should always be set up to be a two-way conversation. This way, you can casually ask users this information either through conversation or asking them to fill out a short survey. Some great survey tools include SurveyMonkey, Typeform, and Zoho Survey.
Using surveys is highly beneficial since you get the personal information you need while simultaneously empowering your customers and showing them you care about being relevant in their lives.
If surveys don’t cut it, use analytics tools such as Google Analytics Demographics Report along with Facebook Insights. Additionally, products such as Demographics Pro and Quantcast are able to easily provide great insights to classify your customers.
To demonstrate how demographics can make significant impact on a Marketing campaign, check out this great infographic about using demographics for social media marketing:
As you can see, by gaining knowledge of which social media sites are more popular based on age, income, and other factors, marketers are better equipped to decide which social media campaigns to use where. Obviously, the same type of information can be used for websites in general in order to run the right campaigns and write appealing website content.
Psychographic Segmentation
Psychographic segmentation digs deeper. This type of data focuses more on people’s lifestyles, behavior, and belief systems. While this type of information is more difficult to attain, it is by far the most valuable way of appealing to your customers.
Going back to the psychological level, appealing to a person’s intrinsic, emotional beliefs is generally extremely effective. For example, you can appeal to a targeted segment of say– young mothers based on the ideal of providing quick, healthy meals that children love.
In contrast, the exact same message will likely not be a significant core belief of a college aged male and will therefore fail to make a deep impression on his buying habits. Selling people on beliefs and lifestyles rather than products have been a key strategy in marketing for years.
As seen in the ad below, Tiffany and Co. builds an emotional connection with their audience by connecting the emotion of love with their brand. Through this strategy, they as a brand resonate with individuals that identify with this emotion.
At this point, it is important to note that connecting emotionally is not the only way to utilize psychographic data. Often times humor, hobbies, and other motivations are just as effective – if not more so. Check out this landing page by Awesometalk for example. Its messaging is simple and funny, while making a valid point which almost everyone can relate to.
While the data needed to come up with messaging that resonates with your target audience can be obtained through surveys, keyword searches, and your previous effective content – in order to put the values into practice for your marketing efforts, you need to put these beliefs into words. So design landing pages, content, and social campaigns that communicate such themes and messages, and watch your users grow to love your site.
Prior Purchases
Deriving information about previous buys can help you gain insights on the types of products and services that interest a particular person. For example, if a person has previously bought a new comforter for their bed, they may be interested in buying pillows as well.
Therefore, using website features that sell complementary products or services can make your customers’ lives easier. Even prior to purchase, you can give your customers smart options. Many ecommerce sites such as Amazon show similar products that others have looked at so users can compare products and make a purchase.
Thankfully, there are a variety of tools and plugins that will allow you to instantly install this intuitive sales feature. For example, Retail Rocket specializes in real-time ecommerce personalization and product recommendation based on previous purchases and products that have been clicked on. By installing features such as this, your users feel that your site understands their needs and cares about their ease of use. Eventually, this will lead to increased sales and greater customer loyalty.
Previous Behavior
Each browser’s behavior online can show you a lot about their interests and what information is relevant to their lives. Answers (or lack thereof) to email newsletters or taking into account what they’ve clicked, Liked or read on your website can help indicate an individual’s interests and/or place in the buying cycle.
Heatmaps such as Crazy Egg as well as Google Analytics In-Page Analytics can show you where your customers are clicking, scrolling, and reading, which can help you get a feel for how to best approach them.
Obviously, if you see on a heatmap that a person has already watched a demo of your product, they may be more inclined to purchase than someone who is just reading your blog. However, if you notice that a user is constantly coming to your site to read blogs posts on growth hacking, writing more content on the topic and informing them about that content could give that user an extra push.
In addition, getting information about the searches your users are making and how they arrived at your site can help you to figure out messaging that is tailored to their needs.
What’s Next?
So now that you have gotten all the data needed to understand your customer’s needs, how do you actually follow through with your site’s customization? Here are some tips:
Individualize Your Newsfeed, Updates, and Notifications
There’s a reason people keep coming back to Facebook– and there’s no reason your site can’t capitalize from their understanding of targeted website marketing. They came up with the newsfeed so people get a glimpse at what’s happening in their friends’ lives. They then altered the newsfeed and notifications according to their users’ preferences and stories they wanted to see most. The same with Netflix – each users homepage is different. Each user sees different suggestions and recommendations based on their previous viewing history and ratings.
You can do the same. Think about installing updates and notifications based on the type of content specific users want to see. For example, if you have users who repeatedly read content related to growth hacking, display those stories in a special section and ensure they get notifications when a new story on that topic goes up.
You can also employ a comments section where your users can converse amongst themselves about topics that interest them. In this scenario, user’s conversations about growth hacking should also appear on this individual’s newsfeed so he or she is instantly informed and can participate in the conversation.
Targeted Landing Pages
As we have established, your users interests vary. Therefore, creating landing pages that appeal to specific keywords and niche subjects is a great strategy for reeling in segmented audiences.
Landing pages work great because they bring people to your site based on specific interests. For example, you may have users that love gardening. To bring them in initially, you would place an ad about growing beautiful flowers on a different site, targeting these specific individuals. Once the ad is clicked on, they get to an entire page elaborating on how your product can help make a beautiful garden. This eventually guides them to perform a specific action.
So now that we know why landing pages are great for targeting users, here’s how to write one that is sure to convert:
First decide which key messages, subjects, and topics are most relevant to various user-types. Then develop short, concise headlines for each topic along with information that elaborates the main points of what you can offer your customers. Make sure there is one call-to-action in order to ensure users are more likely to actually follow through with what you want them to do. Finally, design it, and watch it do its magic.
For further guidance, check out Kissmetrics’s comprehensive guide to creating an effective landing page.
Power to The People
As we mentioned earlier, your users are not interested in a one-way conversation. They want to feel you are open to their suggestions, input, and knowledge. Therefore, adding a comments section or another area where your users can communicate and discuss ideals is a great way to make them feel you geared their site to fulfill their needs. Not only does it help them to use your site for a social means, but it also helps them to solve their problems and share their beliefs in a manner that is both educational and informal.
Of course, since nothing is more individualistic than voicing an opinion, so by installing such features, you are definitely scoring points with your users.
Individualized Content
Like many sites, your content might cover a variety of different topics. However, not all of these topics have the same meaning to everyone. This is where individualized content comes in. By guiding your users toward information that’s of specific interest to them, you provide them with useful intellectual tools that are relevant to their lives while also enticing them with more reasons they should continue to visit your site.
To take this to the next level, install tools that suggest new content to read at the bottom of each article. This way, you get greater loyalty and user retention by keeping their interests at heart.
Get Personal
Finally, don’t be afraid to take your site to a personal level. Allow your users to have usernames pictures and even gravatars. This way, they can feel they are talking to real people on the other side of the screen and feel that their comments are being noticed and attributed to them.
Individualizing your site is extremely important for creating personal relationships with your users. Your users want to feel that they are valued as people and not just as potential leads. By paying attention to their individual characteristics, you grab their attention and make them feel like a valued, dynamic member of a community.
About the Author: Nadav Shoval is the CEO & Co-Founder of Spot.IM, an on-site community that brings the power back to the publisher. Prior to Spot.IM, Nadav has developed and founded 4 technology startups. Spot.IM is his fifth venture. Nadav is a technology erudite and a sports addict.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1Lk9sso via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://bit.ly/2KVSY09
September 30, 2015 at 09:51PM
Added: Jul 29, 2015 Via IFTTT
Googles Next Big Algorithm Change is Coming Will Your Site Survive?
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Google’s Next Big Algorithm Change is Coming… Will Your Site Survive?
A lot of website owners were caught with their heads in the sand when it came to Penguin and Panda. Even more recently, Google’s push to embrace mobile responsive sites has businesses scrambling to ensure their sites load quickly and flawlessly on mobile devices. So what’s next? And how can you prepare yourself rather than being blindsided by the change?
The fact is, no one but Google knows when the next algorithm update will happen. Small tweaks and large overhauls happen all the time in a continuing effort to make the search engine results more relevant to the user’s search. In this article, we’re not talking about small shifts, but rather the big, all-encompassing changes like the shift to mobile focus, or the “Starbucks/Mystery” update that caused sudden traffic fluctuations in February of this year.
As a web marketing professional, you’re likely already used to weathering the small speed bumps caused by algorithm tweaks, but being able to foresee big changes that will happen and plan ahead for them will make your site feel that much less of the brunt when the next big update happens. So how do you do it?
Before the Update: Knowledge is Power
Google often makes its expectations abundantly clear when it’s about to release a major overhaul of its algorithms, even creating video FAQs to help answer questions. This is where it makes sense to plan ahead and craft a checklist of sorts to ensure that changes are well documented, tracked and able to be implemented in a reasonable time frame. For instance:
Is the update going to involve changes to the front-end design or the back-end technical aspects of the site, or both?
If both, are the designers and developers as well as IT staff ready with infrastructure updates, necessary code and other elements to make the updates as smooth as possible?
What can you learn from similar past experiences? Is there a trend toward a specific kind of result? How can your site be adjusted to best take advantage of the change?
It may seem like a lot of preparation and planning for what could ultimately turn out to be a change that fizzles in the minds of SEO professionals, but forewarned is forearmed, and those companies that take into account the ebb and flow of traffic during an algorithm update are best poised to come out on top when the storm dies down.
During the Update: Don’t Panic
This is the stage where it’s good to look at past reports as an indication of where your site was (both in terms of ranking and traffic) before the update. That means looking at things like:
Traffic by referrer
Traffic by device
Time on site/Pageviews/Number of pages per session
Where your site ranks with regard to specific keywords
Conversion goals completed
Revenue
Bounce Rate
You may think that things like time on site, bounce rate, and pages per session would have nothing to do with an algorithm update, but consider the option that your site suddenly starts ranking for a product you no longer carry, but have a page for. This can in turn greatly distort your numbers and cause a panic if you’re unprepared (at least, until the update dust settles!)
It may also be worth taking into account your competition and where they’re ranking before and during the algorithm update. Having this information will give you a baseline to compare to when the actual update is completed.
During this time, pay attention to relevant search engine news and update channels for insights on any major problems encountered by website owners, and what’s being done to fix them. Pay close attention to any particular before and after case studies, reports or other news showing sites after the update has completed. Traffic may be a whirlwind at this point, especially as marketers try to grasp the impact the shift has on their site. But after a few weeks, the changes will be in place and traffic patterns will adjust normally.
After the Update: Making Adjustments and Looking Back
Once things have settled relatively smoothly into place, you’ll likely be making small adjustment as you view your real-time, daily and weekly traffic reports to determine how the algorithm change affected your customers and how they find and interact with your site.
As tempting as it might be to sit back and relax at this point, this is where you need to be putting all of that preparation and research into practice. Some changes, like the Google mobile preference update, will take much longer to implement as a responsive site needs to be prototyped, built, tested and so forth, before launch. It can take weeks, if not a month or more to see through to completion.
You’ll likely need to prioritize at this point, so look at your best converting/highest traffic pages and sort those that you feel will likely have the biggest impact accordingly. Get realistic estimates from your staff on when the proposed changes can go live. Once that happens, it’s time to watch and analyze.
Take a look at those aforementioned points that were affected during the algorithm update. How are they faring afterwards? What do the numbers look like and if there were any drops in traffic, can you pinpoint what happened to cause them?
It’s also important to note whether or not the update affected Google’s core functionality. Some updates are designed merely to skim the surface. Others are major “always on” factors that consistently affect how sites rank (Penguin and Panda were examples of this).
The Bottom Line on Preparing for the Next Big Thing
If you’re focused on quality content, natural ad placement, properly optimized pages and regular, gradual back linking and social signals – you’re doing everything right. But that doesn’t mean you should sit back and let major algorithm changes pass you by. It pays (literally) to be invested in understanding the direction of the search engine, and the role your site plays in its results. Taking steps to be aware of the situation, and working with your team to put concepts into action will take you farther, faster than wringing your hands about the issues when everything is said and done!
Have you experienced any major shifts from a search engine algorithm update? How has it affected your business? Tell us about it in the comments below!
About the Author: Sherice Jacob helps business owners improve website design and increase conversion rates through compelling copywriting, user-friendly design and smart analytics analysis. Learn more at iElectrify.com and download your free web copy tune-up and conversion checklist today!
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1LYgpPg via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1DP4Vp7
July 29, 2015 at 09:47PM
A lot of website owners were caught with their heads in the sand when it came to Penguin and Panda. Even more recently, Google’s push to embrace mobile responsive sites has businesses scrambling to ensure their sites load quickly and flawlessly on mobile devices. So what’s next? And how can you prepare yourself rather than being blindsided by the change?
The fact is, no one but Google knows when the next algorithm update will happen. Small tweaks and large overhauls happen all the time in a continuing effort to make the search engine results more relevant to the user’s search. In this article, we’re not talking about small shifts, but rather the big, all-encompassing changes like the shift to mobile focus, or the “Starbucks/Mystery” update that caused sudden traffic fluctuations in February of this year.
As a web marketing professional, you’re likely already used to weathering the small speed bumps caused by algorithm tweaks, but being able to foresee big changes that will happen and plan ahead for them will make your site feel that much less of the brunt when the next big update happens. So how do you do it?
Before the Update: Knowledge is Power
Google often makes its expectations abundantly clear when it’s about to release a major overhaul of its algorithms, even creating video FAQs to help answer questions. This is where it makes sense to plan ahead and craft a checklist of sorts to ensure that changes are well documented, tracked and able to be implemented in a reasonable time frame. For instance:
Is the update going to involve changes to the front-end design or the back-end technical aspects of the site, or both?
If both, are the designers and developers as well as IT staff ready with infrastructure updates, necessary code and other elements to make the updates as smooth as possible?
What can you learn from similar past experiences? Is there a trend toward a specific kind of result? How can your site be adjusted to best take advantage of the change?
It may seem like a lot of preparation and planning for what could ultimately turn out to be a change that fizzles in the minds of SEO professionals, but forewarned is forearmed, and those companies that take into account the ebb and flow of traffic during an algorithm update are best poised to come out on top when the storm dies down.
During the Update: Don’t Panic
This is the stage where it’s good to look at past reports as an indication of where your site was (both in terms of ranking and traffic) before the update. That means looking at things like:
Traffic by referrer
Traffic by device
Time on site/Pageviews/Number of pages per session
Where your site ranks with regard to specific keywords
Conversion goals completed
Revenue
Bounce Rate
You may think that things like time on site, bounce rate, and pages per session would have nothing to do with an algorithm update, but consider the option that your site suddenly starts ranking for a product you no longer carry, but have a page for. This can in turn greatly distort your numbers and cause a panic if you’re unprepared (at least, until the update dust settles!)
It may also be worth taking into account your competition and where they’re ranking before and during the algorithm update. Having this information will give you a baseline to compare to when the actual update is completed.
During this time, pay attention to relevant search engine news and update channels for insights on any major problems encountered by website owners, and what’s being done to fix them. Pay close attention to any particular before and after case studies, reports or other news showing sites after the update has completed. Traffic may be a whirlwind at this point, especially as marketers try to grasp the impact the shift has on their site. But after a few weeks, the changes will be in place and traffic patterns will adjust normally.
After the Update: Making Adjustments and Looking Back
Once things have settled relatively smoothly into place, you’ll likely be making small adjustment as you view your real-time, daily and weekly traffic reports to determine how the algorithm change affected your customers and how they find and interact with your site.
As tempting as it might be to sit back and relax at this point, this is where you need to be putting all of that preparation and research into practice. Some changes, like the Google mobile preference update, will take much longer to implement as a responsive site needs to be prototyped, built, tested and so forth, before launch. It can take weeks, if not a month or more to see through to completion.
You’ll likely need to prioritize at this point, so look at your best converting/highest traffic pages and sort those that you feel will likely have the biggest impact accordingly. Get realistic estimates from your staff on when the proposed changes can go live. Once that happens, it’s time to watch and analyze.
Take a look at those aforementioned points that were affected during the algorithm update. How are they faring afterwards? What do the numbers look like and if there were any drops in traffic, can you pinpoint what happened to cause them?
It’s also important to note whether or not the update affected Google’s core functionality. Some updates are designed merely to skim the surface. Others are major “always on” factors that consistently affect how sites rank (Penguin and Panda were examples of this).
The Bottom Line on Preparing for the Next Big Thing
If you’re focused on quality content, natural ad placement, properly optimized pages and regular, gradual back linking and social signals – you’re doing everything right. But that doesn’t mean you should sit back and let major algorithm changes pass you by. It pays (literally) to be invested in understanding the direction of the search engine, and the role your site plays in its results. Taking steps to be aware of the situation, and working with your team to put concepts into action will take you farther, faster than wringing your hands about the issues when everything is said and done!
Have you experienced any major shifts from a search engine algorithm update? How has it affected your business? Tell us about it in the comments below!
About the Author: Sherice Jacob helps business owners improve website design and increase conversion rates through compelling copywriting, user-friendly design and smart analytics analysis. Learn more at iElectrify.com and download your free web copy tune-up and conversion checklist today!
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1LYgpPg via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1DP4Vp7
July 29, 2015 at 09:47PM
Added: Oct 02, 2015 Via IFTTT
Hostnine Coupon Code 59% OFF by WebmasterForum.ws
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Hostnine Coupon Code 59% OFF by WebmasterForum.ws
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Hostnine Coupon Code 59% OFF
http://ift.tt/1FMlet3
October 02, 2015 at 05:11PM
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Hostnine Coupon Code 59% OFF
http://ift.tt/1FMlet3
October 02, 2015 at 05:11PM
Added: Apr 22, 2019 Via IFTTT
Hostnine Coupon Code 59% OFF by WebmasterForum.ws
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Hostnine Coupon Code 59% OFF by WebmasterForum.ws
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Hostnine Coupon Code 59% OFF
http://bit.ly/2KVT73H
October 02, 2015 at 05:11PM
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Hostnine Coupon Code 59% OFF
http://bit.ly/2KVT73H
October 02, 2015 at 05:11PM
Added: Jul 13, 2015 Via IFTTT
How B2B SaaS Companies Can Drive Sales With Display Advertising
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
How B2B SaaS Companies Can Drive Sales With Display Advertising
“Display advertising doesn’t work.”
You’ve likely heard this. Especially if you run a SaaS company.
I’ll admit Display Advertising can be a tough nut to crack. It can take a bit longer to achieve a positive ROI depending on the length of your product’s buying cycle. Yet, Display advertising CAN work for B2B SaaS businesses. Many well-known SaaS companies already use Display to drive leads and sales. A few examples are Intuit, Zendesk, and Salesforce.
However, you don’t need to be a big start up like Dropbox with a huge ad budget. You just need to dial in your targeting, consistently A/B test and follow a proven advertising strategy.
This post outlines the 5 key components to designing an effective Display advertising campaign.
Step #1: Find the best traffic sources – Ad Networks
The first step is getting qualified prospects to your landing pages. SaaS companies need high-quality sources of traffic. They tend to target a more sophisticated audience made up of business owners and decision makers. You won’t find many “affiliate” traffic sources that cater to this audience.
Here are the 4 most used networks by SaaS businesses.
Google Display Network
The Google Display Network on Google Adwords should be your starting point. No network has the quality of traffic or the ability to scale that Google has. This is why most B2B advertisers use Google as their main traffic source. There is, however, one downside to Google: they’re extremely strict with what they’ll allow you to say in your ads and have on your landing pages. Everything will need to be 100% transparent. You’ll need to back all claims up with legitimate evidence. You’ll need to clearly explain your offer. You’ll need to have a privacy policy and make it clear how you handle user privacy. Most B2B SaaS companies won’t have issues with this, but it’s worth mentioning.
BingAds
BingAds is the 2nd to Google in traffic volume. Like Google, their publishers are also going to be of higher quality. The downside to BingAds is they have fewer publishers when compared to Google, making it harder to scale your campaigns. However, Bing is a great addition when you’ve already got your Google campaigns up and running.
Native Ad Networks (Outbrain and Taboola)
Native Ad Networks are the latest and greatest ad networks at the moment. They serve the “Recommended” and “Around the Web” ads you see on large publishers like Huffington Post, Business Insider and Forbes. Ads served by Native Ad Networks look like recommended content and news stories. This means the landing pages and creatives advertisers use tend to be in a different format. A few large SaaS advertisers (like Salesforce) use Native Ad Networks to drive traffic to blog posts or white papers.
Native Ad Network ads being served on Forbes.com
Prospects read the content and can opt-in to receive more information. This is a great, non “salesy” way to move prospects into your sales funnel. Some of the largest Native Ad Networks are Outbrain, Taboola, Content.Ad and rev:content.
Direct Buys
A Direct Buy is when an advertiser bypasses ad networks and ad exchanges and buys inventory directly from a publisher. This gives you the ability to negotiate prices. You can often get a much better deal with a Direct Buy than on an exchange or network.
Step #2: Find your best customers – Publishers
A “publisher” is the website that you buy ad inventory from. For example, Huffington Post is a publisher. This is one of the most important components and one of the number one reasons why people fail with display advertising. It goes without saying that you need to get your message in front of the right audience.
You’d never sell steaks at a vegan food festival. Yet a lot of advertisers try to sell their enterprise software to prospects on celebrity gossip sites. It sounds crazy, but I see it all the time.
Industry Dependent
The first place to begin when choosing publishers is to select websites with content related to your product.
Let’s use Quickbooks accounting software as an example. Quickbooks wants to target small business owners, accountants, or anyone who is going to do the books for small businesses. Intuit (the company who created Quickbooks) buys traffic on sites like accountingweb.com and journalofaccountancy.com. Both sites contain content related to accounting. People browsing these sites will have accounting on the brain. They’ll be more receptive to an ad about accounting software.
Example of a Quickbooks ad on AccountingWeb.com
Another example is Yahoo! advertising on Search Engine Land (a website targeted at SEM and SEO professionals) for their webcast. Search Engine Land’s audience will be interested in a webcast that teaches how to write better ad copy.
User Demographic and Mindset
One of the keys to success — and best ways to scale — is to not just target sites based on their content. There are only going to be so many accounting and SEM websites out there. You’ll soon run out of options for converting publishers. However, there are hundreds of news, political and general interest sites out there.
This is where it helps to know the demographic and psychographics of your prospects. There are likely certain political, religious and general interest sites that people who might be interested in your software regularly browse. For example, someone who is republican or democrat might be more likely to be an accountant, small business owner or SEM manager. You’d then want to target sites where these people hang out.
How do you find these sites?
This is where competitive intelligence comes in. You’ll want to browse — or use competitive intelligence software — and find sites that might be relevant to your target market. Take note of who advertises on these publishers. Are you repeatedly seeing ads from other SaaS companies or even general B2B business offers? Then you know this might be a good publisher for your company as well. Keep track of these specific publishers in an excel file. Also take screenshots of their ad creatives. You’ll want to create a “swipe file” with ad creatives that work for other B2B businesses.
Common Publisher Categories For SaaS Businesses
Most SaaS businesses end up selling to other SaaS businesses. This means there are a few common publishers categories that work well for most SaaS advertisers.
Tech News – Business owners and decision makers want to stay on the pulse of what’s going on in the tech industry. The best place to reach them is through tech news websites. Some of the most common include Mashable.com, VentureBeat.com and TheNextWeb.com.
SEO/SEM News Sites – Business owners and employees who might use your SaaS tool are likely going to be on internet marketing websites. Specifically, SEO and SEM. You’ll see a lot of SaaS and small internet businesses advertising on publishers like Search Engine Land, Marketing Land and Search Engine Journal.
Job Sites – Businesses are always looking for a few good men and women. It might be a bit harder to drill down to target only business owners (and not unemployed job seekers) but many SaaS businesses advertise here. One advantage to job sites is that companies with enough cash to hire new employees probably have enough cash to afford your product. A few popular publishers in this space include jobs2careers.com and Monster.com.
General Business News Sites – Similar to tech news, anyone interested in business might read sites like Business Insider, Business.com, Fortune and Forbes. These publishers are a great place to test out the Native Ad Networks we talked about in step #1.
Step #3: Get them to click your ads – Ad Creatives
The ad creative serves the purpose of cutting through the clutter and picking your prospects out from the crowd. Most B2B SaaS companies will be best served by using straightforward offers in most of their ad creatives. This selects only the most serious customers on a given publisher.
Most B2B SaaS companies rely on two different ad creative + landing page combinations:
The Free Trial Offer and the “Ethical Bribe”.
Free Trial Offer
A simple concept: the user can sign-up for a free trial of your software. It’s can work, but it’s not always the best route to take. Why? Take a look at the usage statistics of your free trial users. The majority login once and then never again.
Examples of Free Trial ads:
Ethical Bribe
You’re unlikely to get many sales or even free trial leads from Display or any other advertising channel. People are going to be hesitant about committing their time or money to anything they’re unsure about. You’ll need to educate them on how your specific solution can solve their problems. You can also show them how other companies have used your solution to solve their issues.
The way to do this is to offer an “ethical bribe”. An ethical bribe usually comes in the form of a white paper, guide or case study. The idea is to present your product in a way that convinces a prospect to at least give it their attention. Most advertisers force users to opt-in with a valid email address (and sometimes phone number) in order to download the ethical bribe. This allows the advertiser to pitch them through email marketing or even call them.
Ensighten creates software to help businesses manage their websites more effectively. This ad leads to an opt-in page to receive their free report, “How Enterprise Data and Tag Management Will Boost Conversions & Revenue Beyond Your Expectations”
The “ethical bribe” is more commonly used than the free trial offer. Most SaaS products require more customer education in order for the prospect to see the value of their software and even consider giving it a test run.
Ad Creative Formula
The best way to design higher converting ad creative is not to reinvent the wheel. The best strategy is to analyze the ad creatives of other SaaS companies (competitors and non-competitors) and “copy” their successful template. You can be sure that a specific “formula” is working well if it’s being used over and over again.
Here’s a basic formula you can follow. It might not be the optimal design for your specific product, but it will do the job 90% of the time.
Company Colors – Most companies tend to use the colors that are shown on their landing page/logo. This helps the prospect begin to associate those specific colors with your brand. For example, the green in the Quickbooks ad above captures your eye and you begin to associate that color with Quickbooks (green is a great color for them because it’s also the color of money).
Company Logo – SaaS advertisers also tend to use their logo within the ads to further the effort of brand recognition.
Product image – Besides the logo, they usually show screenshots of the software being used on a monitor or phone. This instantly signals that they’re going to be led to a page all about a specific piece of software. If you’re doing lead generation with a white paper or guide, you can even put together a picture of an eBook cover or a PDF. Anything that makes it transparent what the user will receive when they click through tends to work very well.
Benefit Driven Copy – Your copy should be benefit driven. You don’t want to list out what technical features your product includes. You want to list out the benefits your prospects receives by clicking through and signing up for a free trial or by downloading your ethical bribe.
Call-To-Action Button – No need to get fancy here. All you need to do is tell them what they’ll receive after they click your ad. A simple “Download Your Free Guide” is often all you’re going to need. Buttons in your ad creative tend to work well because people are used to clicking on them. They see a button and they immediately know it’s meant to be clicked. Avoid using just simple text unless you find a way to make it stand out.
Here are a few different ads that follow the above guidelines quite well:
Step #4: Get them to convert – Landing Pages
The success of your Display campaigns has less to do with your ad creative, and more to with what happens after the click.
You can have the best copy. The best images. And the highest quality traffic. Yet, if your landing page isn’t designed for conversions… say goodbye to positive ROI.
The good part about landing pages for SaaS businesses is that simplicity seems to reign supreme here. You won’t need a fancy video sales letter or long-form sales page to get people to convert. You can just follow the formula of what the most successful SaaS Display advertisers are doing.
Ethical Bribe Landing Pages
These landing pages follow up on your offer of some sort of “ethical bribe” in exchange for your prospect’s contact info. These pages tend to be pretty simple and focused on one goal, which is getting their email address. Also a great way to cookie someone for retargeting for a webinar, more free content, free trial or a direct sale.
Example: Tableau
“Ethical bribe” landing page used by Tableau.
Tableau is data visualization and business intelligence software.
A large graphic right below the header with a headline that calls out what the prospect will get if they opt-in to receive the ethical bribe. In this case that comes in the form of a white paper that gives you five of the best practices for creating an effective dashboard. Below the call-to-action there is a bit more text, which explains what is contained in the whitepaper and why you should download it. Further down the page there is a short testimonial and a brief overview of what Tableau software does.
Free Trial Landing Pages
Offer your prospects a free trial to test out your software. This requires a different style of landing page, albeit very simple to design. Even though the trial is free, you’ll still have to get them excited enough about your product to actually use their free trial, because most people don’t.
Example: Kissmetrics
One landing page Kissmetrics has tested out to get free trial sign-ups.
Most free trial landing pages (like the Kissmetrics page above) include a few paragraphs of info about the product and what it does. These landing pages usually include the free trial sign-up for directly on the page. Very rarely will an advertiser make their prospect click through to another page to sign-up for a free trial.
So now you’ve got your traffic, your ad creatives and your optimized landing pages. But what happens if the people that come to your site don’t convert? Step #5 could be the most important part of your Display funnel, so read on.
Step #5: Didn’t convert? Follow-up with them.
The vast majority of people who see your landing page will neither sign-up for a free trial, opt-in or directly purchase your product, EVEN if you do steps 1-4 perfectly.
However, not all is lost. There is a way to follow-up with prospects who have already seen your page. This is called “retargeting”. It works like this: a user hits your page and is tagged with a piece of code (called a cookie). That cookie allows you to follow them around and serve them ads on other websites. Some people call them “stalker ads”. It might seem a bit creepy, but it works.
Retargeting works because people are busy. They might want your product, but something might have distracted at the moment of purchase/sign-up and now they’ve moved on. People need to be constantly reminded.
Retargeting is especially important for SaaS businesses with long sales cycles and high price points. Since the user has already seen your site and is familiar with your brand, most SaaS companies hit them with a free trial during their retargeting campaigns, not the initial campaigns.
Example: Optimizely
Retargeting ad creatives lean more towards being “branding” style ads. The prospect has already seen your site and has some familiarity with your brand. You don’t necessarily need to state what you do. You just need to give them a quick reminder of what your software is about (in this case “The #1 Website Optimization Tool”). Most retargeting ad creatives follow the simple formula of having a large headline, the brand’s logo and a big call-to-action.
“Branding” style remarketing ad. Shows the logo, basic text and a large call-to-action
As mentioned in the previous section, MuleSoft sends most cold traffic to a lead generation page where they can download a white paper. Once they’ve downloaded the white paper and are sold on the benefits of using MuleSoft in their business, they’re more likely to sign-up for a free trial.
Optimizely uses a simple free trial landing page that gives the user no other option but to test it out
Although the example of Optimizely is very basic, you can get things advanced very quickly with retargeting. You can show different offers, messages and opt-in opportunities depending on how long it’s been since they’ve visited the page. You can show different messaging to users who hit specific pages (e.g. someone who looks at your “tour” page might receive a different message than someone who just looks at the home page).
All of that is quite advanced and goes beyond the scope of this beginner post. But trust me when I tell you that retargeting is very powerful tool that ALL businesses should be using.
Conclusion
While the strategies in this post will get you started, I can’t emphasize enough that the key to seeing success with paid advertising is patience. Things will often not work on the first go. That’s okay. The key is to do your competitive intelligence and see what other companies are doing successfully and then test that out. Testing and patience are two of the most important aspects of Display, bar none. But trust me when I tell you that the sky is the limit when you get paid advertising converting. It’s one of the best ways to get a steady stream of customers and I highly recommend that any business take advantage of this amazing channel.
About the Author: Mike is the Founder of Adbeat, an advertising intelligence tool that will help you find your competitor’s advertising strategy at a glance on 100,000+ websites – view competitors winning ad copy, best website placements, and landing pages. Learn more about digital media strategy on the Adbeat blog.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1TxRFhY via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1HDisRf
July 14, 2015 at 12:03AM
“Display advertising doesn’t work.”
You’ve likely heard this. Especially if you run a SaaS company.
I’ll admit Display Advertising can be a tough nut to crack. It can take a bit longer to achieve a positive ROI depending on the length of your product’s buying cycle. Yet, Display advertising CAN work for B2B SaaS businesses. Many well-known SaaS companies already use Display to drive leads and sales. A few examples are Intuit, Zendesk, and Salesforce.
However, you don’t need to be a big start up like Dropbox with a huge ad budget. You just need to dial in your targeting, consistently A/B test and follow a proven advertising strategy.
This post outlines the 5 key components to designing an effective Display advertising campaign.
Step #1: Find the best traffic sources – Ad Networks
The first step is getting qualified prospects to your landing pages. SaaS companies need high-quality sources of traffic. They tend to target a more sophisticated audience made up of business owners and decision makers. You won’t find many “affiliate” traffic sources that cater to this audience.
Here are the 4 most used networks by SaaS businesses.
Google Display Network
The Google Display Network on Google Adwords should be your starting point. No network has the quality of traffic or the ability to scale that Google has. This is why most B2B advertisers use Google as their main traffic source. There is, however, one downside to Google: they’re extremely strict with what they’ll allow you to say in your ads and have on your landing pages. Everything will need to be 100% transparent. You’ll need to back all claims up with legitimate evidence. You’ll need to clearly explain your offer. You’ll need to have a privacy policy and make it clear how you handle user privacy. Most B2B SaaS companies won’t have issues with this, but it’s worth mentioning.
BingAds
BingAds is the 2nd to Google in traffic volume. Like Google, their publishers are also going to be of higher quality. The downside to BingAds is they have fewer publishers when compared to Google, making it harder to scale your campaigns. However, Bing is a great addition when you’ve already got your Google campaigns up and running.
Native Ad Networks (Outbrain and Taboola)
Native Ad Networks are the latest and greatest ad networks at the moment. They serve the “Recommended” and “Around the Web” ads you see on large publishers like Huffington Post, Business Insider and Forbes. Ads served by Native Ad Networks look like recommended content and news stories. This means the landing pages and creatives advertisers use tend to be in a different format. A few large SaaS advertisers (like Salesforce) use Native Ad Networks to drive traffic to blog posts or white papers.
Native Ad Network ads being served on Forbes.com
Prospects read the content and can opt-in to receive more information. This is a great, non “salesy” way to move prospects into your sales funnel. Some of the largest Native Ad Networks are Outbrain, Taboola, Content.Ad and rev:content.
Direct Buys
A Direct Buy is when an advertiser bypasses ad networks and ad exchanges and buys inventory directly from a publisher. This gives you the ability to negotiate prices. You can often get a much better deal with a Direct Buy than on an exchange or network.
Step #2: Find your best customers – Publishers
A “publisher” is the website that you buy ad inventory from. For example, Huffington Post is a publisher. This is one of the most important components and one of the number one reasons why people fail with display advertising. It goes without saying that you need to get your message in front of the right audience.
You’d never sell steaks at a vegan food festival. Yet a lot of advertisers try to sell their enterprise software to prospects on celebrity gossip sites. It sounds crazy, but I see it all the time.
Industry Dependent
The first place to begin when choosing publishers is to select websites with content related to your product.
Let’s use Quickbooks accounting software as an example. Quickbooks wants to target small business owners, accountants, or anyone who is going to do the books for small businesses. Intuit (the company who created Quickbooks) buys traffic on sites like accountingweb.com and journalofaccountancy.com. Both sites contain content related to accounting. People browsing these sites will have accounting on the brain. They’ll be more receptive to an ad about accounting software.
Example of a Quickbooks ad on AccountingWeb.com
Another example is Yahoo! advertising on Search Engine Land (a website targeted at SEM and SEO professionals) for their webcast. Search Engine Land’s audience will be interested in a webcast that teaches how to write better ad copy.
User Demographic and Mindset
One of the keys to success — and best ways to scale — is to not just target sites based on their content. There are only going to be so many accounting and SEM websites out there. You’ll soon run out of options for converting publishers. However, there are hundreds of news, political and general interest sites out there.
This is where it helps to know the demographic and psychographics of your prospects. There are likely certain political, religious and general interest sites that people who might be interested in your software regularly browse. For example, someone who is republican or democrat might be more likely to be an accountant, small business owner or SEM manager. You’d then want to target sites where these people hang out.
How do you find these sites?
This is where competitive intelligence comes in. You’ll want to browse — or use competitive intelligence software — and find sites that might be relevant to your target market. Take note of who advertises on these publishers. Are you repeatedly seeing ads from other SaaS companies or even general B2B business offers? Then you know this might be a good publisher for your company as well. Keep track of these specific publishers in an excel file. Also take screenshots of their ad creatives. You’ll want to create a “swipe file” with ad creatives that work for other B2B businesses.
Common Publisher Categories For SaaS Businesses
Most SaaS businesses end up selling to other SaaS businesses. This means there are a few common publishers categories that work well for most SaaS advertisers.
Tech News – Business owners and decision makers want to stay on the pulse of what’s going on in the tech industry. The best place to reach them is through tech news websites. Some of the most common include Mashable.com, VentureBeat.com and TheNextWeb.com.
SEO/SEM News Sites – Business owners and employees who might use your SaaS tool are likely going to be on internet marketing websites. Specifically, SEO and SEM. You’ll see a lot of SaaS and small internet businesses advertising on publishers like Search Engine Land, Marketing Land and Search Engine Journal.
Job Sites – Businesses are always looking for a few good men and women. It might be a bit harder to drill down to target only business owners (and not unemployed job seekers) but many SaaS businesses advertise here. One advantage to job sites is that companies with enough cash to hire new employees probably have enough cash to afford your product. A few popular publishers in this space include jobs2careers.com and Monster.com.
General Business News Sites – Similar to tech news, anyone interested in business might read sites like Business Insider, Business.com, Fortune and Forbes. These publishers are a great place to test out the Native Ad Networks we talked about in step #1.
Step #3: Get them to click your ads – Ad Creatives
The ad creative serves the purpose of cutting through the clutter and picking your prospects out from the crowd. Most B2B SaaS companies will be best served by using straightforward offers in most of their ad creatives. This selects only the most serious customers on a given publisher.
Most B2B SaaS companies rely on two different ad creative + landing page combinations:
The Free Trial Offer and the “Ethical Bribe”.
Free Trial Offer
A simple concept: the user can sign-up for a free trial of your software. It’s can work, but it’s not always the best route to take. Why? Take a look at the usage statistics of your free trial users. The majority login once and then never again.
Examples of Free Trial ads:
Ethical Bribe
You’re unlikely to get many sales or even free trial leads from Display or any other advertising channel. People are going to be hesitant about committing their time or money to anything they’re unsure about. You’ll need to educate them on how your specific solution can solve their problems. You can also show them how other companies have used your solution to solve their issues.
The way to do this is to offer an “ethical bribe”. An ethical bribe usually comes in the form of a white paper, guide or case study. The idea is to present your product in a way that convinces a prospect to at least give it their attention. Most advertisers force users to opt-in with a valid email address (and sometimes phone number) in order to download the ethical bribe. This allows the advertiser to pitch them through email marketing or even call them.
Ensighten creates software to help businesses manage their websites more effectively. This ad leads to an opt-in page to receive their free report, “How Enterprise Data and Tag Management Will Boost Conversions & Revenue Beyond Your Expectations”
The “ethical bribe” is more commonly used than the free trial offer. Most SaaS products require more customer education in order for the prospect to see the value of their software and even consider giving it a test run.
Ad Creative Formula
The best way to design higher converting ad creative is not to reinvent the wheel. The best strategy is to analyze the ad creatives of other SaaS companies (competitors and non-competitors) and “copy” their successful template. You can be sure that a specific “formula” is working well if it’s being used over and over again.
Here’s a basic formula you can follow. It might not be the optimal design for your specific product, but it will do the job 90% of the time.
Company Colors – Most companies tend to use the colors that are shown on their landing page/logo. This helps the prospect begin to associate those specific colors with your brand. For example, the green in the Quickbooks ad above captures your eye and you begin to associate that color with Quickbooks (green is a great color for them because it’s also the color of money).
Company Logo – SaaS advertisers also tend to use their logo within the ads to further the effort of brand recognition.
Product image – Besides the logo, they usually show screenshots of the software being used on a monitor or phone. This instantly signals that they’re going to be led to a page all about a specific piece of software. If you’re doing lead generation with a white paper or guide, you can even put together a picture of an eBook cover or a PDF. Anything that makes it transparent what the user will receive when they click through tends to work very well.
Benefit Driven Copy – Your copy should be benefit driven. You don’t want to list out what technical features your product includes. You want to list out the benefits your prospects receives by clicking through and signing up for a free trial or by downloading your ethical bribe.
Call-To-Action Button – No need to get fancy here. All you need to do is tell them what they’ll receive after they click your ad. A simple “Download Your Free Guide” is often all you’re going to need. Buttons in your ad creative tend to work well because people are used to clicking on them. They see a button and they immediately know it’s meant to be clicked. Avoid using just simple text unless you find a way to make it stand out.
Here are a few different ads that follow the above guidelines quite well:
Step #4: Get them to convert – Landing Pages
The success of your Display campaigns has less to do with your ad creative, and more to with what happens after the click.
You can have the best copy. The best images. And the highest quality traffic. Yet, if your landing page isn’t designed for conversions… say goodbye to positive ROI.
The good part about landing pages for SaaS businesses is that simplicity seems to reign supreme here. You won’t need a fancy video sales letter or long-form sales page to get people to convert. You can just follow the formula of what the most successful SaaS Display advertisers are doing.
Ethical Bribe Landing Pages
These landing pages follow up on your offer of some sort of “ethical bribe” in exchange for your prospect’s contact info. These pages tend to be pretty simple and focused on one goal, which is getting their email address. Also a great way to cookie someone for retargeting for a webinar, more free content, free trial or a direct sale.
Example: Tableau
“Ethical bribe” landing page used by Tableau.
Tableau is data visualization and business intelligence software.
A large graphic right below the header with a headline that calls out what the prospect will get if they opt-in to receive the ethical bribe. In this case that comes in the form of a white paper that gives you five of the best practices for creating an effective dashboard. Below the call-to-action there is a bit more text, which explains what is contained in the whitepaper and why you should download it. Further down the page there is a short testimonial and a brief overview of what Tableau software does.
Free Trial Landing Pages
Offer your prospects a free trial to test out your software. This requires a different style of landing page, albeit very simple to design. Even though the trial is free, you’ll still have to get them excited enough about your product to actually use their free trial, because most people don’t.
Example: Kissmetrics
One landing page Kissmetrics has tested out to get free trial sign-ups.
Most free trial landing pages (like the Kissmetrics page above) include a few paragraphs of info about the product and what it does. These landing pages usually include the free trial sign-up for directly on the page. Very rarely will an advertiser make their prospect click through to another page to sign-up for a free trial.
So now you’ve got your traffic, your ad creatives and your optimized landing pages. But what happens if the people that come to your site don’t convert? Step #5 could be the most important part of your Display funnel, so read on.
Step #5: Didn’t convert? Follow-up with them.
The vast majority of people who see your landing page will neither sign-up for a free trial, opt-in or directly purchase your product, EVEN if you do steps 1-4 perfectly.
However, not all is lost. There is a way to follow-up with prospects who have already seen your page. This is called “retargeting”. It works like this: a user hits your page and is tagged with a piece of code (called a cookie). That cookie allows you to follow them around and serve them ads on other websites. Some people call them “stalker ads”. It might seem a bit creepy, but it works.
Retargeting works because people are busy. They might want your product, but something might have distracted at the moment of purchase/sign-up and now they’ve moved on. People need to be constantly reminded.
Retargeting is especially important for SaaS businesses with long sales cycles and high price points. Since the user has already seen your site and is familiar with your brand, most SaaS companies hit them with a free trial during their retargeting campaigns, not the initial campaigns.
Example: Optimizely
Retargeting ad creatives lean more towards being “branding” style ads. The prospect has already seen your site and has some familiarity with your brand. You don’t necessarily need to state what you do. You just need to give them a quick reminder of what your software is about (in this case “The #1 Website Optimization Tool”). Most retargeting ad creatives follow the simple formula of having a large headline, the brand’s logo and a big call-to-action.
“Branding” style remarketing ad. Shows the logo, basic text and a large call-to-action
As mentioned in the previous section, MuleSoft sends most cold traffic to a lead generation page where they can download a white paper. Once they’ve downloaded the white paper and are sold on the benefits of using MuleSoft in their business, they’re more likely to sign-up for a free trial.
Optimizely uses a simple free trial landing page that gives the user no other option but to test it out
Although the example of Optimizely is very basic, you can get things advanced very quickly with retargeting. You can show different offers, messages and opt-in opportunities depending on how long it’s been since they’ve visited the page. You can show different messaging to users who hit specific pages (e.g. someone who looks at your “tour” page might receive a different message than someone who just looks at the home page).
All of that is quite advanced and goes beyond the scope of this beginner post. But trust me when I tell you that retargeting is very powerful tool that ALL businesses should be using.
Conclusion
While the strategies in this post will get you started, I can’t emphasize enough that the key to seeing success with paid advertising is patience. Things will often not work on the first go. That’s okay. The key is to do your competitive intelligence and see what other companies are doing successfully and then test that out. Testing and patience are two of the most important aspects of Display, bar none. But trust me when I tell you that the sky is the limit when you get paid advertising converting. It’s one of the best ways to get a steady stream of customers and I highly recommend that any business take advantage of this amazing channel.
About the Author: Mike is the Founder of Adbeat, an advertising intelligence tool that will help you find your competitor’s advertising strategy at a glance on 100,000+ websites – view competitors winning ad copy, best website placements, and landing pages. Learn more about digital media strategy on the Adbeat blog.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1TxRFhY via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1HDisRf
July 14, 2015 at 12:03AM
Added: Sep 02, 2015 Via IFTTT
How Developing Your Businesss Point of View Can Explode Your Fan Base
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
How Developing Your Business’s Point of View Can Explode Your Fan Base
In today’s world of consumer content, it can be difficult to stand out. Many companies spend a great deal of time and money developing content but few truly understand how to connect with readers by developing a point of view (POV).
A point of view is a valuable content strategy that allows companies to tap into the minds of consumers. Since consumers are generally more connected to one another than they are to a company, developing a business POV is a great way to market directly to customers and increase relateability. Additionally, a strong point of view is a great way to brand your company as a positive, enlightened, progressive force in your industry.
When it comes to marketing, a point of view is the way that a brand views the world and looks at certain situations. A strong and well-developed point of view gives a brand’s product personality, authenticity and individuality and makes it easier for customers to access.
Companies around the globe are focusing on their company’s point of view. Many times, POV is displayed in a company’s stance on important cultural or social issues. Customers want to know how companies feel and what drives their product. When customers can relate to your point of view, they’re much more likely to be loyal to your brand.
Why is POV Important?
According to em marketing:
“A POV creates a framework for a broader conversation around a series of topics and data that help shape your brand in the eyes of your customer.”
With this in mind, it’s obvious that a well-defined POV is a strong and valuable way for companies to boost their interaction with customers.
Customers today are very driven by values and they want a product that feels the same.
For example, after H & M was named one of the world’s most ethical company in 2014 on the basis of corporate and production standards, business boomed. This is because people are more likely to buy from companies they admire (think of how many people have boycotted big box stores due to low employee wages, utilization of sweatshop labor for product production and poor working conditions.) Customers care about what the companies they purchase from stand for and are more likely to feel familiar with and fond of companies that exhibit a POV that aligns with theirs.
3 Companies That Have an Emphatic, Successful Business POV
1) Patagonia
Patagonia, a well-known outdoors and lifestyle clothing and gear brand, has exemplified the power of a POV for years. Patagonia has made it clear that they care about organizational responsibility, paying all employees and production workers a living wage, fair labor practices, safe working conditions and sustainability in a series of well-written position statements. The POV is plastered all over their site and appears in everything from their product descriptions to their catalogues. By aligning themselves with this POV, they have managed to succeed hugely in connecting with high-income, like-minded customers. Additionally, this eco-friendly, ethical POV has made them a leading provider of active wear for a variety of outdoor events and allowed them to fund like-minded environmental work, which only serves to further establish them in their field.
2) Mozilla
Known for its web-wide call for Microsoft to undo aggressive and limiting user overrides, Mozilla has become a folk hero in the arena of the open web movement. Thanks to its strong POV, Mozilla, once a somewhat obscure name, has now become a virtual beacon on web freedom and user choice. It is clear that Mozilla’s prerogatives includes values like choice, control, opportunity and equality for all web users and the company even goes so far to state that they established themselves as a non-profit in order to better deliver these things to users. Because they are so outspoken about their insistence on user choice, Mozilla is likely to draw like-minded web users who are dissatisfied with other available services.
3) Apple
Anyone who has ever read a biography about Steve Jobs understands that he built Apple (now one of the most valuable companies in the world) on the power of POV. Jobs believed from the get-go that consumers would want a product that was beautiful, sleek, intelligent and unique and he was right.
Additionally, Jobs was obsessively focused on the intersection between art and technology and the way in which that intersection created a product that was well suited to make a definable difference in the world. Nowadays, Apple consistently dominates brand polls and has built up what may possibly be the most loyal customer base in the entire tech industry. This is no accident, of course, and owes largely to the fact that Apple has always been brilliant at defining its POV: innovation, intelligence, beauty, and creativity. As a result, consumers attracted to the same ideals and wooed by Apple’s marketing, production and technological scruples have fallen hard for the brand. Apple is and has always been great at helping their customers understand exactly what they stand for, and – notably – what they don’t. Apple customers feel like they know the company and, as such, they’re loyal to every single product the tech giant produces.
Developing a POV: 5 Things to Remember
Developing a POV is a sure-fire way to go beyond content and ensure that your company is truly making an impression. This, in turn, is the only way to ensure that customers don’t immediately forget about your brand or product as soon as they leave your site or store. A definable, well-written POV goes a long way toward ensuring long-lasting business and earning returning, loyal customers.
1. Make it About the Customer
A large part of an effective POV is ensuring that your message applies to your customer. Much the same way nobody enjoys talking to a self-obsessed blowhard, customers don’t want to hear endlessly about what you do and why it’s so great. Keep in mind that they do need to understand exactly how you do what you do, as in the earlier Patagonia organizational responsibility example and, specifically, their pledge to protect migrant workers.
Customers need details, yes, but primarily they need to understand how what your company does affects or benefits them. The bulk of all of your POV content should be dedicated to providing useful information and statistics on topics of interest to the consumer and helping them to see how, exactly, your company’s POV can benefit their lives. Are your clothes more sustainable? Longer lasting? Organically sourced? Focus on the benefits to the customer and the customer will love your brand in return.
2. Tap into the Community
The entire purpose of a POV is to tap into the community at large. Who else is in the conversation and how can you join them? One great way to do this is by creating content that taps into the larger conversation (Apple could write about tech concerns, for example) that customers are interested in.
This content shouldn’t be focused on hawking your company’s products and, in fact, should probably not even mention them. Instead, it should focus on developing POV-focused content that your consumers will find interesting, engaging, illuminating, valuable and inspiring.
3. Avoid Being Combative
Customers like companies with values, but they won’t appreciate a company that takes the world to task on every detail. This simply comes off as combativeness, which is not a great trait for a company. Be passionate but pick your battles. Aim for being engaging and inspiring rather than petty and inflammatory. Consumers will value intelligence over insistence.
4. Package it Well
If you shout your POV out to the web and nobody is around to hear it, did it still happen? Like most things, a POV is pretty useless if it isn’t properly disseminated and packaged in order to be as shareable and social as possible. Focus your efforts on creating POV content that encapsulates your company’s philosophy and values but also benefits your customers and makes it something they will want to share with their friends. This is the best way to spread word about your company’s values and, when done correctly, can be an effective way to draw new customers.
5. Be Authentic
A phony POV is about as obvious as having a cut-rate nose job and, trust us, people are going to notice. For this reason, it’s important to approach your POV from a place of authenticity and, also, to participate authentically throughout the course of engaging with your POV.
Find out where people are talking about the things your company is interested in and then get in on the conversation. Talk to consumers, comment on their thoughts, respond to debates and create content that addresses current issues from your own unique POV. Consumers appreciate authenticity and putting your most authentic face forward will win you great business.
Did You Do it Right? 8 Questions to Ask Yourself When Creating POV
According to Marketing Interactions, there are several questions content marketers can ask themselves when addressing their POV content.
In order to serve the reader as well as possible, POV content should meet the following criteria:
Is it helpful?
Is it generous?
Does it provide valuable information
Does it display expertise?
Is it flexible?
Is it kind?
Does it promote reader interaction?
Is it definitive?
These questions can help companies decide whether or not the content they’re creating is truly POV and can assist them in the process of disseminating high-quality information to their customers.
The Case for POV: Why Companies Should Pay Attention
Unlike mass content creation, a POV is a special way of communicating with customers. POV’s are more organic than many defined and rigid content strategies and provide customers with more honest, valuable and helpful information about a company they are interested in purchasing from. When done well, a great POV can draw new customers in and provoke existing customers to spread the word and remain loyal for many years.
All strong companies develop an easily identifiable POV that is unique to their business and helps brand them, allowing them to stand out in the market. Additionally, a POV is an ideal way for companies to live in the important place where their brand and products intersect with the community at large.
About the Author: Julia McCoy is a self-taught copywriter and Internet marketer who founded Express Writers at 19 years old. Today, it’s a full-size copywriting team providing agencies and businesses of all sizes with high quality content. Subscribe to her blog to learn insider tips and news on blogging, web content and all things copywriting. Follow Julia on Twitter.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1N3oRMh via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1KsglHP
September 03, 2015 at 03:27AM
In today’s world of consumer content, it can be difficult to stand out. Many companies spend a great deal of time and money developing content but few truly understand how to connect with readers by developing a point of view (POV).
A point of view is a valuable content strategy that allows companies to tap into the minds of consumers. Since consumers are generally more connected to one another than they are to a company, developing a business POV is a great way to market directly to customers and increase relateability. Additionally, a strong point of view is a great way to brand your company as a positive, enlightened, progressive force in your industry.
When it comes to marketing, a point of view is the way that a brand views the world and looks at certain situations. A strong and well-developed point of view gives a brand’s product personality, authenticity and individuality and makes it easier for customers to access.
Companies around the globe are focusing on their company’s point of view. Many times, POV is displayed in a company’s stance on important cultural or social issues. Customers want to know how companies feel and what drives their product. When customers can relate to your point of view, they’re much more likely to be loyal to your brand.
Why is POV Important?
According to em marketing:
“A POV creates a framework for a broader conversation around a series of topics and data that help shape your brand in the eyes of your customer.”
With this in mind, it’s obvious that a well-defined POV is a strong and valuable way for companies to boost their interaction with customers.
Customers today are very driven by values and they want a product that feels the same.
For example, after H & M was named one of the world’s most ethical company in 2014 on the basis of corporate and production standards, business boomed. This is because people are more likely to buy from companies they admire (think of how many people have boycotted big box stores due to low employee wages, utilization of sweatshop labor for product production and poor working conditions.) Customers care about what the companies they purchase from stand for and are more likely to feel familiar with and fond of companies that exhibit a POV that aligns with theirs.
3 Companies That Have an Emphatic, Successful Business POV
1) Patagonia
Patagonia, a well-known outdoors and lifestyle clothing and gear brand, has exemplified the power of a POV for years. Patagonia has made it clear that they care about organizational responsibility, paying all employees and production workers a living wage, fair labor practices, safe working conditions and sustainability in a series of well-written position statements. The POV is plastered all over their site and appears in everything from their product descriptions to their catalogues. By aligning themselves with this POV, they have managed to succeed hugely in connecting with high-income, like-minded customers. Additionally, this eco-friendly, ethical POV has made them a leading provider of active wear for a variety of outdoor events and allowed them to fund like-minded environmental work, which only serves to further establish them in their field.
2) Mozilla
Known for its web-wide call for Microsoft to undo aggressive and limiting user overrides, Mozilla has become a folk hero in the arena of the open web movement. Thanks to its strong POV, Mozilla, once a somewhat obscure name, has now become a virtual beacon on web freedom and user choice. It is clear that Mozilla’s prerogatives includes values like choice, control, opportunity and equality for all web users and the company even goes so far to state that they established themselves as a non-profit in order to better deliver these things to users. Because they are so outspoken about their insistence on user choice, Mozilla is likely to draw like-minded web users who are dissatisfied with other available services.
3) Apple
Anyone who has ever read a biography about Steve Jobs understands that he built Apple (now one of the most valuable companies in the world) on the power of POV. Jobs believed from the get-go that consumers would want a product that was beautiful, sleek, intelligent and unique and he was right.
Additionally, Jobs was obsessively focused on the intersection between art and technology and the way in which that intersection created a product that was well suited to make a definable difference in the world. Nowadays, Apple consistently dominates brand polls and has built up what may possibly be the most loyal customer base in the entire tech industry. This is no accident, of course, and owes largely to the fact that Apple has always been brilliant at defining its POV: innovation, intelligence, beauty, and creativity. As a result, consumers attracted to the same ideals and wooed by Apple’s marketing, production and technological scruples have fallen hard for the brand. Apple is and has always been great at helping their customers understand exactly what they stand for, and – notably – what they don’t. Apple customers feel like they know the company and, as such, they’re loyal to every single product the tech giant produces.
Developing a POV: 5 Things to Remember
Developing a POV is a sure-fire way to go beyond content and ensure that your company is truly making an impression. This, in turn, is the only way to ensure that customers don’t immediately forget about your brand or product as soon as they leave your site or store. A definable, well-written POV goes a long way toward ensuring long-lasting business and earning returning, loyal customers.
1. Make it About the Customer
A large part of an effective POV is ensuring that your message applies to your customer. Much the same way nobody enjoys talking to a self-obsessed blowhard, customers don’t want to hear endlessly about what you do and why it’s so great. Keep in mind that they do need to understand exactly how you do what you do, as in the earlier Patagonia organizational responsibility example and, specifically, their pledge to protect migrant workers.
Customers need details, yes, but primarily they need to understand how what your company does affects or benefits them. The bulk of all of your POV content should be dedicated to providing useful information and statistics on topics of interest to the consumer and helping them to see how, exactly, your company’s POV can benefit their lives. Are your clothes more sustainable? Longer lasting? Organically sourced? Focus on the benefits to the customer and the customer will love your brand in return.
2. Tap into the Community
The entire purpose of a POV is to tap into the community at large. Who else is in the conversation and how can you join them? One great way to do this is by creating content that taps into the larger conversation (Apple could write about tech concerns, for example) that customers are interested in.
This content shouldn’t be focused on hawking your company’s products and, in fact, should probably not even mention them. Instead, it should focus on developing POV-focused content that your consumers will find interesting, engaging, illuminating, valuable and inspiring.
3. Avoid Being Combative
Customers like companies with values, but they won’t appreciate a company that takes the world to task on every detail. This simply comes off as combativeness, which is not a great trait for a company. Be passionate but pick your battles. Aim for being engaging and inspiring rather than petty and inflammatory. Consumers will value intelligence over insistence.
4. Package it Well
If you shout your POV out to the web and nobody is around to hear it, did it still happen? Like most things, a POV is pretty useless if it isn’t properly disseminated and packaged in order to be as shareable and social as possible. Focus your efforts on creating POV content that encapsulates your company’s philosophy and values but also benefits your customers and makes it something they will want to share with their friends. This is the best way to spread word about your company’s values and, when done correctly, can be an effective way to draw new customers.
5. Be Authentic
A phony POV is about as obvious as having a cut-rate nose job and, trust us, people are going to notice. For this reason, it’s important to approach your POV from a place of authenticity and, also, to participate authentically throughout the course of engaging with your POV.
Find out where people are talking about the things your company is interested in and then get in on the conversation. Talk to consumers, comment on their thoughts, respond to debates and create content that addresses current issues from your own unique POV. Consumers appreciate authenticity and putting your most authentic face forward will win you great business.
Did You Do it Right? 8 Questions to Ask Yourself When Creating POV
According to Marketing Interactions, there are several questions content marketers can ask themselves when addressing their POV content.
In order to serve the reader as well as possible, POV content should meet the following criteria:
Is it helpful?
Is it generous?
Does it provide valuable information
Does it display expertise?
Is it flexible?
Is it kind?
Does it promote reader interaction?
Is it definitive?
These questions can help companies decide whether or not the content they’re creating is truly POV and can assist them in the process of disseminating high-quality information to their customers.
The Case for POV: Why Companies Should Pay Attention
Unlike mass content creation, a POV is a special way of communicating with customers. POV’s are more organic than many defined and rigid content strategies and provide customers with more honest, valuable and helpful information about a company they are interested in purchasing from. When done well, a great POV can draw new customers in and provoke existing customers to spread the word and remain loyal for many years.
All strong companies develop an easily identifiable POV that is unique to their business and helps brand them, allowing them to stand out in the market. Additionally, a POV is an ideal way for companies to live in the important place where their brand and products intersect with the community at large.
About the Author: Julia McCoy is a self-taught copywriter and Internet marketer who founded Express Writers at 19 years old. Today, it’s a full-size copywriting team providing agencies and businesses of all sizes with high quality content. Subscribe to her blog to learn insider tips and news on blogging, web content and all things copywriting. Follow Julia on Twitter.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1N3oRMh via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1KsglHP
September 03, 2015 at 03:27AM
Added: Aug 11, 2015 Via IFTTT
How Groupon Hacked Social Media With the Banana Bunker
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
How Groupon Hacked Social Media With the Banana Bunker
Every now and then, there’s an explosion in the social media universe. Something hits viral status or breaks the Internet, and everyone is talking about the same thing.
It happened with #thedress.
It happened with Kim Kardashian.
It happened with the potato salad guy on Kickstarter.
It happened with the Ice Bucket Challenge.
And then there was that song, “Let it Go”.
Most of the time, such viral phenomena are not deliberately engineered to go viral. Someone is curious about a dress color, has a routine celebrity photo shoot, or just wants to make a bowl of potato salad, right?
Recently, Groupon pulled off a spectacular viral campaign to promote a product known as the Banana Bunker, sold by Cultured Containers.
Groupon provided the plastic banana carrier as a 3-pack deal.
And then, it happened.
Whether curious, cute, or downright crude, people started a conversation about the banana bunker. Groupon skillfully steered the conversation in appropriate ways, and managed to somehow keep up with the flood of curiosity.
It wasn’t just the Banana Bunker that reached viral status. It was Groupon’s handling of it.
Sure enough, it broke the Internet.
AdWeek reported on it.
US Magazine had a story.
Forbes picked up the event.
Distractify published their own report.
Mashable was on top of it.
And of course, Buzzfeed couldn’t resist.
Seriously? To quote Groupon, “It’s just a banana bunker, people!”
But take a look at what is actually going on in this viral social media phenomenon. Groupon successfully pulled off a social media hack.
The Facts of the Hack
First, let’s find out exactly what happened during the Banana Bunker event.
First, Groupon posted a photo to their Facebook timeline that notified people of the banana bunker. No big deal. It was fairly innocuous, rather tame, and not quite as revealing as a celebrity’s body, nor as entertaining as animated characters singing a song about letting it go.
Once the picture was on Facebook, it started to gather momentum.
More than 20,000 Facebook users liked the post, and it was shared more than 45,000 times.
Groupon doesn’t usually get that level of shareability. Of course, Groupon is familiar with advertising selling bizarre products that people don’t actually need.
But the banana bunker was different, in part, because it was, well, prone to innuendo.
And that’s what precisely where the comments went.
“What if my girlfriend doesn’t like the banana bunker? What should I do?”
Groupon: “Two words: new girlfriend.”
“Is it okay to caress my banana bunker?”
Groupon: “Human contact is always a great way to show someone or something how much you care! hold it dear, and let it know that you’re proud of its snack fruit protection.”
“What if my banana is too big?”
Groupon: “Let’s not exaggerate, Holly.”
“You know what that looks like, don’t you?”
Groupon: “Like a sound investment, Ken!”
And on it went.
What Groupon Did Right
What was it that made Groupon popular, appealing, and viral? What did Groupon do right?
By learning a few of the smart moves behind the Banana Bunker hack, we can probably figure out a thing or two that makes social media effective and share-prone. You probably don’t sell banana bunkers, but you do business on social media, right?
Here are some crucial features about the Banana Bunker hack.
It happened on Facebook
Facebook is notorious for its persistent punishing of brands’ organic reach. Forrester’s Nate Elliot complained that “Facebook has finally killed organic reach,” and advised marketers not to rely on Facebook for marketing.
In spite of the complaints, Facebook is still hot. As reported on April 15, Facebook’s ad revenue is higher than ever before. Marketers are dropping more than $23 billion to buy ads on the social platform. Facebook gets a whopping 65% of all the social ad spending worldwide.
Despite the naysayers, Facebook is still a place where things happen. Since most Groupon users are on Facebook anyway, it’s the perfect place to host a free-for-all conversation about the Banana Bunker.
If you’re like most online businesses, most of your customers are on Facebook. Meet them on their turf. Have a conversation in a format they’re familiar with. Utilize Facebook’s built-in notification system. Promote interactivity. Spark discussion. Enjoy the mobile-friendly platform. Go ahead and use it.
When in Doubt, Be Funny
Groupon’s greatest maneuver was their use of humor.
And that’s exactly why people kept coming back. This was one hilarious thread to be on and to participate in. Whoever was on Groupon Facebook duty that day was on a roll.
Was the whole banana bunker thing an accident? Not really. Nor was Groupon’s valiant effort to keep the humor level high.
Bill Roberts, head of Groupon’s global communication, was straightforward about their intentions:
“Overall, we’re usually replying to people with this type of humor on most posts. It’s a big part of our social engagement strategy.”
Funny sells. Why? Because it makes people feel good. We all enjoy the sensation of being humored, of laughing at a joke, and of being entertained.
Plus, when we’re humored, we’re also more receptive to the proposition of buying what’s being offered.
Stay Focused
Yes, there were plenty of efforts to distract Groupon from their goal, but Groupon could not be dissuaded. In spite of the many attempts to get Groupon to change the subject, Groupon stayed on topic.
That’s also what made it so funny.
Groupon chose a straight-faced and let’s-be-serious approach, which was hilarious.
The event didn’t start with a joke. It started with a droll, “we’re doing it because we have to” flavor.
Improvise
Groupon probably knew that banana-anything was going to get some salacious comments. And they were ready. After all, they’ve sold these things before.
However, with the runaway success of this spring’s sale, they had to improvise in order to keep up with the commenting velocity.
When interviewed by AdWeek, Bill Roberts explained, “We had a little extra time, and thought it would be funny to play along with people’s trolling comments. Then the momentum kept building, and we kept replying.”
Will Burns, in his Forbes opinion piece on the topic, turned the whole event into a discussion of “brand improv”.
Brand improv, Burns explains, happens in “those rare moments when a brand is visibly thinking on its feet, much like an improv comedian.” It happens when a brand dispenses with the approval committee and the law department, and just wings it.
And it can be a beautiful thing.
And just maybe that’s the way social media was meant to be handled.
Be Personal
Remember, this is Facebook. That means Groupon knows your name. They replied to commenters by using their name.
In many of their responses, Groupon used casual language and personal references.
Compare that with the bot-driven and absolutely infuriating autoresponders of not-so-personal companies.
Source
Stay Flexible
Groupon didn’t let the conversation fly off the rails into the weeds of NSFW. Instead, they kept things focused on the banana bunker — admitting, of course, the wisecracking humor behind each innuendo-laden comment.
Conclusion: Do It Again
If you pull of a great marketing stunt like this, what should you do?
Do it again.
Mere weeks after their break-the-internet social media explosion, Groupon is doing it again.
This time, they have a video to introduce the bunker on Facebook.
The video is so Groupon with its humor style, with its humble self-reference, and a shoutout to some of their favorite Facebook commenters. The comments are already rolling in, so we’ll see how this conversation turns out.
What aspects of Groupon’s social media hack do you think are worth trying with your own brand?
About the Author: Neil Patel is a lifelong evangelist of Kissmetrics and blogs at Quick Sprout.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1Tl33B6 via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1gwtwK5
August 11, 2015 at 09:03PM
Every now and then, there’s an explosion in the social media universe. Something hits viral status or breaks the Internet, and everyone is talking about the same thing.
It happened with #thedress.
It happened with Kim Kardashian.
It happened with the potato salad guy on Kickstarter.
It happened with the Ice Bucket Challenge.
And then there was that song, “Let it Go”.
Most of the time, such viral phenomena are not deliberately engineered to go viral. Someone is curious about a dress color, has a routine celebrity photo shoot, or just wants to make a bowl of potato salad, right?
Recently, Groupon pulled off a spectacular viral campaign to promote a product known as the Banana Bunker, sold by Cultured Containers.
Groupon provided the plastic banana carrier as a 3-pack deal.
And then, it happened.
Whether curious, cute, or downright crude, people started a conversation about the banana bunker. Groupon skillfully steered the conversation in appropriate ways, and managed to somehow keep up with the flood of curiosity.
It wasn’t just the Banana Bunker that reached viral status. It was Groupon’s handling of it.
Sure enough, it broke the Internet.
AdWeek reported on it.
US Magazine had a story.
Forbes picked up the event.
Distractify published their own report.
Mashable was on top of it.
And of course, Buzzfeed couldn’t resist.
Seriously? To quote Groupon, “It’s just a banana bunker, people!”
But take a look at what is actually going on in this viral social media phenomenon. Groupon successfully pulled off a social media hack.
The Facts of the Hack
First, let’s find out exactly what happened during the Banana Bunker event.
First, Groupon posted a photo to their Facebook timeline that notified people of the banana bunker. No big deal. It was fairly innocuous, rather tame, and not quite as revealing as a celebrity’s body, nor as entertaining as animated characters singing a song about letting it go.
Once the picture was on Facebook, it started to gather momentum.
More than 20,000 Facebook users liked the post, and it was shared more than 45,000 times.
Groupon doesn’t usually get that level of shareability. Of course, Groupon is familiar with advertising selling bizarre products that people don’t actually need.
But the banana bunker was different, in part, because it was, well, prone to innuendo.
And that’s what precisely where the comments went.
“What if my girlfriend doesn’t like the banana bunker? What should I do?”
Groupon: “Two words: new girlfriend.”
“Is it okay to caress my banana bunker?”
Groupon: “Human contact is always a great way to show someone or something how much you care! hold it dear, and let it know that you’re proud of its snack fruit protection.”
“What if my banana is too big?”
Groupon: “Let’s not exaggerate, Holly.”
“You know what that looks like, don’t you?”
Groupon: “Like a sound investment, Ken!”
And on it went.
What Groupon Did Right
What was it that made Groupon popular, appealing, and viral? What did Groupon do right?
By learning a few of the smart moves behind the Banana Bunker hack, we can probably figure out a thing or two that makes social media effective and share-prone. You probably don’t sell banana bunkers, but you do business on social media, right?
Here are some crucial features about the Banana Bunker hack.
It happened on Facebook
Facebook is notorious for its persistent punishing of brands’ organic reach. Forrester’s Nate Elliot complained that “Facebook has finally killed organic reach,” and advised marketers not to rely on Facebook for marketing.
In spite of the complaints, Facebook is still hot. As reported on April 15, Facebook’s ad revenue is higher than ever before. Marketers are dropping more than $23 billion to buy ads on the social platform. Facebook gets a whopping 65% of all the social ad spending worldwide.
Despite the naysayers, Facebook is still a place where things happen. Since most Groupon users are on Facebook anyway, it’s the perfect place to host a free-for-all conversation about the Banana Bunker.
If you’re like most online businesses, most of your customers are on Facebook. Meet them on their turf. Have a conversation in a format they’re familiar with. Utilize Facebook’s built-in notification system. Promote interactivity. Spark discussion. Enjoy the mobile-friendly platform. Go ahead and use it.
When in Doubt, Be Funny
Groupon’s greatest maneuver was their use of humor.
And that’s exactly why people kept coming back. This was one hilarious thread to be on and to participate in. Whoever was on Groupon Facebook duty that day was on a roll.
Was the whole banana bunker thing an accident? Not really. Nor was Groupon’s valiant effort to keep the humor level high.
Bill Roberts, head of Groupon’s global communication, was straightforward about their intentions:
“Overall, we’re usually replying to people with this type of humor on most posts. It’s a big part of our social engagement strategy.”
Funny sells. Why? Because it makes people feel good. We all enjoy the sensation of being humored, of laughing at a joke, and of being entertained.
Plus, when we’re humored, we’re also more receptive to the proposition of buying what’s being offered.
Stay Focused
Yes, there were plenty of efforts to distract Groupon from their goal, but Groupon could not be dissuaded. In spite of the many attempts to get Groupon to change the subject, Groupon stayed on topic.
That’s also what made it so funny.
Groupon chose a straight-faced and let’s-be-serious approach, which was hilarious.
The event didn’t start with a joke. It started with a droll, “we’re doing it because we have to” flavor.
Improvise
Groupon probably knew that banana-anything was going to get some salacious comments. And they were ready. After all, they’ve sold these things before.
However, with the runaway success of this spring’s sale, they had to improvise in order to keep up with the commenting velocity.
When interviewed by AdWeek, Bill Roberts explained, “We had a little extra time, and thought it would be funny to play along with people’s trolling comments. Then the momentum kept building, and we kept replying.”
Will Burns, in his Forbes opinion piece on the topic, turned the whole event into a discussion of “brand improv”.
Brand improv, Burns explains, happens in “those rare moments when a brand is visibly thinking on its feet, much like an improv comedian.” It happens when a brand dispenses with the approval committee and the law department, and just wings it.
And it can be a beautiful thing.
And just maybe that’s the way social media was meant to be handled.
Be Personal
Remember, this is Facebook. That means Groupon knows your name. They replied to commenters by using their name.
In many of their responses, Groupon used casual language and personal references.
Compare that with the bot-driven and absolutely infuriating autoresponders of not-so-personal companies.
Source
Stay Flexible
Groupon didn’t let the conversation fly off the rails into the weeds of NSFW. Instead, they kept things focused on the banana bunker — admitting, of course, the wisecracking humor behind each innuendo-laden comment.
Conclusion: Do It Again
If you pull of a great marketing stunt like this, what should you do?
Do it again.
Mere weeks after their break-the-internet social media explosion, Groupon is doing it again.
This time, they have a video to introduce the bunker on Facebook.
The video is so Groupon with its humor style, with its humble self-reference, and a shoutout to some of their favorite Facebook commenters. The comments are already rolling in, so we’ll see how this conversation turns out.
What aspects of Groupon’s social media hack do you think are worth trying with your own brand?
About the Author: Neil Patel is a lifelong evangelist of Kissmetrics and blogs at Quick Sprout.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1Tl33B6 via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1gwtwK5
August 11, 2015 at 09:03PM
Added: Aug 27, 2015 Via IFTTT
How Marketers Can Survive in the War on Mobile Ad Blocking
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
How Marketers Can Survive in the War on Mobile Ad Blocking
It’s likely that when you opened a news app sometime this week, you saw a headline screaming how “Ad blocking is going to destroy mobile!” These articles are hard to avoid; they’re ubiquitous.
If you’re a brand, or work directly with brands, don’t be alarmed. Mobile may be the main key to your digital strategy, or perhaps its newest proponent. In any case, you don’t want to lose control of your audience. This “survival guide” will help brands master the mobile domain and understand that a few obstacles don’t mean the end of the road.
After all, ad blocking is nothing new. It’s been around for decades; this is just its first foray into mobile.
To recap the history of ad blocking, flashback to 1999. That year at CES, TiVo emerged, enabling viewers to fast-forward through commercials for the first time ever. Then, the popular extension AdBlock began to rise in popularity, allowing surfers to erase ads from desktop web pages. Now, mobile gamers opt for premium apps over their free counterparts, so they don’t have to click out of interstitials in between levels.
So when news broke about Apple possibly adding ad blocking on mobile, advertisers around the world took a collective breath. After years of evaluating where their consumers play, shop and browse; after slaving over ROI numbers on the mobile medium; after endlessly wondering if shopping cart abandonment on mobile meant something different than on desktop – it seems all the hard work would go to waste.
Here’s some real talk: The advertising industry as a whole needs to step up their game if people are going to block less. The key to surviving mobile ad blocking is adding value. Create ads that people want to see and viewers won’t remove you.
Sounds simple, right? Yet most advertisers ignore these best practices. Take a few steps in the right direction with these four tips that ensure brand success.
1. Respect Consumers
Successful advertising is about respecting user behavior. This means timing your ads to appear without interrupting app content. When your ads appear during natural breaks in in-app activity, users are less likely to be annoyed.
IPG ran a study that discerned the mobile moments when users were most engaged. By tracking the biometrics and facial coding of volunteers as they played games, IPG discovered that people were 40 percent more excited after they won a level in a mobile game. When advertisers reached out during these moments, users were more receptive to their messaging. Timing increased brand favorability, respect and even purchase intent.
Basically, brands can reach audiences when happiness and attention levels are at their peak to make the most memorable, positive engagements.
Excitement isn’t limited to gaming. Other ideal moments in mobile to do this include:
When a runner logs a completed workout in a fitness app
When a reader shares an article in a news app
When a multi-tasker crosses off an item on a to-do list
2. Think Creatively
As an industry, we’re creating increasingly inventive ads. Consider how these three players got it right:
Chevy’s latest ad made waves by running digital video inside of print.
At Cannes last year, Nivea won the Grand Prix for a makeshift wearable. Targeted at young mothers spending time on Rio de Janiero’s busiest beach, a strip of the magazine ad tore off into a bracelet, activated by your smartphone. The bracelet tracked up to a limited distance, so moms could keep an eye on their kids from afar.
And who could forget Moto X’s interactive print ad? The featured phone changed colors when readers played with the corresponding buttons.
This creativity – this playfulness – is where advertising flourishes. We need to bring this energy into an era filled with new mediums and more expansive capabilities.
3. Demonstrate Relevance
Provide content that is relevant to the app or site where your ad appears. There’s a rather famous story about an ad for a tech job posted on a German tech site. The ad received a whopping one percent clickthrough rate. Compared to the industry standard of 0.1 percent, this is huge. Depressingly so.
However, the incident shouldn’t surprise you. After all, the ad was relevant to the site – many people reading about tech might be looking for a career change in that same industry. It makes sense that the ad was successful. If other ads followed suit and only showed endemic content to viewers, advertisers would see undoubtedly higher rates.
There’s a reason this approach works. It makes people happy.
4. And Most Importantly: Address the Root of the Problem
Let’s face it. More ads equal slower loading times on a mobile browser and sucking the life out of someone’s limited data plan. Those two reasons alone give people enough reason to look forward to mobile ad blocking.
Advertisers are responsible for improving load time and the overall content of their ads. Don’t shuffle the blame of this onto publishers – they can only control so much of the content delivery. Jim Edwards of Business Insider explained the problem well in a recent article. He argued, “Until I hear an ad tech exec say, on the record, that ad tech itself slows down pages, then ad tech will remain part of the ad-blocking problem and not part of its solution.”
The lesson: Optimize your content to enhance and add value to the user experience. If you follow best practices, people won’t pay to remove you. Instead, you’ll gain new and loyal consumers.
About the Author: Brian Wong is the CEO and Co-Founder of Kiip, a rewards platform that targets “achievement moments” in mobile games and apps. Once the youngest person to ever receive venture capital funding, Brian received his Bachelor of Commerce from the University of British Columbia at age 18, after skipping four K-12 grades. Kiip’s innovative approach to mobile marketing creates meaningful engagements between users, developers and advertisers. To learn more, visit www.kiip.me or shoot us a note at [email protected].
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1U8p7z3 via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1MXoT9R
August 27, 2015 at 09:38PM
It’s likely that when you opened a news app sometime this week, you saw a headline screaming how “Ad blocking is going to destroy mobile!” These articles are hard to avoid; they’re ubiquitous.
If you’re a brand, or work directly with brands, don’t be alarmed. Mobile may be the main key to your digital strategy, or perhaps its newest proponent. In any case, you don’t want to lose control of your audience. This “survival guide” will help brands master the mobile domain and understand that a few obstacles don’t mean the end of the road.
After all, ad blocking is nothing new. It’s been around for decades; this is just its first foray into mobile.
To recap the history of ad blocking, flashback to 1999. That year at CES, TiVo emerged, enabling viewers to fast-forward through commercials for the first time ever. Then, the popular extension AdBlock began to rise in popularity, allowing surfers to erase ads from desktop web pages. Now, mobile gamers opt for premium apps over their free counterparts, so they don’t have to click out of interstitials in between levels.
So when news broke about Apple possibly adding ad blocking on mobile, advertisers around the world took a collective breath. After years of evaluating where their consumers play, shop and browse; after slaving over ROI numbers on the mobile medium; after endlessly wondering if shopping cart abandonment on mobile meant something different than on desktop – it seems all the hard work would go to waste.
Here’s some real talk: The advertising industry as a whole needs to step up their game if people are going to block less. The key to surviving mobile ad blocking is adding value. Create ads that people want to see and viewers won’t remove you.
Sounds simple, right? Yet most advertisers ignore these best practices. Take a few steps in the right direction with these four tips that ensure brand success.
1. Respect Consumers
Successful advertising is about respecting user behavior. This means timing your ads to appear without interrupting app content. When your ads appear during natural breaks in in-app activity, users are less likely to be annoyed.
IPG ran a study that discerned the mobile moments when users were most engaged. By tracking the biometrics and facial coding of volunteers as they played games, IPG discovered that people were 40 percent more excited after they won a level in a mobile game. When advertisers reached out during these moments, users were more receptive to their messaging. Timing increased brand favorability, respect and even purchase intent.
Basically, brands can reach audiences when happiness and attention levels are at their peak to make the most memorable, positive engagements.
Excitement isn’t limited to gaming. Other ideal moments in mobile to do this include:
When a runner logs a completed workout in a fitness app
When a reader shares an article in a news app
When a multi-tasker crosses off an item on a to-do list
2. Think Creatively
As an industry, we’re creating increasingly inventive ads. Consider how these three players got it right:
Chevy’s latest ad made waves by running digital video inside of print.
At Cannes last year, Nivea won the Grand Prix for a makeshift wearable. Targeted at young mothers spending time on Rio de Janiero’s busiest beach, a strip of the magazine ad tore off into a bracelet, activated by your smartphone. The bracelet tracked up to a limited distance, so moms could keep an eye on their kids from afar.
And who could forget Moto X’s interactive print ad? The featured phone changed colors when readers played with the corresponding buttons.
This creativity – this playfulness – is where advertising flourishes. We need to bring this energy into an era filled with new mediums and more expansive capabilities.
3. Demonstrate Relevance
Provide content that is relevant to the app or site where your ad appears. There’s a rather famous story about an ad for a tech job posted on a German tech site. The ad received a whopping one percent clickthrough rate. Compared to the industry standard of 0.1 percent, this is huge. Depressingly so.
However, the incident shouldn’t surprise you. After all, the ad was relevant to the site – many people reading about tech might be looking for a career change in that same industry. It makes sense that the ad was successful. If other ads followed suit and only showed endemic content to viewers, advertisers would see undoubtedly higher rates.
There’s a reason this approach works. It makes people happy.
4. And Most Importantly: Address the Root of the Problem
Let’s face it. More ads equal slower loading times on a mobile browser and sucking the life out of someone’s limited data plan. Those two reasons alone give people enough reason to look forward to mobile ad blocking.
Advertisers are responsible for improving load time and the overall content of their ads. Don’t shuffle the blame of this onto publishers – they can only control so much of the content delivery. Jim Edwards of Business Insider explained the problem well in a recent article. He argued, “Until I hear an ad tech exec say, on the record, that ad tech itself slows down pages, then ad tech will remain part of the ad-blocking problem and not part of its solution.”
The lesson: Optimize your content to enhance and add value to the user experience. If you follow best practices, people won’t pay to remove you. Instead, you’ll gain new and loyal consumers.
About the Author: Brian Wong is the CEO and Co-Founder of Kiip, a rewards platform that targets “achievement moments” in mobile games and apps. Once the youngest person to ever receive venture capital funding, Brian received his Bachelor of Commerce from the University of British Columbia at age 18, after skipping four K-12 grades. Kiip’s innovative approach to mobile marketing creates meaningful engagements between users, developers and advertisers. To learn more, visit www.kiip.me or shoot us a note at [email protected].
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1U8p7z3 via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1MXoT9R
August 27, 2015 at 09:38PM
Added: Aug 28, 2015 Via IFTTT
How Marketing Funnels Work
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
How Marketing Funnels Work
If you’ve spent any time learning about marketing analytics, you’ve probably come across the term “funnels.” If you’re curious about what they are and how they can help, this post is for you.
What Are Funnels?
You undoubtedly want visitors on your website to take certain actions. Maybe you want them to make a purchase, sign up, or fill out a form. When someone does something you want them to do, it’s known as a conversion. The visitor converts from browsing to taking the action you want them to take.
A funnel is the set of steps a visitor needs to go through before they can reach the conversion.
Think about the Amazon purchase funnel. There are a few steps a visitor has to go through before they can purchase a product. Here’s how it looks:
They have to visit Amazon.com
They have to view a product
They have to add a product to the cart
They have to purchase
There are additional steps/actions that can be taken in between each of these steps, but they do not matter in the purchase funnel. For example, a visitor may view Amazon’s About page, Contact page, and Careers page, but we don’t need to count these in the funnel because they aren’t necessary steps.
Why is the set of steps to conversion called a “funnel”? Because at the beginning of the process, there are a lot of people who take the first step. Then, as the people continue along and take the next steps, some of them drop out, and the size of the crowd thins or narrows. (And even further along in the process, your sales team gets involved to help close the deal.)
The top of the funnel is where everyone goes in (visiting your site). Only the most interested buyers will move further down your funnel.
So when you hear people say “widen the funnel,” you now know what they are referring to. They want to cast a larger net by advertising to new audiences, increasing their brand awareness, adding inbound marketing, etc. in order to drive more people to their site, thus widening their funnel. The more people there are in a funnel, the wider it is.
You aren’t limited to using your funnel strictly for signing up and/or purchasing. You can put funnels all over your website to see how visitors move through a specific website flow.
You may want to track newsletter signup (Viewing newsletter signup form > Submitting form > Confirming email) or a simple page conversion (Viewing a signup page > Submitting signup). Figure out what your goals are and what you want visitors to do on your site, and you can create a funnel for it.
Once you have the data, you’ll be able to see where roadblocks are and optimize your funnel. Let’s dig a little deeper into that.
Why Funnels Are Beneficial
With a funnel report, you can see where you are losing customers.
Let’s take your average SaaS business as an example. Here’s how a funnel may look for them:
Visited site
Signed up for a trial
Used product
Upgraded to paying
Do people have to use the product before paying? They don’t, but it’s a good idea to track it so you can see if it’s a roadblock for them.
Here’s how that funnel would look in the Kissmetrics Funnel Report:
In this example, the business manages to get 165 people to use the product, but only 13 people convert to Billed. There are opportunities for improvement at every step of the funnel, but it’s important to first work on the areas that need the most attention. The more people they can convert to Billed, the more revenue they’ll have. This should be the first area of the funnel to optimize.
A Funnel in Real Life
Funnels occur everyday with consumers. Let’s look at the funnel process for a retail store and see the corresponding steps in an ecommerce store. We’ll be tracking a purchase funnel.
The Ecommerce store has the fortune of being able to see a funnel. If they use Kissmetrics, they’ll see the exact number of people that move through the funnel, and where and when they drop off in the purchase process.
Okay, so now we have an understanding of what a funnel is and why it helps. Let’s take a look at two products that offer funnels – Google Analytics and Kissmetrics.
How Google Analytics Funnels Work
Google Analytics offers funnels, and we’ve written extensively about it in the past. There are a few things you’ll need to know when creating funnels in Google Analytics:
It’s a pretty basic funnel. If you don’t want to dive deep into the data and optimize, you can go with this.
You cannot go back and retroactively view data. Once you create your funnel, you’ll only be able to the funnel going forward as the data comes in.
How Kissmetrics Funnels Work
Kissmetrics funnels, on the other hand, are simpler. You just create your events and then set up the report. Events are various actions people take on your website. These may include signing up, downloading something, clicking on something, viewing a page, using a feature, etc. Once you have these set up, you can create funnels. There are a few benefits to Kissmetrics funnels:
You can go back and retroactively view data. Want to create a funnel that views your performance 3 months ago? No problem. As long as you were tracking data during that time, you can go back and view your performance. If you weren’t tracking data during that time, there are ways to import data into Kissmetrics.
It doesn’t matter if people leave your funnel and then return to it and convert. In other words, they don’t have to follow a strict path. In the example funnel above, a visitor can go on other pages of your site before signing up. They don’t have to go to your homepage and then straight to signing up. If they go to your homepage, then your About page, your Contact page, and your Pricing page, and then enter signup, they’ll still be counted.
It doesn’t matter if the conversion takes a long time to happen. As long as it’s within your date range, you can track it. Do you have people who visit your site one day and sign up 20 days later? If it’s within your date range, Kissmetrics will register the signup conversion.
You can segment your traffic to see your most valuable segments. This can come in especially useful if you’re tracking traffic or UTM segments. Tracking these can help you find your highest converting sources. Once you know what they are, you can put more effort into getting more traffic from those sources. We covered this in this blog post on increasing conversions.
We don’t track pageviews. Our technology tracks every person on your site. This means you can see each person in every step of your funnel. Take, for instance, the example funnel above. With the Kissmetrics funnel, you can see the people who did not convert to “Billed.” You can then email them to gather feedback and find out why they decided not to convert to paying. You can then take this information back into your product development and marketing.
Recap
We’ve gone through a fair amount, here’s a recap:
When someone on your website does something you want them to do (i.e., sign up, make a purchase, fill out a form, etc.), it is known as a conversion.
A funnel is used to track the steps that lead up to that conversion. For example, Ecommerce companies want people to purchase products on their website. Their funnel may have these steps – visited site > viewed product > placed product in cart > purchased.
Using a funnel report you can see where people are dropping off in the path to conversion.
Both Google Analytics and Kissmetrics provide funnels. Each have their unique use cases. Kissmetrics provides additional reports in addition to the Funnel Report.
Video Explanation
Want to know more about the Kissmetrics Funnel Report? Just click play below.
Ready to see how the Funnel Report and other Kissmetrics reports can be used to grow your business? Then request a personal demo today.
About the Author: Zach Bulygo (Twitter) is a Content Writer for Kissmetrics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1NYEGSP via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1VjcIFJ
August 29, 2015 at 02:52AM
If you’ve spent any time learning about marketing analytics, you’ve probably come across the term “funnels.” If you’re curious about what they are and how they can help, this post is for you.
What Are Funnels?
You undoubtedly want visitors on your website to take certain actions. Maybe you want them to make a purchase, sign up, or fill out a form. When someone does something you want them to do, it’s known as a conversion. The visitor converts from browsing to taking the action you want them to take.
A funnel is the set of steps a visitor needs to go through before they can reach the conversion.
Think about the Amazon purchase funnel. There are a few steps a visitor has to go through before they can purchase a product. Here’s how it looks:
They have to visit Amazon.com
They have to view a product
They have to add a product to the cart
They have to purchase
There are additional steps/actions that can be taken in between each of these steps, but they do not matter in the purchase funnel. For example, a visitor may view Amazon’s About page, Contact page, and Careers page, but we don’t need to count these in the funnel because they aren’t necessary steps.
Why is the set of steps to conversion called a “funnel”? Because at the beginning of the process, there are a lot of people who take the first step. Then, as the people continue along and take the next steps, some of them drop out, and the size of the crowd thins or narrows. (And even further along in the process, your sales team gets involved to help close the deal.)
The top of the funnel is where everyone goes in (visiting your site). Only the most interested buyers will move further down your funnel.
So when you hear people say “widen the funnel,” you now know what they are referring to. They want to cast a larger net by advertising to new audiences, increasing their brand awareness, adding inbound marketing, etc. in order to drive more people to their site, thus widening their funnel. The more people there are in a funnel, the wider it is.
You aren’t limited to using your funnel strictly for signing up and/or purchasing. You can put funnels all over your website to see how visitors move through a specific website flow.
You may want to track newsletter signup (Viewing newsletter signup form > Submitting form > Confirming email) or a simple page conversion (Viewing a signup page > Submitting signup). Figure out what your goals are and what you want visitors to do on your site, and you can create a funnel for it.
Once you have the data, you’ll be able to see where roadblocks are and optimize your funnel. Let’s dig a little deeper into that.
Why Funnels Are Beneficial
With a funnel report, you can see where you are losing customers.
Let’s take your average SaaS business as an example. Here’s how a funnel may look for them:
Visited site
Signed up for a trial
Used product
Upgraded to paying
Do people have to use the product before paying? They don’t, but it’s a good idea to track it so you can see if it’s a roadblock for them.
Here’s how that funnel would look in the Kissmetrics Funnel Report:
In this example, the business manages to get 165 people to use the product, but only 13 people convert to Billed. There are opportunities for improvement at every step of the funnel, but it’s important to first work on the areas that need the most attention. The more people they can convert to Billed, the more revenue they’ll have. This should be the first area of the funnel to optimize.
A Funnel in Real Life
Funnels occur everyday with consumers. Let’s look at the funnel process for a retail store and see the corresponding steps in an ecommerce store. We’ll be tracking a purchase funnel.
The Ecommerce store has the fortune of being able to see a funnel. If they use Kissmetrics, they’ll see the exact number of people that move through the funnel, and where and when they drop off in the purchase process.
Okay, so now we have an understanding of what a funnel is and why it helps. Let’s take a look at two products that offer funnels – Google Analytics and Kissmetrics.
How Google Analytics Funnels Work
Google Analytics offers funnels, and we’ve written extensively about it in the past. There are a few things you’ll need to know when creating funnels in Google Analytics:
It’s a pretty basic funnel. If you don’t want to dive deep into the data and optimize, you can go with this.
You cannot go back and retroactively view data. Once you create your funnel, you’ll only be able to the funnel going forward as the data comes in.
How Kissmetrics Funnels Work
Kissmetrics funnels, on the other hand, are simpler. You just create your events and then set up the report. Events are various actions people take on your website. These may include signing up, downloading something, clicking on something, viewing a page, using a feature, etc. Once you have these set up, you can create funnels. There are a few benefits to Kissmetrics funnels:
You can go back and retroactively view data. Want to create a funnel that views your performance 3 months ago? No problem. As long as you were tracking data during that time, you can go back and view your performance. If you weren’t tracking data during that time, there are ways to import data into Kissmetrics.
It doesn’t matter if people leave your funnel and then return to it and convert. In other words, they don’t have to follow a strict path. In the example funnel above, a visitor can go on other pages of your site before signing up. They don’t have to go to your homepage and then straight to signing up. If they go to your homepage, then your About page, your Contact page, and your Pricing page, and then enter signup, they’ll still be counted.
It doesn’t matter if the conversion takes a long time to happen. As long as it’s within your date range, you can track it. Do you have people who visit your site one day and sign up 20 days later? If it’s within your date range, Kissmetrics will register the signup conversion.
You can segment your traffic to see your most valuable segments. This can come in especially useful if you’re tracking traffic or UTM segments. Tracking these can help you find your highest converting sources. Once you know what they are, you can put more effort into getting more traffic from those sources. We covered this in this blog post on increasing conversions.
We don’t track pageviews. Our technology tracks every person on your site. This means you can see each person in every step of your funnel. Take, for instance, the example funnel above. With the Kissmetrics funnel, you can see the people who did not convert to “Billed.” You can then email them to gather feedback and find out why they decided not to convert to paying. You can then take this information back into your product development and marketing.
Recap
We’ve gone through a fair amount, here’s a recap:
When someone on your website does something you want them to do (i.e., sign up, make a purchase, fill out a form, etc.), it is known as a conversion.
A funnel is used to track the steps that lead up to that conversion. For example, Ecommerce companies want people to purchase products on their website. Their funnel may have these steps – visited site > viewed product > placed product in cart > purchased.
Using a funnel report you can see where people are dropping off in the path to conversion.
Both Google Analytics and Kissmetrics provide funnels. Each have their unique use cases. Kissmetrics provides additional reports in addition to the Funnel Report.
Video Explanation
Want to know more about the Kissmetrics Funnel Report? Just click play below.
Ready to see how the Funnel Report and other Kissmetrics reports can be used to grow your business? Then request a personal demo today.
About the Author: Zach Bulygo (Twitter) is a Content Writer for Kissmetrics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1NYEGSP via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1VjcIFJ
August 29, 2015 at 02:52AM
Added: Jul 22, 2015 Via IFTTT
How PagerDuty Used Analytics to Improve Their Trial Experience
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
How PagerDuty Used Analytics to Improve Their Trial Experience
Editor’s Note: This blog post was originally featured on Segment’s blog.
The Business Challenge
Even though we heard from customers that our service was easy to get started, we knew there was room for improvement.
Occasionally users would finish their trials without seeing all of our features or miss an alert because they hadn’t set up the right notification rules. We wanted to help all of our customers reach success, and we also knew that better surfacing PagerDuty’s value would boost our trial-to-paid conversion rate. But we would first need to understand exactly what users were doing in our product, and where they were getting blocked.
We needed to establish a baseline understanding before making changes to onboarding:
How were our users moving throughout the app?
Did their paths match our expectations?
Did they match the onboarding flow we were trying to push them through?
When we weren’t sure how to answer these questions, we looked into analytics tools and narrowed it down to Kissmetrics and Mixpanel. We wanted to see both of these platforms in action, so we ran them against our live data and tried to use them to answer the questions above.
We were excited that to find a tool that would let us make a single tracking call and view the data, simultaneously, in multiple downstream tools. Segment made it easy to test both platforms at the same time, and with more departments looking at additional analytics tools, the prospect of easily adding future integrations also excited us.
How Kissmetrics Helped
Using Segment, we tracked every page in our web app and as many events as we could think of (excluding a few super-high-volume events such as incident triggering). Our UX, Product, and Product Marketing teams dove into both Kissmetrics and Mixpanel to evaluate how well each could answer our usage questions.
We found that we really liked the funnel handling in Kissmetrics, as well as the multiple methods for side-loading and backloading out-of-band data like sales touches.
After combing through the data, our UX team had a lot of ideas to develop a new onboarding flow. We mocked up several approaches, vetted them against both customers and people inside the company, and tried out the one that we thought would best communicate the value of PagerDuty and help customers get set up quickly.
Here’s a look of our onboarding flow before and after.
Old:
New:
Results
Using Kissmetrics, it was every easy to measure how the new design was working. Our core metrics was a cohorted analysis of “Trial Engagement,” an internal calculation for when an account hits a particular state that shows they’re doing well in their trial. We also used the funnel report to look at fall-off in each stage of the wizard.
We saw a 25% boost in the “engagement” metrics, measured using Kissmetrics’ weekly cohort reports— a huge success. Kissmetrics showed us that with the new wizard, new users were actively using the product earlier in their trial, and using more of the features in the product.
Plus, far fewer new users were ending up in “fail states,” such as being on-call without notification rules set up. What’s great about Kissmetrics is it tells us who is doing something, not just how many. So if we needed to reach out to active users who were ending up in these fail states, Kissmetrics would make this possible.
We learned a lot with our first foray into user analytics. If we were to do this all over again, we would have tracked far fewer events, only collect events that signaled a very important user behavior that contributed to our metrics for this project. When you track too many events, it gets noisy, and blocks you from accessing the full power of the different reports in Kissmetrics.
Going forward, we’re going to try running A/B tests trial experiences to get cleaner data about how our onboarding work is improving our trial users’ experience. With Kissmetrics in our arsenal, we’ll make better decisions on creating the ideal trial experience.
About the Author: Dave Schackelford is the Product Manager at PagerDuty, an operations performance platform that helps companies get powerful visibility, super reliable alerts, and faster incident resolution times.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1GDmCrH via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1Ievzc9
July 22, 2015 at 11:48PM
Editor’s Note: This blog post was originally featured on Segment’s blog.
The Business Challenge
Even though we heard from customers that our service was easy to get started, we knew there was room for improvement.
Occasionally users would finish their trials without seeing all of our features or miss an alert because they hadn’t set up the right notification rules. We wanted to help all of our customers reach success, and we also knew that better surfacing PagerDuty’s value would boost our trial-to-paid conversion rate. But we would first need to understand exactly what users were doing in our product, and where they were getting blocked.
We needed to establish a baseline understanding before making changes to onboarding:
How were our users moving throughout the app?
Did their paths match our expectations?
Did they match the onboarding flow we were trying to push them through?
When we weren’t sure how to answer these questions, we looked into analytics tools and narrowed it down to Kissmetrics and Mixpanel. We wanted to see both of these platforms in action, so we ran them against our live data and tried to use them to answer the questions above.
We were excited that to find a tool that would let us make a single tracking call and view the data, simultaneously, in multiple downstream tools. Segment made it easy to test both platforms at the same time, and with more departments looking at additional analytics tools, the prospect of easily adding future integrations also excited us.
How Kissmetrics Helped
Using Segment, we tracked every page in our web app and as many events as we could think of (excluding a few super-high-volume events such as incident triggering). Our UX, Product, and Product Marketing teams dove into both Kissmetrics and Mixpanel to evaluate how well each could answer our usage questions.
We found that we really liked the funnel handling in Kissmetrics, as well as the multiple methods for side-loading and backloading out-of-band data like sales touches.
After combing through the data, our UX team had a lot of ideas to develop a new onboarding flow. We mocked up several approaches, vetted them against both customers and people inside the company, and tried out the one that we thought would best communicate the value of PagerDuty and help customers get set up quickly.
Here’s a look of our onboarding flow before and after.
Old:
New:
Results
Using Kissmetrics, it was every easy to measure how the new design was working. Our core metrics was a cohorted analysis of “Trial Engagement,” an internal calculation for when an account hits a particular state that shows they’re doing well in their trial. We also used the funnel report to look at fall-off in each stage of the wizard.
We saw a 25% boost in the “engagement” metrics, measured using Kissmetrics’ weekly cohort reports— a huge success. Kissmetrics showed us that with the new wizard, new users were actively using the product earlier in their trial, and using more of the features in the product.
Plus, far fewer new users were ending up in “fail states,” such as being on-call without notification rules set up. What’s great about Kissmetrics is it tells us who is doing something, not just how many. So if we needed to reach out to active users who were ending up in these fail states, Kissmetrics would make this possible.
We learned a lot with our first foray into user analytics. If we were to do this all over again, we would have tracked far fewer events, only collect events that signaled a very important user behavior that contributed to our metrics for this project. When you track too many events, it gets noisy, and blocks you from accessing the full power of the different reports in Kissmetrics.
Going forward, we’re going to try running A/B tests trial experiences to get cleaner data about how our onboarding work is improving our trial users’ experience. With Kissmetrics in our arsenal, we’ll make better decisions on creating the ideal trial experience.
About the Author: Dave Schackelford is the Product Manager at PagerDuty, an operations performance platform that helps companies get powerful visibility, super reliable alerts, and faster incident resolution times.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1GDmCrH via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1Ievzc9
July 22, 2015 at 11:48PM
Added: Jul 13, 2015 Via IFTTT
How to build a successful blog
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
How to build a successful blog
I have been building websites since the late 90′s and since then I have seen the internet go from something that only geeks that knew html could have a website, to the world of opportunity that it is today.
Join me at webmaster forum to discover how you can succeed online and use the power of the internet to meet your business goals.
Tags and categories: sticky, keyword research, hosting, vps, internet marketing
http://ift.tt/1L1h41X
July 13, 2015 at 01:57PM
I have been building websites since the late 90′s and since then I have seen the internet go from something that only geeks that knew html could have a website, to the world of opportunity that it is today.
Join me at webmaster forum to discover how you can succeed online and use the power of the internet to meet your business goals.
Tags and categories: sticky, keyword research, hosting, vps, internet marketing
http://ift.tt/1L1h41X
July 13, 2015 at 01:57PM
Added: Aug 14, 2015 Via IFTTT
How to Build an SEO Optimized Web Page
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
How to Build an SEO Optimized Web Page
If you viewed a web page, would you know if it’s optimized for SEO? Does it have all the attributes we know Google looks for in a page?
Just look at this page. Have we optimized it for search traffic?
If you don’t know, now is the time to learn!
Neil Patel (who has created multiple high-traffic sites) of Quick Sprout has created an infographic showing us some guidelines we need to follow when creating a webpage. Many of these are surprisingly simple, and there’s no excuse for you to skip any of them. You can consider these your “baseline”. Just do this (and create an excellent user experience) and you’ll be off to a good start.
Courtesy of: Quick Sprout
SEO changes, and some factors that mattered in 2006 don’t matter anymore. Just like how some things that matter now may not matter (or at least have less importance) 5 years from now. Make sure your site has some attributes that will always matter to Google and other search engines. Things like ensuring your site is secure, that it has a good user experience (print this post and hang it on your office wall), and staying out of bad link neighborhoods are all essential.
It’s important to stay up-to-date on your SEO knowledge. If you’re new to SEO, check out this post, which contains resources to help you learn and stay up to date on the latest trends. And don’t forget to subscribe to the Moz Blog, Search Engine Land, and Google’s Webmaster Blog.
About the Author: Zach Bulygo (Twitter) is a Content Writer for Kissmetrics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1HLrr2y via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1Wpe1Et
August 14, 2015 at 09:05PM
If you viewed a web page, would you know if it’s optimized for SEO? Does it have all the attributes we know Google looks for in a page?
Just look at this page. Have we optimized it for search traffic?
If you don’t know, now is the time to learn!
Neil Patel (who has created multiple high-traffic sites) of Quick Sprout has created an infographic showing us some guidelines we need to follow when creating a webpage. Many of these are surprisingly simple, and there’s no excuse for you to skip any of them. You can consider these your “baseline”. Just do this (and create an excellent user experience) and you’ll be off to a good start.
Courtesy of: Quick Sprout
SEO changes, and some factors that mattered in 2006 don’t matter anymore. Just like how some things that matter now may not matter (or at least have less importance) 5 years from now. Make sure your site has some attributes that will always matter to Google and other search engines. Things like ensuring your site is secure, that it has a good user experience (print this post and hang it on your office wall), and staying out of bad link neighborhoods are all essential.
It’s important to stay up-to-date on your SEO knowledge. If you’re new to SEO, check out this post, which contains resources to help you learn and stay up to date on the latest trends. And don’t forget to subscribe to the Moz Blog, Search Engine Land, and Google’s Webmaster Blog.
About the Author: Zach Bulygo (Twitter) is a Content Writer for Kissmetrics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1HLrr2y via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1Wpe1Et
August 14, 2015 at 09:05PM
Added: Aug 28, 2015 Via IFTTT
How to Create Content That Drives Organic Traffic
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
How to Create Content That Drives Organic Traffic
When writing content, there are a lot of factors you have to keep in mind. You need:
A great headline that’ll get people to click (without it being clickbait).
Well-written content that must get to the point, move along, be an enjoyable read, etc.
Memorable content.
Content that achieves a goal promised early on. This article on book titles, for instance, implies that it will show you how to pick the perfect book title. So, by the end of the article, the reader should know how to do that, or at least have learned a lot.
Content that creates engagement. If the article was written well, people will talk about it in the comments. This is especially true if they found something useful or had a question about something. (Hopefully, they won’t leave comments because they found errors or false statements in your content.)
Content that gets some action out of the reader. This can be a social share, subscribing to your blog, commenting, following you on social, etc.
In addition to all this, the content should be search engine friendly. These documents from Google and Bing outline what they view as good content, but there are a few things they left out.
Today’s infographic shows you how to create content that drives organic traffic. Take a look….
Courtesy of: Quick Sprout
Content marketing is tough, but ensuring you have SEO down (see building an SEO optimized web page) will make your job a little easier.
For more on SEO and content, see our SEO category and our blogging category.
About the Author: Zach Bulygo (Twitter) is a Content Writer for Kissmetrics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1F2LMAQ via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1UhCpEr
August 28, 2015 at 08:18PM
When writing content, there are a lot of factors you have to keep in mind. You need:
A great headline that’ll get people to click (without it being clickbait).
Well-written content that must get to the point, move along, be an enjoyable read, etc.
Memorable content.
Content that achieves a goal promised early on. This article on book titles, for instance, implies that it will show you how to pick the perfect book title. So, by the end of the article, the reader should know how to do that, or at least have learned a lot.
Content that creates engagement. If the article was written well, people will talk about it in the comments. This is especially true if they found something useful or had a question about something. (Hopefully, they won’t leave comments because they found errors or false statements in your content.)
Content that gets some action out of the reader. This can be a social share, subscribing to your blog, commenting, following you on social, etc.
In addition to all this, the content should be search engine friendly. These documents from Google and Bing outline what they view as good content, but there are a few things they left out.
Today’s infographic shows you how to create content that drives organic traffic. Take a look….
Courtesy of: Quick Sprout
Content marketing is tough, but ensuring you have SEO down (see building an SEO optimized web page) will make your job a little easier.
For more on SEO and content, see our SEO category and our blogging category.
About the Author: Zach Bulygo (Twitter) is a Content Writer for Kissmetrics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1F2LMAQ via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1UhCpEr
August 28, 2015 at 08:18PM
Added: Aug 06, 2015 Via IFTTT
How to Earn Links and Gain Credibility with the Three As of Legitimacy
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
How to Earn Links and Gain Credibility with the Three A’s of Legitimacy
The concept of earning links seems to be one of the most difficult subjects for strategists, marketers, and business owners to wrap their heads around.
It’s no wonder, either, since Google and other search engines adjust the criteria for what deems a link to be relevant or qualified at such a rapid pace.
If you quickly review the blogosphere on this subject, it’s easy to become confused. Many sources recommend tactics like press releases and guest posts. Others warn that those forms of content will lead to Google dropping the hammer with a range of severe penalties.
The fact is that earning links is not difficult to do when approached and understood correctly.
Why Links Are “Earned” Today, as Opposed to “Built”
As search engines continue to develop their ability to interpret and understand quality content, their standards for how websites obtain authority continue to rise, as well.
In 2009, strategists could achieve premier rankings by embedding links on just about any website, regardless of the link’s value to users or its relation to the original domain. Now, business owners are tasked with the responsibility for creating relationships with relevant thought influencers that offer high quality content to online consumers.
Examples of link “building” include paying companies or webmasters to post links on their sites and embedding links on free directories that appear spammy.
In contrast, link “earning” involves strategists collaborating over what types of meaningful content they can create to share with other like-minded authorities online.
With Links, Think About How to Gain Credibility in the Real World
The easiest way to understand the concept of earning links is to think about how credibility is formed in offline, real-world settings.
If some unknown name were to run for public office, that person would have zero credibility to use to garner votes from the public.
However, with endorsements from the community’s local politicians and others in positions of higher authority in government, that person would automatically have a level of credibility based on his or her association with those offering words of support.
Well, the exact same mindset is behind the logic of acquiring links today.
When a brand new website is launched, it is not able to convey to search engines that it deserves to be placed on page one of search results without some history of experience to justify that.
However, when the website is able to connect with other popular sites that are seen as thought providers or consumer advocates within their particular space, it can then justify itself as appropriate for online consumers to engage with.
Look at History to Better Understand Today’s Search Demands
The state of the World Wide Web was a bit of a mess back in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.
Millions of online users were constantly confronted with links that led to:
Pop-up ads
Porn sites
Irrelevant/meaningless content
It makes sense that Google wanted to implement standards that prevented their customers (online users) from being subjected to inappropriate and unpleasant experiences.
Standards That Promote a Quality Online Experience
Google updates and/or adjusts its algorithm over 500 times each year. While the vast majority of all updates are unannounced or unnoticed by the general public, some of them have a profound impact on what people see when they search online.
For example, popular, well-known updates like “Panda,” Penguin,” and “Pigeon” aim to create an online search experience that provides the most gratifying, rewarding results possible. This includes removing the ability to access sites that:
Contain high volumes of duplicate, plagiarized content
Have excessive volumes of irrelevant links that do not allow users to continue their personal search experience in a meaningful, logical way
Understanding the focus behind some of these updates allows strategists to clearly see an online environment that is completely devoted to offering consumers an original, honest experience that aligns directly with each user’s intentions.
The Three A’s Behind How Content Ranks in 2015
Almost everything about Google’s algorithm and the process involved for determining which listings are appropriate for users to engage with is based on a plethora of considerations.
Remember that links serve as a form of validation or credibility, and you can use the same tactics that have always been popular (i.e., press releases, guest posts, infographics, etc.), despite some industry opinions that say otherwise.
When planning out a new link-earning campaign, keep the three A’s in mind at all times in order to evaluate the legitimacy of the prospective link:
Alignment – how well a particular website or form of content aligns with your users’ expectations, intentions, and demands.
Authority – the level of credibility, experience, and intelligence a particular website is deemed to have based on consumer recognition and search engine algorithms.
Authenticity – the extent to which a particular website’s technical and onsite composition are comprised to meet the specific needs of individual online users/consumers. In other words, is the website built to completely align with and resolve consumer demands, or is it built to satisfy theoretical ranking factors?
How The Three A’s Apply in Action
Over the years, inexperienced strategists responsible for fulfilling a particular linking strategy tended to exclusively dedicate their time to the following tactics:
Creating as many directories as possible
Publishing numerous posts across underdeveloped social channels
Distributing press releases across free, online wires
Contributing content to unqualified third-party hosts
Now, the activities on this list are not the issue. The problem lies in how they are executed and the level of meaning/relevancy behind each action and its result.
Earn Links Correctly by Thinking of People First, Not Rankings
One sure way to approach links incorrectly is to think about them solely as a means to drive rankings rather than brand awareness or conversions.
When strategists intentionally try to build authority around particular key phrases or sites in order to rank in the first position on Google’s results pages, without consideration for the three A’s, they waste their time publishing content through empty social profiles or setting up directories on sites that no one visits.
Instead, you can maximize the value of your work and the results for your clients by keeping the three A’s in mind at all times when executing the tactics mentioned above.
Let’s go through each one of the link-earning activities now.
Creating Directories
Creating business directories that outline legitimate information attached to a particular brand or service is still an appropriate step to take when it comes to earning links.
However, you need to keep the target audience in mind at all times and think about whether or not the directory you want to create will:
Lead to a new link
or
Lead to a new link and drive qualified referral traffic
If a directory is going to be published in an environment that has nothing to do with the primary message or service of your brand, then don’t bother.
This could lead to some trouble with Google (possible deindexing) due to the concept of “building links just to build them.”
Instead, identify which specific directory sites your brand’s target audience actually engages, based on information related to the online behavior of your audience.
Popular, credible directory sites such as Yelp and Foursquare create links that derive from authoritative sources and that connect brands with real, qualified consumers.
Publishing Posts on Social Media
The concept of “social SEO” in association with earning links sees social shares derived from actions of individuals. Examples of actions are:
Leaving a comment on a blog post
Sharing an article on Facebook
Retweeting a comment on Twitter
Repinning a photo on Pinterest
This also includes any other manual action by an individual in relation to content.
The ability to earn qualified links through social media is successful only when there is an established audience that is able to react to the content they receive.
The idea of publishing all created forms of content through social media is correct.
However, too often, strategists find themselves publishing materials through underdeveloped profiles that have few or no followers.
What basically happens here is that the strategist announces new information using a megaphone, but no one is in attendance to listen.
If your brand has social profiles with inactive followers or insignificant numbers of followers, allocate time and resources to build up such followers first.
You can and should always publish through Google+ since there are legitimate organic search merits involved, including the immediate indexation of content.
However, other profiles like Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest need to be nurtured before they can serve as credible avenues for acquiring social links.
Distributing Press Releases
Press releases are a bit of a different beast when it comes to earning links.
The best way to approach this tactic is to think about only the end user and the opportunity to connect with new potential customers.
Online wires, whether they require some form of payment or not, should not be seen as a legitimate means of earning links that have value.
Most wires do not allow publishers to embed links in their releases; those that do are typically not high in quality when it comes to user experience, intention, and meaning.
Source
Here are a few best practices to consider for press release distribution:
Create them with substance and provide evidence that supports the value of what is being promoted; i.e., statistics, references, quotes, etc.
Create them only when something is actually newsworthy or relevant to the masses. For most businesses outside the Fortune 1000 status, one press release per quarter is probably appropriate.
Send each release over actual media outlets, whether regional or national. These include newspapers, affiliate TV stations, radio channels, and others. Most local newspapers and TV stations allow users to publish newsworthy events right on their websites.
Contributing Guest Content
Guest posting is a great way to connect brands and businesses with new potential customers who are interested in similar materials or subjects and who have not yet been introduced to a particular supplier.
However, too often strategists and marketers will create content for their clients and publish with hosts that have no set standards dedicated to the quality of submissions they take or that are irrelevant to the client’s primary message.
You can use tools like GroupHigh to identify actual thought consumers and advocates per vertical throughout the world.
Tools like this one offer you the ability to understand more detailed information about potential third-party hosts and their level of authenticity/alignment, including:
Who are the host’s target audience(s)
How often do they publish new forms of content
How many social followers do they have and how actively engaged are they
Domain authority
If such tools aren’t accessible because of budgetary limitations, a simple manual review of the criteria listed above will go a long way toward understanding whether the link(s) and visitors that have the potential to be acquired are qualified and of value.
You Can’t Go Wrong Earning Links Using the Three A’s
Regardless of which tactic you choose to use or implement, remember that everything has to come back to these three questions:
Does this content or website align with the specific intentions, expectations, and motivations of your brand’s target audience?
Is this content or website recognized as a thought leader, or are they appropriate for the category they are competing for?
Is this content or website being built/developed with the intention of satisfying customers, or is there too much focus on onsite optimization?
As long as the answers to these questions always go back to benefiting the end user, your link-earning campaigns will serve as a primary means of driving visibility, connections, and conversions.
About the Author: Jason Corrigan is the Manager of Search Marketing for The American Cancer Society; with experience developing complex, wide-scale search and social strategies for Fortune 1000 brands including: Duracell, Febreze, Swiffer, Oral-B, The Source and others. He is a published author on the concept of “Social SEO” and a frequent contributor to some of the industry’s most popular search journals. Corrigan owns the trademark to “SEO Without Borders” and is currently developing a non-profit organization that will connect victims in third-world countries with qualified donors across the world using digital resources and organic search. You can follow him on Twitter.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1IPSQFN via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1KSVaeO
August 06, 2015 at 09:14PM
The concept of earning links seems to be one of the most difficult subjects for strategists, marketers, and business owners to wrap their heads around.
It’s no wonder, either, since Google and other search engines adjust the criteria for what deems a link to be relevant or qualified at such a rapid pace.
If you quickly review the blogosphere on this subject, it’s easy to become confused. Many sources recommend tactics like press releases and guest posts. Others warn that those forms of content will lead to Google dropping the hammer with a range of severe penalties.
The fact is that earning links is not difficult to do when approached and understood correctly.
Why Links Are “Earned” Today, as Opposed to “Built”
As search engines continue to develop their ability to interpret and understand quality content, their standards for how websites obtain authority continue to rise, as well.
In 2009, strategists could achieve premier rankings by embedding links on just about any website, regardless of the link’s value to users or its relation to the original domain. Now, business owners are tasked with the responsibility for creating relationships with relevant thought influencers that offer high quality content to online consumers.
Examples of link “building” include paying companies or webmasters to post links on their sites and embedding links on free directories that appear spammy.
In contrast, link “earning” involves strategists collaborating over what types of meaningful content they can create to share with other like-minded authorities online.
With Links, Think About How to Gain Credibility in the Real World
The easiest way to understand the concept of earning links is to think about how credibility is formed in offline, real-world settings.
If some unknown name were to run for public office, that person would have zero credibility to use to garner votes from the public.
However, with endorsements from the community’s local politicians and others in positions of higher authority in government, that person would automatically have a level of credibility based on his or her association with those offering words of support.
Well, the exact same mindset is behind the logic of acquiring links today.
When a brand new website is launched, it is not able to convey to search engines that it deserves to be placed on page one of search results without some history of experience to justify that.
However, when the website is able to connect with other popular sites that are seen as thought providers or consumer advocates within their particular space, it can then justify itself as appropriate for online consumers to engage with.
Look at History to Better Understand Today’s Search Demands
The state of the World Wide Web was a bit of a mess back in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.
Millions of online users were constantly confronted with links that led to:
Pop-up ads
Porn sites
Irrelevant/meaningless content
It makes sense that Google wanted to implement standards that prevented their customers (online users) from being subjected to inappropriate and unpleasant experiences.
Standards That Promote a Quality Online Experience
Google updates and/or adjusts its algorithm over 500 times each year. While the vast majority of all updates are unannounced or unnoticed by the general public, some of them have a profound impact on what people see when they search online.
For example, popular, well-known updates like “Panda,” Penguin,” and “Pigeon” aim to create an online search experience that provides the most gratifying, rewarding results possible. This includes removing the ability to access sites that:
Contain high volumes of duplicate, plagiarized content
Have excessive volumes of irrelevant links that do not allow users to continue their personal search experience in a meaningful, logical way
Understanding the focus behind some of these updates allows strategists to clearly see an online environment that is completely devoted to offering consumers an original, honest experience that aligns directly with each user’s intentions.
The Three A’s Behind How Content Ranks in 2015
Almost everything about Google’s algorithm and the process involved for determining which listings are appropriate for users to engage with is based on a plethora of considerations.
Remember that links serve as a form of validation or credibility, and you can use the same tactics that have always been popular (i.e., press releases, guest posts, infographics, etc.), despite some industry opinions that say otherwise.
When planning out a new link-earning campaign, keep the three A’s in mind at all times in order to evaluate the legitimacy of the prospective link:
Alignment – how well a particular website or form of content aligns with your users’ expectations, intentions, and demands.
Authority – the level of credibility, experience, and intelligence a particular website is deemed to have based on consumer recognition and search engine algorithms.
Authenticity – the extent to which a particular website’s technical and onsite composition are comprised to meet the specific needs of individual online users/consumers. In other words, is the website built to completely align with and resolve consumer demands, or is it built to satisfy theoretical ranking factors?
How The Three A’s Apply in Action
Over the years, inexperienced strategists responsible for fulfilling a particular linking strategy tended to exclusively dedicate their time to the following tactics:
Creating as many directories as possible
Publishing numerous posts across underdeveloped social channels
Distributing press releases across free, online wires
Contributing content to unqualified third-party hosts
Now, the activities on this list are not the issue. The problem lies in how they are executed and the level of meaning/relevancy behind each action and its result.
Earn Links Correctly by Thinking of People First, Not Rankings
One sure way to approach links incorrectly is to think about them solely as a means to drive rankings rather than brand awareness or conversions.
When strategists intentionally try to build authority around particular key phrases or sites in order to rank in the first position on Google’s results pages, without consideration for the three A’s, they waste their time publishing content through empty social profiles or setting up directories on sites that no one visits.
Instead, you can maximize the value of your work and the results for your clients by keeping the three A’s in mind at all times when executing the tactics mentioned above.
Let’s go through each one of the link-earning activities now.
Creating Directories
Creating business directories that outline legitimate information attached to a particular brand or service is still an appropriate step to take when it comes to earning links.
However, you need to keep the target audience in mind at all times and think about whether or not the directory you want to create will:
Lead to a new link
or
Lead to a new link and drive qualified referral traffic
If a directory is going to be published in an environment that has nothing to do with the primary message or service of your brand, then don’t bother.
This could lead to some trouble with Google (possible deindexing) due to the concept of “building links just to build them.”
Instead, identify which specific directory sites your brand’s target audience actually engages, based on information related to the online behavior of your audience.
Popular, credible directory sites such as Yelp and Foursquare create links that derive from authoritative sources and that connect brands with real, qualified consumers.
Publishing Posts on Social Media
The concept of “social SEO” in association with earning links sees social shares derived from actions of individuals. Examples of actions are:
Leaving a comment on a blog post
Sharing an article on Facebook
Retweeting a comment on Twitter
Repinning a photo on Pinterest
This also includes any other manual action by an individual in relation to content.
The ability to earn qualified links through social media is successful only when there is an established audience that is able to react to the content they receive.
The idea of publishing all created forms of content through social media is correct.
However, too often, strategists find themselves publishing materials through underdeveloped profiles that have few or no followers.
What basically happens here is that the strategist announces new information using a megaphone, but no one is in attendance to listen.
If your brand has social profiles with inactive followers or insignificant numbers of followers, allocate time and resources to build up such followers first.
You can and should always publish through Google+ since there are legitimate organic search merits involved, including the immediate indexation of content.
However, other profiles like Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest need to be nurtured before they can serve as credible avenues for acquiring social links.
Distributing Press Releases
Press releases are a bit of a different beast when it comes to earning links.
The best way to approach this tactic is to think about only the end user and the opportunity to connect with new potential customers.
Online wires, whether they require some form of payment or not, should not be seen as a legitimate means of earning links that have value.
Most wires do not allow publishers to embed links in their releases; those that do are typically not high in quality when it comes to user experience, intention, and meaning.
Source
Here are a few best practices to consider for press release distribution:
Create them with substance and provide evidence that supports the value of what is being promoted; i.e., statistics, references, quotes, etc.
Create them only when something is actually newsworthy or relevant to the masses. For most businesses outside the Fortune 1000 status, one press release per quarter is probably appropriate.
Send each release over actual media outlets, whether regional or national. These include newspapers, affiliate TV stations, radio channels, and others. Most local newspapers and TV stations allow users to publish newsworthy events right on their websites.
Contributing Guest Content
Guest posting is a great way to connect brands and businesses with new potential customers who are interested in similar materials or subjects and who have not yet been introduced to a particular supplier.
However, too often strategists and marketers will create content for their clients and publish with hosts that have no set standards dedicated to the quality of submissions they take or that are irrelevant to the client’s primary message.
You can use tools like GroupHigh to identify actual thought consumers and advocates per vertical throughout the world.
Tools like this one offer you the ability to understand more detailed information about potential third-party hosts and their level of authenticity/alignment, including:
Who are the host’s target audience(s)
How often do they publish new forms of content
How many social followers do they have and how actively engaged are they
Domain authority
If such tools aren’t accessible because of budgetary limitations, a simple manual review of the criteria listed above will go a long way toward understanding whether the link(s) and visitors that have the potential to be acquired are qualified and of value.
You Can’t Go Wrong Earning Links Using the Three A’s
Regardless of which tactic you choose to use or implement, remember that everything has to come back to these three questions:
Does this content or website align with the specific intentions, expectations, and motivations of your brand’s target audience?
Is this content or website recognized as a thought leader, or are they appropriate for the category they are competing for?
Is this content or website being built/developed with the intention of satisfying customers, or is there too much focus on onsite optimization?
As long as the answers to these questions always go back to benefiting the end user, your link-earning campaigns will serve as a primary means of driving visibility, connections, and conversions.
About the Author: Jason Corrigan is the Manager of Search Marketing for The American Cancer Society; with experience developing complex, wide-scale search and social strategies for Fortune 1000 brands including: Duracell, Febreze, Swiffer, Oral-B, The Source and others. He is a published author on the concept of “Social SEO” and a frequent contributor to some of the industry’s most popular search journals. Corrigan owns the trademark to “SEO Without Borders” and is currently developing a non-profit organization that will connect victims in third-world countries with qualified donors across the world using digital resources and organic search. You can follow him on Twitter.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1IPSQFN via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1KSVaeO
August 06, 2015 at 09:14PM
Added: Jul 22, 2015 Via IFTTT
How to Optimize Your Site for Every Stage of the Buying Cycle
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
How to Optimize Your Site for Every Stage of the Buying Cycle
If you’ve been in marketing for a while, you’ll eventually discover a harsh reality.
You can’t force people to buy from you.
No matter how sexy your site or how awesome your conversion methods, you can’t automatically turn an unwilling customer into an eager spender.
Why not? It’s explained by something called the customer buying cycle. To understand the buying cycle to its fullest, you must also understand your customers. You can find out why they didn’t buy, what might make them buy, and why they might come back to buy in the future.
My goal in this article is to show you how you can optimize your site for every stage of the customer buying cycle. Even though you can’t make a customer buy, you can at least know how your site can meet the specific need that the customer has at any given point in the buying cycle.
What is the Buying Cycle?
The buying cycle is the process that every customer goes through when they purchase an item.
It looks like this:
It’s described as a cycle, because it tends to be repetitive. You can also look at it as a linear process.
There are hundreds of versions of the cycle. The specific cycle depends in large part on the specific product that you are selling.
The broad truths to keep in mind regarding the buying cycle are as follows:
Every customer goes through some process of consideration, realization, and conversion.
The customer can only be in one spot of the cycle at a time, for any one need.
The success level that you achieve when marketing to that customer depends on where he or she is in the buying cycle.
And that’s where we come back to the harsh truth: About only 3% of the people who visit your site are going to buy your product. In fact, you’re generally doing well if you can get more than 3%.
What’s happening with the other 97%?
They’re leaving, choosing not to buy, going away.
Anyone who didn’t convert is at some other phase in the buying cycle. They might not ever convert. They might convert someday.
You need a marketing strategy that is actively targeting the vast percentage of your website visitors. I’m not talking about individual conversion methods here. I’m talking about broad content tactics that move any visitor closer to a conversion — to the next best phase in the buying cycle.
Your goal is, of course, more conversions. But to think of it more broadly, your goal is simply to move the customer to the next phase in the buying cycle.
Let’s talk about how to do that.
Phase 1: Conception: The Customer Realizes a Need
Customer Question: What is my need?
In this phase, the customer is trying to figure out what exactly they need. They have no focused questions yet, only a vague awareness that they have a need.
Your Marketing Move: Describe the problem
Before opening up your marketing methods, make sure you understand all you can about your customers’ needs. Some businesses may perform a “customer needs analysis” to try to hone in on the problem.
Your content marketing is one of the best places to focus your strategy. At this phase in the buying cycle, customers want information (i.e., “informational query”).
To gain traffic from these informational queries, construct a content marketing approach that focuses on problems and solutions. Some of the best blogs in the business are all about problems and solutions that the target audience needs.
Buffer, for example, publishes outstanding long form content focused on the types of solutions that their prospective customers need.
For example, Buffer recently published an article on Pinterest marketing mistakes. They know that their target audience is trying to figure out how to optimize their Pinterest social strategy. Since Buffer’s product is all about social sharing, they’ve got the kind of content that is going to attract the problem-centric queries that their audience is using.
The article starts with a problem, focuses on a solution, and leaves the customer with actionable steps to improve their Pinterest strategy.
Plus, as always, they include a CTA at the end of their blog post:
Most content marketers are challenged by trying to figure out what kind of content will engage their prospects.
If you filter your content marketing approach through the matrix of “needs and problems,” then you’ll have plenty of fodder for content.
Prospective customers will find you, engage with your content, and move on to phase 2.
Phase 2: Comparison: The Customer Explores Options for Meeting this Need
Customer Question: What is the best way to meet this need?
At this point, you’re not the only player in the game. The customer is scoping out alternative prospects. Other businesses know about content marketing, and how best to attract the solution-seeking customer.
The queries are still informational and solution-focused. Now that they know their problem, they are moving towards a solution.
Your Marketing Move: Options for Meeting the Need
Content is still going to play the lead role in your marketing approach for this phase of the buying cycle.
The same content that attract the prospects’ information queries in the first phase is going to be the same content that drives them to the consideration phase. Not only should your articles be problem-centric, but they should be solution-focused.
Make sure you’re trying to solve the issue beneath the issue. For example, your customer may be buying a bed, but what they want is a good night’s sleep.
Market to the core need of the customer, not just the specific widget they’re in the market for.
Phase 3: Consideration: The customer narrows down options, and makes a judgment about the best one
Customer Question: Which solution is the best for me?
Each of the three phases of the customer buying cycle so far have been fluid. A customer may move rapidly through each one, and your marketing move is pretty much the same — create solution-focused content.
Here is where the consideration process gets deeper. You’re dealing now with an informed customer. She knows the marketing, understands price points, is aware of the brands who can solve the problem, and realizes what she needs to do next.
You can finally forget about solutions. The customer is way beyond that phase.
Now, your customer wants to hear about features.
Your Marketing Move: Explain the features and benefits of your product
This is, by far, the biggest phase in the buying cycle. At this point, the customer is actively engaged on your site, interacting with your content, downloading your PDFs, and viewing your pricing. At this point, you can pull out all the optimization stops, unleash all the methods, and do everything in your power to get the customer to convert.
The questions that the customer is asking at this point have deepened and become more specific. She has answered the big what question, now she needs to answer other questions:
How does this feature integrate with…?
What are the terms on the guarantee?
How easy is it for me to get in touch with support?
Can I return the item?
Is the team friendly, professional, competent?
What are the shipping costs?
What are the delivery times?
How much storage space do I get?
What if I don’t like it?
Is there a warranty?
Your website’s evergreen and product pages are now the focus content. You’ve managed to earn organic traffic from the customer’s queries. Now, you need to earn their respect through comprehensive, detailed, powerful, and compelling descriptions, content, and information that is specific to your product.
I’m not merely referring to the way in which you create compelling and SEO-friendly ecommerce pages. I’m referring broadly to the way that you shape content on your site to explain everything possible about your content.
Create content about each feature.
Create content about your support.
Create content about your warranty.
Create content about your technical specifications.
Create content about all the details of the product.
The more content, the better. The customer is actively seeking more information, more distinguishing features, more characteristics, and more aspects of the product.
If you have more information than the competition, then you possess a remarkable advantage. You will be able to nudge the customer out of phase 3, and into phase 4 — conversion.
Phase 4: Conversion: The customer buys the chosen option
Customer Question: How do I buy this product?
The customer is ready. Your problem-centric, solution-focused, feature-driven content has pushed them to this culminating point.
They are ready to buy.
Your Marketing Move: Engage in conversion optimization
This is the spear tip of conversion optimization — getting customers to convert on a purchase. Before, you may have optimized your blog’s CTAs, adjusted headlines, and performed the kind of tweaking necessary to boost conversion rates.
Now, you move it up to the final phase — optimizing buy CTAs, optimizing the pricing page, and streamlining the shopping cart. You don’t want anything to get in the way of a killer close
This is that point in the article in which I talk about the staggering cost of shopping cart abandonment. Just because a customer drops your widget into his cart doesn’t mean he’s going to buy it. In fact, nearly 7 out of every 10 customers who puts a product in their shopping cart are going to abandon said shopping cart. You’re going to feel frustrated.
As with any problem, there are solutions. Focus on regaining abandoned customers, but remember that they may still be flitting in and out of various stages in the buying cycle, so don’t completely lose your mind if you have high abandonment rates.
Phase 5: Continuation: The customer returns to this option when the need arises again
Customer Question: Should I buy this product again?
Marketing isn’t over when the customer buys. In fact, a new and heightened phase of marketing has just begun.
You have a customer, but you need to keep it that way.
Your Marketing Move: Kickass service and ongoing support
Conversion optimization is important. Killer content is important. Great products are important.
And it all stays that way for your existing customers, too. Notice, however, that the shift turns from content and conversion techniques to the customer service. If there is any aspect of your business that involves customer service, make improving it a priority.
Check out this chart that shows what the most important factors were in creating a satisfying customer experience.
Conclusion
The reality of marketing is that you can’t control every aspect of a customer’s experience. You’re limited.
The more that you’re aware of the customer buying cycle and how it affects your marketing approach, the better you’ll become at dominating every phase of the purchase.
Smart marketers know what they can do, and they do it to the max. Admit what you’re helpless to control, but take mastery over the things that you can.
How has your understanding of the customer buying cycle affected your marketing?
About the Author: Neil Patel is a lifelong evangelist of Kissmetrics and blogs at Quick Sprout.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1MITCnE via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1MIVpcc
July 23, 2015 at 03:48AM
If you’ve been in marketing for a while, you’ll eventually discover a harsh reality.
You can’t force people to buy from you.
No matter how sexy your site or how awesome your conversion methods, you can’t automatically turn an unwilling customer into an eager spender.
Why not? It’s explained by something called the customer buying cycle. To understand the buying cycle to its fullest, you must also understand your customers. You can find out why they didn’t buy, what might make them buy, and why they might come back to buy in the future.
My goal in this article is to show you how you can optimize your site for every stage of the customer buying cycle. Even though you can’t make a customer buy, you can at least know how your site can meet the specific need that the customer has at any given point in the buying cycle.
What is the Buying Cycle?
The buying cycle is the process that every customer goes through when they purchase an item.
It looks like this:
It’s described as a cycle, because it tends to be repetitive. You can also look at it as a linear process.
There are hundreds of versions of the cycle. The specific cycle depends in large part on the specific product that you are selling.
The broad truths to keep in mind regarding the buying cycle are as follows:
Every customer goes through some process of consideration, realization, and conversion.
The customer can only be in one spot of the cycle at a time, for any one need.
The success level that you achieve when marketing to that customer depends on where he or she is in the buying cycle.
And that’s where we come back to the harsh truth: About only 3% of the people who visit your site are going to buy your product. In fact, you’re generally doing well if you can get more than 3%.
What’s happening with the other 97%?
They’re leaving, choosing not to buy, going away.
Anyone who didn’t convert is at some other phase in the buying cycle. They might not ever convert. They might convert someday.
You need a marketing strategy that is actively targeting the vast percentage of your website visitors. I’m not talking about individual conversion methods here. I’m talking about broad content tactics that move any visitor closer to a conversion — to the next best phase in the buying cycle.
Your goal is, of course, more conversions. But to think of it more broadly, your goal is simply to move the customer to the next phase in the buying cycle.
Let’s talk about how to do that.
Phase 1: Conception: The Customer Realizes a Need
Customer Question: What is my need?
In this phase, the customer is trying to figure out what exactly they need. They have no focused questions yet, only a vague awareness that they have a need.
Your Marketing Move: Describe the problem
Before opening up your marketing methods, make sure you understand all you can about your customers’ needs. Some businesses may perform a “customer needs analysis” to try to hone in on the problem.
Your content marketing is one of the best places to focus your strategy. At this phase in the buying cycle, customers want information (i.e., “informational query”).
To gain traffic from these informational queries, construct a content marketing approach that focuses on problems and solutions. Some of the best blogs in the business are all about problems and solutions that the target audience needs.
Buffer, for example, publishes outstanding long form content focused on the types of solutions that their prospective customers need.
For example, Buffer recently published an article on Pinterest marketing mistakes. They know that their target audience is trying to figure out how to optimize their Pinterest social strategy. Since Buffer’s product is all about social sharing, they’ve got the kind of content that is going to attract the problem-centric queries that their audience is using.
The article starts with a problem, focuses on a solution, and leaves the customer with actionable steps to improve their Pinterest strategy.
Plus, as always, they include a CTA at the end of their blog post:
Most content marketers are challenged by trying to figure out what kind of content will engage their prospects.
If you filter your content marketing approach through the matrix of “needs and problems,” then you’ll have plenty of fodder for content.
Prospective customers will find you, engage with your content, and move on to phase 2.
Phase 2: Comparison: The Customer Explores Options for Meeting this Need
Customer Question: What is the best way to meet this need?
At this point, you’re not the only player in the game. The customer is scoping out alternative prospects. Other businesses know about content marketing, and how best to attract the solution-seeking customer.
The queries are still informational and solution-focused. Now that they know their problem, they are moving towards a solution.
Your Marketing Move: Options for Meeting the Need
Content is still going to play the lead role in your marketing approach for this phase of the buying cycle.
The same content that attract the prospects’ information queries in the first phase is going to be the same content that drives them to the consideration phase. Not only should your articles be problem-centric, but they should be solution-focused.
Make sure you’re trying to solve the issue beneath the issue. For example, your customer may be buying a bed, but what they want is a good night’s sleep.
Market to the core need of the customer, not just the specific widget they’re in the market for.
Phase 3: Consideration: The customer narrows down options, and makes a judgment about the best one
Customer Question: Which solution is the best for me?
Each of the three phases of the customer buying cycle so far have been fluid. A customer may move rapidly through each one, and your marketing move is pretty much the same — create solution-focused content.
Here is where the consideration process gets deeper. You’re dealing now with an informed customer. She knows the marketing, understands price points, is aware of the brands who can solve the problem, and realizes what she needs to do next.
You can finally forget about solutions. The customer is way beyond that phase.
Now, your customer wants to hear about features.
Your Marketing Move: Explain the features and benefits of your product
This is, by far, the biggest phase in the buying cycle. At this point, the customer is actively engaged on your site, interacting with your content, downloading your PDFs, and viewing your pricing. At this point, you can pull out all the optimization stops, unleash all the methods, and do everything in your power to get the customer to convert.
The questions that the customer is asking at this point have deepened and become more specific. She has answered the big what question, now she needs to answer other questions:
How does this feature integrate with…?
What are the terms on the guarantee?
How easy is it for me to get in touch with support?
Can I return the item?
Is the team friendly, professional, competent?
What are the shipping costs?
What are the delivery times?
How much storage space do I get?
What if I don’t like it?
Is there a warranty?
Your website’s evergreen and product pages are now the focus content. You’ve managed to earn organic traffic from the customer’s queries. Now, you need to earn their respect through comprehensive, detailed, powerful, and compelling descriptions, content, and information that is specific to your product.
I’m not merely referring to the way in which you create compelling and SEO-friendly ecommerce pages. I’m referring broadly to the way that you shape content on your site to explain everything possible about your content.
Create content about each feature.
Create content about your support.
Create content about your warranty.
Create content about your technical specifications.
Create content about all the details of the product.
The more content, the better. The customer is actively seeking more information, more distinguishing features, more characteristics, and more aspects of the product.
If you have more information than the competition, then you possess a remarkable advantage. You will be able to nudge the customer out of phase 3, and into phase 4 — conversion.
Phase 4: Conversion: The customer buys the chosen option
Customer Question: How do I buy this product?
The customer is ready. Your problem-centric, solution-focused, feature-driven content has pushed them to this culminating point.
They are ready to buy.
Your Marketing Move: Engage in conversion optimization
This is the spear tip of conversion optimization — getting customers to convert on a purchase. Before, you may have optimized your blog’s CTAs, adjusted headlines, and performed the kind of tweaking necessary to boost conversion rates.
Now, you move it up to the final phase — optimizing buy CTAs, optimizing the pricing page, and streamlining the shopping cart. You don’t want anything to get in the way of a killer close
This is that point in the article in which I talk about the staggering cost of shopping cart abandonment. Just because a customer drops your widget into his cart doesn’t mean he’s going to buy it. In fact, nearly 7 out of every 10 customers who puts a product in their shopping cart are going to abandon said shopping cart. You’re going to feel frustrated.
As with any problem, there are solutions. Focus on regaining abandoned customers, but remember that they may still be flitting in and out of various stages in the buying cycle, so don’t completely lose your mind if you have high abandonment rates.
Phase 5: Continuation: The customer returns to this option when the need arises again
Customer Question: Should I buy this product again?
Marketing isn’t over when the customer buys. In fact, a new and heightened phase of marketing has just begun.
You have a customer, but you need to keep it that way.
Your Marketing Move: Kickass service and ongoing support
Conversion optimization is important. Killer content is important. Great products are important.
And it all stays that way for your existing customers, too. Notice, however, that the shift turns from content and conversion techniques to the customer service. If there is any aspect of your business that involves customer service, make improving it a priority.
Check out this chart that shows what the most important factors were in creating a satisfying customer experience.
Conclusion
The reality of marketing is that you can’t control every aspect of a customer’s experience. You’re limited.
The more that you’re aware of the customer buying cycle and how it affects your marketing approach, the better you’ll become at dominating every phase of the purchase.
Smart marketers know what they can do, and they do it to the max. Admit what you’re helpless to control, but take mastery over the things that you can.
How has your understanding of the customer buying cycle affected your marketing?
About the Author: Neil Patel is a lifelong evangelist of Kissmetrics and blogs at Quick Sprout.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1MITCnE via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1MIVpcc
July 23, 2015 at 03:48AM
Added: Aug 12, 2015 Via IFTTT
How to Stay in Line with the Law When Sending Marketing Emails
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
How to Stay in Line with the Law When Sending Marketing Emails
Email marketing is a good tactic for getting in touch with customers, sharing special deals with them, and notifying them of new products. However, legal issues can arise when you send out marketing emails, particularly in the areas of privacy and anti-spam law.
We will look at what the laws are and how to comply with them, and we will go over some practical tips for staying in line with the laws. We’ll also look at some of the results of this compliance, such as customer confidence and goodwill and protection from fines and penalties.
Marketing Tactics and the Value of Email Marketing
Email marketing is one of the most effective marketing tactics online, with email and search being the top two internet activities. This means that by marketing via email, you are tapping into one of the largest potential target markets online.
Email marketing is measurable: all opens, click-throughs, and conversion rates can be tracked and analyzed. This can help you fine-tune your messages and focus on targeting the highest ROI targets and groups. With such high reach and flexibility, email marketing has significant advantages over other marketing tactics online.
When sending marketing emails, however, there are a number of best practice techniques that you need to comply with to ensure that you don’t irritate your customers or run afoul of regulators. For one thing, you must comply with the relevant laws, so let’s take a look at them.
The Two Legal Issues You Need to Know About
The two main legal issues involved in sending marketing emails are privacy laws and anti-spam laws. Let’s look at privacy first.
Privacy Laws
To send out a marketing email, you need to collect your customer’s information first. Whether this is online, in-store, or otherwise, you need to comply with privacy legislation when you collect this information.
Most countries around the world have some kind of privacy legislation in place that sets out how you should collect personal information, store it, and protect it. Collecting information to send a marketing email is covered by these laws.
The Laws in the United Kingdom and Europe
The laws in the UK and Europe are set out in the Data Protection Directive and the UK Data Protection Act 1998.
The Data Protection Directive establishes that data should not be collected without transparency, legitimate purpose, and proportionality. In practice, transparency and legitimate purpose mean that you should not collect data without customer consent and that you should collect or process the data only for specified explicit and legitimate purposes. For example, you must specify that you are collecting an email address to send out a marketing message.
Proportionality means that you should collect only data that is relevant and adequate for the purpose. In other words, you shouldn’t collect your customer’s phone number if you are going to contact them only by email.
The Data Protection Directive also requires that you keep collected data secure, that you allow your customers access to the data you have collected on them, and that you inform them of who is collecting their data (i.e., your contact information and details).
The Data Protection Act 1998 enshrines these principles in UK law.
The Laws in the United States
The laws in the US are a little different. There is no overarching privacy law for the whole US. The California privacy law is very similar to the European and UK laws; and if you have any US customers online at all, it is likely that some of them will be from California, so you should be sure to comply. California law requires that you disclose:
The kinds of information gathered
How the information may be shared with other parties
The process the customer can follow to review and make changes to the information you have on them
The policy’s effective date and a description of any changes since then
These laws mean that before you send out marketing emails, you need to collect customer data legally and in line with the privacy principles.
To comply with the above laws, you’ll need to create a Privacy Policy. This is a legal document that covers how customer data is collected, used, managed, and disclosed. The Privacy Policy also sets out how customer privacy and personal information will be protected.
Your Privacy Policy should cover:
What information you are collecting
Why you are collecting it
What you will use the information for
How you will keep the information secure
When you might release the information, and to whom
How your customers can amend or correct the information you hold on them
The dispute resolution procedures that are in place if there is a disagreement
You also need to ensure that your Privacy Policy is displayed in such a way that your customers will be legally bound by it.
You probably have seen the Privacy Policy on many websites displayed like this:
This is called a browsewrap method. Legally, this is not a strong method of getting your users to agree to your Privacy Policy.
Instead, you should use a clickwrap method, where the user has to actually click to agree.
Here’s an example from Timberland:
Now that you have the privacy matters under control, let’s take a look at anti-spam legislation.
Anti-Spam Laws
The US FTC has an excellent guide to help you comply with anti-spam laws when sending email marketing messages.
The anti-spam law in the US is known as CAN-SPAM. The main requirements of the law are:
Don’t use false or misleading header information
Don’t use deceptive subject lines
Identify the message as an ad
Tell recipients where you’re located
Tell recipients how to opt out of receiving future email from you
Honor opt-out requests promptly
Monitor what others are doing on your behalf
The anti-spam law in the UK is called the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003. It requires that your email marketing messages (also known as direct marketing) be accurate descriptions of the product or service, legal, honest and truthful, and socially responsible (they should not encourage illegal, unsafe, or anti-social behavior).
The UK law also requires that you must never hide your identity when you send your marketing emails; and if you are marketing on behalf of someone else, you must not hide their identity either.
For most anti-spam law around the world, to market to someone who isn’t already a customer, you must offer them a chance to opt in explicitly. You can do this by including a tick box on your website where they can tick “I want to receive newsletters and sales information.” Here’s an example of what this tick box would look like from Fresh Look Web Design:
UK anti-spam law also includes something called a soft opt-in. This means that in some circumstances, you can treat a customer as if they have consented to receiving marketing emails from you, even though they haven’t actually consented.
However, there are rules that you need to follow to be covered by the soft opt-in exception:
You need to have obtained the email address “in the course of the sale or negotiations for the sale of a product or service.” This means that the person has to already be a customer.
You can direct market to these people only with respect to “similar products and services.” So if your customer signed up to receive information on Grand Canyon tours, you can’t send them advertisements for beer. However, if your customer is expecting to receive newsletters about aquarium supplies, they would reasonably expect you to send them newsletters on new breeds of fish available, as this is a similar product.
The person you are sending your email marketing to must have been given an opportunity to refuse to allow the use of their contact details at the time they were initially provided.
In all marketing emails for both the UK and the US (as well as other countries), you must include an unsubscribe link for your customers.
Here’s what the unsubscribe link should look like in your email:
By making simple changes to your marketing email templates (such as including an unsubscribe link) and ensuring that your message content is truthful and not misleading, you can easily stay compliant with anti-spam laws.
The Results
If you comply with privacy and anti-spam laws, and implement their requirements in your email marketing, you will produce big results. You will build customer trust and confidence and show that you put customer wants and needs first.
Also, if you protect customer privacy and allow customers to opt out of marketing emails, you will build goodwill. You will also ensure that your marketing will go to customers who are receptive and open to your messages. You won’t waste time sending emails or messages to customers who don’t want to receive them.
Finally, complying with these laws will protect you financially. The Data Protection Act 1998 in the UK can carry fines of up to £500,000 for serious breaches, and other privacy laws around the world include similar penalties.
Anti-spam law is no different. While the UK’s anti-spam legislation allows fines of up to only £5000, other pieces of legislation are much heftier. Those in breach of Canada’s anti-spam legislation have attracted fines of over $1 million Canadian.
Stay Lawful and Don’t Sweat
It’s easy to comply with the law. You need to do only a few small things, such as setting up a Privacy Policy and ensuring your emails are compliant with the anti-spam legislation in your country (and the countries your customers are from).
Doing these things provides you with great legal protection and builds confidence and goodwill with your customers. Marketing smarter and in line with the law will stand you in good stead for building a trusted and valued business.
About the Author: Leah Hamilton is a qualified Solicitor and writer working at TermsFeed, where businesses can create their Privacy Policies and Terms and Conditions in minutes.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1JUfiyx via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1L6sEJz
August 13, 2015 at 02:18AM
Email marketing is a good tactic for getting in touch with customers, sharing special deals with them, and notifying them of new products. However, legal issues can arise when you send out marketing emails, particularly in the areas of privacy and anti-spam law.
We will look at what the laws are and how to comply with them, and we will go over some practical tips for staying in line with the laws. We’ll also look at some of the results of this compliance, such as customer confidence and goodwill and protection from fines and penalties.
Marketing Tactics and the Value of Email Marketing
Email marketing is one of the most effective marketing tactics online, with email and search being the top two internet activities. This means that by marketing via email, you are tapping into one of the largest potential target markets online.
Email marketing is measurable: all opens, click-throughs, and conversion rates can be tracked and analyzed. This can help you fine-tune your messages and focus on targeting the highest ROI targets and groups. With such high reach and flexibility, email marketing has significant advantages over other marketing tactics online.
When sending marketing emails, however, there are a number of best practice techniques that you need to comply with to ensure that you don’t irritate your customers or run afoul of regulators. For one thing, you must comply with the relevant laws, so let’s take a look at them.
The Two Legal Issues You Need to Know About
The two main legal issues involved in sending marketing emails are privacy laws and anti-spam laws. Let’s look at privacy first.
Privacy Laws
To send out a marketing email, you need to collect your customer’s information first. Whether this is online, in-store, or otherwise, you need to comply with privacy legislation when you collect this information.
Most countries around the world have some kind of privacy legislation in place that sets out how you should collect personal information, store it, and protect it. Collecting information to send a marketing email is covered by these laws.
The Laws in the United Kingdom and Europe
The laws in the UK and Europe are set out in the Data Protection Directive and the UK Data Protection Act 1998.
The Data Protection Directive establishes that data should not be collected without transparency, legitimate purpose, and proportionality. In practice, transparency and legitimate purpose mean that you should not collect data without customer consent and that you should collect or process the data only for specified explicit and legitimate purposes. For example, you must specify that you are collecting an email address to send out a marketing message.
Proportionality means that you should collect only data that is relevant and adequate for the purpose. In other words, you shouldn’t collect your customer’s phone number if you are going to contact them only by email.
The Data Protection Directive also requires that you keep collected data secure, that you allow your customers access to the data you have collected on them, and that you inform them of who is collecting their data (i.e., your contact information and details).
The Data Protection Act 1998 enshrines these principles in UK law.
The Laws in the United States
The laws in the US are a little different. There is no overarching privacy law for the whole US. The California privacy law is very similar to the European and UK laws; and if you have any US customers online at all, it is likely that some of them will be from California, so you should be sure to comply. California law requires that you disclose:
The kinds of information gathered
How the information may be shared with other parties
The process the customer can follow to review and make changes to the information you have on them
The policy’s effective date and a description of any changes since then
These laws mean that before you send out marketing emails, you need to collect customer data legally and in line with the privacy principles.
To comply with the above laws, you’ll need to create a Privacy Policy. This is a legal document that covers how customer data is collected, used, managed, and disclosed. The Privacy Policy also sets out how customer privacy and personal information will be protected.
Your Privacy Policy should cover:
What information you are collecting
Why you are collecting it
What you will use the information for
How you will keep the information secure
When you might release the information, and to whom
How your customers can amend or correct the information you hold on them
The dispute resolution procedures that are in place if there is a disagreement
You also need to ensure that your Privacy Policy is displayed in such a way that your customers will be legally bound by it.
You probably have seen the Privacy Policy on many websites displayed like this:
This is called a browsewrap method. Legally, this is not a strong method of getting your users to agree to your Privacy Policy.
Instead, you should use a clickwrap method, where the user has to actually click to agree.
Here’s an example from Timberland:
Now that you have the privacy matters under control, let’s take a look at anti-spam legislation.
Anti-Spam Laws
The US FTC has an excellent guide to help you comply with anti-spam laws when sending email marketing messages.
The anti-spam law in the US is known as CAN-SPAM. The main requirements of the law are:
Don’t use false or misleading header information
Don’t use deceptive subject lines
Identify the message as an ad
Tell recipients where you’re located
Tell recipients how to opt out of receiving future email from you
Honor opt-out requests promptly
Monitor what others are doing on your behalf
The anti-spam law in the UK is called the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003. It requires that your email marketing messages (also known as direct marketing) be accurate descriptions of the product or service, legal, honest and truthful, and socially responsible (they should not encourage illegal, unsafe, or anti-social behavior).
The UK law also requires that you must never hide your identity when you send your marketing emails; and if you are marketing on behalf of someone else, you must not hide their identity either.
For most anti-spam law around the world, to market to someone who isn’t already a customer, you must offer them a chance to opt in explicitly. You can do this by including a tick box on your website where they can tick “I want to receive newsletters and sales information.” Here’s an example of what this tick box would look like from Fresh Look Web Design:
UK anti-spam law also includes something called a soft opt-in. This means that in some circumstances, you can treat a customer as if they have consented to receiving marketing emails from you, even though they haven’t actually consented.
However, there are rules that you need to follow to be covered by the soft opt-in exception:
You need to have obtained the email address “in the course of the sale or negotiations for the sale of a product or service.” This means that the person has to already be a customer.
You can direct market to these people only with respect to “similar products and services.” So if your customer signed up to receive information on Grand Canyon tours, you can’t send them advertisements for beer. However, if your customer is expecting to receive newsletters about aquarium supplies, they would reasonably expect you to send them newsletters on new breeds of fish available, as this is a similar product.
The person you are sending your email marketing to must have been given an opportunity to refuse to allow the use of their contact details at the time they were initially provided.
In all marketing emails for both the UK and the US (as well as other countries), you must include an unsubscribe link for your customers.
Here’s what the unsubscribe link should look like in your email:
By making simple changes to your marketing email templates (such as including an unsubscribe link) and ensuring that your message content is truthful and not misleading, you can easily stay compliant with anti-spam laws.
The Results
If you comply with privacy and anti-spam laws, and implement their requirements in your email marketing, you will produce big results. You will build customer trust and confidence and show that you put customer wants and needs first.
Also, if you protect customer privacy and allow customers to opt out of marketing emails, you will build goodwill. You will also ensure that your marketing will go to customers who are receptive and open to your messages. You won’t waste time sending emails or messages to customers who don’t want to receive them.
Finally, complying with these laws will protect you financially. The Data Protection Act 1998 in the UK can carry fines of up to £500,000 for serious breaches, and other privacy laws around the world include similar penalties.
Anti-spam law is no different. While the UK’s anti-spam legislation allows fines of up to only £5000, other pieces of legislation are much heftier. Those in breach of Canada’s anti-spam legislation have attracted fines of over $1 million Canadian.
Stay Lawful and Don’t Sweat
It’s easy to comply with the law. You need to do only a few small things, such as setting up a Privacy Policy and ensuring your emails are compliant with the anti-spam legislation in your country (and the countries your customers are from).
Doing these things provides you with great legal protection and builds confidence and goodwill with your customers. Marketing smarter and in line with the law will stand you in good stead for building a trusted and valued business.
About the Author: Leah Hamilton is a qualified Solicitor and writer working at TermsFeed, where businesses can create their Privacy Policies and Terms and Conditions in minutes.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1JUfiyx via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1L6sEJz
August 13, 2015 at 02:18AM
Added: Jul 31, 2015 Via IFTTT
How to Succeed at The Most Critical Point in SaaS Sales
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
How to Succeed at The Most Critical Point in SaaS Sales
If you’re like any other SaaS marketing maven, you want to drive more sales in the best way possible.
And if you’ve given it any thought, you realize the epochal importance of the free trial.
Everything about the free trial is important. I would argue that the free trial is the most critical phase in SaaS sales. Most SaaS sales models place an enormous amount of emphasis on the trial, because, taken broadly, it’s the only marketing method that makes sense.
But that’s where a certain amount of distraction sets in. We obsess over all things free trial, completely missing the whole point of the trial — to get users to use the product!
My goal in this article is to clear the table on the free trial period, and get our heads screwed on right so we can understand how to capitalize on the most important point in SaaS sales.
Let’s Describe What’s Going on Here
Most SaaS sales processes go like this, generally:
Customer is aware of a need.
Customer considers alternatives.
Customer zeroes in on your product.
Customer starts a free trial.
Customer converts into a customer.
At point four in the list above, the customer is already deep in the funnel. The funnel diagram included below expands it a bit. You can see that the customer is there — starting the trial. They have just a couple microsteps to go until they are a full customer.
Source
Let’s look at another diagram of this point. This time, I want you to see just how critical it is based on what comes after the purchase point.
At the nexus of those two triangles is the transition from free trial to paying customer. You can’t experience the benefits without moving them on from the active use/free trial phase.
And that’s where we need to focus on — getting the customer over the hump of free trial and into the utopia of a closed deal.
Understand What Motivated the Customer to Begin With
One of the best ways to figure out how to get the customer to buy for good is to figure out why they started the trial to begin with.
Let me explain.
Why is a customer going to buy your product? Think through the answer, because this is kind of the whole point of your SaaS, right? What does the customer want to achieve, do, or experience?
That’s the reason why your customer started a free trial. The motivation should be no different.
If you are able to satisfy the customer’s need during the temporary trial, then you can compel them to remain a customer by continuing to satisfy them in the future. SaaS isn’t a one-and-done deal. It’s an ongoing process of serving the customer.
The cause for conversion into free trial and the motivation for conversion into a full customer are one and the same. Problem: solved.
Use the customer’s free trial motivation as the tool to drive engagement beyond the trial.
Map Your Customer Journey
To drive further into the reasons and motivations for attracting and retaining customers, do yourself the service of mapping the customer journey.
Source
Why? Because you’re going to experience an epiphany of sorts. Every customer is going to follow a path that takes them from awareness to completion.
One of the most valuable insights from a customer journey map is that you will find out what customers do and see when they sign up for a free trial. You’ll discover whether it’s encouraging or demotivating. You’ll learn what obstacles they may experience when they move through the process.
Look at it From a Long-Term Perspective
Pictures or diagrams are so much better at explaining things than I am. So, here’s what I want you to do. Look at this diagram for at least ten seconds.
Source
What do you see? I see that you’re going to gain 5-30% of a customer’s revenue at the initial sale point. I see that a whopping 70-95% of the revenue is going to come a week, a month, or a year down the road.
What does this tell you?
To me that says that I need to take a long term view. Customers don’t prove their maximum value until some time has passed.
It also tells me that customer retention is killer.
Finally, it tells me that none of that revenue will materialize unless I close the sale. Forget 95%. I just need 5% right now!
Even a longview of sales informs me that this is a critical point. So let’s get into some of the tactics.
Get a Perspective On Your Goal: Engagement
If you’re honest for a second, you’ll realize that you can’t make the customer do anything. You can, however, coax them to do something.
That most important “thing” is called engagement.
Engagement can be a slippery term, so let me explain what I mean by it. I agree with Lincoln Murphy from Sixteen Ventures who explained that “Engagement is when your customer is realizing value from your SaaS.”
You see, the customer will only want to buy the SaaS when she actually experiences the value that it can provide. Engagement happens many times in multiple scenarios, but it all boils down to the same experience — value for the customer.
In the critical pre-purchase stage, you must drive engagement. The entire free trial period should be designed around engagement — getting the customer to smell, taste, and feel the value of the product.
Without engagement, there will be no purchase.
Know What You Want the Customer To Do
Engagement is meaningless unless you actually understand what action causes engagement.
A customer can’t realize value from the SaaS unless he is doing something with the SaaS.
Doing what? What do you want the customer to do? That depends on your product and your customer.
For Mention.com, as an example, that could be compelling their customer to create an online alert. So, what does Mention.com do with their free trial? They force customers to engage.
The word force sounds all cruel and violent, but it’s actually quite kind and compassionate. Why? Because they want their customer to actually experience the value of the product right from the get-go. There’s no better way to do so than to engage and launch the trial simultaneously.
Here’s how they do it:
Now, let’s talk about that little engagement action.
Make Your Customer Do the Engagement Action
Once you’ve decided what you want the customer to do, it’s time to make them do it. I used the word force in the preceding point. To divest the term of its negative connotations, let me provide a more cohesive set of suggestions around this concept.
Emphasize This Action in Your Email Marketing
Email message play a critical role in this critical point in sales. How you say it matters. So how should you say it? Beg, wheedle, whine?
No. Command them. Get them to do the action you’ve selected. Here’s an example of such an email. This email sample comes from Autosend.io, which provides an upsell schedule dashboard for SaaS. They want their trial lead to first log in. Makes sense.
Source
Put Dependencies on That Action
What do I mean by this? Show the customer that they will only experience the usefulness of the software if they do the specific action.
Mint.com compels users to add a bill or an account. These two actions are presumably Mint’s engagement action, which will draw the user in to experience the value of the software.
It’s kind of like a game. The user has to unlock the next level, so she needs to do a certain action.
Reward the Action
When the user does that action, give them a pat on the back. They’ve earned it. By applauding their action, you can drive them deeper into the experience and engagement of the SaaS.
Remember, it’s all about action. The user needs to do.
Trial users who stay active are more likely to convert. Notice how Totango sketches out the condition. Trial users are 4x more likely to convert when they are using the SaaS for three days. The opposite holds true, too. A user who cancels is a user who’s not using the SaaS.
Source
By encouraging activity through a variety of methods, you will improve your success at engagement and sales.
Be Sure to Send a Welcome Email Right Away
According to MIT and InsideSales, the odds of calling to contact a lead decrease by over 10 times in the first hour. You need to be calling them within an hour of them becoming a lead. If you don’t, the chances that you’ll connect with them drastically decrease.
And you should automatically email the free trial user immediately.
The customer doesn’t know what to do after they start the trial. You have to tell them. The way you do that is by sending them an email.
What you say in that email is just as important. There’s a misconception that you need to send them an elaborate letter, complete with details, metrics, motivations, instructions, and all the other things that make for a warm-and-fuzzy welcome experience.
Not quite. The shorter your email, the better.
Here’s an example of a free trial expiration email that I received.
Am I going to read that? No. It’s way too long.
Will I read a short message like this?
Yes.
Short messages are important. You have several days and multiple emails to communicate with the customer – introduction, action, motivation, etc. The free trial is a process and a sequence, but you don’t need to give them every bit of information all at once.
Shorten that email. No, shorter. Shorter…There.
Send Them More Emails
Email is the communication method of choice for the vast majority of SaaS providers. Use email frequently in order to give the user all the information that they need to…
Start using the SaaS.
Complete the engagement action.
Sign up for the product.
Your emails should follow a logical series of actions and activities that push the customer to full conversion.
Conclusion
The better you get at converting customers past the free trial, the better you’ll get at SaaS marketing as a whole.
Once you bring customers past the free trial, you can enjoy the massive revenue opportunities, upsells, retention, and awesomeness that follows.
But first, concentrate on getting past that initial hump.
What have you discovered as the best method for converting trial users into full customers?
About the Author: Neil Patel is a lifelong evangelist of Kissmetrics and blogs at Quick Sprout.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1IzggiJ via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1IdMXP7
August 01, 2015 at 03:33AM
If you’re like any other SaaS marketing maven, you want to drive more sales in the best way possible.
And if you’ve given it any thought, you realize the epochal importance of the free trial.
Everything about the free trial is important. I would argue that the free trial is the most critical phase in SaaS sales. Most SaaS sales models place an enormous amount of emphasis on the trial, because, taken broadly, it’s the only marketing method that makes sense.
But that’s where a certain amount of distraction sets in. We obsess over all things free trial, completely missing the whole point of the trial — to get users to use the product!
My goal in this article is to clear the table on the free trial period, and get our heads screwed on right so we can understand how to capitalize on the most important point in SaaS sales.
Let’s Describe What’s Going on Here
Most SaaS sales processes go like this, generally:
Customer is aware of a need.
Customer considers alternatives.
Customer zeroes in on your product.
Customer starts a free trial.
Customer converts into a customer.
At point four in the list above, the customer is already deep in the funnel. The funnel diagram included below expands it a bit. You can see that the customer is there — starting the trial. They have just a couple microsteps to go until they are a full customer.
Source
Let’s look at another diagram of this point. This time, I want you to see just how critical it is based on what comes after the purchase point.
At the nexus of those two triangles is the transition from free trial to paying customer. You can’t experience the benefits without moving them on from the active use/free trial phase.
And that’s where we need to focus on — getting the customer over the hump of free trial and into the utopia of a closed deal.
Understand What Motivated the Customer to Begin With
One of the best ways to figure out how to get the customer to buy for good is to figure out why they started the trial to begin with.
Let me explain.
Why is a customer going to buy your product? Think through the answer, because this is kind of the whole point of your SaaS, right? What does the customer want to achieve, do, or experience?
That’s the reason why your customer started a free trial. The motivation should be no different.
If you are able to satisfy the customer’s need during the temporary trial, then you can compel them to remain a customer by continuing to satisfy them in the future. SaaS isn’t a one-and-done deal. It’s an ongoing process of serving the customer.
The cause for conversion into free trial and the motivation for conversion into a full customer are one and the same. Problem: solved.
Use the customer’s free trial motivation as the tool to drive engagement beyond the trial.
Map Your Customer Journey
To drive further into the reasons and motivations for attracting and retaining customers, do yourself the service of mapping the customer journey.
Source
Why? Because you’re going to experience an epiphany of sorts. Every customer is going to follow a path that takes them from awareness to completion.
One of the most valuable insights from a customer journey map is that you will find out what customers do and see when they sign up for a free trial. You’ll discover whether it’s encouraging or demotivating. You’ll learn what obstacles they may experience when they move through the process.
Look at it From a Long-Term Perspective
Pictures or diagrams are so much better at explaining things than I am. So, here’s what I want you to do. Look at this diagram for at least ten seconds.
Source
What do you see? I see that you’re going to gain 5-30% of a customer’s revenue at the initial sale point. I see that a whopping 70-95% of the revenue is going to come a week, a month, or a year down the road.
What does this tell you?
To me that says that I need to take a long term view. Customers don’t prove their maximum value until some time has passed.
It also tells me that customer retention is killer.
Finally, it tells me that none of that revenue will materialize unless I close the sale. Forget 95%. I just need 5% right now!
Even a longview of sales informs me that this is a critical point. So let’s get into some of the tactics.
Get a Perspective On Your Goal: Engagement
If you’re honest for a second, you’ll realize that you can’t make the customer do anything. You can, however, coax them to do something.
That most important “thing” is called engagement.
Engagement can be a slippery term, so let me explain what I mean by it. I agree with Lincoln Murphy from Sixteen Ventures who explained that “Engagement is when your customer is realizing value from your SaaS.”
You see, the customer will only want to buy the SaaS when she actually experiences the value that it can provide. Engagement happens many times in multiple scenarios, but it all boils down to the same experience — value for the customer.
In the critical pre-purchase stage, you must drive engagement. The entire free trial period should be designed around engagement — getting the customer to smell, taste, and feel the value of the product.
Without engagement, there will be no purchase.
Know What You Want the Customer To Do
Engagement is meaningless unless you actually understand what action causes engagement.
A customer can’t realize value from the SaaS unless he is doing something with the SaaS.
Doing what? What do you want the customer to do? That depends on your product and your customer.
For Mention.com, as an example, that could be compelling their customer to create an online alert. So, what does Mention.com do with their free trial? They force customers to engage.
The word force sounds all cruel and violent, but it’s actually quite kind and compassionate. Why? Because they want their customer to actually experience the value of the product right from the get-go. There’s no better way to do so than to engage and launch the trial simultaneously.
Here’s how they do it:
Now, let’s talk about that little engagement action.
Make Your Customer Do the Engagement Action
Once you’ve decided what you want the customer to do, it’s time to make them do it. I used the word force in the preceding point. To divest the term of its negative connotations, let me provide a more cohesive set of suggestions around this concept.
Emphasize This Action in Your Email Marketing
Email message play a critical role in this critical point in sales. How you say it matters. So how should you say it? Beg, wheedle, whine?
No. Command them. Get them to do the action you’ve selected. Here’s an example of such an email. This email sample comes from Autosend.io, which provides an upsell schedule dashboard for SaaS. They want their trial lead to first log in. Makes sense.
Source
Put Dependencies on That Action
What do I mean by this? Show the customer that they will only experience the usefulness of the software if they do the specific action.
Mint.com compels users to add a bill or an account. These two actions are presumably Mint’s engagement action, which will draw the user in to experience the value of the software.
It’s kind of like a game. The user has to unlock the next level, so she needs to do a certain action.
Reward the Action
When the user does that action, give them a pat on the back. They’ve earned it. By applauding their action, you can drive them deeper into the experience and engagement of the SaaS.
Remember, it’s all about action. The user needs to do.
Trial users who stay active are more likely to convert. Notice how Totango sketches out the condition. Trial users are 4x more likely to convert when they are using the SaaS for three days. The opposite holds true, too. A user who cancels is a user who’s not using the SaaS.
Source
By encouraging activity through a variety of methods, you will improve your success at engagement and sales.
Be Sure to Send a Welcome Email Right Away
According to MIT and InsideSales, the odds of calling to contact a lead decrease by over 10 times in the first hour. You need to be calling them within an hour of them becoming a lead. If you don’t, the chances that you’ll connect with them drastically decrease.
And you should automatically email the free trial user immediately.
The customer doesn’t know what to do after they start the trial. You have to tell them. The way you do that is by sending them an email.
What you say in that email is just as important. There’s a misconception that you need to send them an elaborate letter, complete with details, metrics, motivations, instructions, and all the other things that make for a warm-and-fuzzy welcome experience.
Not quite. The shorter your email, the better.
Here’s an example of a free trial expiration email that I received.
Am I going to read that? No. It’s way too long.
Will I read a short message like this?
Yes.
Short messages are important. You have several days and multiple emails to communicate with the customer – introduction, action, motivation, etc. The free trial is a process and a sequence, but you don’t need to give them every bit of information all at once.
Shorten that email. No, shorter. Shorter…There.
Send Them More Emails
Email is the communication method of choice for the vast majority of SaaS providers. Use email frequently in order to give the user all the information that they need to…
Start using the SaaS.
Complete the engagement action.
Sign up for the product.
Your emails should follow a logical series of actions and activities that push the customer to full conversion.
Conclusion
The better you get at converting customers past the free trial, the better you’ll get at SaaS marketing as a whole.
Once you bring customers past the free trial, you can enjoy the massive revenue opportunities, upsells, retention, and awesomeness that follows.
But first, concentrate on getting past that initial hump.
What have you discovered as the best method for converting trial users into full customers?
About the Author: Neil Patel is a lifelong evangelist of Kissmetrics and blogs at Quick Sprout.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1IzggiJ via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1IdMXP7
August 01, 2015 at 03:33AM
Added: Aug 31, 2015 Via IFTTT
How to Utilize The Psychology of Persuasion to Increase Conversion Rates
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
How to Utilize The Psychology of Persuasion to Increase Conversion Rates
Why do customers buy your product and not your competitor’s?
Well-known consultant and author Jack Trout once said:
“Marketing isn’t a battle of products, it’s a battle of perceptions”.
This is probably my favorite quote because it truly explains the essence of marketing (and conversion optimization): what matters to customers isn’t your pricing or features, it’s not even how good your product is. What matters to customers is how you make them feel and what’s in it for them. This is what determines whether customers choose you or your competitor.
One of our most studied and applied subjects at my company (Conversioner) is the psychology of persuasion. To increase revenue we have to get to know our customers better, understand their emotional triggers, and most importantly their decision making process. Once we understand our customers better we can run meaningful AB tests, build better user journeys and increase revenues across the board.
One of the most influential books on this topic is called Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. Published In 1984 by Dr. Cialdini, it is a massively important book for every marketer. After three decades its value and lessons are considered fundamental to any marketing strategy. The main focus of the book is Cialdini’s six principles of how to influence people and address their emotional needs. In this article we’ll take look at these principles and how we can leverage them to turn visitors into customers.
The Six Principles of Persuasion
1. Reciprocity
Our natural human behavior dictates that if someone gives something to us, we feel obligated to repay that debt. This principle highlights the fact that if someone does something nice for us we generally feel the need to repay the favor or the debt.
The mutually beneficial exchange between humans comes natural to us and has become even more common online. Examples of this include signing up for a newsletter to get a free eBook, spending X amount of money and receiving a gift, or simply getting a discount on a product in exchange for sharing, commenting or reviewing it.
How to use this principle:
First you must determine what action you would like your customer to perform. This can be something like registering or downloading a product, sharing the product with their friends, or simply signing up to a newsletter. Once you’ve identified what you need, identify what you can give your customer in return (reciprocate) for this action (an e-book, a discount, cash back).
The emotional targeting methodology also emphasizes that reciprocity doesn’t have to be an actual commodity, a simple promise of a better life, feeling safe or accepted by our peers will convince us to give something in return.
For instance, at Conversioner we use an exit pop up that offers people exclusive content on emotional targeting in exchange for signing up.
CopyHackers uses an exit intent pop up to offer a free personal guide in exchange for signing up for their newsletter.
In both cases, customers are willing to reciprocate by signing up and leaving their details for exclusive content we’re willing to give away.
2. Commitment and Consistency
As humans we like to maintain a consistent self-image about who we are and what we believe. As consistent beings, when we make an internal or public commitment about something we tend to follow through with it to preserve our self image.
One of most popular methods of using this principle is while buying a home. Once you’ve viewed a house and seen it, you’re asked by the estate agent to write down details of the house and propose a figure. Even though this number isn’t a real commitment, having it written down has made it more realistic and you’re now more prone to buy that house (not necessarily for that price). Getting a customer’s commitment early on increases the chances and makes it more likely that the customer will follow through with it.
An online example would be getting customers to commit for a one month trial or asking your customers which plan they prefer on a pricing page before sending them to a payment page. Once they’ve chosen a plan they feel compelled to take you up on the bigger action.
The example below is from a B2B company that asks people to first leave their details for a demo and then fill in more information about their business. Once they had already agreed to getting a call back from our client’s representative, they felt more committed and compelled to answer our follow up questions.
Step 1:
Step 2:
3. Social Proof
People like to do things they see other people doing. For instance, if a restaurant looks busy you’re more likely to eat there than if it were empty. There’s also more chance you’ll put money in a tip jar if there’s already money in there. In the online world, social proof is extremely important.
People want to feel they are not the only ones to use a product or service, that others have taken the risk before you and they are satisfied customers. This is why you see testimonials on landing pages, reviews for E-commerce stores and well-known logos on landing pages, these logos inflict trust and show people that the best of the best are using a certain product and it can be trusted.
Piktochart is one of many companies using social proof on their homepage:
This principle is also called Wisdom of the Crowd. It’s why people read reviews, buy bestsellers or browse most popular items before buying. We want security in numbers and most of us want to fit in and be a part of a community, not trend setters. Other ways to increase social proof include social media sharing and publishing case studies on your website to prove that other people are using your service and finding it successful.
In this landing page shows the amount of people using the service as social proof:
Amazon uses reviews, showing visitors the satisfaction rate of customers from a specific product rather than the entire site:
4. Liking
People are more likely to buy products or services from people they like and trust which is why likeability is a huge influencing factor. A common example of this principle is known as the “pyramid” business. This is when people are invited by their friends to an event and feel obligated to purchase tupperware/protein shakes and other products regardless to their actual feelings towards the product. This happens because of their personal relationship with the salesperson and the commitment principle. They’ve already taken one step in the process of coming over and now feel obligated to buy.
How to use this principle:The best way to utilize this principle is by building trust and a good relationship with your visitors. This takes time – trust and likeability isn’t built overnight. To get there, you can increase likeability in a few ways:
Similarity – We like people who are similar to us. Based on your product and your customers you know what type of persona your customers will like and feel close to. Mirroring your customer in your strategy (using images, content and the right social proof) will increase likability and trust.
People – Using pictures of people on your website and adding a personal voice increases likability.
Association – Many brands associate themselves with current trends and celebrities. By associating your product and brand to something people like and can identify with, you increase your likability.
Wix does an incredible job of mirroring their customers in their landing page by using photos of people in their work space and adding their name and occupation. Though these are clearly professional photos, by giving them names they’ve made them accessible and real, thus increase likability.
Another one:
5. Scarcity
People like the idea of buying things that are rare or hard to come by. If something is marketed as a “limited time offer” people will rush to buy it as they will feel a sense of urgency and fear of loss. Scarcity all boils down to- “get something before you lose it forever”.
This is happens because of a well known cognitive bias called “Loss Aversion” which states that people would prefer avoiding losses to acquiring gains. Losing something hurts us more than the pleasure of gaining something. Which is why scarcity works.
Another part of scarcity is status. This is very important to a lot of people – they want to be admired by their peers. Labeling your product or offering as a one-of-a kind and giving it a time cap (“only 5 spots left”) will increase its desirability and as a result increase conversions tremendously. If will value a product much more if it’s a once in a lifetime type of product than if it’s a commodity.
Popular examples include 24 hour sales, a countdown clock and limited time offers. AliExpress uses all these techniques plus makes it exclusive by applying the sale to app users only:
6. Authority
People trust and respect those in authority. Authority can be instilled through uniforms, titles like Dr. or Professor, or an endorsement from someone in a position of authority like a CEO or celebrity.
One of the most famous studies on this subject was held in 1974 when researchers were studying the influence of negative reinforcement. Participants were told they could give electric shocks to other participants (sitting in a different room) if they answered questions incorrectly. At first participants didn’t feel comfortable administering these electric shocks, but once a person came in with a white cloak and told them it was ok, researchers saw participants increase the voltage and commit. Though the people (actors) in the other room screamed everytime they got an “electric shock”, while the men in cloak stood and noded to the participants, they continued.
How to use this principle:
To increase authority for your brand, you can translate this principle to the web by having testimonials from experts, referencing important research and studies conducted to backup your product or service and using an authority figure.
Note how Tanning Truth uses an image of an unrelated doctor wearing an “official” cloak and a quote to increase authority and trust.
This also works by getting awards and/or recommendations from respected organizations
Over to You
Cialdini’s principles have been used for many years by marketers to reach out to their customers and appeal to them on an emotional level. Though not all principles may be achieved with every campaign you run, you should review each landing page you create and see what you can add or remove in order to tap into those psychological principles and translate Cialdini’s principles to increase conversions.
What is your favorite principle, and how do you use it?
About the Author: Talia Wolf is the CEO and Founder of Conversioner. Talia helps businesses build their conversion optimization strategies and execute them to increase their revenues, grow their sales, leads and engagement using quantitative data, consumer psychology & emotional conversion optimization. Talia specializes in Ecommerce optimization, landing page optimization, mobile optimization and consumer psychology. Tweet her at @taliagw.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1fRri7v via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1FcvdCy
August 31, 2015 at 10:21PM
Why do customers buy your product and not your competitor’s?
Well-known consultant and author Jack Trout once said:
“Marketing isn’t a battle of products, it’s a battle of perceptions”.
This is probably my favorite quote because it truly explains the essence of marketing (and conversion optimization): what matters to customers isn’t your pricing or features, it’s not even how good your product is. What matters to customers is how you make them feel and what’s in it for them. This is what determines whether customers choose you or your competitor.
One of our most studied and applied subjects at my company (Conversioner) is the psychology of persuasion. To increase revenue we have to get to know our customers better, understand their emotional triggers, and most importantly their decision making process. Once we understand our customers better we can run meaningful AB tests, build better user journeys and increase revenues across the board.
One of the most influential books on this topic is called Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. Published In 1984 by Dr. Cialdini, it is a massively important book for every marketer. After three decades its value and lessons are considered fundamental to any marketing strategy. The main focus of the book is Cialdini’s six principles of how to influence people and address their emotional needs. In this article we’ll take look at these principles and how we can leverage them to turn visitors into customers.
The Six Principles of Persuasion
1. Reciprocity
Our natural human behavior dictates that if someone gives something to us, we feel obligated to repay that debt. This principle highlights the fact that if someone does something nice for us we generally feel the need to repay the favor or the debt.
The mutually beneficial exchange between humans comes natural to us and has become even more common online. Examples of this include signing up for a newsletter to get a free eBook, spending X amount of money and receiving a gift, or simply getting a discount on a product in exchange for sharing, commenting or reviewing it.
How to use this principle:
First you must determine what action you would like your customer to perform. This can be something like registering or downloading a product, sharing the product with their friends, or simply signing up to a newsletter. Once you’ve identified what you need, identify what you can give your customer in return (reciprocate) for this action (an e-book, a discount, cash back).
The emotional targeting methodology also emphasizes that reciprocity doesn’t have to be an actual commodity, a simple promise of a better life, feeling safe or accepted by our peers will convince us to give something in return.
For instance, at Conversioner we use an exit pop up that offers people exclusive content on emotional targeting in exchange for signing up.
CopyHackers uses an exit intent pop up to offer a free personal guide in exchange for signing up for their newsletter.
In both cases, customers are willing to reciprocate by signing up and leaving their details for exclusive content we’re willing to give away.
2. Commitment and Consistency
As humans we like to maintain a consistent self-image about who we are and what we believe. As consistent beings, when we make an internal or public commitment about something we tend to follow through with it to preserve our self image.
One of most popular methods of using this principle is while buying a home. Once you’ve viewed a house and seen it, you’re asked by the estate agent to write down details of the house and propose a figure. Even though this number isn’t a real commitment, having it written down has made it more realistic and you’re now more prone to buy that house (not necessarily for that price). Getting a customer’s commitment early on increases the chances and makes it more likely that the customer will follow through with it.
An online example would be getting customers to commit for a one month trial or asking your customers which plan they prefer on a pricing page before sending them to a payment page. Once they’ve chosen a plan they feel compelled to take you up on the bigger action.
The example below is from a B2B company that asks people to first leave their details for a demo and then fill in more information about their business. Once they had already agreed to getting a call back from our client’s representative, they felt more committed and compelled to answer our follow up questions.
Step 1:
Step 2:
3. Social Proof
People like to do things they see other people doing. For instance, if a restaurant looks busy you’re more likely to eat there than if it were empty. There’s also more chance you’ll put money in a tip jar if there’s already money in there. In the online world, social proof is extremely important.
People want to feel they are not the only ones to use a product or service, that others have taken the risk before you and they are satisfied customers. This is why you see testimonials on landing pages, reviews for E-commerce stores and well-known logos on landing pages, these logos inflict trust and show people that the best of the best are using a certain product and it can be trusted.
Piktochart is one of many companies using social proof on their homepage:
This principle is also called Wisdom of the Crowd. It’s why people read reviews, buy bestsellers or browse most popular items before buying. We want security in numbers and most of us want to fit in and be a part of a community, not trend setters. Other ways to increase social proof include social media sharing and publishing case studies on your website to prove that other people are using your service and finding it successful.
In this landing page shows the amount of people using the service as social proof:
Amazon uses reviews, showing visitors the satisfaction rate of customers from a specific product rather than the entire site:
4. Liking
People are more likely to buy products or services from people they like and trust which is why likeability is a huge influencing factor. A common example of this principle is known as the “pyramid” business. This is when people are invited by their friends to an event and feel obligated to purchase tupperware/protein shakes and other products regardless to their actual feelings towards the product. This happens because of their personal relationship with the salesperson and the commitment principle. They’ve already taken one step in the process of coming over and now feel obligated to buy.
How to use this principle:The best way to utilize this principle is by building trust and a good relationship with your visitors. This takes time – trust and likeability isn’t built overnight. To get there, you can increase likeability in a few ways:
Similarity – We like people who are similar to us. Based on your product and your customers you know what type of persona your customers will like and feel close to. Mirroring your customer in your strategy (using images, content and the right social proof) will increase likability and trust.
People – Using pictures of people on your website and adding a personal voice increases likability.
Association – Many brands associate themselves with current trends and celebrities. By associating your product and brand to something people like and can identify with, you increase your likability.
Wix does an incredible job of mirroring their customers in their landing page by using photos of people in their work space and adding their name and occupation. Though these are clearly professional photos, by giving them names they’ve made them accessible and real, thus increase likability.
Another one:
5. Scarcity
People like the idea of buying things that are rare or hard to come by. If something is marketed as a “limited time offer” people will rush to buy it as they will feel a sense of urgency and fear of loss. Scarcity all boils down to- “get something before you lose it forever”.
This is happens because of a well known cognitive bias called “Loss Aversion” which states that people would prefer avoiding losses to acquiring gains. Losing something hurts us more than the pleasure of gaining something. Which is why scarcity works.
Another part of scarcity is status. This is very important to a lot of people – they want to be admired by their peers. Labeling your product or offering as a one-of-a kind and giving it a time cap (“only 5 spots left”) will increase its desirability and as a result increase conversions tremendously. If will value a product much more if it’s a once in a lifetime type of product than if it’s a commodity.
Popular examples include 24 hour sales, a countdown clock and limited time offers. AliExpress uses all these techniques plus makes it exclusive by applying the sale to app users only:
6. Authority
People trust and respect those in authority. Authority can be instilled through uniforms, titles like Dr. or Professor, or an endorsement from someone in a position of authority like a CEO or celebrity.
One of the most famous studies on this subject was held in 1974 when researchers were studying the influence of negative reinforcement. Participants were told they could give electric shocks to other participants (sitting in a different room) if they answered questions incorrectly. At first participants didn’t feel comfortable administering these electric shocks, but once a person came in with a white cloak and told them it was ok, researchers saw participants increase the voltage and commit. Though the people (actors) in the other room screamed everytime they got an “electric shock”, while the men in cloak stood and noded to the participants, they continued.
How to use this principle:
To increase authority for your brand, you can translate this principle to the web by having testimonials from experts, referencing important research and studies conducted to backup your product or service and using an authority figure.
Note how Tanning Truth uses an image of an unrelated doctor wearing an “official” cloak and a quote to increase authority and trust.
This also works by getting awards and/or recommendations from respected organizations
Over to You
Cialdini’s principles have been used for many years by marketers to reach out to their customers and appeal to them on an emotional level. Though not all principles may be achieved with every campaign you run, you should review each landing page you create and see what you can add or remove in order to tap into those psychological principles and translate Cialdini’s principles to increase conversions.
What is your favorite principle, and how do you use it?
About the Author: Talia Wolf is the CEO and Founder of Conversioner. Talia helps businesses build their conversion optimization strategies and execute them to increase their revenues, grow their sales, leads and engagement using quantitative data, consumer psychology & emotional conversion optimization. Talia specializes in Ecommerce optimization, landing page optimization, mobile optimization and consumer psychology. Tweet her at @taliagw.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1fRri7v via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1FcvdCy
August 31, 2015 at 10:21PM
Added: Sep 08, 2015 Via IFTTT
How We Bootstrapped Our Chrome Extension To 10000 Installs In 6 Months
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
How We Bootstrapped Our Chrome Extension To 10,000 Installs In 6 Months
Back in January of this year, we launched a free Chrome extension (Datanyze Insider) targeted for sales and marketing pros.
In the first 6 months following the launch, marketing resources were extremely scarce. When I say bootstrapped, this is what I mean:
2 marketers (myself and our marketing manager, Michael)
A $5k budget
Limited design and technical resources
A marketing automation platform
Analytics
Over the course of this post, I do my best to outline and explain the tactics that got us to 10,000 installs in 6 months.
If you’re thinking: “Great, but I don’t have a Chrome extension” — don’t sweat it. These tactics are highly translatable and can be used to launch and grow any new product or offering.
Alright, let’s get going.
The Proof
For the skeptics, here’s a snapshot of our month-by-month progress. We launched Insider on January 21st and hit 10,000 users by early July. By July 21st, we were almost to 11,000 free users.
In this case, the goal completion can only be triggered when users submit our sign-up form. (We’ll talk more about the install spike in June later on.)
The Plan
Before the launch, we devised a plan that focused on 3 main deliverables:
Attracting new users (for free)
Optimizing for conversion and user success
Creating advocates and getting referrals
Each of these deliverables has been absolutely crucial to the success of the campaign. While driving traffic and acquiring new users may seem like the most crucial element, I cannot stress enough how important it is to make sure your first users love the product and are willing to spread it around. Let’s dig in.
Step 1: Attracting New Users (For Free)
Starting out, we had little budget and little design or technical resources. We did have time though (lots of it), and we chose to spend it familiarizing ourselves with the key players in our space. Our main questions were:
Where do our potential users live?
How do they look for new tools?
Whose opinion do they trust?
What makes them tick?
Having these questions top of mind made it easier for us to focus on the right acquisition channels and get the most out of our efforts. Here are the tactics we employed to get the ball rolling:
Tactic 1: Guest Blogging
If you only have the ability to execute on one tactic, make it this one. Guest blogging gave us a highly effective, free way to get in front of new audiences, provided that we could bring an interesting topic to the table. (Yep, I’m guest blogging now. ☺)
Starting out, we did a bit of research to decide which blogs to approach. We used a combination of BuzzSumo and Moz for this.
With BuzzSumo, you can enter in any keyword phrase, author or URL, and it will send back the most shared articles for that search term. You can filter results to identify which topics are trending this month and you can even view who’s sharing each article on Twitter.
The free Moz Chrome extension allows you to employ a similar technique with Google search, but puts an emphasis on SEO rather than social. (Granted, these two spheres are becoming more and more intertwined, but I thought it would be nice to show both.)
In the search results, Moz will provide the domain authority for each page and the number of websites that link to it. We focused on the results with a high domain authority and lots of inbound links.
Once we had a nice sized list of blogs we wanted to post on, it was time to start reaching out. Kissmetrics contributor, Kristi Hines, wrote an awesome post on how to do this, so I won’t try to reinvent the wheel. However, I will offer up one piece of advice: BE AUTHENTIC.
When you’re reaching out to someone for the first time, you need to find a way to quickly humanize yourself to your recipient. This means doing a bit of research on the blog if you’re reaching out through a Contact Us page or the author if you’re reaching out directly. Remember, if you want to get value, you’ve got to provide it first.
Tactic 2: Influencers
Put simply, influencers are industry experts that your buyers trust. When they tweet, buyers retweet. When they blog, buyers share. When they speak, buyers listen. Identifying and engaging with influencers correctly was a key piece of our acquisition strategy.
First off, we set out to identify the main influencers in our space. A great free tool for doing this is Topsy. It helps find out who’s driving your preferred topic of conversation on Twitter by keyword or hashtag.
You can sort results by timeframe or use the “Influencers” tab to check out which handles get retweeted the most on a given topic.
Another great way to find influencers is on Quora. A quick search for the topic “sales development” brings up a number of frequently asked questions and a preview of which responses received the most upvotes.
Once we had compiled a nice list of influencers, we wanted to get them interested enough in our extension to share it on social or (hopefully) write a nice blog post. This is the hard part. Here’s a little step-by-step process that worked pretty well for us:
Interact with each influencer on social. Retweet their posts on Twitter, follow their answers on Quora, comment on a blog post they wrote and, if possible, mention them in your own blog post.
Connect on LinkedIn. Before reaching out, connect with each influencer on LinkedIn. This helps humanize your outreach by putting a face to your name when the time comes.
Ask for advice. When it comes time to reach out, don’t ask them to share or write about your product right off the bat. Instead, ask for advice. Influencers love digging into new tools and sharing their expertise.
Take their advice. If you’re able to get some feedback on your product, make sure you take the necessary steps on your end to incorporate their advice into a V2 of the product.
Show them V2 and ask for help. Once you’ve got something new to show them, write your influencer back and note the changes you made. This will show them that you’ve invested in their feedback, making them more likely to become invested in your product. Then (and only then) should you ask for their help with promotion.
Remember that install spike in June? It came from an influencer blog post.
We even got some influencers to tweet out our posts:
If you don’t use @datanyze, you’re prospecting blind. http://t.co/77NA8nVoBr #sales #marketing
— Kyle York (@kyork20) June 26, 2015
Datanyze: Give us your Salesforce, we’ll fill your funnel http://t.co/0ODhXyzhL4 via @VentureBeat @Datanyze #saas #insidesales
— Trish Bertuzzi (@bridgegroupinc) May 4, 2015
Tactic 3: Quora
Quora is an absolute treasure trove when it comes to new users. Thousands of new questions get asked, answered, and upvoted everyday, and top answers often hit the top result on Google (and stay there).
To keep up with questions on Quora, we used a free tool called Feedly. With Feedly, you can copy any topic URL from Quora and create an RSS feed that will alert when new questions are asked. Here’s an example of a feed we used that covers Chrome extensions. Check this out if need help setting it up.
Once we had our feed setup, we needed to answer questions TACTFULLY. This meant:
Addressing our prospect’s question in full.
Providing more than just a link to our product.
Organizing our answers with helpful pictures and bullets.
Furthering the discussion by commenting on or citing other helpful answers in the thread.
Once we answered each question thoroughly without being too product pitchy, we chose to ask some co-workers for a little upvote love. This helped get our answers higher in the thread and generate more views.
Step 2: Converting users and making them successful
Once we started driving a great deal of users to our sign-up page, we needed to accomplish two things:
Make them confident enough in our extension to fill out a form and install something on their computer.
Help them find success quickly so they are comfortable recommending the extension to their network.
Tactic 1: Reviews
At first, we spent a lot of time brainstorming creative ways to ask our customers for reviews. Here are a few of the (semi) interesting ideas we came up with:
Pick out several power users and ask for a review in exchange for more credits.
Send hand-written letters to influencers. (oof)
Sheepishly ask our friends and family to write something nice…
After a good amount of back and forth, we decided to take a risk. Our plan was to add an email to our existing nurture track that simply asked for a review.
The email would be sent out to everyone 5 business days after they installed the extension – whether they used it, liked it, loved it, or not. Here’s what we sent:
This email has been responsible for 90% of the 78 reviews we’ve collected to date. Though it’s automated, I believe it works for a few reasons:
It comes from the engineer who created the extension.
It puts a face to the name.
It asks for both positive AND negative reviews.
Putting ourselves up for both positive and negative reviews was, admittedly, a huge risk. But it was one we were willing to take, because we were confident enough in our product and onboarding flow that users would be successful enough to react favorably.
Tactic 2: Onboarding
“How can we make our first users successful without being too hands-on?” was a question we started to ask ourselves as the installs rolled in.
First things first, we decided to spend a little money. We needed a how-to video that could quickly explain the value of using the extension without digging too deep into the features. We did a bit of research and wound up using SmartShoot, an Elance of sorts for outsourced video production. The video doesn’t exactly bring you to the edge of your seat (we’re no Slack or HubSpot) but it does get the point across.
Next, we created a help center focused on providing answers to questions new users might have. We covered all the basics from install to account creation, and also provided video tutorials on how to use the most prominent features. We then rolled these two assets up into a welcome email, keeping things simple and brief.
You’ll notice that there are quite a few links in there, which may lead to sensory overload for some users. However, we tested a variety of different email styles and found that users who received all resources in the first email, performed nearly 25% more actions in the first week. For us, this was a HUGE piece of knowledge.
After the initial onboarding email, we continued with a 6-email nurture track that focuses on tips and best practices. We figured that if users were successful with the extension, then they would be more likely to refer their friends – a topic I’ll discuss in the following section.
Step 3: Creating advocates and getting referrals
Tactic 1: Growth analytics
Many readers may be familiar with HubSpot’s Chrome extension, Sidekick, which was launched back at the end of 2014. One of the most fascinating articles I’ve read (and one that should be on every data-driven marketer’s short list), is a post that outlines their growth approach for this product.
The HubSpot team stuck to a pretty simple plan:
Choose a goal
Build a model
Analyze the inputs
Identify opportunities
HubSpot’s main objective was to find gaps in their existing acquisition and onboarding flows that could be closed up to increase weekly active users. Here are the reasons their users dropped off, which feels pretty typical for most online products:
We are currently taking a similar approach, but aren’t getting quite as in the weeds as HubSpot did (…bootstrapped, remember?).
Currently, we’re focused on increasing the number of credit-based actions a user takes. This means identifying the demographics of the users that drop off, figuring out when they drop off, and why.
I should mention that we’re still very much in the middle of this process, but if you’re interested in our preliminary findings, feel free to shoot me an email!
Tactic 2: Referral program
Nothing spreads faster than a free tool people enjoy using. In our quest to drive more installs, we decided that it was worth using what little design and engineering resources we had to get something off the ground.
Building a successful referral program is no easy task, but luckily there are plenty of awesome examples out there to help get the creative juices flowing. In particular, we decided to emulate Dropbox’s referral campaign, which was a key ingredient in their whopping 3900% growth. Here’s a look at our referral page.
…I’m not a big fan of the confetti either.
A few things to note:
We highlighted a target goal of “500 credits” to give users something to work towards.
We chose to make Invite Gmail Contacts the focal point. This is the holy grail of referrals, but not always the first one on a user’s mind.
We provided a shortened URL for users who prefer not to share on social. Some of our most viral sign-up chains came from links copied to an internal chat tool like Slack or HipChat.
We gave users the ability to track their referrals and even resend the referral email to prompt friends to sign up.
We gave both the referrer AND the referee 10 additional credits as a reward for signing up.
Since implementing the program back in March, referrals have accounted for nearly 25% of all new installs. It has also helped our sales team identify which accounts are most likely to convert based on the number of active users on the same domain.
Bootstrapping Can Work If You Have a Solid Plan
So there you have it — a little over 10,000 installs in 6 months! Perhaps not all of this advice is uniquely relevant, but hopefully there are a few nuggets in there that you can take away. Would also love to hear about any bootstrapped marketing tactics you’ve used to supercharge a marketing campaign and get results.
About the Author: Sam Laber is the director of marketing at Datanyze, the all-in-one sales intelligence platform. For more content, check out the Datanyze blog or follow Sam on Twitter @SLaber89.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1XGPvPT via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1UEyVMg
September 08, 2015 at 10:31PM
Back in January of this year, we launched a free Chrome extension (Datanyze Insider) targeted for sales and marketing pros.
In the first 6 months following the launch, marketing resources were extremely scarce. When I say bootstrapped, this is what I mean:
2 marketers (myself and our marketing manager, Michael)
A $5k budget
Limited design and technical resources
A marketing automation platform
Analytics
Over the course of this post, I do my best to outline and explain the tactics that got us to 10,000 installs in 6 months.
If you’re thinking: “Great, but I don’t have a Chrome extension” — don’t sweat it. These tactics are highly translatable and can be used to launch and grow any new product or offering.
Alright, let’s get going.
The Proof
For the skeptics, here’s a snapshot of our month-by-month progress. We launched Insider on January 21st and hit 10,000 users by early July. By July 21st, we were almost to 11,000 free users.
In this case, the goal completion can only be triggered when users submit our sign-up form. (We’ll talk more about the install spike in June later on.)
The Plan
Before the launch, we devised a plan that focused on 3 main deliverables:
Attracting new users (for free)
Optimizing for conversion and user success
Creating advocates and getting referrals
Each of these deliverables has been absolutely crucial to the success of the campaign. While driving traffic and acquiring new users may seem like the most crucial element, I cannot stress enough how important it is to make sure your first users love the product and are willing to spread it around. Let’s dig in.
Step 1: Attracting New Users (For Free)
Starting out, we had little budget and little design or technical resources. We did have time though (lots of it), and we chose to spend it familiarizing ourselves with the key players in our space. Our main questions were:
Where do our potential users live?
How do they look for new tools?
Whose opinion do they trust?
What makes them tick?
Having these questions top of mind made it easier for us to focus on the right acquisition channels and get the most out of our efforts. Here are the tactics we employed to get the ball rolling:
Tactic 1: Guest Blogging
If you only have the ability to execute on one tactic, make it this one. Guest blogging gave us a highly effective, free way to get in front of new audiences, provided that we could bring an interesting topic to the table. (Yep, I’m guest blogging now. ☺)
Starting out, we did a bit of research to decide which blogs to approach. We used a combination of BuzzSumo and Moz for this.
With BuzzSumo, you can enter in any keyword phrase, author or URL, and it will send back the most shared articles for that search term. You can filter results to identify which topics are trending this month and you can even view who’s sharing each article on Twitter.
The free Moz Chrome extension allows you to employ a similar technique with Google search, but puts an emphasis on SEO rather than social. (Granted, these two spheres are becoming more and more intertwined, but I thought it would be nice to show both.)
In the search results, Moz will provide the domain authority for each page and the number of websites that link to it. We focused on the results with a high domain authority and lots of inbound links.
Once we had a nice sized list of blogs we wanted to post on, it was time to start reaching out. Kissmetrics contributor, Kristi Hines, wrote an awesome post on how to do this, so I won’t try to reinvent the wheel. However, I will offer up one piece of advice: BE AUTHENTIC.
When you’re reaching out to someone for the first time, you need to find a way to quickly humanize yourself to your recipient. This means doing a bit of research on the blog if you’re reaching out through a Contact Us page or the author if you’re reaching out directly. Remember, if you want to get value, you’ve got to provide it first.
Tactic 2: Influencers
Put simply, influencers are industry experts that your buyers trust. When they tweet, buyers retweet. When they blog, buyers share. When they speak, buyers listen. Identifying and engaging with influencers correctly was a key piece of our acquisition strategy.
First off, we set out to identify the main influencers in our space. A great free tool for doing this is Topsy. It helps find out who’s driving your preferred topic of conversation on Twitter by keyword or hashtag.
You can sort results by timeframe or use the “Influencers” tab to check out which handles get retweeted the most on a given topic.
Another great way to find influencers is on Quora. A quick search for the topic “sales development” brings up a number of frequently asked questions and a preview of which responses received the most upvotes.
Once we had compiled a nice list of influencers, we wanted to get them interested enough in our extension to share it on social or (hopefully) write a nice blog post. This is the hard part. Here’s a little step-by-step process that worked pretty well for us:
Interact with each influencer on social. Retweet their posts on Twitter, follow their answers on Quora, comment on a blog post they wrote and, if possible, mention them in your own blog post.
Connect on LinkedIn. Before reaching out, connect with each influencer on LinkedIn. This helps humanize your outreach by putting a face to your name when the time comes.
Ask for advice. When it comes time to reach out, don’t ask them to share or write about your product right off the bat. Instead, ask for advice. Influencers love digging into new tools and sharing their expertise.
Take their advice. If you’re able to get some feedback on your product, make sure you take the necessary steps on your end to incorporate their advice into a V2 of the product.
Show them V2 and ask for help. Once you’ve got something new to show them, write your influencer back and note the changes you made. This will show them that you’ve invested in their feedback, making them more likely to become invested in your product. Then (and only then) should you ask for their help with promotion.
Remember that install spike in June? It came from an influencer blog post.
We even got some influencers to tweet out our posts:
If you don’t use @datanyze, you’re prospecting blind. http://t.co/77NA8nVoBr #sales #marketing
— Kyle York (@kyork20) June 26, 2015
Datanyze: Give us your Salesforce, we’ll fill your funnel http://t.co/0ODhXyzhL4 via @VentureBeat @Datanyze #saas #insidesales
— Trish Bertuzzi (@bridgegroupinc) May 4, 2015
Tactic 3: Quora
Quora is an absolute treasure trove when it comes to new users. Thousands of new questions get asked, answered, and upvoted everyday, and top answers often hit the top result on Google (and stay there).
To keep up with questions on Quora, we used a free tool called Feedly. With Feedly, you can copy any topic URL from Quora and create an RSS feed that will alert when new questions are asked. Here’s an example of a feed we used that covers Chrome extensions. Check this out if need help setting it up.
Once we had our feed setup, we needed to answer questions TACTFULLY. This meant:
Addressing our prospect’s question in full.
Providing more than just a link to our product.
Organizing our answers with helpful pictures and bullets.
Furthering the discussion by commenting on or citing other helpful answers in the thread.
Once we answered each question thoroughly without being too product pitchy, we chose to ask some co-workers for a little upvote love. This helped get our answers higher in the thread and generate more views.
Step 2: Converting users and making them successful
Once we started driving a great deal of users to our sign-up page, we needed to accomplish two things:
Make them confident enough in our extension to fill out a form and install something on their computer.
Help them find success quickly so they are comfortable recommending the extension to their network.
Tactic 1: Reviews
At first, we spent a lot of time brainstorming creative ways to ask our customers for reviews. Here are a few of the (semi) interesting ideas we came up with:
Pick out several power users and ask for a review in exchange for more credits.
Send hand-written letters to influencers. (oof)
Sheepishly ask our friends and family to write something nice…
After a good amount of back and forth, we decided to take a risk. Our plan was to add an email to our existing nurture track that simply asked for a review.
The email would be sent out to everyone 5 business days after they installed the extension – whether they used it, liked it, loved it, or not. Here’s what we sent:
This email has been responsible for 90% of the 78 reviews we’ve collected to date. Though it’s automated, I believe it works for a few reasons:
It comes from the engineer who created the extension.
It puts a face to the name.
It asks for both positive AND negative reviews.
Putting ourselves up for both positive and negative reviews was, admittedly, a huge risk. But it was one we were willing to take, because we were confident enough in our product and onboarding flow that users would be successful enough to react favorably.
Tactic 2: Onboarding
“How can we make our first users successful without being too hands-on?” was a question we started to ask ourselves as the installs rolled in.
First things first, we decided to spend a little money. We needed a how-to video that could quickly explain the value of using the extension without digging too deep into the features. We did a bit of research and wound up using SmartShoot, an Elance of sorts for outsourced video production. The video doesn’t exactly bring you to the edge of your seat (we’re no Slack or HubSpot) but it does get the point across.
Next, we created a help center focused on providing answers to questions new users might have. We covered all the basics from install to account creation, and also provided video tutorials on how to use the most prominent features. We then rolled these two assets up into a welcome email, keeping things simple and brief.
You’ll notice that there are quite a few links in there, which may lead to sensory overload for some users. However, we tested a variety of different email styles and found that users who received all resources in the first email, performed nearly 25% more actions in the first week. For us, this was a HUGE piece of knowledge.
After the initial onboarding email, we continued with a 6-email nurture track that focuses on tips and best practices. We figured that if users were successful with the extension, then they would be more likely to refer their friends – a topic I’ll discuss in the following section.
Step 3: Creating advocates and getting referrals
Tactic 1: Growth analytics
Many readers may be familiar with HubSpot’s Chrome extension, Sidekick, which was launched back at the end of 2014. One of the most fascinating articles I’ve read (and one that should be on every data-driven marketer’s short list), is a post that outlines their growth approach for this product.
The HubSpot team stuck to a pretty simple plan:
Choose a goal
Build a model
Analyze the inputs
Identify opportunities
HubSpot’s main objective was to find gaps in their existing acquisition and onboarding flows that could be closed up to increase weekly active users. Here are the reasons their users dropped off, which feels pretty typical for most online products:
We are currently taking a similar approach, but aren’t getting quite as in the weeds as HubSpot did (…bootstrapped, remember?).
Currently, we’re focused on increasing the number of credit-based actions a user takes. This means identifying the demographics of the users that drop off, figuring out when they drop off, and why.
I should mention that we’re still very much in the middle of this process, but if you’re interested in our preliminary findings, feel free to shoot me an email!
Tactic 2: Referral program
Nothing spreads faster than a free tool people enjoy using. In our quest to drive more installs, we decided that it was worth using what little design and engineering resources we had to get something off the ground.
Building a successful referral program is no easy task, but luckily there are plenty of awesome examples out there to help get the creative juices flowing. In particular, we decided to emulate Dropbox’s referral campaign, which was a key ingredient in their whopping 3900% growth. Here’s a look at our referral page.
…I’m not a big fan of the confetti either.
A few things to note:
We highlighted a target goal of “500 credits” to give users something to work towards.
We chose to make Invite Gmail Contacts the focal point. This is the holy grail of referrals, but not always the first one on a user’s mind.
We provided a shortened URL for users who prefer not to share on social. Some of our most viral sign-up chains came from links copied to an internal chat tool like Slack or HipChat.
We gave users the ability to track their referrals and even resend the referral email to prompt friends to sign up.
We gave both the referrer AND the referee 10 additional credits as a reward for signing up.
Since implementing the program back in March, referrals have accounted for nearly 25% of all new installs. It has also helped our sales team identify which accounts are most likely to convert based on the number of active users on the same domain.
Bootstrapping Can Work If You Have a Solid Plan
So there you have it — a little over 10,000 installs in 6 months! Perhaps not all of this advice is uniquely relevant, but hopefully there are a few nuggets in there that you can take away. Would also love to hear about any bootstrapped marketing tactics you’ve used to supercharge a marketing campaign and get results.
About the Author: Sam Laber is the director of marketing at Datanyze, the all-in-one sales intelligence platform. For more content, check out the Datanyze blog or follow Sam on Twitter @SLaber89.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1XGPvPT via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1UEyVMg
September 08, 2015 at 10:31PM
Added: Jul 15, 2015 Via IFTTT
How Women Can Disrupt the Tech Industry
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
How Women Can Disrupt the Tech Industry
Recently, things at Reddit have been tumultuous, and there has been a change in CEOs. After a short time in the role, Ellen Pao resigned her position as interim CEO of Reddit. Die-hard Redditors called for her resignation after a fury ensued when Victoria Taylor, popular moderator of Ask Me Anything, was terminated.
Several subreddits that vented about Taylor’s dismissal were shut down, and the calls for resignation began. Pao, understanding the strength of community, stepped down. Unfortunately, many of the anti-Pao comments were disgusting in nature and highly misogynist.
If Ellen Pao’s name rings a bell, it’s because she recently lost a gender discrimination suit against Kleiner Perkins that had put the issue of women in tech in the spotlight.
In May 2012, Ms. Pao sued her former employer, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, for gender inequality. Pao argued that she was denied a promotion because of her gender. The powerful venture capital firm argued that “she didn’t speak up enough and was too passive — but also that she spoke up too much and was pushy and entitled.”
The San Francisco jury found no gender discrimination or any wrongdoing in the case. For some women, they see themselves in Ellen Pao. For others, it begs the question: why haven’t more women reached leadership positions in the tech industry?
Gender biases don’t affect only professional women. Disenfranchisement and lack of high expectations in the industry start at a young age. For example, it can be seen in Mattel’s book Barbie: I Can Be a Computer Engineer which recently went viral when the public pointed out how it marginalizes women.
We asked the women of Kissmetrics to share their favorite quotes of inspiration and wisdom:
“Clearly there is nothing preventing women from being great leaders, so the lack of women in tech has to be a systemic bias which we should all be fighting to overcome. It starts small and early — talking to our daughters to get them passionate and interested in science and respectful of diverse opinions and thoughts. I have already heard girls in my daughter’s 3rd grade class say they are not good at math. That is a terrible outcome at 9 years old.”
— Sarah Friar, CFO at Square
“Women are bound by subtle double standards that are hard to describe and hard to fight back.”
— NY Times
“I’ve always competed with the boys (neighborhood boys’ teasing, skate park boys’ skills, tech boys’ jobs) so all my life I’ve lived with those sour ones who don’t think a girl can do it, or playing nice on what they perceive as their turf means getting stepped on. I’m used to it – I don’t dwell on it much – but I can say that those boys best come prepared, ’cause girls like us *never* aren’t.”
— Laura Lippay, Organic Search & Technical Optimization Lead, Netflix
This isn’t a power struggle, it’s about being equal and respected.
“When you put the helmet on, it doesn’t matter if you are woman or man: your mission is to compete to win. The important thing is your ability, your intelligence and your determination.”
— Milka Duno, Race Car Driver, NASCAR
“Science is not a boy’s game, it’s not a girl’s game. It’s everyone’s game. It’s about where we are and where we’re going.”
— Nichelle Nichols, Former NASA Ambassador and Actress
“If you want to boost your bottom line, try balancing the number of men and women in your office, new research suggests.”
— Chad Brooks
You have to be tough for the uphill battle.
“Do the brave thing, do the thing that scares you a little, and amazing things happen. Play it safe or start from fear, things just end up average or worse. Now, I try to be brave as often as I can. It doesn’t always happen, old habits die hard, but when it does it’s wonderful.”
— Joanna Bloor, VP of Sales at Pandora
“I was told I’d never make it to VP rank because I was too outspoken. Maybe so, but I think men will always find an excuse for keeping women in their ‘place.’ So, let’s make that place the executive suite and start more of our own companies.”
— Jean Bartik (Deceased), Programmer, ENIAC
“By learning to create technology, girls learn to speak up.”
— Regina Agyare, Founder, Soronko Solutions
Of course, remember to always be a lady.
“Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence.”
— Sheryl Sandberg, COO, Facebook
“I always did something I was a little not ready to do. I think that’s how you grow. When there’s that moment of ‘Wow, I’m not really sure I can do this,’ and you push through those moments, that’s when you have a breakthrough.”
— Marissa Mayer, CEO, Yahoo!
“This is exactly what happens when our life, our essence, is one and the same with our work. It’s when job descriptions and titles no longer make sense because we don’t go to work — we are the work.”
— Elle Luna, Designer and Author, The Crossroads of Should and Must
“There are many incredible women in tech building the products of tomorrow. Whether it’s Mary Lou Jepsen, who’s working to make phones, laptops and computers self-powered (no more charging!), Corinna ‘Elektra’ Aichele, who’s bringing WiFi to any location, Monica Lam, who leads the MobiSocial group at Stanford and is ‘[creating] a social internet, where users can share anything … while owning their data’ or Ruchi Sanghvi, who’s behind the algorithm that powers our Facebook newsfeeds, the innovations women have made in tech will only be outpaced by the innovations they have yet to make.”
— Mic Branded Content Team
At Kissmetrics, we value equality and we strive to live by these company values:
We asked the women of Kissmetrics to share their own thoughts
Keep It Simple
“Being a female during this tech era is an incredible experience. It’s what all women have been waiting for because it has given us a chance to finally say ‘I deserve to be treated equally’ and actually be heard by people around the world. Tech and sales are no longer just a man’s sport, and it’s not just men who have kept us away from entering the arena. It has been us telling ourselves that we are not equal and that we are not meant to be aggressive; we are to act ‘lady like.’ Well it’s time for the ladies to step in and show the tech industry that we are women, and we can sell! The time to discuss is gone and the time to take action has come! It’s as SIMPLE as that.”
— Masch-al Malek, Sales Development Representative, Kissmetrics
Be a Leader
“I’ve learned to never be completely married to an idea. We grow by reinventing ourselves and our ideas. This is where true innovation comes from. I want to be a leader and trailblazer full of great innovations that put people first.”
— Brandy Rosenbaum, Account Executive, Kissmetrics
Take Care of People
“At every step in my education and career, I have had people who encouraged and pushed me to pursue tech. I always had a passion for math but had little knowledge about computer science. A friend who was studying the subject convinced me to take an intro course my freshman year of college. I ended up graduating with a degree in Mathematics & Computer Science. I had no intentions to use the newly learned skills. Once again, I had a friend convince me to continue in the field and apply for an engineering role. I had my reservations about the new job opportunity. I never felt like I deserved the role or could excel at it. My new team was welcoming and supportive. Thanks to them, I never had the chance to fail.
I was lucky. Every step of the way I had people supporting and pushing me. This is an important aspect of changing the current state of women in tech or any other male dominated field. We all need to support, believe and most importantly respect each other. Onward and upward!”
— Sam Courtain, QA Engineer at Kissmetrics
Be Open, Listen and Share
“I often wonder: How do women in leadership positions carry themselves in meetings? How do they raise kids and manage people? I make a conscious effort to surround myself with strong, successful women. I see these women as role models. They are people I want to be like in 20 years. Look for a mentor; man or woman. Observe and learn from them. Talk to your co-workers. Talk to your friends. Open up a safe, inclusive and non-judgmental space for you to have a dialogue. You’ll be surprised what you’ll find. I’ve been inspired by how receptive people are to talking about women in tech.”
— Jessica Tiao, UX Designer, Kissmetrics
Be Better Than Yesterday
“Sometimes, it’s rewarding to take a step back to realize how far along I’ve shifted from my beginnings to my current-day realities. If we measure our current state of ourselves to John Locke’s theory of tabula rasa, then we can attribute everything we are today as a culmination of our morals, responsibilities, expectations, shortcomings and accomplishments. In other words, when you wake up in the morning, always remember it’s a new day to enrich yourself. Most important, always say ‘yes’ to new opportunities. ”
— Patty Castaneda, Marketing Design Manager, Kissmetrics
All that being said, we’re hiring.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a male or female, since we only care if you’re a self-driven rock star. If that’s who you are, we would love to chat because we’re growing like crazy. Start by checking out our careers page, or email us at [email protected].
About the Authors: Patty Castaneda (@PattyCreates) and Jessica Tiao (@JessicaTiao) are designers at Kissmetrics. The rest of the female teammates helped source quotes from other industry leaders and provided their own quotes including, but not limited to: Brandy Rosenbaum (@brandylro), Maura Ginty, Masch-al Malek (@maschal), Megan Connor, Megi Theodhor (@Megi248), Robin Kuhn (@robinmkuhn), and Sam Courtain (@samcourtain).
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1Jil0pl via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1DhsEhF
July 16, 2015 at 12:33AM
Recently, things at Reddit have been tumultuous, and there has been a change in CEOs. After a short time in the role, Ellen Pao resigned her position as interim CEO of Reddit. Die-hard Redditors called for her resignation after a fury ensued when Victoria Taylor, popular moderator of Ask Me Anything, was terminated.
Several subreddits that vented about Taylor’s dismissal were shut down, and the calls for resignation began. Pao, understanding the strength of community, stepped down. Unfortunately, many of the anti-Pao comments were disgusting in nature and highly misogynist.
If Ellen Pao’s name rings a bell, it’s because she recently lost a gender discrimination suit against Kleiner Perkins that had put the issue of women in tech in the spotlight.
In May 2012, Ms. Pao sued her former employer, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, for gender inequality. Pao argued that she was denied a promotion because of her gender. The powerful venture capital firm argued that “she didn’t speak up enough and was too passive — but also that she spoke up too much and was pushy and entitled.”
The San Francisco jury found no gender discrimination or any wrongdoing in the case. For some women, they see themselves in Ellen Pao. For others, it begs the question: why haven’t more women reached leadership positions in the tech industry?
Gender biases don’t affect only professional women. Disenfranchisement and lack of high expectations in the industry start at a young age. For example, it can be seen in Mattel’s book Barbie: I Can Be a Computer Engineer which recently went viral when the public pointed out how it marginalizes women.
We asked the women of Kissmetrics to share their favorite quotes of inspiration and wisdom:
“Clearly there is nothing preventing women from being great leaders, so the lack of women in tech has to be a systemic bias which we should all be fighting to overcome. It starts small and early — talking to our daughters to get them passionate and interested in science and respectful of diverse opinions and thoughts. I have already heard girls in my daughter’s 3rd grade class say they are not good at math. That is a terrible outcome at 9 years old.”
— Sarah Friar, CFO at Square
“Women are bound by subtle double standards that are hard to describe and hard to fight back.”
— NY Times
“I’ve always competed with the boys (neighborhood boys’ teasing, skate park boys’ skills, tech boys’ jobs) so all my life I’ve lived with those sour ones who don’t think a girl can do it, or playing nice on what they perceive as their turf means getting stepped on. I’m used to it – I don’t dwell on it much – but I can say that those boys best come prepared, ’cause girls like us *never* aren’t.”
— Laura Lippay, Organic Search & Technical Optimization Lead, Netflix
This isn’t a power struggle, it’s about being equal and respected.
“When you put the helmet on, it doesn’t matter if you are woman or man: your mission is to compete to win. The important thing is your ability, your intelligence and your determination.”
— Milka Duno, Race Car Driver, NASCAR
“Science is not a boy’s game, it’s not a girl’s game. It’s everyone’s game. It’s about where we are and where we’re going.”
— Nichelle Nichols, Former NASA Ambassador and Actress
“If you want to boost your bottom line, try balancing the number of men and women in your office, new research suggests.”
— Chad Brooks
You have to be tough for the uphill battle.
“Do the brave thing, do the thing that scares you a little, and amazing things happen. Play it safe or start from fear, things just end up average or worse. Now, I try to be brave as often as I can. It doesn’t always happen, old habits die hard, but when it does it’s wonderful.”
— Joanna Bloor, VP of Sales at Pandora
“I was told I’d never make it to VP rank because I was too outspoken. Maybe so, but I think men will always find an excuse for keeping women in their ‘place.’ So, let’s make that place the executive suite and start more of our own companies.”
— Jean Bartik (Deceased), Programmer, ENIAC
“By learning to create technology, girls learn to speak up.”
— Regina Agyare, Founder, Soronko Solutions
Of course, remember to always be a lady.
“Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence.”
— Sheryl Sandberg, COO, Facebook
“I always did something I was a little not ready to do. I think that’s how you grow. When there’s that moment of ‘Wow, I’m not really sure I can do this,’ and you push through those moments, that’s when you have a breakthrough.”
— Marissa Mayer, CEO, Yahoo!
“This is exactly what happens when our life, our essence, is one and the same with our work. It’s when job descriptions and titles no longer make sense because we don’t go to work — we are the work.”
— Elle Luna, Designer and Author, The Crossroads of Should and Must
“There are many incredible women in tech building the products of tomorrow. Whether it’s Mary Lou Jepsen, who’s working to make phones, laptops and computers self-powered (no more charging!), Corinna ‘Elektra’ Aichele, who’s bringing WiFi to any location, Monica Lam, who leads the MobiSocial group at Stanford and is ‘[creating] a social internet, where users can share anything … while owning their data’ or Ruchi Sanghvi, who’s behind the algorithm that powers our Facebook newsfeeds, the innovations women have made in tech will only be outpaced by the innovations they have yet to make.”
— Mic Branded Content Team
At Kissmetrics, we value equality and we strive to live by these company values:
We asked the women of Kissmetrics to share their own thoughts
Keep It Simple
“Being a female during this tech era is an incredible experience. It’s what all women have been waiting for because it has given us a chance to finally say ‘I deserve to be treated equally’ and actually be heard by people around the world. Tech and sales are no longer just a man’s sport, and it’s not just men who have kept us away from entering the arena. It has been us telling ourselves that we are not equal and that we are not meant to be aggressive; we are to act ‘lady like.’ Well it’s time for the ladies to step in and show the tech industry that we are women, and we can sell! The time to discuss is gone and the time to take action has come! It’s as SIMPLE as that.”
— Masch-al Malek, Sales Development Representative, Kissmetrics
Be a Leader
“I’ve learned to never be completely married to an idea. We grow by reinventing ourselves and our ideas. This is where true innovation comes from. I want to be a leader and trailblazer full of great innovations that put people first.”
— Brandy Rosenbaum, Account Executive, Kissmetrics
Take Care of People
“At every step in my education and career, I have had people who encouraged and pushed me to pursue tech. I always had a passion for math but had little knowledge about computer science. A friend who was studying the subject convinced me to take an intro course my freshman year of college. I ended up graduating with a degree in Mathematics & Computer Science. I had no intentions to use the newly learned skills. Once again, I had a friend convince me to continue in the field and apply for an engineering role. I had my reservations about the new job opportunity. I never felt like I deserved the role or could excel at it. My new team was welcoming and supportive. Thanks to them, I never had the chance to fail.
I was lucky. Every step of the way I had people supporting and pushing me. This is an important aspect of changing the current state of women in tech or any other male dominated field. We all need to support, believe and most importantly respect each other. Onward and upward!”
— Sam Courtain, QA Engineer at Kissmetrics
Be Open, Listen and Share
“I often wonder: How do women in leadership positions carry themselves in meetings? How do they raise kids and manage people? I make a conscious effort to surround myself with strong, successful women. I see these women as role models. They are people I want to be like in 20 years. Look for a mentor; man or woman. Observe and learn from them. Talk to your co-workers. Talk to your friends. Open up a safe, inclusive and non-judgmental space for you to have a dialogue. You’ll be surprised what you’ll find. I’ve been inspired by how receptive people are to talking about women in tech.”
— Jessica Tiao, UX Designer, Kissmetrics
Be Better Than Yesterday
“Sometimes, it’s rewarding to take a step back to realize how far along I’ve shifted from my beginnings to my current-day realities. If we measure our current state of ourselves to John Locke’s theory of tabula rasa, then we can attribute everything we are today as a culmination of our morals, responsibilities, expectations, shortcomings and accomplishments. In other words, when you wake up in the morning, always remember it’s a new day to enrich yourself. Most important, always say ‘yes’ to new opportunities. ”
— Patty Castaneda, Marketing Design Manager, Kissmetrics
All that being said, we’re hiring.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a male or female, since we only care if you’re a self-driven rock star. If that’s who you are, we would love to chat because we’re growing like crazy. Start by checking out our careers page, or email us at [email protected].
About the Authors: Patty Castaneda (@PattyCreates) and Jessica Tiao (@JessicaTiao) are designers at Kissmetrics. The rest of the female teammates helped source quotes from other industry leaders and provided their own quotes including, but not limited to: Brandy Rosenbaum (@brandylro), Maura Ginty, Masch-al Malek (@maschal), Megan Connor, Megi Theodhor (@Megi248), Robin Kuhn (@robinmkuhn), and Sam Courtain (@samcourtain).
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1Jil0pl via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1DhsEhF
July 16, 2015 at 12:33AM
Added: Aug 13, 2015 Via IFTTT
Improve Your Email Click-Through Rate With These 14 Simple Tweaks
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Improve Your Email Click-Through Rate With These 14 Simple Tweaks
What’s the second most important metric of your email campaign after the open rate?
You’re right!
It’s the click-through rate (CTR).
Just imagine how disappointed you’d be after getting a smashing open rate, only to lose readers with an email that failed to prompt clicks. A great email draws readers in and gets them to click.
So, here are 14 tweaks of an email designed to convert.
1. Looks Consistent With the Brand/Website
Even inconsistency with your brand will boost clicks on one link, but that’s the one for unsubscribing. Since you aren’t pursuing that, make your emails look consistent with your website.
Adding your logo as the first element of your email is a handy way to do it.
A good example of a branded email is that of IFTTT, a cool service that lets you automate things like putting your phone on the general or silent mode — and a ton more.
Here’s what the IFTTT website looks like:
And here’s the email that they send:
As you can see, the email is too IFTTT to not recognize.
You should strive for consistency between your website and emails.
2. Uses a Focused Layout
How you present your information determines how your readers receive it. If you plan your email’s layout well, you can get your readers to move naturally towards your Call-to-Action (CTA).
Campaign Monitor got a 127% increase in email click-throughs by redesigning their blog email.
The old email:
The redesigned one:
Source for both images
MailChimp’s email design reference guide recommends using a single column layout if you want your readers to perform a specific action. Multi-column layouts often suit emails that have a lot of content to share. These could be email newsletters or product emails that discuss lots of features.
3. Fits Within the Standard 600 PX Preview Width of Most Desktop Email Clients
Campaign Monitor analyzed over 1.8 billion opens from nearly 22 billion email recipients in 2013. About 28% opens happened over the desktop email clients.
Source
Considering the number of email clients and their versions, it’s challenging to create pixel-perfect experiences on all of them. However, you should care about their default preview widths (about 600 px).
If you want the important parts of your emails to show up in these previews, keep their width under 600 px. Check out this infographic that outlines how to create a responsive email design.
4. Includes the Right Kind of Images With Alt Texts (And Links)
Vero analyzed over 5000 campaigns and found that campaigns with images had a 42% higher CTR than campaigns without images. Another survey by HubSpot shows that 65% of respondents prefer emails that contain mostly images vs. 35% who prefer mostly text.
While your emails must make complete sense even without images (also called designing for the images off experience), it’s important that whichever images you use add meaning to your story.
Also, since images are turned off by default in most email clients, you should add relevant alt texts to them. This text shows up even if your image is not displayed. Most email marketing services let you easily fill this field for your images.
You can also try adding links to images as they’re easier to click over the mobile as compared to button or text based CTAs.
5. Follows the F-Layout for Offering Content
Whether you optimize your email content for the F-pattern or not, that’s how people will read (scan) it.
Try to front-load your emails to offer the most important content immediately. Design them for scanners who begin at the top quickly making their way to the end.
6. Uses Button CTAs (Text Links Only for Less Crucial Clicks)
Human beings are hardwired to click on buttons
Princeton psychologist James J. Gibson defined affordance as a possible action between an object and an individual. Or you could say that affordance is the most obvious thing to do with an object – in the case of a button, it’s clicking.
Clicking on a CTA button comes as naturally to us as twisting the knob of a door, or pulling the handle of another.
Always try to use buttons for adding your primary CTAs as they prompt readers to click.
Use text links
You should use text links whenever you want to add secondary CTAs. And when you use them, make sure they are noticeably long. MailChimp’s analysis shows that linking a phrase with about 7-10 words is great for boosting CTRs.
7. Uses HTML for Creating Buttons
Most email clients don’t display images by default. So if you are using a button image as your CTA, it’s possible that readers won’t see it at all.
Another reason for avoiding image buttons is to eliminate any lag that an image server may cause.
The only downside is a slight compromise on aesthetics, but you can live with that.
Wunderlist uses some stunning HTML buttons. Even with the images blocked, the CTA button stands out.
8. Offer Just One CTA
“One Page. One Purpose. Period.” – Oli Gardner
Our version would look like “One Email. One (Primary) CTA. Period.”
When it comes to giving choices to customers, less is always more. More choices often cause fewer conversions. This applies to email CTAs too.
There are lots of resources to back this. Marketing Sherpa tells how Whirlpool got a 42% CTR increase by bringing down the number of CTAs in its emails from 4 to 1. HelpScout increased click-through rate by 17% by retaining just a single CTA in its email campaigns.
9. Places the CTA on the Right
Placing CTAs to the left of text and image sections looks and feels inconvenient as you require the reader to go back (to the left) to it to do the action. It’s the Gutenberg pattern that’s at work here. Designers often follow this pattern to make sure that they place the important elements in the important focal areas.
Ideally you’d like your readers to consume all the information before they see your offer. Placing your offer (or CTA) on the right does the trick as we read from left to right (that’s also probably why the scroll is on the right).
10. Prompts Clicks With Directional Cues
“As directional cues, arrows are about as subtle as a punch in the face. That’s why they work.” – Oli Gardner.
If arrows feel like going overboard, you could try several other ways of adding visual directional cues. They can be as subtle as white space.
You can also use eye direction cues as human beings follow the line of sight of other people. Try using images that show a person looking in a particular direction. Your CTA should appear at the end of the trail.
11. Packs a Punch With P.S. Sections
If there’s some section of your email that’s as important as your email’s opening line, then it’s the P.S section. Copywriters have known (and used) this forever.
This TechCrunch story about how Hotmail hacked its way to over 3000 accounts/day had me wondering if the Hotmail guys knew that the little P.S trick they used was backed by a proven psychological trait called the Serial Position Effect.
At the crux, the Serial Position Effect states that the item that’s placed last in a series draws as much attention as the item placed at the beginning of the series.
In your email, the P.S section is placed at the end. So it draws attention. Besides, you never know how many of your email subscribers go right to the bottom of your email reading nothing at the top or in the middle. So a P.S section will score big time in getting these skimmers to click too.
12. Fits Any Mobile Seamlessly
Litmus shares some intriguing email open environment trends. Mobile email open rate saw a 500% hike in 4 years between 2011 and 2014.
A study by Campaign Monitor found that between 2010 and 2015, mobile email open rates grew by 30%.
Another interesting observation from the same study was that “mobile readers who open emails a second time from their computer are 65% more likely to click-through.”
By making your emails responsive, you won’t just extend a smooth mobile experience to your readers, you also hold their attention for longer (thereby getting more clicks).
13. Gives Social Sharing Options
GetResponse has put together an interesting infographic about email social media buttons contributing to a higher email CTR.
“Emails that include social sharing buttons have a 158% higher click-through rate.”
The spike in CTR comprises the clicks made on the social media buttons/links and the clicks made by people whom the email reached via social sharing.
14. Passes the Squint Test
Just look at the following screenshot. Passing the squint test is easy as getting that “big yellow CTA button” obvious even after significantly blurring the screen resolution.
Imagine if this email carried a text-based CTA… it would have had no chance at making an “obvious” impact.
So if you’re using buttons for adding CTAs, the next step is to make sure they are effective. If your email doesn’t pass the squint test, then your CTA button isn’t as obvious as it should be. And so it won’t be as effective as you’d like it to be.
Grab this cool squint test Chrome extension and don’t send another email before it passes this test.
Simple email design tweaks can result in a higher CTR. Has any design tweak ever worked great for you? Do share in the comments!
About the Author: Disha is an online marketing writer, specializing in email and content marketing. She has sent tons of emails in her last job and just can’t stop analyzing what worked, what didn’t, and why. You can follow her on Twitter.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1P9xdkh via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1NsMNH1
August 13, 2015 at 09:18PM
What’s the second most important metric of your email campaign after the open rate?
You’re right!
It’s the click-through rate (CTR).
Just imagine how disappointed you’d be after getting a smashing open rate, only to lose readers with an email that failed to prompt clicks. A great email draws readers in and gets them to click.
So, here are 14 tweaks of an email designed to convert.
1. Looks Consistent With the Brand/Website
Even inconsistency with your brand will boost clicks on one link, but that’s the one for unsubscribing. Since you aren’t pursuing that, make your emails look consistent with your website.
Adding your logo as the first element of your email is a handy way to do it.
A good example of a branded email is that of IFTTT, a cool service that lets you automate things like putting your phone on the general or silent mode — and a ton more.
Here’s what the IFTTT website looks like:
And here’s the email that they send:
As you can see, the email is too IFTTT to not recognize.
You should strive for consistency between your website and emails.
2. Uses a Focused Layout
How you present your information determines how your readers receive it. If you plan your email’s layout well, you can get your readers to move naturally towards your Call-to-Action (CTA).
Campaign Monitor got a 127% increase in email click-throughs by redesigning their blog email.
The old email:
The redesigned one:
Source for both images
MailChimp’s email design reference guide recommends using a single column layout if you want your readers to perform a specific action. Multi-column layouts often suit emails that have a lot of content to share. These could be email newsletters or product emails that discuss lots of features.
3. Fits Within the Standard 600 PX Preview Width of Most Desktop Email Clients
Campaign Monitor analyzed over 1.8 billion opens from nearly 22 billion email recipients in 2013. About 28% opens happened over the desktop email clients.
Source
Considering the number of email clients and their versions, it’s challenging to create pixel-perfect experiences on all of them. However, you should care about their default preview widths (about 600 px).
If you want the important parts of your emails to show up in these previews, keep their width under 600 px. Check out this infographic that outlines how to create a responsive email design.
4. Includes the Right Kind of Images With Alt Texts (And Links)
Vero analyzed over 5000 campaigns and found that campaigns with images had a 42% higher CTR than campaigns without images. Another survey by HubSpot shows that 65% of respondents prefer emails that contain mostly images vs. 35% who prefer mostly text.
While your emails must make complete sense even without images (also called designing for the images off experience), it’s important that whichever images you use add meaning to your story.
Also, since images are turned off by default in most email clients, you should add relevant alt texts to them. This text shows up even if your image is not displayed. Most email marketing services let you easily fill this field for your images.
You can also try adding links to images as they’re easier to click over the mobile as compared to button or text based CTAs.
5. Follows the F-Layout for Offering Content
Whether you optimize your email content for the F-pattern or not, that’s how people will read (scan) it.
Try to front-load your emails to offer the most important content immediately. Design them for scanners who begin at the top quickly making their way to the end.
6. Uses Button CTAs (Text Links Only for Less Crucial Clicks)
Human beings are hardwired to click on buttons
Princeton psychologist James J. Gibson defined affordance as a possible action between an object and an individual. Or you could say that affordance is the most obvious thing to do with an object – in the case of a button, it’s clicking.
Clicking on a CTA button comes as naturally to us as twisting the knob of a door, or pulling the handle of another.
Always try to use buttons for adding your primary CTAs as they prompt readers to click.
Use text links
You should use text links whenever you want to add secondary CTAs. And when you use them, make sure they are noticeably long. MailChimp’s analysis shows that linking a phrase with about 7-10 words is great for boosting CTRs.
7. Uses HTML for Creating Buttons
Most email clients don’t display images by default. So if you are using a button image as your CTA, it’s possible that readers won’t see it at all.
Another reason for avoiding image buttons is to eliminate any lag that an image server may cause.
The only downside is a slight compromise on aesthetics, but you can live with that.
Wunderlist uses some stunning HTML buttons. Even with the images blocked, the CTA button stands out.
8. Offer Just One CTA
“One Page. One Purpose. Period.” – Oli Gardner
Our version would look like “One Email. One (Primary) CTA. Period.”
When it comes to giving choices to customers, less is always more. More choices often cause fewer conversions. This applies to email CTAs too.
There are lots of resources to back this. Marketing Sherpa tells how Whirlpool got a 42% CTR increase by bringing down the number of CTAs in its emails from 4 to 1. HelpScout increased click-through rate by 17% by retaining just a single CTA in its email campaigns.
9. Places the CTA on the Right
Placing CTAs to the left of text and image sections looks and feels inconvenient as you require the reader to go back (to the left) to it to do the action. It’s the Gutenberg pattern that’s at work here. Designers often follow this pattern to make sure that they place the important elements in the important focal areas.
Ideally you’d like your readers to consume all the information before they see your offer. Placing your offer (or CTA) on the right does the trick as we read from left to right (that’s also probably why the scroll is on the right).
10. Prompts Clicks With Directional Cues
“As directional cues, arrows are about as subtle as a punch in the face. That’s why they work.” – Oli Gardner.
If arrows feel like going overboard, you could try several other ways of adding visual directional cues. They can be as subtle as white space.
You can also use eye direction cues as human beings follow the line of sight of other people. Try using images that show a person looking in a particular direction. Your CTA should appear at the end of the trail.
11. Packs a Punch With P.S. Sections
If there’s some section of your email that’s as important as your email’s opening line, then it’s the P.S section. Copywriters have known (and used) this forever.
This TechCrunch story about how Hotmail hacked its way to over 3000 accounts/day had me wondering if the Hotmail guys knew that the little P.S trick they used was backed by a proven psychological trait called the Serial Position Effect.
At the crux, the Serial Position Effect states that the item that’s placed last in a series draws as much attention as the item placed at the beginning of the series.
In your email, the P.S section is placed at the end. So it draws attention. Besides, you never know how many of your email subscribers go right to the bottom of your email reading nothing at the top or in the middle. So a P.S section will score big time in getting these skimmers to click too.
12. Fits Any Mobile Seamlessly
Litmus shares some intriguing email open environment trends. Mobile email open rate saw a 500% hike in 4 years between 2011 and 2014.
A study by Campaign Monitor found that between 2010 and 2015, mobile email open rates grew by 30%.
Another interesting observation from the same study was that “mobile readers who open emails a second time from their computer are 65% more likely to click-through.”
By making your emails responsive, you won’t just extend a smooth mobile experience to your readers, you also hold their attention for longer (thereby getting more clicks).
13. Gives Social Sharing Options
GetResponse has put together an interesting infographic about email social media buttons contributing to a higher email CTR.
“Emails that include social sharing buttons have a 158% higher click-through rate.”
The spike in CTR comprises the clicks made on the social media buttons/links and the clicks made by people whom the email reached via social sharing.
14. Passes the Squint Test
Just look at the following screenshot. Passing the squint test is easy as getting that “big yellow CTA button” obvious even after significantly blurring the screen resolution.
Imagine if this email carried a text-based CTA… it would have had no chance at making an “obvious” impact.
So if you’re using buttons for adding CTAs, the next step is to make sure they are effective. If your email doesn’t pass the squint test, then your CTA button isn’t as obvious as it should be. And so it won’t be as effective as you’d like it to be.
Grab this cool squint test Chrome extension and don’t send another email before it passes this test.
Simple email design tweaks can result in a higher CTR. Has any design tweak ever worked great for you? Do share in the comments!
About the Author: Disha is an online marketing writer, specializing in email and content marketing. She has sent tons of emails in her last job and just can’t stop analyzing what worked, what didn’t, and why. You can follow her on Twitter.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1P9xdkh via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1NsMNH1
August 13, 2015 at 09:18PM
Added: Sep 28, 2015 Via IFTTT
Improving Security and Trust on Your Website
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Improving Security and Trust on Your Website
Online retail sales are growing by the day, with U.S. revenues already exceeding $300 billion in 2014, a figure expected to double by 2018. The steady annual rise in e-commerce revenue and scope seems unstoppable, but what does that mean for those old barriers that once held back many from converting online, mainly personal information security? As you may have deduced, these figures hardly represent the full potential of online and/or mobile consumption.
Google changed their algorithm to favor sites with secured URLs, and a MarketWatch survey found that security is the leading barrier to conversion amongst users, with only one third stating they do not shop online in fear of personal data breach.
Moreover, in a different survey a staggering figure of more than 80 percent of U.S. shoppers who searched for a product online expressed interest in finding products nearby — indicating that there’s still a strong preference for shopping in person, but also clues us into a very basic level of mistrust in both the online presentation of items, and more importantly a hesitance to input personal information. High profile user data hacks such as the one eBay faced in 2015 do more to deter already-fearful Web users from handing over their details. It almost doesn’t matter how quickly and effectively the company dealt with the breach, or how much (if any) damage was incurred by the users whose data was leaked.
Establishing or recuperating trust is one of the main barriers to conversion from existing and future consumers. This is doubly true when it comes to lesser known, new, or online-only retailers.
The fact of the matter is, if you own, operate, or promote a website, your information — and your users’ information — is exposed to a certain level of risk. While not all businesses can afford to enlist a team whose role would be to monitor their site’s cybersecurity, it may be beneficial for you (as a web marketer professional) to consider training someone among existing staff to deal with security at least at the basic level.
As business owners, we all know we get a myriad of “lookie-loo leads” — prospects that are just price shopping with no intention of ever committing — and there are dozens of reasons why a potential client would legitimately say “no” to your proposal. Even when dealing with a site that’s been found relatively secure, you or your potential client may be soon parting ways due to the failure of showcasing efforts to secure data. Read on to learn how you can polish any site’s security to improve consumer trust and ultimately, revenue. This post covers how to use security as another piece of your sales funnel and as a pitch to prospective clients.
Some Numbers
When conjuring up an image of a hesitant online user, we often think of the elderly. After all, relative to the younger crowd, they’re likely inexperienced in completing Web tasks, and generally used to doing things a certain (offline) way. Yet, according to the MarketWatch survey referenced above, the fear of personal data being possessed by malicious sources is most prevalent among the 35-and-older crowd, which is probably a much younger cut-off than you anticipated. Moreover, it’s not as though everyone younger than 34 is completely comfortable with sharing and managing information online. In fact, two thirds of consumers say they believe they will fall victim of a data breach in the coming year, and the same percentage say they’re more worried about their information in cyberspace now than they ever were before.
Finally, there’s one new and important factor making nearly all online consumers uneasy: fear of breach is common in all age groups when it comes to completing purchases on mobile devices — a figure we should be mindful of in light of the steady increase in mobile usage for e-commerce purposes, reaching nearly 40 percent of all online sales in the U.S. on Black Friday 2013 alone.
While barriers to conversion are virtually endless, security is one that’s consistently cited by Internet users as a deterrent from completing online purchases. If you own or promote a long-established giant retail chain with well-distributed brick-and-mortar stores and an online store, your reputation is likely doing more than half of the work. If the above doesn’t apply to you, below are some tried and true tips that are essential to strengthening a site’s security.
Audit and Take Action
As with all journeys, the road to safety begins with one major step — figuring out where you are on the safety spectrum. This step should be as thorough as possible; consider involving one or more professionals who can closely examine the site and assess it as whole. Depending on the size of the company, these professionals can either be one-time consultants or full-time team members paid to have their eye on the ball at all times. The following three areas are where you’ll most likely find security gaps during your inspection, so focusing on them is a great start:
URLs: The exchange of data online (credit card data, address data, login pages, etc.) should be carried out over a secure connection that’s authenticated and encrypted via https. I will not expand on this, as we all already know the importance of https for Google. Therefore, it is highly suggested to do the switch if not done so already.
Plug-ins: Does the site utilize any form of open-source platform? If yes, this puts it at risk of data hacking due to various possible security bridges, like loopholes to steal data or commit fraud. Worst of all, if this occurs, it may be extremely difficult to realize the source of the breach. Yes, WordPress! Quick, go and update all your plugins and make sure they are all from a reputable source. If you’re using a reputable web host, they will automatically update your software. If you’re unsure if yours does, investigate and possibly switch to a better host.
Payment verification: If the site accepts payments (e-commerce for instance), carefully examine the level of protection that’s provided by the payment-processing program the site subscribes to. In most cases, it would be beneficial to take additional measures in order to boost this level of security, starting with the purchase of reputable financial verification software such as VeriSign, MasterCard Merchant Fraud Protection, and more.
Data validation should be done on the client side, not server side: Many web forms include JavaScript validation. If the validation process is done on the server side, it means nothing. Make sure all JavaScript validations are done on the client side, or you might find yourself an easy prey for hackers.
Password: Everybody knows they should have a strong password, but this is not always the case. It is critical that you have a bullet proof password to all access points of your website. Avoid generic user names such as admin, user, or test and avoid using your email and your user name. Change your passwords every quarter. Set a reminder to do this.
Consider a web application firewall: this can be your first line of defense. The firewall inspects incoming traffic and blocks hacking attempts right of the bat. Until a few years ago, firewalls were available only as an added hardware. Now you can contact your hosting company and ask to add the application to your hosting package. Reputable hosting companies include them as part of your plan.
Limit access to certain directories and restrict file permission: in most hosting accounts, and in those usually done through FTP, you can control level access and file permissions on your server. This is a very effective way to block certain areas of your website and to reduce the risk of unwanted activity. Read more about it here.
Invest in and keep up with advanced security software. By now you realize the importance of ongoing security scans, but it can be a nuisance to update software at the high rate most security programs demand today. Regardless — take on the role of security by remaining up-to-date on the latest software, or you could be surprised of where it may hit you (spoiler: it could impact the site’s rankings). This goes further than installing the latest version of McAfee or Norton, it entails ensuring vital components of the site’s transaction processes are up-to-date, such as the shopping cart; if it’s based on an outdated or open plugin, one simple breach could mean compromising the client database, which may expose them to breaches on other platforms.
Avoid storing sensitive data: Generally speaking, PCI regulations prohibit the storage of customer information (especially payment method details) beyond the completion of a transaction. If you have smaller/beginner e-commerce clients, this may be a handy memo for them. There are exceptions to this rule, such as recurring payments. However, it’s strongly advised to limit the information kept to a bare minimum, such as what the system requires to issue refunds. If your clients keep to this rule, they’ll rest easy at night knowing that even in the event of an attack, there will be no sensitive data that can leak.
Penalize suspected breaches: Ever forget a password or type one out incorrectly? We’ve all been there – it’s only natural. What isn’t natural is making dozens of back-to-back attempts at passwords in a short timeframe. If you haven’t already, make sure the login page is set to deny login after a certain number of failed attempts, typically three. It doesn’t have to be a hard block, even a temporary ban of 30 minutes can make eager brute hacker-bots skip onward to the next unattended cyberspace.
Clearly define, designate and stick to admin roles: The number of people who are exposed to internal information in a company can easily exceed what’s necessary, considering high employee turnover and general failure to contain data. They say the greatest threat to data comes from within. Keep close tabs on who is exposed to sensitive information, and go the extra mile by switching up passwords to security software and admin panels often.
Don’t Keep Security a Secret
Preventing a potentially financially devastating attack is an end in and of itself. Studies have found that prominent trust signs, such as conspicuous SSL layers actively boost customer trust and thus positively impact sales. Any reputable site should display trust signs proudly, including accreditations, encryptions, and verifications. These symbols subconsciously — but powerfully — indicate to clients that the business is serious and concerned about their online safety, helping them feel comfortable completing a purchase or handing over precious information.
It shouldn’t end there, however. Consumers know security is also in their hands, so any help provided to them in order to understand how to protect themselves online is beneficial and works to establish the site as an authority on online security — not a bad place to be. For instance, you can be more transparent by giving clients access to their stored account details and teaching them about the importance of having a unique password by raising the minimum level of complexity; making real time automated recommendations. When all parties are well informed about what constitutes as unsafe behavior and make a conscious effort to be safe, it’ll make fraud easier to detect.
Stay Ahead of the Next Attack
Unfortunately, hackers are just as sophisticated and creative as cybersecurity experts. For site owners, this means living in a never-ending arms race where an attack may always be just around the corner. Assuming your client is already keeping their security software consistently up-to-date, their best bet to stay safe is to test the network occasionally by running cyberattack simulations. This can be carried out by a cybersecurity professional, and it should be a regular protocol — especially before important sales or promotions when system overflow may make data more susceptible to real time attacks. In severe cases, Google may dole out a manual action and send an alert to Web Master Tools (Search Console), indicating that the reason for the penalty is Malware or third party hacking.
Though often enlightening, periodic attacks should not be relied on as the only measure of site security on an ongoing basis. The best way to monitor suspicious activity is by setting up real-time alerts and consequences for suspicious activity. Depending on the niche you’re dealing with, that could mean denying registration or checkout completion for any of the following cases: a foreign IP, multiple attempts at registration / login / checkout completion, suspicious telephone number input (e.g. 111-111-1111), multiple identical orders placed, or if an order is placed that differs greatly from typical new client projections. By being able to identify these behaviors real time, you could stop attempts at fraud in their tracks.
You’re on your way to becoming an online safety expert. Use the above information as a starting point, and lay the foundation for advanced cybersecurity. It can and will pay off in revenue and trust. Once you become aware of the risks that loom, you may be surprised to realize how many close calls you and your clients have had — and how effective security measures need to be.
About the Author: Asher Elran is a practical software engineer and a marketing specialist. He is the CEO at Dynamic Search and founder of Web Ethics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1Vms1vo via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1L0zE9n
September 28, 2015 at 11:19PM
Online retail sales are growing by the day, with U.S. revenues already exceeding $300 billion in 2014, a figure expected to double by 2018. The steady annual rise in e-commerce revenue and scope seems unstoppable, but what does that mean for those old barriers that once held back many from converting online, mainly personal information security? As you may have deduced, these figures hardly represent the full potential of online and/or mobile consumption.
Google changed their algorithm to favor sites with secured URLs, and a MarketWatch survey found that security is the leading barrier to conversion amongst users, with only one third stating they do not shop online in fear of personal data breach.
Moreover, in a different survey a staggering figure of more than 80 percent of U.S. shoppers who searched for a product online expressed interest in finding products nearby — indicating that there’s still a strong preference for shopping in person, but also clues us into a very basic level of mistrust in both the online presentation of items, and more importantly a hesitance to input personal information. High profile user data hacks such as the one eBay faced in 2015 do more to deter already-fearful Web users from handing over their details. It almost doesn’t matter how quickly and effectively the company dealt with the breach, or how much (if any) damage was incurred by the users whose data was leaked.
Establishing or recuperating trust is one of the main barriers to conversion from existing and future consumers. This is doubly true when it comes to lesser known, new, or online-only retailers.
The fact of the matter is, if you own, operate, or promote a website, your information — and your users’ information — is exposed to a certain level of risk. While not all businesses can afford to enlist a team whose role would be to monitor their site’s cybersecurity, it may be beneficial for you (as a web marketer professional) to consider training someone among existing staff to deal with security at least at the basic level.
As business owners, we all know we get a myriad of “lookie-loo leads” — prospects that are just price shopping with no intention of ever committing — and there are dozens of reasons why a potential client would legitimately say “no” to your proposal. Even when dealing with a site that’s been found relatively secure, you or your potential client may be soon parting ways due to the failure of showcasing efforts to secure data. Read on to learn how you can polish any site’s security to improve consumer trust and ultimately, revenue. This post covers how to use security as another piece of your sales funnel and as a pitch to prospective clients.
Some Numbers
When conjuring up an image of a hesitant online user, we often think of the elderly. After all, relative to the younger crowd, they’re likely inexperienced in completing Web tasks, and generally used to doing things a certain (offline) way. Yet, according to the MarketWatch survey referenced above, the fear of personal data being possessed by malicious sources is most prevalent among the 35-and-older crowd, which is probably a much younger cut-off than you anticipated. Moreover, it’s not as though everyone younger than 34 is completely comfortable with sharing and managing information online. In fact, two thirds of consumers say they believe they will fall victim of a data breach in the coming year, and the same percentage say they’re more worried about their information in cyberspace now than they ever were before.
Finally, there’s one new and important factor making nearly all online consumers uneasy: fear of breach is common in all age groups when it comes to completing purchases on mobile devices — a figure we should be mindful of in light of the steady increase in mobile usage for e-commerce purposes, reaching nearly 40 percent of all online sales in the U.S. on Black Friday 2013 alone.
While barriers to conversion are virtually endless, security is one that’s consistently cited by Internet users as a deterrent from completing online purchases. If you own or promote a long-established giant retail chain with well-distributed brick-and-mortar stores and an online store, your reputation is likely doing more than half of the work. If the above doesn’t apply to you, below are some tried and true tips that are essential to strengthening a site’s security.
Audit and Take Action
As with all journeys, the road to safety begins with one major step — figuring out where you are on the safety spectrum. This step should be as thorough as possible; consider involving one or more professionals who can closely examine the site and assess it as whole. Depending on the size of the company, these professionals can either be one-time consultants or full-time team members paid to have their eye on the ball at all times. The following three areas are where you’ll most likely find security gaps during your inspection, so focusing on them is a great start:
URLs: The exchange of data online (credit card data, address data, login pages, etc.) should be carried out over a secure connection that’s authenticated and encrypted via https. I will not expand on this, as we all already know the importance of https for Google. Therefore, it is highly suggested to do the switch if not done so already.
Plug-ins: Does the site utilize any form of open-source platform? If yes, this puts it at risk of data hacking due to various possible security bridges, like loopholes to steal data or commit fraud. Worst of all, if this occurs, it may be extremely difficult to realize the source of the breach. Yes, WordPress! Quick, go and update all your plugins and make sure they are all from a reputable source. If you’re using a reputable web host, they will automatically update your software. If you’re unsure if yours does, investigate and possibly switch to a better host.
Payment verification: If the site accepts payments (e-commerce for instance), carefully examine the level of protection that’s provided by the payment-processing program the site subscribes to. In most cases, it would be beneficial to take additional measures in order to boost this level of security, starting with the purchase of reputable financial verification software such as VeriSign, MasterCard Merchant Fraud Protection, and more.
Data validation should be done on the client side, not server side: Many web forms include JavaScript validation. If the validation process is done on the server side, it means nothing. Make sure all JavaScript validations are done on the client side, or you might find yourself an easy prey for hackers.
Password: Everybody knows they should have a strong password, but this is not always the case. It is critical that you have a bullet proof password to all access points of your website. Avoid generic user names such as admin, user, or test and avoid using your email and your user name. Change your passwords every quarter. Set a reminder to do this.
Consider a web application firewall: this can be your first line of defense. The firewall inspects incoming traffic and blocks hacking attempts right of the bat. Until a few years ago, firewalls were available only as an added hardware. Now you can contact your hosting company and ask to add the application to your hosting package. Reputable hosting companies include them as part of your plan.
Limit access to certain directories and restrict file permission: in most hosting accounts, and in those usually done through FTP, you can control level access and file permissions on your server. This is a very effective way to block certain areas of your website and to reduce the risk of unwanted activity. Read more about it here.
Invest in and keep up with advanced security software. By now you realize the importance of ongoing security scans, but it can be a nuisance to update software at the high rate most security programs demand today. Regardless — take on the role of security by remaining up-to-date on the latest software, or you could be surprised of where it may hit you (spoiler: it could impact the site’s rankings). This goes further than installing the latest version of McAfee or Norton, it entails ensuring vital components of the site’s transaction processes are up-to-date, such as the shopping cart; if it’s based on an outdated or open plugin, one simple breach could mean compromising the client database, which may expose them to breaches on other platforms.
Avoid storing sensitive data: Generally speaking, PCI regulations prohibit the storage of customer information (especially payment method details) beyond the completion of a transaction. If you have smaller/beginner e-commerce clients, this may be a handy memo for them. There are exceptions to this rule, such as recurring payments. However, it’s strongly advised to limit the information kept to a bare minimum, such as what the system requires to issue refunds. If your clients keep to this rule, they’ll rest easy at night knowing that even in the event of an attack, there will be no sensitive data that can leak.
Penalize suspected breaches: Ever forget a password or type one out incorrectly? We’ve all been there – it’s only natural. What isn’t natural is making dozens of back-to-back attempts at passwords in a short timeframe. If you haven’t already, make sure the login page is set to deny login after a certain number of failed attempts, typically three. It doesn’t have to be a hard block, even a temporary ban of 30 minutes can make eager brute hacker-bots skip onward to the next unattended cyberspace.
Clearly define, designate and stick to admin roles: The number of people who are exposed to internal information in a company can easily exceed what’s necessary, considering high employee turnover and general failure to contain data. They say the greatest threat to data comes from within. Keep close tabs on who is exposed to sensitive information, and go the extra mile by switching up passwords to security software and admin panels often.
Don’t Keep Security a Secret
Preventing a potentially financially devastating attack is an end in and of itself. Studies have found that prominent trust signs, such as conspicuous SSL layers actively boost customer trust and thus positively impact sales. Any reputable site should display trust signs proudly, including accreditations, encryptions, and verifications. These symbols subconsciously — but powerfully — indicate to clients that the business is serious and concerned about their online safety, helping them feel comfortable completing a purchase or handing over precious information.
It shouldn’t end there, however. Consumers know security is also in their hands, so any help provided to them in order to understand how to protect themselves online is beneficial and works to establish the site as an authority on online security — not a bad place to be. For instance, you can be more transparent by giving clients access to their stored account details and teaching them about the importance of having a unique password by raising the minimum level of complexity; making real time automated recommendations. When all parties are well informed about what constitutes as unsafe behavior and make a conscious effort to be safe, it’ll make fraud easier to detect.
Stay Ahead of the Next Attack
Unfortunately, hackers are just as sophisticated and creative as cybersecurity experts. For site owners, this means living in a never-ending arms race where an attack may always be just around the corner. Assuming your client is already keeping their security software consistently up-to-date, their best bet to stay safe is to test the network occasionally by running cyberattack simulations. This can be carried out by a cybersecurity professional, and it should be a regular protocol — especially before important sales or promotions when system overflow may make data more susceptible to real time attacks. In severe cases, Google may dole out a manual action and send an alert to Web Master Tools (Search Console), indicating that the reason for the penalty is Malware or third party hacking.
Though often enlightening, periodic attacks should not be relied on as the only measure of site security on an ongoing basis. The best way to monitor suspicious activity is by setting up real-time alerts and consequences for suspicious activity. Depending on the niche you’re dealing with, that could mean denying registration or checkout completion for any of the following cases: a foreign IP, multiple attempts at registration / login / checkout completion, suspicious telephone number input (e.g. 111-111-1111), multiple identical orders placed, or if an order is placed that differs greatly from typical new client projections. By being able to identify these behaviors real time, you could stop attempts at fraud in their tracks.
You’re on your way to becoming an online safety expert. Use the above information as a starting point, and lay the foundation for advanced cybersecurity. It can and will pay off in revenue and trust. Once you become aware of the risks that loom, you may be surprised to realize how many close calls you and your clients have had — and how effective security measures need to be.
About the Author: Asher Elran is a practical software engineer and a marketing specialist. He is the CEO at Dynamic Search and founder of Web Ethics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1Vms1vo via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1L0zE9n
September 28, 2015 at 11:19PM
Added: Apr 22, 2019 Via IFTTT
Improving Security and Trust on Your Website
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Improving Security and Trust on Your Website
Online retail sales are growing by the day, with U.S. revenues already exceeding $300 billion in 2014, a figure expected to double by 2018. The steady annual rise in e-commerce revenue and scope seems unstoppable, but what does that mean for those old barriers that once held back many from converting online, mainly personal information security? As you may have deduced, these figures hardly represent the full potential of online and/or mobile consumption.
Google changed their algorithm to favor sites with secured URLs, and a MarketWatch survey found that security is the leading barrier to conversion amongst users, with only one third stating they do not shop online in fear of personal data breach.
Moreover, in a different survey a staggering figure of more than 80 percent of U.S. shoppers who searched for a product online expressed interest in finding products nearby — indicating that there’s still a strong preference for shopping in person, but also clues us into a very basic level of mistrust in both the online presentation of items, and more importantly a hesitance to input personal information. High profile user data hacks such as the one eBay faced in 2015 do more to deter already-fearful Web users from handing over their details. It almost doesn’t matter how quickly and effectively the company dealt with the breach, or how much (if any) damage was incurred by the users whose data was leaked.
Establishing or recuperating trust is one of the main barriers to conversion from existing and future consumers. This is doubly true when it comes to lesser known, new, or online-only retailers.
The fact of the matter is, if you own, operate, or promote a website, your information — and your users’ information — is exposed to a certain level of risk. While not all businesses can afford to enlist a team whose role would be to monitor their site’s cybersecurity, it may be beneficial for you (as a web marketer professional) to consider training someone among existing staff to deal with security at least at the basic level.
As business owners, we all know we get a myriad of “lookie-loo leads” — prospects that are just price shopping with no intention of ever committing — and there are dozens of reasons why a potential client would legitimately say “no” to your proposal. Even when dealing with a site that’s been found relatively secure, you or your potential client may be soon parting ways due to the failure of showcasing efforts to secure data. Read on to learn how you can polish any site’s security to improve consumer trust and ultimately, revenue. This post covers how to use security as another piece of your sales funnel and as a pitch to prospective clients.
Some Numbers
When conjuring up an image of a hesitant online user, we often think of the elderly. After all, relative to the younger crowd, they’re likely inexperienced in completing Web tasks, and generally used to doing things a certain (offline) way. Yet, according to the MarketWatch survey referenced above, the fear of personal data being possessed by malicious sources is most prevalent among the 35-and-older crowd, which is probably a much younger cut-off than you anticipated. Moreover, it’s not as though everyone younger than 34 is completely comfortable with sharing and managing information online. In fact, two thirds of consumers say they believe they will fall victim of a data breach in the coming year, and the same percentage say they’re more worried about their information in cyberspace now than they ever were before.
Finally, there’s one new and important factor making nearly all online consumers uneasy: fear of breach is common in all age groups when it comes to completing purchases on mobile devices — a figure we should be mindful of in light of the steady increase in mobile usage for e-commerce purposes, reaching nearly 40 percent of all online sales in the U.S. on Black Friday 2013 alone.
While barriers to conversion are virtually endless, security is one that’s consistently cited by Internet users as a deterrent from completing online purchases. If you own or promote a long-established giant retail chain with well-distributed brick-and-mortar stores and an online store, your reputation is likely doing more than half of the work. If the above doesn’t apply to you, below are some tried and true tips that are essential to strengthening a site’s security.
Audit and Take Action
As with all journeys, the road to safety begins with one major step — figuring out where you are on the safety spectrum. This step should be as thorough as possible; consider involving one or more professionals who can closely examine the site and assess it as whole. Depending on the size of the company, these professionals can either be one-time consultants or full-time team members paid to have their eye on the ball at all times. The following three areas are where you’ll most likely find security gaps during your inspection, so focusing on them is a great start:
URLs: The exchange of data online (credit card data, address data, login pages, etc.) should be carried out over a secure connection that’s authenticated and encrypted via https. I will not expand on this, as we all already know the importance of https for Google. Therefore, it is highly suggested to do the switch if not done so already.
Plug-ins: Does the site utilize any form of open-source platform? If yes, this puts it at risk of data hacking due to various possible security bridges, like loopholes to steal data or commit fraud. Worst of all, if this occurs, it may be extremely difficult to realize the source of the breach. Yes, WordPress! Quick, go and update all your plugins and make sure they are all from a reputable source. If you’re using a reputable web host, they will automatically update your software. If you’re unsure if yours does, investigate and possibly switch to a better host.
Payment verification: If the site accepts payments (e-commerce for instance), carefully examine the level of protection that’s provided by the payment-processing program the site subscribes to. In most cases, it would be beneficial to take additional measures in order to boost this level of security, starting with the purchase of reputable financial verification software such as VeriSign, MasterCard Merchant Fraud Protection, and more.
Data validation should be done on the client side, not server side: Many web forms include JavaScript validation. If the validation process is done on the server side, it means nothing. Make sure all JavaScript validations are done on the client side, or you might find yourself an easy prey for hackers.
Password: Everybody knows they should have a strong password, but this is not always the case. It is critical that you have a bullet proof password to all access points of your website. Avoid generic user names such as admin, user, or test and avoid using your email and your user name. Change your passwords every quarter. Set a reminder to do this.
Consider a web application firewall: this can be your first line of defense. The firewall inspects incoming traffic and blocks hacking attempts right of the bat. Until a few years ago, firewalls were available only as an added hardware. Now you can contact your hosting company and ask to add the application to your hosting package. Reputable hosting companies include them as part of your plan.
Limit access to certain directories and restrict file permission: in most hosting accounts, and in those usually done through FTP, you can control level access and file permissions on your server. This is a very effective way to block certain areas of your website and to reduce the risk of unwanted activity. Read more about it here.
Invest in and keep up with advanced security software. By now you realize the importance of ongoing security scans, but it can be a nuisance to update software at the high rate most security programs demand today. Regardless — take on the role of security by remaining up-to-date on the latest software, or you could be surprised of where it may hit you (spoiler: it could impact the site’s rankings). This goes further than installing the latest version of McAfee or Norton, it entails ensuring vital components of the site’s transaction processes are up-to-date, such as the shopping cart; if it’s based on an outdated or open plugin, one simple breach could mean compromising the client database, which may expose them to breaches on other platforms.
Avoid storing sensitive data: Generally speaking, PCI regulations prohibit the storage of customer information (especially payment method details) beyond the completion of a transaction. If you have smaller/beginner e-commerce clients, this may be a handy memo for them. There are exceptions to this rule, such as recurring payments. However, it’s strongly advised to limit the information kept to a bare minimum, such as what the system requires to issue refunds. If your clients keep to this rule, they’ll rest easy at night knowing that even in the event of an attack, there will be no sensitive data that can leak.
Penalize suspected breaches: Ever forget a password or type one out incorrectly? We’ve all been there – it’s only natural. What isn’t natural is making dozens of back-to-back attempts at passwords in a short timeframe. If you haven’t already, make sure the login page is set to deny login after a certain number of failed attempts, typically three. It doesn’t have to be a hard block, even a temporary ban of 30 minutes can make eager brute hacker-bots skip onward to the next unattended cyberspace.
Clearly define, designate and stick to admin roles: The number of people who are exposed to internal information in a company can easily exceed what’s necessary, considering high employee turnover and general failure to contain data. They say the greatest threat to data comes from within. Keep close tabs on who is exposed to sensitive information, and go the extra mile by switching up passwords to security software and admin panels often.
Don’t Keep Security a Secret
Preventing a potentially financially devastating attack is an end in and of itself. Studies have found that prominent trust signs, such as conspicuous SSL layers actively boost customer trust and thus positively impact sales. Any reputable site should display trust signs proudly, including accreditations, encryptions, and verifications. These symbols subconsciously — but powerfully — indicate to clients that the business is serious and concerned about their online safety, helping them feel comfortable completing a purchase or handing over precious information.
It shouldn’t end there, however. Consumers know security is also in their hands, so any help provided to them in order to understand how to protect themselves online is beneficial and works to establish the site as an authority on online security — not a bad place to be. For instance, you can be more transparent by giving clients access to their stored account details and teaching them about the importance of having a unique password by raising the minimum level of complexity; making real time automated recommendations. When all parties are well informed about what constitutes as unsafe behavior and make a conscious effort to be safe, it’ll make fraud easier to detect.
Stay Ahead of the Next Attack
Unfortunately, hackers are just as sophisticated and creative as cybersecurity experts. For site owners, this means living in a never-ending arms race where an attack may always be just around the corner. Assuming your client is already keeping their security software consistently up-to-date, their best bet to stay safe is to test the network occasionally by running cyberattack simulations. This can be carried out by a cybersecurity professional, and it should be a regular protocol — especially before important sales or promotions when system overflow may make data more susceptible to real time attacks. In severe cases, Google may dole out a manual action and send an alert to Web Master Tools (Search Console), indicating that the reason for the penalty is Malware or third party hacking.
Though often enlightening, periodic attacks should not be relied on as the only measure of site security on an ongoing basis. The best way to monitor suspicious activity is by setting up real-time alerts and consequences for suspicious activity. Depending on the niche you’re dealing with, that could mean denying registration or checkout completion for any of the following cases: a foreign IP, multiple attempts at registration / login / checkout completion, suspicious telephone number input (e.g. 111-111-1111), multiple identical orders placed, or if an order is placed that differs greatly from typical new client projections. By being able to identify these behaviors real time, you could stop attempts at fraud in their tracks.
You’re on your way to becoming an online safety expert. Use the above information as a starting point, and lay the foundation for advanced cybersecurity. It can and will pay off in revenue and trust. Once you become aware of the risks that loom, you may be surprised to realize how many close calls you and your clients have had — and how effective security measures need to be.
About the Author: Asher Elran is a practical software engineer and a marketing specialist. He is the CEO at Dynamic Search and founder of Web Ethics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1Vms1vo via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://bit.ly/2VgDLdT
September 28, 2015 at 11:19PM
Online retail sales are growing by the day, with U.S. revenues already exceeding $300 billion in 2014, a figure expected to double by 2018. The steady annual rise in e-commerce revenue and scope seems unstoppable, but what does that mean for those old barriers that once held back many from converting online, mainly personal information security? As you may have deduced, these figures hardly represent the full potential of online and/or mobile consumption.
Google changed their algorithm to favor sites with secured URLs, and a MarketWatch survey found that security is the leading barrier to conversion amongst users, with only one third stating they do not shop online in fear of personal data breach.
Moreover, in a different survey a staggering figure of more than 80 percent of U.S. shoppers who searched for a product online expressed interest in finding products nearby — indicating that there’s still a strong preference for shopping in person, but also clues us into a very basic level of mistrust in both the online presentation of items, and more importantly a hesitance to input personal information. High profile user data hacks such as the one eBay faced in 2015 do more to deter already-fearful Web users from handing over their details. It almost doesn’t matter how quickly and effectively the company dealt with the breach, or how much (if any) damage was incurred by the users whose data was leaked.
Establishing or recuperating trust is one of the main barriers to conversion from existing and future consumers. This is doubly true when it comes to lesser known, new, or online-only retailers.
The fact of the matter is, if you own, operate, or promote a website, your information — and your users’ information — is exposed to a certain level of risk. While not all businesses can afford to enlist a team whose role would be to monitor their site’s cybersecurity, it may be beneficial for you (as a web marketer professional) to consider training someone among existing staff to deal with security at least at the basic level.
As business owners, we all know we get a myriad of “lookie-loo leads” — prospects that are just price shopping with no intention of ever committing — and there are dozens of reasons why a potential client would legitimately say “no” to your proposal. Even when dealing with a site that’s been found relatively secure, you or your potential client may be soon parting ways due to the failure of showcasing efforts to secure data. Read on to learn how you can polish any site’s security to improve consumer trust and ultimately, revenue. This post covers how to use security as another piece of your sales funnel and as a pitch to prospective clients.
Some Numbers
When conjuring up an image of a hesitant online user, we often think of the elderly. After all, relative to the younger crowd, they’re likely inexperienced in completing Web tasks, and generally used to doing things a certain (offline) way. Yet, according to the MarketWatch survey referenced above, the fear of personal data being possessed by malicious sources is most prevalent among the 35-and-older crowd, which is probably a much younger cut-off than you anticipated. Moreover, it’s not as though everyone younger than 34 is completely comfortable with sharing and managing information online. In fact, two thirds of consumers say they believe they will fall victim of a data breach in the coming year, and the same percentage say they’re more worried about their information in cyberspace now than they ever were before.
Finally, there’s one new and important factor making nearly all online consumers uneasy: fear of breach is common in all age groups when it comes to completing purchases on mobile devices — a figure we should be mindful of in light of the steady increase in mobile usage for e-commerce purposes, reaching nearly 40 percent of all online sales in the U.S. on Black Friday 2013 alone.
While barriers to conversion are virtually endless, security is one that’s consistently cited by Internet users as a deterrent from completing online purchases. If you own or promote a long-established giant retail chain with well-distributed brick-and-mortar stores and an online store, your reputation is likely doing more than half of the work. If the above doesn’t apply to you, below are some tried and true tips that are essential to strengthening a site’s security.
Audit and Take Action
As with all journeys, the road to safety begins with one major step — figuring out where you are on the safety spectrum. This step should be as thorough as possible; consider involving one or more professionals who can closely examine the site and assess it as whole. Depending on the size of the company, these professionals can either be one-time consultants or full-time team members paid to have their eye on the ball at all times. The following three areas are where you’ll most likely find security gaps during your inspection, so focusing on them is a great start:
URLs: The exchange of data online (credit card data, address data, login pages, etc.) should be carried out over a secure connection that’s authenticated and encrypted via https. I will not expand on this, as we all already know the importance of https for Google. Therefore, it is highly suggested to do the switch if not done so already.
Plug-ins: Does the site utilize any form of open-source platform? If yes, this puts it at risk of data hacking due to various possible security bridges, like loopholes to steal data or commit fraud. Worst of all, if this occurs, it may be extremely difficult to realize the source of the breach. Yes, WordPress! Quick, go and update all your plugins and make sure they are all from a reputable source. If you’re using a reputable web host, they will automatically update your software. If you’re unsure if yours does, investigate and possibly switch to a better host.
Payment verification: If the site accepts payments (e-commerce for instance), carefully examine the level of protection that’s provided by the payment-processing program the site subscribes to. In most cases, it would be beneficial to take additional measures in order to boost this level of security, starting with the purchase of reputable financial verification software such as VeriSign, MasterCard Merchant Fraud Protection, and more.
Data validation should be done on the client side, not server side: Many web forms include JavaScript validation. If the validation process is done on the server side, it means nothing. Make sure all JavaScript validations are done on the client side, or you might find yourself an easy prey for hackers.
Password: Everybody knows they should have a strong password, but this is not always the case. It is critical that you have a bullet proof password to all access points of your website. Avoid generic user names such as admin, user, or test and avoid using your email and your user name. Change your passwords every quarter. Set a reminder to do this.
Consider a web application firewall: this can be your first line of defense. The firewall inspects incoming traffic and blocks hacking attempts right of the bat. Until a few years ago, firewalls were available only as an added hardware. Now you can contact your hosting company and ask to add the application to your hosting package. Reputable hosting companies include them as part of your plan.
Limit access to certain directories and restrict file permission: in most hosting accounts, and in those usually done through FTP, you can control level access and file permissions on your server. This is a very effective way to block certain areas of your website and to reduce the risk of unwanted activity. Read more about it here.
Invest in and keep up with advanced security software. By now you realize the importance of ongoing security scans, but it can be a nuisance to update software at the high rate most security programs demand today. Regardless — take on the role of security by remaining up-to-date on the latest software, or you could be surprised of where it may hit you (spoiler: it could impact the site’s rankings). This goes further than installing the latest version of McAfee or Norton, it entails ensuring vital components of the site’s transaction processes are up-to-date, such as the shopping cart; if it’s based on an outdated or open plugin, one simple breach could mean compromising the client database, which may expose them to breaches on other platforms.
Avoid storing sensitive data: Generally speaking, PCI regulations prohibit the storage of customer information (especially payment method details) beyond the completion of a transaction. If you have smaller/beginner e-commerce clients, this may be a handy memo for them. There are exceptions to this rule, such as recurring payments. However, it’s strongly advised to limit the information kept to a bare minimum, such as what the system requires to issue refunds. If your clients keep to this rule, they’ll rest easy at night knowing that even in the event of an attack, there will be no sensitive data that can leak.
Penalize suspected breaches: Ever forget a password or type one out incorrectly? We’ve all been there – it’s only natural. What isn’t natural is making dozens of back-to-back attempts at passwords in a short timeframe. If you haven’t already, make sure the login page is set to deny login after a certain number of failed attempts, typically three. It doesn’t have to be a hard block, even a temporary ban of 30 minutes can make eager brute hacker-bots skip onward to the next unattended cyberspace.
Clearly define, designate and stick to admin roles: The number of people who are exposed to internal information in a company can easily exceed what’s necessary, considering high employee turnover and general failure to contain data. They say the greatest threat to data comes from within. Keep close tabs on who is exposed to sensitive information, and go the extra mile by switching up passwords to security software and admin panels often.
Don’t Keep Security a Secret
Preventing a potentially financially devastating attack is an end in and of itself. Studies have found that prominent trust signs, such as conspicuous SSL layers actively boost customer trust and thus positively impact sales. Any reputable site should display trust signs proudly, including accreditations, encryptions, and verifications. These symbols subconsciously — but powerfully — indicate to clients that the business is serious and concerned about their online safety, helping them feel comfortable completing a purchase or handing over precious information.
It shouldn’t end there, however. Consumers know security is also in their hands, so any help provided to them in order to understand how to protect themselves online is beneficial and works to establish the site as an authority on online security — not a bad place to be. For instance, you can be more transparent by giving clients access to their stored account details and teaching them about the importance of having a unique password by raising the minimum level of complexity; making real time automated recommendations. When all parties are well informed about what constitutes as unsafe behavior and make a conscious effort to be safe, it’ll make fraud easier to detect.
Stay Ahead of the Next Attack
Unfortunately, hackers are just as sophisticated and creative as cybersecurity experts. For site owners, this means living in a never-ending arms race where an attack may always be just around the corner. Assuming your client is already keeping their security software consistently up-to-date, their best bet to stay safe is to test the network occasionally by running cyberattack simulations. This can be carried out by a cybersecurity professional, and it should be a regular protocol — especially before important sales or promotions when system overflow may make data more susceptible to real time attacks. In severe cases, Google may dole out a manual action and send an alert to Web Master Tools (Search Console), indicating that the reason for the penalty is Malware or third party hacking.
Though often enlightening, periodic attacks should not be relied on as the only measure of site security on an ongoing basis. The best way to monitor suspicious activity is by setting up real-time alerts and consequences for suspicious activity. Depending on the niche you’re dealing with, that could mean denying registration or checkout completion for any of the following cases: a foreign IP, multiple attempts at registration / login / checkout completion, suspicious telephone number input (e.g. 111-111-1111), multiple identical orders placed, or if an order is placed that differs greatly from typical new client projections. By being able to identify these behaviors real time, you could stop attempts at fraud in their tracks.
You’re on your way to becoming an online safety expert. Use the above information as a starting point, and lay the foundation for advanced cybersecurity. It can and will pay off in revenue and trust. Once you become aware of the risks that loom, you may be surprised to realize how many close calls you and your clients have had — and how effective security measures need to be.
About the Author: Asher Elran is a practical software engineer and a marketing specialist. He is the CEO at Dynamic Search and founder of Web Ethics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1Vms1vo via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://bit.ly/2VgDLdT
September 28, 2015 at 11:19PM
Added: Sep 29, 2015 Via IFTTT
Infographic: Engage Your Marketing Audience
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Infographic: Engage Your Marketing Audience
As a marketer, you’re always trying to move the needle in the right direction. Everyday you work to increase conversions and nudge visitors towards action on your website.
That’s why we built Engage, where you can create notifications on your website to increase conversions and move the needle in the right direction.. Marketers around the world are using it to convert inactive users into valuable users. Engage optimizes every interaction on your website and does not require IT or design resources. After you install the JavaScript code on your website, you can optimize every conversion goal on your website and launch without IT or design resources.
Today’s infographic outlines what Engage is, how it’s used, and why it’s the best CRO tool available.
Click on the infographic below to view a larger image:
Want to display this infographic on your site?
++ Click Image to Enlarge ++Source: Infographic: Engage Your Marketing Audience
Watch a Demo
We’ve created a video demo for Engage:
You can also learn more about Engage on our website.
Get Started With Engage
Ready to harness the power of Engage? Click the button below to request a demo of Kissmetrics!
About the Author: Zach Bulygo (Twitter) is a Content Writer for Kissmetrics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1OEgMzs via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1VoSLvp
September 29, 2015 at 09:18PM
As a marketer, you’re always trying to move the needle in the right direction. Everyday you work to increase conversions and nudge visitors towards action on your website.
That’s why we built Engage, where you can create notifications on your website to increase conversions and move the needle in the right direction.. Marketers around the world are using it to convert inactive users into valuable users. Engage optimizes every interaction on your website and does not require IT or design resources. After you install the JavaScript code on your website, you can optimize every conversion goal on your website and launch without IT or design resources.
Today’s infographic outlines what Engage is, how it’s used, and why it’s the best CRO tool available.
Click on the infographic below to view a larger image:
Want to display this infographic on your site?
++ Click Image to Enlarge ++Source: Infographic: Engage Your Marketing Audience
Watch a Demo
We’ve created a video demo for Engage:
You can also learn more about Engage on our website.
Get Started With Engage
Ready to harness the power of Engage? Click the button below to request a demo of Kissmetrics!
About the Author: Zach Bulygo (Twitter) is a Content Writer for Kissmetrics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1OEgMzs via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1VoSLvp
September 29, 2015 at 09:18PM
Added: Apr 22, 2019 Via IFTTT
Infographic: Engage Your Marketing Audience
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Infographic: Engage Your Marketing Audience
As a marketer, you’re always trying to move the needle in the right direction. Everyday you work to increase conversions and nudge visitors towards action on your website.
That’s why we built Engage, where you can create notifications on your website to increase conversions and move the needle in the right direction.. Marketers around the world are using it to convert inactive users into valuable users. Engage optimizes every interaction on your website and does not require IT or design resources. After you install the JavaScript code on your website, you can optimize every conversion goal on your website and launch without IT or design resources.
Today’s infographic outlines what Engage is, how it’s used, and why it’s the best CRO tool available.
Click on the infographic below to view a larger image:
Want to display this infographic on your site?
++ Click Image to Enlarge ++Source: Infographic: Engage Your Marketing Audience
Watch a Demo
We’ve created a video demo for Engage:
You can also learn more about Engage on our website.
Get Started With Engage
Ready to harness the power of Engage? Click the button below to request a demo of Kissmetrics!
About the Author: Zach Bulygo (Twitter) is a Content Writer for Kissmetrics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1OEgMzs via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://bit.ly/2KW7Qvd
September 29, 2015 at 09:18PM
As a marketer, you’re always trying to move the needle in the right direction. Everyday you work to increase conversions and nudge visitors towards action on your website.
That’s why we built Engage, where you can create notifications on your website to increase conversions and move the needle in the right direction.. Marketers around the world are using it to convert inactive users into valuable users. Engage optimizes every interaction on your website and does not require IT or design resources. After you install the JavaScript code on your website, you can optimize every conversion goal on your website and launch without IT or design resources.
Today’s infographic outlines what Engage is, how it’s used, and why it’s the best CRO tool available.
Click on the infographic below to view a larger image:
Want to display this infographic on your site?
++ Click Image to Enlarge ++Source: Infographic: Engage Your Marketing Audience
Watch a Demo
We’ve created a video demo for Engage:
You can also learn more about Engage on our website.
Get Started With Engage
Ready to harness the power of Engage? Click the button below to request a demo of Kissmetrics!
About the Author: Zach Bulygo (Twitter) is a Content Writer for Kissmetrics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1OEgMzs via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://bit.ly/2KW7Qvd
September 29, 2015 at 09:18PM
Added: Aug 17, 2015 Via IFTTT
Interactive Content is Where the Action Is Now
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Interactive Content is Where the Action Is Now
Internet. Interactive. The two were destined to collide.
The term “internet” came to be because it connected networks. The prefix “Inter” means “between.” It follows that “interactive” means “action between.” Or something like that.
The point is we were destined to interact online. We live for interaction and the Internet lives to give it to us.
Content marketers are getting “inter” it
The real measure of any form of marketing is action. In older and traditional channels, the actions we measured tended to include phone calls, faxes, coupon redemptions, sales meetings, and maybe sales. Remember “tip in” cards in trade magazines?
Today, with content marketing ruling the online space, marketers often measure more actions, and certainly, less meaningful ones: shares, clicks, even views. This is not to say content marketers don’t measure the more substantial actions. The good ones do.
The good ones also realize engagement is all-important. Building brand affinity leads to building the relationship that leads to building trust that leads to building sales that leads to building business. Got all that?
Enter interactive content. On the battlefield that is content marketing, reading, watching, listening to, or downloading something may be the equivalent to firing a shot, but getting a prospect emotionally involved via interaction is a hit.
“Engaging a target audience” is an important excerpt from Content Marketing Institute’s definition of content marketing. According to nearly every marketing research study, it’s also consistently proven to be amongst our toughest challenges.
Marketers succeed when their audience not only consumes content, but also enjoys and acts upon it. Understanding this principle, more and more content marketers are stepping-up their static content to create content customers can interact with.
“By its very nature, interactive content engages participants in an activity: answering questions, making choices, exploring scenarios. It’s a great way to capture attention right from the start. Individuals have to think and respond; they can’t just snooze through it.”
~ Scott Brinker, ion interactive, author of ChiefMartec.com, in a guest post on Copyblogger.
The forces behind interactive content
Your classic content marketer is adept at publishing a blog and other forms of one-way media. Creating interactive content is more work. It tends to demand more resources.
Is it worth it?
Most content marketers that have hopped aboard the interactive train would answer yes. They may say they’ve realized greater results. They may also say it’s imperative. Here’s why:
Noise—There’s simply too much content. And the only people that really care about content is content marketers. The customers don’t want content. They want answers. Or they want to have fun. Or both.
The world’s gone mobile—Mobile users have come to expect interactivity. Apps are more engaging than web pages.
Human nature—We simply want to interact. We learn best by doing. I once asked my kids, “What are your favorite lessons in school?” They said the ones where we do stuff and make things. Interactive content is the filed trip of content marketing.
A conversion study by Demand Metric indicates when examining “very effective” content, interactive blows away passive content for educating the buyer.
Fun and Games is Serious Business
Playbuzz is an Israeli-based company focused on enabling publishers to create and distribute a variety of playful interactive content types. Forbes described the company’s offering “The social content sensation of the year.”
Much like the ubiquitous BuzzFeed, the company’s magnetic force is fun, interactive activities, which clearly appeals to the connected generation. In a very short time, Playbuzz has garnered enormous attention and become a top 500 destination site in the U.S.
The company is making a business “play” by enabling marketers, for free, to create branded “storytelling formats for the digital age” and embed it anywhere.
Playbuzz is among the companies who are amending the “content is king” mantra to “interactive content is king,” touting its many engagement advantages.
Interactive content = persona optimization
Pardon my jargon. The point is interactive content provides marketers rich data they can use to learn more about their prospects and use the data to market more effectively. Scott Brinker offered the following examples:
People rank themselves via assessments
Quizzes indicate what participants do and don’t know
Prospects identify specific parameters when using a calculator product configurator
In “Interactive Content & The Buyer’s Journey,” Oracle Marketing Cloud and SnapApp map interactive content’s place in three stages of the buyer’s journey.
Awareness stage—A prospect in research mode is likely to engage in polls, self-assessments, and knowledge tests.
Evaluation stage—When evaluating solutions a buyer will take to benchmark assessments, interactive white papers, and persona assessments.
Decision stage—At the critical buying stage, ROI calculators, galleries, product pickers and surveys will help guide decision-making.
To illustrate these ideas, the eBook authors offered the example of a person planning a vacation.
Awareness stage—What type of vacation do I want?
Evaluation stage—Where should I go?
Decision stage—Who should I book with?
What types of content are interactive?
Let’s look at some of the interactive content types, some of which are well known and blazing hot and a few others with a potentially strong upside.
Quizzes
Quizzes are amazingly popular and ultra-magnetic. While many focus on delivering a fun distraction, businesses often take them seriously aiming to use the format for educational purposes. Quiz results can be useful for recommending the most relevant subsequent content.
Unitrends, makers of a data backup appliances, drove traffic from Facebook to its website with a personality quiz to determine each participant’s backup and disaster recovery superhero persona. (See complete details on SnapApp)
Quiz: Can You Name These Southern City Skylines?Ecommerce startup Country Outfitter has multiplied traffic to its site and engagement thanks to publishing fun quizzes with Playbuzz on their lifestyle website. Their quizzes have appeared on more than 100 different domains.
Assessments
Like quizzes, assessments also are often little pieces of brain candy such as personality tests. However, in a business context assessments can be meaningful marketing tools often used to help people identify a need, compare their company to benchmarks, or some other type of self-diagnosis.
Polls and surveys
Polls and surveys can take all different forms and fulfill a wide variety of needs for both the creator and user. The subject of the poll or survey gives users a glimpse into your areas of expertise.
Calculators
Calculators are about money, which for some reason appears to interest most people. Given the right strategy and creative execution, a calculator can say (or infer) something meaningful about your company’s mission.
Contests
Contests may be older than time, but continue to evolve online and across the social sphere. The potential to get creative with contests is infinite. Cool contests have proven to lure customers and inspire engagement. Generally, they require some form of application, so marketers can collect valuable customer data. And though it may be obvious, contests can generate authentic and engaging user-generated content.
Galleries
Visual marketing couldn’t be hotter, so some companies are using galleries to deliver stopping power and interaction. In addition to showcasing products, they can present portfolios, ideas, customer examples, event highlights, or anything you can “picture.”
Brackets
SnapApp claims “They [brackets] are a great way to settle ‘Best Of’ or ‘Worst Of’ debates, no matter what industry or field you are in.” They’re also a way to earn longer periods of engagement, drive repeat visitors and generate new content.
Heavy Construction Systems Specialists (HCSS) conducted a tournament in which customers submitted their most interesting projects. 117 projects were submitted and 292,000 votes increased website traffic by 800%.
Interactive white papers or eBooks
Interactive software company ion interactive suggests turning your white paper or eBook into an interactive user experience allowing readers to navigate as they wish.
Infographics
Infographics can be made interactive with embedded questions, flip tiles, flexible user paths, and more.
ion interactive showcases its own software for creating interactive infographics. A menu bar invites readers to navigate the content marketing stats as they wish.
What type of content marketer are you?
After researching interactive content and learning more about the magnetic power of quizzes and such, I couldn’t resist writing the subhead above. It begs to be a quiz. And as a content marketing vying for attention and engagement amongst the deafening noise, you’ll want to consider the question.
Interactive content offers an opportunity to differentiate your brand and engage your audience.
Special nod to SnapApp for “What is Interactive Content & Why It Works” and for providing examples of their customers’ interactive content.
About the Author: Barry Feldman operates Feldman Creative and provides clients content marketing strategies that rock and creative that rolls. Barry has recently been named a Top 40 Digital Strategist by Online Marketing Institute and one of 25 Social Media Marketing Experts You Need to Know by LinkedIn. Visit Feldman Creative and his blog, The Point.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1gQB9uZ via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1JcWCJx
August 17, 2015 at 09:18PM
Internet. Interactive. The two were destined to collide.
The term “internet” came to be because it connected networks. The prefix “Inter” means “between.” It follows that “interactive” means “action between.” Or something like that.
The point is we were destined to interact online. We live for interaction and the Internet lives to give it to us.
Content marketers are getting “inter” it
The real measure of any form of marketing is action. In older and traditional channels, the actions we measured tended to include phone calls, faxes, coupon redemptions, sales meetings, and maybe sales. Remember “tip in” cards in trade magazines?
Today, with content marketing ruling the online space, marketers often measure more actions, and certainly, less meaningful ones: shares, clicks, even views. This is not to say content marketers don’t measure the more substantial actions. The good ones do.
The good ones also realize engagement is all-important. Building brand affinity leads to building the relationship that leads to building trust that leads to building sales that leads to building business. Got all that?
Enter interactive content. On the battlefield that is content marketing, reading, watching, listening to, or downloading something may be the equivalent to firing a shot, but getting a prospect emotionally involved via interaction is a hit.
“Engaging a target audience” is an important excerpt from Content Marketing Institute’s definition of content marketing. According to nearly every marketing research study, it’s also consistently proven to be amongst our toughest challenges.
Marketers succeed when their audience not only consumes content, but also enjoys and acts upon it. Understanding this principle, more and more content marketers are stepping-up their static content to create content customers can interact with.
“By its very nature, interactive content engages participants in an activity: answering questions, making choices, exploring scenarios. It’s a great way to capture attention right from the start. Individuals have to think and respond; they can’t just snooze through it.”
~ Scott Brinker, ion interactive, author of ChiefMartec.com, in a guest post on Copyblogger.
The forces behind interactive content
Your classic content marketer is adept at publishing a blog and other forms of one-way media. Creating interactive content is more work. It tends to demand more resources.
Is it worth it?
Most content marketers that have hopped aboard the interactive train would answer yes. They may say they’ve realized greater results. They may also say it’s imperative. Here’s why:
Noise—There’s simply too much content. And the only people that really care about content is content marketers. The customers don’t want content. They want answers. Or they want to have fun. Or both.
The world’s gone mobile—Mobile users have come to expect interactivity. Apps are more engaging than web pages.
Human nature—We simply want to interact. We learn best by doing. I once asked my kids, “What are your favorite lessons in school?” They said the ones where we do stuff and make things. Interactive content is the filed trip of content marketing.
A conversion study by Demand Metric indicates when examining “very effective” content, interactive blows away passive content for educating the buyer.
Fun and Games is Serious Business
Playbuzz is an Israeli-based company focused on enabling publishers to create and distribute a variety of playful interactive content types. Forbes described the company’s offering “The social content sensation of the year.”
Much like the ubiquitous BuzzFeed, the company’s magnetic force is fun, interactive activities, which clearly appeals to the connected generation. In a very short time, Playbuzz has garnered enormous attention and become a top 500 destination site in the U.S.
The company is making a business “play” by enabling marketers, for free, to create branded “storytelling formats for the digital age” and embed it anywhere.
Playbuzz is among the companies who are amending the “content is king” mantra to “interactive content is king,” touting its many engagement advantages.
Interactive content = persona optimization
Pardon my jargon. The point is interactive content provides marketers rich data they can use to learn more about their prospects and use the data to market more effectively. Scott Brinker offered the following examples:
People rank themselves via assessments
Quizzes indicate what participants do and don’t know
Prospects identify specific parameters when using a calculator product configurator
In “Interactive Content & The Buyer’s Journey,” Oracle Marketing Cloud and SnapApp map interactive content’s place in three stages of the buyer’s journey.
Awareness stage—A prospect in research mode is likely to engage in polls, self-assessments, and knowledge tests.
Evaluation stage—When evaluating solutions a buyer will take to benchmark assessments, interactive white papers, and persona assessments.
Decision stage—At the critical buying stage, ROI calculators, galleries, product pickers and surveys will help guide decision-making.
To illustrate these ideas, the eBook authors offered the example of a person planning a vacation.
Awareness stage—What type of vacation do I want?
Evaluation stage—Where should I go?
Decision stage—Who should I book with?
What types of content are interactive?
Let’s look at some of the interactive content types, some of which are well known and blazing hot and a few others with a potentially strong upside.
Quizzes
Quizzes are amazingly popular and ultra-magnetic. While many focus on delivering a fun distraction, businesses often take them seriously aiming to use the format for educational purposes. Quiz results can be useful for recommending the most relevant subsequent content.
Unitrends, makers of a data backup appliances, drove traffic from Facebook to its website with a personality quiz to determine each participant’s backup and disaster recovery superhero persona. (See complete details on SnapApp)
Quiz: Can You Name These Southern City Skylines?Ecommerce startup Country Outfitter has multiplied traffic to its site and engagement thanks to publishing fun quizzes with Playbuzz on their lifestyle website. Their quizzes have appeared on more than 100 different domains.
Assessments
Like quizzes, assessments also are often little pieces of brain candy such as personality tests. However, in a business context assessments can be meaningful marketing tools often used to help people identify a need, compare their company to benchmarks, or some other type of self-diagnosis.
Polls and surveys
Polls and surveys can take all different forms and fulfill a wide variety of needs for both the creator and user. The subject of the poll or survey gives users a glimpse into your areas of expertise.
Calculators
Calculators are about money, which for some reason appears to interest most people. Given the right strategy and creative execution, a calculator can say (or infer) something meaningful about your company’s mission.
Contests
Contests may be older than time, but continue to evolve online and across the social sphere. The potential to get creative with contests is infinite. Cool contests have proven to lure customers and inspire engagement. Generally, they require some form of application, so marketers can collect valuable customer data. And though it may be obvious, contests can generate authentic and engaging user-generated content.
Galleries
Visual marketing couldn’t be hotter, so some companies are using galleries to deliver stopping power and interaction. In addition to showcasing products, they can present portfolios, ideas, customer examples, event highlights, or anything you can “picture.”
Brackets
SnapApp claims “They [brackets] are a great way to settle ‘Best Of’ or ‘Worst Of’ debates, no matter what industry or field you are in.” They’re also a way to earn longer periods of engagement, drive repeat visitors and generate new content.
Heavy Construction Systems Specialists (HCSS) conducted a tournament in which customers submitted their most interesting projects. 117 projects were submitted and 292,000 votes increased website traffic by 800%.
Interactive white papers or eBooks
Interactive software company ion interactive suggests turning your white paper or eBook into an interactive user experience allowing readers to navigate as they wish.
Infographics
Infographics can be made interactive with embedded questions, flip tiles, flexible user paths, and more.
ion interactive showcases its own software for creating interactive infographics. A menu bar invites readers to navigate the content marketing stats as they wish.
What type of content marketer are you?
After researching interactive content and learning more about the magnetic power of quizzes and such, I couldn’t resist writing the subhead above. It begs to be a quiz. And as a content marketing vying for attention and engagement amongst the deafening noise, you’ll want to consider the question.
Interactive content offers an opportunity to differentiate your brand and engage your audience.
Special nod to SnapApp for “What is Interactive Content & Why It Works” and for providing examples of their customers’ interactive content.
About the Author: Barry Feldman operates Feldman Creative and provides clients content marketing strategies that rock and creative that rolls. Barry has recently been named a Top 40 Digital Strategist by Online Marketing Institute and one of 25 Social Media Marketing Experts You Need to Know by LinkedIn. Visit Feldman Creative and his blog, The Point.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1gQB9uZ via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1JcWCJx
August 17, 2015 at 09:18PM
Added: Sep 14, 2015 Via IFTTT
Introducing Two New Executives to the Kissmetrics Team
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Introducing Two New Executives to the Kissmetrics Team
We’ve made 2 big hires we’d love to tell you about.
Paul O’Leary, Chief Technology Officer
Paul joined Kissmetrics in August as our Chief Technology Officer. He brings a ton of knowledge about big data and analytics. He has more than 20 years of technology development experience with more than 10 at the executive leadership level, most recently as VP of Engineering at Concurrent. There he helped build the industry’s first application performance management solution for big data.
Prior to that he was the co-founder (along with Kissmetrics CEO, Brian Kelly) of Quantivo, an analytics company that was acquired by Aggregate. Quantivo achieved many industry-first innovations in building and scaling a powerful cloud-based analytics infrastructure specifically focused on advanced analytics for marketing and retail.
Now he’ll focus on bringing even more performance, scale and analytic capability to Kissmetrics’s cloud-based infrastructure and solutions.
I asked Paul what his proudest technological achievement is. Here’s his answer:
“[My] proudest achievements are always the awesome teams [I’ve] helped to build and lead. Great technology is built by great teams.”
Paul is a team guy. We’re thrilled to have him join our rock-star engineering team.
Maura Ginty, VP of Marketing
Maura joined us in May as our VP of Marketing. She has more than 15 years of online marketing experience. She’s advised on integrated marketing at Fortune 500 companies as well as small businesses, primarily for travel and software companies. She’s also written 2 books on digital marketing (one on B2B marketing and the other on landing page optimization) and is an alumni of the Google Technology Advisory Council. She’s had a number of marketing jobs in her career, most recently serving as Head of Marketing at GeoEx.
She got into marketing from the editorial and digital marketing side, back when digital was new and the underdog of marketing budgets. As we see more about how analytics, conversion optimization, and behavioral data serves both customers and marketers — marketing still proves to be the best combination of art and science.
I asked her why she’s excited for the challenges of working at Kissmetrics. Here’s her answer:
“Kissmetrics is at the heart of all of these favorites. We share the excitement of marketing and all the best techniques to make it the most fascinating and ever-evolving field.”
In her spare time, Maura travels to farflung corners of the planet as a cover for her obsessions with maps, local cheese, and obscure languages.
How This Helps Kissmetrics & Marketers
With this new leadership, Maura is going to help us introduce Kissmetrics to the right people; Paul will help us build an analytics infrastructure that is ahead of its time.
Since 2008, Kissmetrics has been building a product that helps marketers measure and optimize their marketing. We’ve built a solid product thus far, and we’re taking it even farther just this summer:
we launched Engage, a conversion optimization tool that nudges visitors and users towards action. We’re already iterating on the product. This past week we launched custom colors, allowing our customers to design their engagements with whatever colors they choose.
we’ve updated the navigation, allowing a more horizontal view of data and reduces the amount of steps to view a saved report.
customers can now use date range within filters. This can help answer questions like: How is my sign-up conversion rate affected if people don’t view the pricing page in the past 30 days?
Marketing isn’t just about first and last touch attribution. That’s why we’ve added multi-touch attribution. Using this feature you’ll be able to see the source of every conversion.
We’ve added LiveChat, Segment, Woocommerce and Shopify as integrations. You can see how chat customer segments behave or easily add Kissmetrics to different stores via plugins.
And we’ve got some big plans for what’s ahead. You’ll hear about them shortly. Our team is working hard everyday to help build a product customers love.
Interested in Joining Us?
We’ve got a fun road ahead. Check out our careers page to learn more about our culture and the open positions. We’re currently hiring engineers and customer success superstars.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1F9BRi7 via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1iq6yWs
September 14, 2015 at 09:11PM
We’ve made 2 big hires we’d love to tell you about.
Paul O’Leary, Chief Technology Officer
Paul joined Kissmetrics in August as our Chief Technology Officer. He brings a ton of knowledge about big data and analytics. He has more than 20 years of technology development experience with more than 10 at the executive leadership level, most recently as VP of Engineering at Concurrent. There he helped build the industry’s first application performance management solution for big data.
Prior to that he was the co-founder (along with Kissmetrics CEO, Brian Kelly) of Quantivo, an analytics company that was acquired by Aggregate. Quantivo achieved many industry-first innovations in building and scaling a powerful cloud-based analytics infrastructure specifically focused on advanced analytics for marketing and retail.
Now he’ll focus on bringing even more performance, scale and analytic capability to Kissmetrics’s cloud-based infrastructure and solutions.
I asked Paul what his proudest technological achievement is. Here’s his answer:
“[My] proudest achievements are always the awesome teams [I’ve] helped to build and lead. Great technology is built by great teams.”
Paul is a team guy. We’re thrilled to have him join our rock-star engineering team.
Maura Ginty, VP of Marketing
Maura joined us in May as our VP of Marketing. She has more than 15 years of online marketing experience. She’s advised on integrated marketing at Fortune 500 companies as well as small businesses, primarily for travel and software companies. She’s also written 2 books on digital marketing (one on B2B marketing and the other on landing page optimization) and is an alumni of the Google Technology Advisory Council. She’s had a number of marketing jobs in her career, most recently serving as Head of Marketing at GeoEx.
She got into marketing from the editorial and digital marketing side, back when digital was new and the underdog of marketing budgets. As we see more about how analytics, conversion optimization, and behavioral data serves both customers and marketers — marketing still proves to be the best combination of art and science.
I asked her why she’s excited for the challenges of working at Kissmetrics. Here’s her answer:
“Kissmetrics is at the heart of all of these favorites. We share the excitement of marketing and all the best techniques to make it the most fascinating and ever-evolving field.”
In her spare time, Maura travels to farflung corners of the planet as a cover for her obsessions with maps, local cheese, and obscure languages.
How This Helps Kissmetrics & Marketers
With this new leadership, Maura is going to help us introduce Kissmetrics to the right people; Paul will help us build an analytics infrastructure that is ahead of its time.
Since 2008, Kissmetrics has been building a product that helps marketers measure and optimize their marketing. We’ve built a solid product thus far, and we’re taking it even farther just this summer:
we launched Engage, a conversion optimization tool that nudges visitors and users towards action. We’re already iterating on the product. This past week we launched custom colors, allowing our customers to design their engagements with whatever colors they choose.
we’ve updated the navigation, allowing a more horizontal view of data and reduces the amount of steps to view a saved report.
customers can now use date range within filters. This can help answer questions like: How is my sign-up conversion rate affected if people don’t view the pricing page in the past 30 days?
Marketing isn’t just about first and last touch attribution. That’s why we’ve added multi-touch attribution. Using this feature you’ll be able to see the source of every conversion.
We’ve added LiveChat, Segment, Woocommerce and Shopify as integrations. You can see how chat customer segments behave or easily add Kissmetrics to different stores via plugins.
And we’ve got some big plans for what’s ahead. You’ll hear about them shortly. Our team is working hard everyday to help build a product customers love.
Interested in Joining Us?
We’ve got a fun road ahead. Check out our careers page to learn more about our culture and the open positions. We’re currently hiring engineers and customer success superstars.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1F9BRi7 via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1iq6yWs
September 14, 2015 at 09:11PM
Added: Jul 24, 2015 Via IFTTT
Is Your Winning Variation Actually Leading to More Cancellations? How to Use Data to Find Out
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Is Your Winning Variation Actually Leading to More Cancellations? How to Use Data to Find Out
Imagine this: you just found a huge win on an A/B test. Your variation doubled signups over the original. So you launch your variant to 100% of visitors. Pop the cork! Here come the signups.
Fast forward six months, and you have a surge in cancellations. Your customer support team can’t figure it out, and there have been no major changes in your product. You are left puzzled and frustrated.
Then you realize something. For the past six months, people have been signing up through the variant. Could this be the cause of the cancellations? If you use Kissmetrics, you can get the answer.
Identifying Whether a Variant Led to More Cancellations
Using Kissmetrics, you can find out if an A/B test that initially delivered more signups ultimately led to more cancellations. It doesn’t matter if the test was six months ago. You can still go back retroactively and see how the test performed and whether the variation brought more cancellations. Here’s how we do it.
The Funnel Report
A funnel report is used to track how many people move from one step of your website to the next. Marketers traditionally use a funnel report to see where visitors are dropping off in their path to purchase.
But we can use the Kissmetrics Funnel Report for other purposes, too. One of them is to see which test variation led to more cancellations. To do this, we’ll create a funnel for just two steps – signed up and cancellation. When you use Kissmetrics, you may name your events a little differently, but if you’re a SaaS company, you’ll need to know when people sign up and when they cancel.
Here’s how our funnel looks:
During our selected time range, we had 11,794 signups. Of those 11,794, nearly 9,300 canceled. To see how each variant performed, we’ll have to segment our traffic. “Segment” is a fancy, analytical way of saying “group.” So if you came to our site and saw the variant, you’d be put in the variant group/segment.
Here’s the funnel, segmented by the A/B test:
We can ignore “None.” These are people who were not in the A/B Test. They didn’t see the variant or the original.
Underneath “None” are our A/B test pages. We have our variant and the original. The variant page generated 125 signups, while the original delivered 111 signups. Also, the variant delivered a much smaller percentage of cancellations.
Before we can say the variant is a winner, we’ll need to make sure this data is statistically significant. We can use the A/B test significance calculator to get this data. Here’s how it looks:
On the right, we see that this data is statistically significant. We can move forward with full confidence knowing that the variant page is the real winner. Customers who saw this page will be less likely to cancel later on down the road.
A Word of Caution
While this data is valuable, it’s important to be careful with the conclusions you reach.
While the original/variant page did lead to more cancellations and it is statistically significant, can we be 100% no-doubt-about-it absolutely sure that this is the reason more people canceled? No, we cannot. Correlation is not causation. It could just be happenstance that those shown the original/variant page canceled at a higher rate than those shown the variant/original – and the original/variant page should not be blamed.
This also doesn’t mean the data is worthless. Perhaps the original/variant page made a promise that the product couldn’t live up to. Or maybe the original/variant page attracted the wrong audience. To find this out, we can collect data from our canceled customers and see if we find trends. If not, it may just be coincidence.
We can find the canceled customers in Kissmetrics. Here’s how:
We’ll click to view the people in the “Subscription canceled” step and view the people in the variant segment. From there, we’ll get our list of people, and we can contact them to learn why they canceled.
Track Tests with the A/B Test Report
Kissmetrics has a report that tracks your A/B tests. It’s called the A/B Test Report, and it has some unique features.
This report does not create tests for you. You can still use Optimizely, VWO, Unbounce, etc. for that. It does track the test, report the results, and import the data into your Kissmetrics account. There are a few additional benefits of using this report:
The statistical significance calculator is built in. You’ll see the amount of data that came in, and the Report will draw a conclusion for you (e.g., variant beat original). Its calculator will ensure the results are statistically significant, which can reduce the odds of false positives.
You can see how an A/B Test impacts any part of your funnel. Want to see how a homepage headline test impacts signups? No problem, just set “signups” as your conversion event. You aren’t limited to testing only to the next conversion step.
Here’s how the report looks:
You’ll get multiple metrics for each variant, and even be able to see every person in each variant.
Click here to watch a video demo of the A/B Test Report.
Get the Whole Picture with Kissmetrics
It would be impossible to get this kind of data if you weren’t using a tool like Kissmetrics.
A benefit to using a people-tracking platform like Kissmetrics is that each visitor to your site is recorded as what they are – a person, not a session. This makes your data accurate.
If you’re running an A/B test, each person gets tagged with the pages they saw, and you’ll be able to go back and see which pages/steps they went through, as we just did. With Kissmetrics, you can see the entire customer journey, from when the prospect first visited (and which variant they saw) to the customer’s most recent action. As long as you have the tracking in place, you can get the important data you need.
To see how Kissmetrics can benefit your marketing, signup for a personal demo today. To get right into it, you can signup for a 14-day Kissmetrics trial.
About the Author: Zach Bulygo (Twitter) is a Content Writer for Kissmetrics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1OruBxD via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1HYKLLl
July 25, 2015 at 03:47AM
Imagine this: you just found a huge win on an A/B test. Your variation doubled signups over the original. So you launch your variant to 100% of visitors. Pop the cork! Here come the signups.
Fast forward six months, and you have a surge in cancellations. Your customer support team can’t figure it out, and there have been no major changes in your product. You are left puzzled and frustrated.
Then you realize something. For the past six months, people have been signing up through the variant. Could this be the cause of the cancellations? If you use Kissmetrics, you can get the answer.
Identifying Whether a Variant Led to More Cancellations
Using Kissmetrics, you can find out if an A/B test that initially delivered more signups ultimately led to more cancellations. It doesn’t matter if the test was six months ago. You can still go back retroactively and see how the test performed and whether the variation brought more cancellations. Here’s how we do it.
The Funnel Report
A funnel report is used to track how many people move from one step of your website to the next. Marketers traditionally use a funnel report to see where visitors are dropping off in their path to purchase.
But we can use the Kissmetrics Funnel Report for other purposes, too. One of them is to see which test variation led to more cancellations. To do this, we’ll create a funnel for just two steps – signed up and cancellation. When you use Kissmetrics, you may name your events a little differently, but if you’re a SaaS company, you’ll need to know when people sign up and when they cancel.
Here’s how our funnel looks:
During our selected time range, we had 11,794 signups. Of those 11,794, nearly 9,300 canceled. To see how each variant performed, we’ll have to segment our traffic. “Segment” is a fancy, analytical way of saying “group.” So if you came to our site and saw the variant, you’d be put in the variant group/segment.
Here’s the funnel, segmented by the A/B test:
We can ignore “None.” These are people who were not in the A/B Test. They didn’t see the variant or the original.
Underneath “None” are our A/B test pages. We have our variant and the original. The variant page generated 125 signups, while the original delivered 111 signups. Also, the variant delivered a much smaller percentage of cancellations.
Before we can say the variant is a winner, we’ll need to make sure this data is statistically significant. We can use the A/B test significance calculator to get this data. Here’s how it looks:
On the right, we see that this data is statistically significant. We can move forward with full confidence knowing that the variant page is the real winner. Customers who saw this page will be less likely to cancel later on down the road.
A Word of Caution
While this data is valuable, it’s important to be careful with the conclusions you reach.
While the original/variant page did lead to more cancellations and it is statistically significant, can we be 100% no-doubt-about-it absolutely sure that this is the reason more people canceled? No, we cannot. Correlation is not causation. It could just be happenstance that those shown the original/variant page canceled at a higher rate than those shown the variant/original – and the original/variant page should not be blamed.
This also doesn’t mean the data is worthless. Perhaps the original/variant page made a promise that the product couldn’t live up to. Or maybe the original/variant page attracted the wrong audience. To find this out, we can collect data from our canceled customers and see if we find trends. If not, it may just be coincidence.
We can find the canceled customers in Kissmetrics. Here’s how:
We’ll click to view the people in the “Subscription canceled” step and view the people in the variant segment. From there, we’ll get our list of people, and we can contact them to learn why they canceled.
Track Tests with the A/B Test Report
Kissmetrics has a report that tracks your A/B tests. It’s called the A/B Test Report, and it has some unique features.
This report does not create tests for you. You can still use Optimizely, VWO, Unbounce, etc. for that. It does track the test, report the results, and import the data into your Kissmetrics account. There are a few additional benefits of using this report:
The statistical significance calculator is built in. You’ll see the amount of data that came in, and the Report will draw a conclusion for you (e.g., variant beat original). Its calculator will ensure the results are statistically significant, which can reduce the odds of false positives.
You can see how an A/B Test impacts any part of your funnel. Want to see how a homepage headline test impacts signups? No problem, just set “signups” as your conversion event. You aren’t limited to testing only to the next conversion step.
Here’s how the report looks:
You’ll get multiple metrics for each variant, and even be able to see every person in each variant.
Click here to watch a video demo of the A/B Test Report.
Get the Whole Picture with Kissmetrics
It would be impossible to get this kind of data if you weren’t using a tool like Kissmetrics.
A benefit to using a people-tracking platform like Kissmetrics is that each visitor to your site is recorded as what they are – a person, not a session. This makes your data accurate.
If you’re running an A/B test, each person gets tagged with the pages they saw, and you’ll be able to go back and see which pages/steps they went through, as we just did. With Kissmetrics, you can see the entire customer journey, from when the prospect first visited (and which variant they saw) to the customer’s most recent action. As long as you have the tracking in place, you can get the important data you need.
To see how Kissmetrics can benefit your marketing, signup for a personal demo today. To get right into it, you can signup for a 14-day Kissmetrics trial.
About the Author: Zach Bulygo (Twitter) is a Content Writer for Kissmetrics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1OruBxD via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1HYKLLl
July 25, 2015 at 03:47AM
Added: Sep 15, 2015 Via IFTTT
Just How Important is The Fold? 5 Things to Consider
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Just How Important is “The Fold”? 5 Things to Consider
“If there’s one lesson to take from every major change in how people browse the internet…it’s that users hate to click and don’t mind scrolling…Clicking is like a choice, like jumping; scrolling is inevitable, like falling.”
-John Herman, in an article for Buzzfeed
The above quote by John Herman is interesting because he’s both right and wrong.
He’s right because, in terms of simplicity, scrolling is a far better option than clicking. It’s something that just happens naturally. Clicking, on the other hand, is a choice, and that isn’t as easy or as appealing—especially not on a smartphone with limited screen space.
But John is also wrong because he is oversimplifying the reality of website engagement. Single page sites are better because scrolling is superior to clicking, but that’s not to say that users “don’t mind scrolling.” They do mind scrolling because they have attention spans. And last we checked, our attention spans are pretty pathetic.
That’s why all websites, whether they’re traditional or single page, are designed with “the fold” in mind. The fold is the invisible cutoff for any page when it loads. In the picture above, it’s at the bottom of the pink shaded region. Everything in pink is “above the fold”, while everything else is “below the fold”. And what’s above the fold is what determines whether your website is optimized.
If you haven’t given much thought to the fold since your website launched, here are 5 things you should be doing right now:
1. Find Out What Devices Your Visitors Are Using
Determining whether the majority of your visitors are on mobile, tablet or desktop devices is critically important to effective website design. If you haven’t done so already, go to the “Audience” tab of your Google Analytics account and find out right now.
If you haven’t had the time to configure Google Analytics to display these stats, you’ll have to set up the web tracking code. This helpful support article from Google shows you how to do it.
Once you determine the device most of your visitors are using, you can create a strategic plan for your homepage design. Without this key piece of information, you’re relying on guesswork.
2. Find Out Which Screen Resolution Most Visitors Use
Keep in mind that even if 90% of all your visitors are coming from mobile (in which case a single page website is pretty much your only option), they could still be viewing your mobile-optimized site in all sorts of weird ways you wouldn’t expect. By turning a phone on its side, for example, you’re effectively cutting everything above the fold in half while increasing the size of everything in the first half.
The same goes for desktops and tablets. Some monitors are set up on their sides (developers usually do this), and different monitors have different resolutions.
Although there’s no way to actually know how your visitors are viewing your site, you can do the next best thing: know the most popular screen resolution. In Google Analytics: Audience —> Technology —> Browser & OS —> Screen Resolution:
Once you’ve determined the most popular resolutions, you can compare notes by viewing your site at those resolutions. In Chrome, all you have to do is open “Inspect Element” and click on the gear icon in the bottom-right corner of the screen. Once you’re in Settings, select “Overrides” and check the “Enable” box:
Now you can easily toggle the viewing resolution of the page using “Device metrics”. How closely did what you put “above the fold” match up to what your visitors are actually seeing?
3. Know How Far Visitors Are Scrolling
Keep in mind that everything above the fold is just the tip of the iceberg, and everything below it is the majority of your site. In order to really optimize your content, you need to know just how far your visitors are scrolling, which can be a bit tricky.
One of the only disadvantages of a single page website is that it’s harder to track visitors. In a traditional website, you could easily see what pages are most popular. In a single page website, you need to rely on heat-mapping and mouse-tracking.
If you aren’t using either of those solutions, you can still rely on published statistics. It turns out that the majority of website visitors (~75%) begin scrolling before a page even fully loads. In other words, they can very quickly decide whether they want to see what’s below the fold. Nearly 90% of all visitors will wait until the page fully loads, and will see everything above the fold. But retention drops off very quickly after that.
Image Source
25 million web sessions don’t lie. While people certainly don’t mind scrolling, they do have low attention spans. Only 30% of visitors will remain on your website by the end of the “second page” beneath the fold (1,500 pixels)–a staggering 300% loss. And by the end of the “third page”, only 13% remain.
Another chart shows that the average time spent on a site before abandonment beneath the fold is 13 seconds.
Image Source
Some marketers like to argue that the fold isn’t really all that important. I’d like to think these charts have convinced you otherwise.
4. Make Sure They Keep Scrolling Down
That’s not to say that there’s no hope for any content beneath the fold. There is–you just have to convince your visitors to keep scrolling. Different websites do this in a number of ways, from using page trails and staggered content columns to flat out asking readers to scroll down.
Example of a page trail
Example of staggered content columns
Example of a fold CTA
The morale of the story? If you want readers to keep scrolling beneath the fold, you need to hook them.
5. If You’re Telling Your Story Right, It Might Not Matter It Still Matters
Just in case you still aren’t convinced that the fold is a big deal, check out this excellent post by Paddy Donnelly, which features unconventional site design. The post aims to convince readers that everything doesn’t have to be above the fold, and it does a great job of doing just that. One of the sites featured is 37signals, which had a single page website that totally defied conventions and pretty much ignored the fold completely.
But it’s a bit telling that, since Paddy’s post went live, 37signals has effectively killed that site design. Now the same page guides visitors to Basecamp, a classic “above the fold” webpage.
Which Side Do You Fall On?
Innovation is important. But when it comes to website design, living above the fold is the way to go. Sure, this could eventually change (like when we all start wearing virtual reality headsets where we can see more just by looking down). But in 2015, and for the forseeable future, mind your screen real estate.
About the Author: Alp Mimaroglu is a Marketing Luminary at Symantec. He specializes in marketing automation, demand generation, analytics, and marketing technology. Alp has extensive experience with both business and consumer marketing. He’s passionate about how technology is rapidly becoming the key to success in both the corporate sales and marketing landscapes. Follow Alp on LinkedIn and Twitter.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1Kdpcdb via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1F0oEIP
September 15, 2015 at 09:10PM
“If there’s one lesson to take from every major change in how people browse the internet…it’s that users hate to click and don’t mind scrolling…Clicking is like a choice, like jumping; scrolling is inevitable, like falling.”
-John Herman, in an article for Buzzfeed
The above quote by John Herman is interesting because he’s both right and wrong.
He’s right because, in terms of simplicity, scrolling is a far better option than clicking. It’s something that just happens naturally. Clicking, on the other hand, is a choice, and that isn’t as easy or as appealing—especially not on a smartphone with limited screen space.
But John is also wrong because he is oversimplifying the reality of website engagement. Single page sites are better because scrolling is superior to clicking, but that’s not to say that users “don’t mind scrolling.” They do mind scrolling because they have attention spans. And last we checked, our attention spans are pretty pathetic.
That’s why all websites, whether they’re traditional or single page, are designed with “the fold” in mind. The fold is the invisible cutoff for any page when it loads. In the picture above, it’s at the bottom of the pink shaded region. Everything in pink is “above the fold”, while everything else is “below the fold”. And what’s above the fold is what determines whether your website is optimized.
If you haven’t given much thought to the fold since your website launched, here are 5 things you should be doing right now:
1. Find Out What Devices Your Visitors Are Using
Determining whether the majority of your visitors are on mobile, tablet or desktop devices is critically important to effective website design. If you haven’t done so already, go to the “Audience” tab of your Google Analytics account and find out right now.
If you haven’t had the time to configure Google Analytics to display these stats, you’ll have to set up the web tracking code. This helpful support article from Google shows you how to do it.
Once you determine the device most of your visitors are using, you can create a strategic plan for your homepage design. Without this key piece of information, you’re relying on guesswork.
2. Find Out Which Screen Resolution Most Visitors Use
Keep in mind that even if 90% of all your visitors are coming from mobile (in which case a single page website is pretty much your only option), they could still be viewing your mobile-optimized site in all sorts of weird ways you wouldn’t expect. By turning a phone on its side, for example, you’re effectively cutting everything above the fold in half while increasing the size of everything in the first half.
The same goes for desktops and tablets. Some monitors are set up on their sides (developers usually do this), and different monitors have different resolutions.
Although there’s no way to actually know how your visitors are viewing your site, you can do the next best thing: know the most popular screen resolution. In Google Analytics: Audience —> Technology —> Browser & OS —> Screen Resolution:
Once you’ve determined the most popular resolutions, you can compare notes by viewing your site at those resolutions. In Chrome, all you have to do is open “Inspect Element” and click on the gear icon in the bottom-right corner of the screen. Once you’re in Settings, select “Overrides” and check the “Enable” box:
Now you can easily toggle the viewing resolution of the page using “Device metrics”. How closely did what you put “above the fold” match up to what your visitors are actually seeing?
3. Know How Far Visitors Are Scrolling
Keep in mind that everything above the fold is just the tip of the iceberg, and everything below it is the majority of your site. In order to really optimize your content, you need to know just how far your visitors are scrolling, which can be a bit tricky.
One of the only disadvantages of a single page website is that it’s harder to track visitors. In a traditional website, you could easily see what pages are most popular. In a single page website, you need to rely on heat-mapping and mouse-tracking.
If you aren’t using either of those solutions, you can still rely on published statistics. It turns out that the majority of website visitors (~75%) begin scrolling before a page even fully loads. In other words, they can very quickly decide whether they want to see what’s below the fold. Nearly 90% of all visitors will wait until the page fully loads, and will see everything above the fold. But retention drops off very quickly after that.
Image Source
25 million web sessions don’t lie. While people certainly don’t mind scrolling, they do have low attention spans. Only 30% of visitors will remain on your website by the end of the “second page” beneath the fold (1,500 pixels)–a staggering 300% loss. And by the end of the “third page”, only 13% remain.
Another chart shows that the average time spent on a site before abandonment beneath the fold is 13 seconds.
Image Source
Some marketers like to argue that the fold isn’t really all that important. I’d like to think these charts have convinced you otherwise.
4. Make Sure They Keep Scrolling Down
That’s not to say that there’s no hope for any content beneath the fold. There is–you just have to convince your visitors to keep scrolling. Different websites do this in a number of ways, from using page trails and staggered content columns to flat out asking readers to scroll down.
Example of a page trail
Example of staggered content columns
Example of a fold CTA
The morale of the story? If you want readers to keep scrolling beneath the fold, you need to hook them.
5. If You’re Telling Your Story Right, It Might Not Matter It Still Matters
Just in case you still aren’t convinced that the fold is a big deal, check out this excellent post by Paddy Donnelly, which features unconventional site design. The post aims to convince readers that everything doesn’t have to be above the fold, and it does a great job of doing just that. One of the sites featured is 37signals, which had a single page website that totally defied conventions and pretty much ignored the fold completely.
But it’s a bit telling that, since Paddy’s post went live, 37signals has effectively killed that site design. Now the same page guides visitors to Basecamp, a classic “above the fold” webpage.
Which Side Do You Fall On?
Innovation is important. But when it comes to website design, living above the fold is the way to go. Sure, this could eventually change (like when we all start wearing virtual reality headsets where we can see more just by looking down). But in 2015, and for the forseeable future, mind your screen real estate.
About the Author: Alp Mimaroglu is a Marketing Luminary at Symantec. He specializes in marketing automation, demand generation, analytics, and marketing technology. Alp has extensive experience with both business and consumer marketing. He’s passionate about how technology is rapidly becoming the key to success in both the corporate sales and marketing landscapes. Follow Alp on LinkedIn and Twitter.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1Kdpcdb via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1F0oEIP
September 15, 2015 at 09:10PM
Added: Oct 11, 2015 Via IFTTT
Keyword Canine 3.0 Review
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Keyword Canine 3.0 – Review
I have been a user of Jonathan Ledgers The Best Spinner for a number of years now. This tool has proved extremely valuable when it comes to generating content. Check out my The Best Spinner Review if you would like more information. When I found out Jonathan had his own keyword research tool I thought I […]
The post Keyword Canine 3.0 – Review appeared first on Webmaster Forum.
from Webmaster Forum | RSS Feed http://ift.tt/1K1Kozg via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Webmaster Forum | RSS Feed
http://ift.tt/1LHrAg6
October 11, 2015 at 07:56PM
I have been a user of Jonathan Ledgers The Best Spinner for a number of years now. This tool has proved extremely valuable when it comes to generating content. Check out my The Best Spinner Review if you would like more information. When I found out Jonathan had his own keyword research tool I thought I […]
The post Keyword Canine 3.0 – Review appeared first on Webmaster Forum.
from Webmaster Forum | RSS Feed http://ift.tt/1K1Kozg via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Webmaster Forum | RSS Feed
http://ift.tt/1LHrAg6
October 11, 2015 at 07:56PM
Added: Apr 22, 2019 Via IFTTT
Keyword Canine 3.0 Review
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Keyword Canine 3.0 – Review
I have been a user of Jonathan Ledgers The Best Spinner for a number of years now. This tool has proved extremely valuable when it comes to generating content. Check out my The Best Spinner Review if you would like more information. When I found out Jonathan had his own keyword research tool I thought I […]
The post Keyword Canine 3.0 – Review appeared first on Webmaster Forum.
from Webmaster Forum | RSS Feed http://ift.tt/1K1Kozg via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Webmaster Forum | RSS Feed
http://bit.ly/2VaNvqb
October 11, 2015 at 07:56PM
I have been a user of Jonathan Ledgers The Best Spinner for a number of years now. This tool has proved extremely valuable when it comes to generating content. Check out my The Best Spinner Review if you would like more information. When I found out Jonathan had his own keyword research tool I thought I […]
The post Keyword Canine 3.0 – Review appeared first on Webmaster Forum.
from Webmaster Forum | RSS Feed http://ift.tt/1K1Kozg via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Webmaster Forum | RSS Feed
http://bit.ly/2VaNvqb
October 11, 2015 at 07:56PM
Added: Sep 11, 2015 Via IFTTT
Kissmetrics Product Update: Engage Color Customization Custom Date Filters and Multi-Touch Attribution
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Kissmetrics Product Update: Engage Color Customization, Custom Date Filters and Multi-Touch Attribution
We’ve got a lot of exciting updates to announce. Many of you have sent us requests for these features, so we hope you love them as much as we do.
So without further ado:
1) Engage Color Customization
Customize the colors of your messages to match
Color has the power to either increase or decrease conversions. So why limit Engagements to dark and light color schemes only?
We added color customization so you can use any color that matches or complements your website. It’s perfect if you have a custom hex code that your team uses as part of a style guide or if you want to use simply choose different colors to make your Engagements stand out using our color selector.
Here’s some examples of what some of our customers are thinking of using Engage colors for.
This customer is using the announcement design:
These two are employing the Bumper design:
2) Filter With Custom Dates
Each filter condition can now be limited to a custom date range of your choice. Get advanced insights into your marketing funnel without building an internal team or tool.
Let’s say you want to view all the people who have signed up for a free trial in the last 30 days, specifically those who have also viewed your pricing page in the last 3 months.
Before, you only had the option to filter out viewing the pricing page in the entire history of a customer’s activity. Now, you can choose a custom date range for any report filters.
This is great for finding out behavioral insights such as:
How is my sign-up conversion rate affected if people don’t view the pricing page in the past 30 days?
How is my purchase conversion rate affected if people only see email campaigns in the past 2 weeks?
How is our 30-day retention affected if people haven’t used a specific feature in the past 2 weeks?
These advanced filtering techniques are usually reserved for in-house analytics teams that build this from the ground up to test hypotheses, but now you have the power of finding these insights yourself and to become the next Facebook “7 friends in 10 days” insight superstar with ease.
3) Breakdown Over Time: Multi-Touch Attribution
We know that marketing isn’t about a simple first or last touch anymore. It’s about how all of your different campaigns work together to acquire a customer. Wouldn’t you want to see what each source for each conversion is?
For example, maybe your eCommerce store sells hats and shirts. That means customers will come back to purchase different items. Maybe the first purchase was driven by a Facebook ad, the second was attributed to an email campaign, and the third purchase was attributed to a Twitter post. You used to be able to only see first or last touch, but now you can get a breakdown over time of how multiple touchpoints result in conversions.
Without this breakdown of attribution, you would have never known your email campaign had an influence in this customer’s purchase behavior. Now you can accurately give credit to channels that drove conversion–whether they’re the first, second or last.
As always, I’d love to hear what you think about any of our new features–the good, the bad and the ugly. Email [email protected] and I’ll read every response.
About the Author: Chuck Liu is the Director of Growth at Kissmetrics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1MgQz9L via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1Q6Xi3S
September 11, 2015 at 10:55PM
We’ve got a lot of exciting updates to announce. Many of you have sent us requests for these features, so we hope you love them as much as we do.
So without further ado:
1) Engage Color Customization
Customize the colors of your messages to match
Color has the power to either increase or decrease conversions. So why limit Engagements to dark and light color schemes only?
We added color customization so you can use any color that matches or complements your website. It’s perfect if you have a custom hex code that your team uses as part of a style guide or if you want to use simply choose different colors to make your Engagements stand out using our color selector.
Here’s some examples of what some of our customers are thinking of using Engage colors for.
This customer is using the announcement design:
These two are employing the Bumper design:
2) Filter With Custom Dates
Each filter condition can now be limited to a custom date range of your choice. Get advanced insights into your marketing funnel without building an internal team or tool.
Let’s say you want to view all the people who have signed up for a free trial in the last 30 days, specifically those who have also viewed your pricing page in the last 3 months.
Before, you only had the option to filter out viewing the pricing page in the entire history of a customer’s activity. Now, you can choose a custom date range for any report filters.
This is great for finding out behavioral insights such as:
How is my sign-up conversion rate affected if people don’t view the pricing page in the past 30 days?
How is my purchase conversion rate affected if people only see email campaigns in the past 2 weeks?
How is our 30-day retention affected if people haven’t used a specific feature in the past 2 weeks?
These advanced filtering techniques are usually reserved for in-house analytics teams that build this from the ground up to test hypotheses, but now you have the power of finding these insights yourself and to become the next Facebook “7 friends in 10 days” insight superstar with ease.
3) Breakdown Over Time: Multi-Touch Attribution
We know that marketing isn’t about a simple first or last touch anymore. It’s about how all of your different campaigns work together to acquire a customer. Wouldn’t you want to see what each source for each conversion is?
For example, maybe your eCommerce store sells hats and shirts. That means customers will come back to purchase different items. Maybe the first purchase was driven by a Facebook ad, the second was attributed to an email campaign, and the third purchase was attributed to a Twitter post. You used to be able to only see first or last touch, but now you can get a breakdown over time of how multiple touchpoints result in conversions.
Without this breakdown of attribution, you would have never known your email campaign had an influence in this customer’s purchase behavior. Now you can accurately give credit to channels that drove conversion–whether they’re the first, second or last.
As always, I’d love to hear what you think about any of our new features–the good, the bad and the ugly. Email [email protected] and I’ll read every response.
About the Author: Chuck Liu is the Director of Growth at Kissmetrics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1MgQz9L via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1Q6Xi3S
September 11, 2015 at 10:55PM
Added: Oct 02, 2015 Via IFTTT
Long Tail Pro Review Version 3 Tutorial by WebmasterForum.ws
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Long Tail Pro Review Version 3 Tutorial by WebmasterForum.ws
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Long Tail Pro Review Version 3 Tutorial
http://ift.tt/1VueDFz
October 02, 2015 at 05:11PM
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Long Tail Pro Review Version 3 Tutorial
http://ift.tt/1VueDFz
October 02, 2015 at 05:11PM
Added: Apr 22, 2019 Via IFTTT
Long Tail Pro Review Version 3 Tutorial by WebmasterForum.ws
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Long Tail Pro Review Version 3 Tutorial by WebmasterForum.ws
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Long Tail Pro Review Version 3 Tutorial
http://bit.ly/2VprkwB
October 02, 2015 at 05:11PM
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Long Tail Pro Review Version 3 Tutorial
http://bit.ly/2VprkwB
October 02, 2015 at 05:11PM
Added: Jul 14, 2015 Via IFTTT
Make Twitter Profitable: Here Are 6 Companies That Did Just That
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Make Twitter Profitable: Here Are 6 Companies That Did Just That
Adwords in ‘01.
It was a goldmine – If you knew how to use it.
Twitter Ads have the potential to be the next gold rush for anyone looking to market their business.
But as with Adwords in ‘01, you need to know how to maneuver around and bend the Twitter platform to earn a ROI.
In this article we’ll look at the strategies used by 6 companies who managed to earn an ROI using Twitter Ads.
We’ll look at how their campaigns worked and why they worked. We’ll be pulling examples from all over the web, looking at companies in a variety of niches.
By the end of this article you’ll have a handful of Twitter tactics that you can take away and implement in your own business.
They won’t require you to play big. Even the smallest of takeaways could help you redefine your marketing approach.
1. The bathroom freshener that generated $73,000 in sales (94% of which came from new customers) using Twitter Ads
One thing I want to convey in this post is that you can pretty much market anything (within reason) if you know how to use Twitter Ads.
The first case study we’re going to look at is based on a company called ‘Poo-Pourri’ — a company that essentially sells a bathroom odor neutralizer.
They had already experienced some success with a viral video boosted by some YouTube Ads. The viral effect of their video allowed for them to build an organic following. They wanted to expand their efforts, so they looked into using Twitter and Facebook Ads.
The team at Poo-Pourri loves to instill humor into their ads and branding. They discovered that their Twitter audience resonated best with their comedic style.
Based on what they had found, Poo-Pourri decided that they should run a Twitter Ad campaign over the holidays.
The results were impressive:
$73,000 in sales
93% sales came from new customers
A 50% increase in basket size
The campaign targeted people who had relevant interests. They also targeted the followers of relevant Twitter accounts.
If you look at an example of a Poo-Pourri ad below, you’ll notice a number of things. Each of which contributed to their success.
Source
Notice how the image explains how the product works. It’s simple and easy to understand — also a bit funny. The image also makes up for limited character space too.
Look at the ad copy. There is a little bit of humor in the first line — though you could argue that isn’t really important. What’s more important is that it gives you a reason to consider the product. Poo-Pourri helps fix the problem of knowing what to buy for someone during the holidays.
The 20% off is also a big help. It entices people to consider the product and maybe even buy it.
If you want success with Twitter Ads, don’t worry about having a small Twitter following. Just target the right audience and consider experimenting with humor and have some fun. It’s always easy to switch to another advertisement if you’re not having luck with your original.
How you can implement the Poo-Pourri strategies into your own campaigns.
Awareness Days
Poo-Pourri based their campaign around the holidays. However, you don’t have to wait that long. You can try and promote a campaign around an ‘Awareness day.’
Check out national-awareness-days.com to find out if there is a relevant awareness day coming up.
Piggybacking off of an up and coming awareness day. In doing so, you too might be able to boost your sales in similar fashion to Poo-Pourri.
Creating Twitter Images
If you go to http://ift.tt/YNTLTc, you’ll be able to view websites related to photo editing and design. The websites listed will allow for you to create some awesome images for your Twitter Ads.
This article too, lists how you can create some images for your Twitter Ads.
If you have the budget, you might even consider using a service such as 99designs, to help you create the perfect image.
When creating images, try and ensure they’re eye catching. Faces are often helpful. Though if you can explain your product in the image, that can also help.
How to create effective copy for your Twitter Ads
This article can help you create the copy for your Twitter Ads. The examples listed use proven principles related to the world of copywriting.
These principles are then condensed so that they fit the Twitter character limit.
Experiment, and see how you can adapt the ideas to your own tweets.
2. The non-profit that managed to save lives using Twitter Ads
Nonprofits are always in need of ideas that help them raise awareness for their cause.
The nature of their business means that creativity is often key. Otherwise, they won’t be able to attract any attention, in what is an already crowded space.
Here is an example of a nonprofit called ‘The British Heart Foundation’ (BHF). They used Twitter Ads to raise awareness.
The BHF wanted to teach people how to administer CPR. Normally they’d go straight to TV. This time, however, they decided to use Twitter in order to promote their video first. Their campaign lead to 1.7 million views.
They also sparked a dialogue that lead to new Twitter trends being created. The trends were based on the BHF’s initial Twitter Ad campaign.
Here’s the video (it’s really well done!):
The most important metric, however, is that they were able to save lives.
Source
So what did they get right?
Firstly the video itself was very entertaining. Not all companies consider using video in their ads, so that decision alone was a creative move.
Secondly, the ad copy did a great job at developing curiosity. Upon reading it, you want to learn more.
The company also took another step to get their message out there. That was the act of creating a promoted trend.
If you’re familiar with Twitter you’ll know that trends refer to popular topics on the platform. A lot of people check out these trends to learn what’s going on in the world. The fact that the campaign was promoted as a trend, meant that it was placed in another location where people would be able to see it.
The trend tag #hardandfast, generated curiosity, compelling people to find out more. A promoted trend, however, can be very, very, expensive. Either way, even if it weren’t for the Twitter promoted trends ad, the campaign would do well.
That is because the key to their success, was that they created an entertaining campaign. As with the ‘Poo-Pourri’ campaign, comedy on Twitter is something that seems to flourish.
How you can implement the BHF strategy into your own campaign.
Creating a Video
It can be hard to create a viral video. This Kissmetrics post gives you some tips on how to create a viral video. Yet, even still you might find it challenging.
As a result you might just search for a company that can produce a great video. You don’t have to focus on this video going viral. You just have to ensure that it does a good job at selling your offer.
A lot of people have found that demoduck.com is a good company for creating video content. Though your video’s might not go viral, you can still experience an ROI if your video does a good job at communicating your message or value proposition.
3. The restaurant chain that created its biggest opening event ever thanks to Twitter Ads
A lot of the examples mentioned in this post relate to sales and conversations taking place online. However, there are going to be some of you who want to know how Twitter Ads can produce offline results.
The next company we’re going to look at is a restaurant chain. They promoted a new opening using Twitter Ads.
Known as Poncho 8, this restaurant is commonly referred to as a burrito bar. They were already active on Twitter. Using Twitter, they mainly focused on engaging existing customers and asking for feedback.
However, when the time came for promotion, they had to take a more active approach. The change led to them using Twitter Ads.
Using the platform, Poncho8 experienced the biggest restaurant opening ever in the company’s history (there are 6 restaurants). Twitter was definitely a big reason as to why this happened.
Let’s take a look at the steps that this company took to produce such results.
Their goal was to promote the launch event. To do this they used promoted tweets and promoted accounts.
Their promoted tweets mentioned special offers and popular menu items. The copy on the ad alluded to a new restaurant opening. This can be seen with the #Paddingtoncomingsoon tag.
Source
To ensure that the people saw their content, the company created a few promoted accounts. These promoted accounts were designed to attract followers . These users would then see more tweets on their timeline – related to the company.
An example of a promoted account
The promoted account copy alludes to a new restaurant opening. The offer of freebies and food is entices people to follow the company.
Being based in London, a lot of their target market is young professionals. As a result, Poncho 8 targeted the followers of companies that had an aligning customer base.
This was done by targeting the followers of publications which were aimed at young professionals. In doing so they were able to build up a relevant audience.
Poncho 8 monitored their results and focused on the twitter accounts that were bringing them the best results. This was in terms of the Twitter accounts that had the followers Poncho 8 wanted. The constant tinkering ensured that they were always maximizing their results.
The campaign produced a 23% increase in engagement rate for their tweets. This was a sign that they were targeting the right people.
All of the effort, led to the company having a huge restaurant opening. On the day, the company experienced one of their busiest lunches ever.
How You Can Implement the Strategies Used by Poncho8
Poncho 8 did a few things to ensure that their campaign went well. Here is how you can follow in their footsteps. Keep in mind that these tips relate to offline and online campaigns.
Creating a Promoted Account
A promoted account is effective in the long run. When you have a bunch of relevant followers you can reach a lot of people without having to spend money.
If you want to create a promoted account, you’ll need to take the following steps.
Go to the Twitter Ads dashboard and click on the “Create new campaign” button.
Then pick ‘Followers.’
Give your campaign a name. In terms of run date, choose immediately. That is unless you have another strategy in mind.
Set up the creative you want, i.e. the tweets. These tweets will need to entice people into following your account. Be benefit rich and include a call to action. You can use an existing Tweet. Though you might not have any Tweets that are designed to attract followers.
Here is some inspiration:
Remember, you can use the formulas mentioned in the Poo-Pourri section. That article will help you create copy that encourages people to take action.
Set a budget for your campaign.
When choosing the price, you have the option of using an automatic bid or a maximum bid. The challenge lies in working out the lifetime value of a follower.
If you know this, you might be able to decide on a maximum bid. If you want to just get started and not worry, an automatic bid is best.
Of course, you are free to enter a very high maximum bid to ensure tweets are shown. However keep in mind that Twitter still takes into account the relevancy, recency and the resonance of a tweet. The more you can improve those metrics, the increased chances of your ad being shown instead of another ads.
How to target a competitor’s Twitter followers
Target Twitter followers that are similar to the followers of other companies.
As seen, one way to find relevant followers is by targeting the followers of relevant companies, or direct competitors.
You can either target people who are similar to the followers of your competitors, or you can target the exact followers of competitors.
If you’re going to target similar followers, this is how you’d do it.
Create a campaign and then click on the add followers tab, underneath the targeting header.
Then enter the usernames of competitors or accounts that have an audience that matches your needs.
Once you’ve entered an account that has similar followers, Twitter will let you know what the estimated audience size is. It will also let you know of other companies you might want to include in your targeting preferences.
Underneath the suggested usernames, you’ll see an option to target users like your followers. Whether or not you click this option depends on what your goals are.
Do you want more people who are like your current followers? Or do you want to attract a completely different crowd?
How to target the exact followers of another Twitter account
If you want to target the exact followers of your competitors or of a relevant company, this is how you’d do it.
You first need to compile a list of followers, based on the company you’re interested in.
You can either go to your competitors account and spend a couple of hours entering their followers into a spreadsheet, or you can use FollowerWonk.
Assuming you use FollowerWonk, this is how you’d go about the process.
To export follower CSV lists, you will need a paid subscription – though there is a free trial of 30 days.
Once you become a member, click on the ‘Analyze’ tab. This is found on the homepage. Then enter the username you want to target. Once done, use the drop down menu and pick ‘analyze their followers’
It takes a little while to create the report.
FollowerWonk struggles in terms of downloading information based on more than 100,000 followers. It will therefore take a sample size.
After a little while click on FollowerWonk reports.
You’ll then see this screen. Pick the report you want to view.
You’ll then see the report.
Click on the icon highlighted to download the data.
It will ask you what format you want.
Pick one and then the report will be created. It will take some time.
Once downloaded, delete every other column in the file apart from the screen names. Be sure to delete the line called ‘Screen names’ too.
Then go about uploading this list to Twitter. Go to the Twitter Ads Dashboard. Then click on ‘Tools’ and choose ‘Audience manager.’
Pick a list name. Then click on usernames and upload your list.
Submit it all and then wait for Twitter to approve everything.
Note that the number generally needs to be over 500. If the audience is too small and you’ll get this message.
It will look like this when complete. Twitter will remove some people from the list you’ve added. The reasons for this vary. Some accounts might be inactive for example.
Once you’re custom audience has been uploaded, create a campaign.
Then go to this section of the page.
Click on ‘Add Tailored audiences.’
You’ll then be able to target the list of followers you uploaded.
Unclick the ‘Expand reach by targeting similar users’ button.
This feature is designed to include people who might be similar to the audience you’re targeting in that list. You most likely do not want this, as it will include other people and reduce the precision of your campaign.
Excluding a List of Twitter accounts
If you look at the text that follows the button, you will notice that it explains how you can exclude the audience that belongs to your list.
That might be helpful if the list you have downloaded, includes existing customers for example. If you want to create a campaign that excludes this audience list, you’d do the following.
Scroll down and click on the ‘Browse your tailored audiences’ button.
Then as before, select your audience list. Once selected, you’ll see that the chosen list of Twitter users are now excluded from your campaign.
From there on, go ahead and create the campaign as you normally would.
Viewing Twitter analytics
If you want to quickly find out some interesting information about your Twitter account, you can head over to analytics.twitter.com.
Even if you’re not running paid Twitter Ads, you can use the page to view some analytics data, based on past tweets.
4. The Twitter Ads technique that became the main source of app downloads for this London startup
If you thought your business was in a crowded market, you might just change your mind after looking at the market for apps.
Tons of apps are coming out each and every week. Yet despite this, a London startup still managed to gain some traction with their app.
Their main source of app downloads? Yep you guessed it – Twitter Ads.
Known as Bizzby (Their story is documented here), the company found that customer value was 20% higher for leads that came through Twitter. Their Twitter leads also produced more quality installs and lead to more returning users.
So what made their Twitter Ads effective?
As with every other company mentioned so far, they first focused on their targeting. They decided to take advantage of the fact that their app relied on local services.
Using Twitter’s ability to target by location, Bizzby focused their ads on specific locations.
When they did this, they were able to convey the precise targeting in the copy. Check out the image below.
Source
Because they were able to target by postcode, they could catch a user’s attention with personalized and relevant copy. This made the ad highly intriguing.
They also made the genius move of customizing their images – based on the device being targeted.
If they were advertising to android users, they would show what their app looks like on an android device. They did the same for an iPhone too. This added level of relevance, improved their ability to resonate with potential customers.
Bizzby continually optimized their campaign. They targeted audiences who had not downloaded their app before. The way that their campaigns were set up, meant that they were reaching new people each and every day.
There’s a lot that Bizzby got right. But by now a lot of it should not be new information. They targeted their ads as much as possible and made the copy appealing.
Something that hasn’t been previously touched upon, is that they picked the right kind of ad when setting up their campaign. The campaign was designed to drive app installs. The big button that says install makes it easy for people to do just that.
How you can implement the strategies used by Bizzby
Precise Location Targeting
Bizzby’s location targeting methods allowed for them to separate themselves from the crowd. If you’d like to try out something similar, this is how to implement that strategy.
Go to the targeting section of the campaign creator.
You have two options here. You can either enter the locations one by one or you can import a list of locations.
This is what happens when you search for locations.
Enter a postal code or a location and you’ll be presented with a drop down menu. Pick the one that is right for you.
If you want to manually import locations, click on the import locations button. You’ll then see the following screen.
When you import the locations you’ll subsequently see a drop down menu. This is allows for you to pick the right option.
Keep in mind that Twitter does not cover all areas just yet, and so there might be some errors on a few locations.
The drop down option is very useful. I’m actually looking to target the Manchester that is based in the UK, not the US one. If I click the drop down menu, I’ll be able to see the UK option of Manchester.
Once done, create your campaign as normal.
How to focus on obtaining new users
If you want to advertise to people who have not installed your app, this is how you would do it.
Click on the ‘Create new campaign’ button and select ‘App installs or engagements’.
Before you can advertise an App, you need to obtain the URL of the app. You can do this by going to the Playstore or App Store page of your app.
Visit the relevant store and copy the URL, as shown in the image below.
Then once you have this URL, go back to Twitter and click on ‘Add new App’.
Note that there is an icon here that relates to conversion tracking. You can set that up now or later. We’re going to focus on setting the app up first.
Once you click ‘Add a new app,’ you’ll be given a choice in terms of the device that you want to target. You can tailor your campaigns towards different devices. This is what the team at Bizzby did.
Ideally you’ll want to create different campaigns for each app. You’ll then have the option of having custom creatives for each app.
To do that choose the device/OS you’re looking to target and enter the URL of your app. If all goes well you should see a logo, based on the app you’re advertising. Click on save.
You’ll then see this. Click on ‘Select’ so that you can start setting up a campaign for this app.
You’ll then see this.
If you do not set up ‘conversion tracking’, Twitter will be doing a lot of guess work.
That means your ad will be shown to people who Twitter ‘thinks’ will like it. Therefore consider setting up conversion tracking on your app, to ensure you’re maximising your chances of drawing in new users.
If you want to activate conversion tracking, click on the blue link called set up conversion tracking.
You’ll then need to go through a process that will implement the tracking process.
Once done, choose the option of targeting ‘People without your app installed.’
The topic of conversion tracking on Twitter Ads can become an essay in itself. Here is a page created by Twitter, that details the concept and how you can implement it.
5. How a dating firm changed their Twitter Ads to boost CPA by 800%
Here is an example of a firm that used the Twitter Ads platform early on, but had little success. However as the platform matured and developed a better interface, the company began to see a return.
Of course they also made a few changes to the ads that they were running too.
Known as HowAboutWe, the dating firm explained here, how Twitter Advertising was a big help.
Eventually, Twitter Ads started to produce leads that had a 20% higher chance of becoming paid customers.
Twitter’s targeting capacities, once again came to the rescue. That is thanks to the fact that they could target by location and interest.
The big wins started coming, however, when they implemented a tactic similar to the one used by ‘Poo-Pourri.’
Once HowAboutWe decided to advertise a 50% discount using Twitter Ads, the company boosted their CPA by 800%. This was in comparison to other campaigns where no discount was present.
It can be seen, therefore, that if you’re looking to run a campaign on Twitter, a discount might be something to consider.
HowAboutWe also followed a similar approach to Bizzby, in that they called out their target locations in their copy. This was another step that also went on to boost conversions.
How to implement the strategies used by HowAboutWe
Interest Targeting
If you want to target people by interest, this is how.
Create a campaign as normal. Then scroll down to the ‘additional targeting criteria’ tab.
Enter the relevant interests. You can browse categories if you need some inspiration.
The more interests you tend to add, the larger your reach.
At the moment, it seem as though people will be targeted for their individual interests.
Meaning that if you have ‘Small business’ and ‘Marketing’ – you won’t be necessarily targeting people who like one AND the other. Rather its one OR the other, with maybe some occasional crossover.
That’s how it currently seems – it might be different once you start implementing your ads. You’ll notice that as you add more interests, reach expands. This might therefore dilute your market to message match, when advertising.
Such an effect might lead to more irrelevant clicks, therefore producing lower conversions and increased ad spend.
That is, of course, assuming that ‘Interests’ are you’re only targeting method. It is better to combine this tactic with the other targeting options provided by Twitter. That way you’ll be able to laser focus your ads.
6. The SaaS company that boosted conversion rates by 22% using Twitter Ads
The SaaS world can be an easy one to reach via Twitter. After all a lot of tech savvy people hang out there and readily engage with others on the platform.
Because of this, it’s easy to see why Pingometer (a company that helps minimize website downtime), managed to boost their conversion rates by 22% with the help of Twitter Ads.
When starting out, Pingometer explained here, how they targeted the audiences of similar companies. This kind of targeting shares similarities with the restaurant mentioned earlier.
Such targeting meant that 9/10 new customers after the campaign, first heard of Pingometer because they clicked on a Twitter Ad.
The firm also got into the habit of split testing their ads, so that they could see which variations did best. By testing their own assumptions, they were able to use hard data to improve their campaigns success.
Another thing that Pingometer tested was mobile and non-mobile targeting. They experimented by changing their targeting to non-mobile only. This campaign did much better than the one targeted at mobile users.
If you’re looking to run Twitter Ads, you too should get into the habit of segmenting audiences. There is a lot that you can segment, depending on what your product is and who you’re targeting.
Putting yourself in your customers shoes can really help. Pingometer realized that web developers, for instance, were less likely to go through the sign-up process on a mobile.
When looking to apply this to your own business, you’ll want to consider the product or service you’re offering. Consider whether or not your target market would, or even could, purchase your offering on a mobile device.
In any case, what is to be learned from this campaign?
Firstly, you must figure out how you can reach your target audience.
The easiest way for Pingometer to do this was to target the audiences of similar companies. This is a shortcut used by many firms in a variety of niches.
You must also experiment with different ad variations by adjusting copy and images. A new revelation, however, is that results can be amplified by doing some segmentation, to further improve your targeting.
Targeting Specific devices
If you want to target specific devices, do the following. Go about creating a campaign as normal.
Scroll down until you see ‘Select devices and platforms’. Click on that to expand it and you will see the following.
Pick the devices you want to target and test out your ads.
If you want to be really clever, you can focus on specific devices and connection types.
Relevance is always a good idea when advertising, no matter what the platform.
The options provided, also allow for you to account for human behavior. You may, for instance, only want to advertise an app to those who are connected to WiFi. People might not want to use their data allowance just to download an app.
Consider the points mentioned when creating ads.
Tips for split testing
When split testing it is important to only make one change at a time. That will tell you what lead to a rise or fall in conversions.
Split test the headline, copy and image (if you have one).
Keeping your own swipe file is a great way to come up with brilliant ad and split testing ideas. If you see an ad you like, or you even responded to, screenshot it and store it in your Evernote. Then adapt it to fit your offering and message.
You can also monitor the results of another company or person who used a bit.ly link. To do that, copy the link and then immediately put a plus sign after it. You’ll then be greeted by a dashboard that tells you what results the link attained.
This can be helpful because it can tell you in a sense, how powerful a certain ads call to action was. That is assuming they used a bit.ly link.
Learning more about your customer
When you know more about your existing customers you can then create better ads in the future. That’s because future ads will then resonate with people who share similarities with your existing customer base.
Figure out why people chose you, or what they like best about your service. Do that using a survey tool. Qualaroo is a good tool to use for those who want to learn more about their customers.
With the information you have discovered, make the relevant changes to your ads. Tinker with them so that they appeal to your target market as much as possible. That might include changes to the copy, for instance.
You should know what kinds of problems your potential customers are currently facing. These must be problems that you can solve. You should also know why existing customers choose you instead of everyone else. Once you know that, you can implement that information into your copy.
You can also look at the analytics of your Twitter account. What content resonated the most with your user base? What tweet produced the most customers? How can you emulate pass successes?
Time to Tweet?
So there you have it, 6 companies that managed to create an ROI using Twitter Ads. Looking back at each of the niches, it seems as though a trend is emerging.
Most of the firms who obtain a great ROI with Twitter Ads, found a way to locate their potential customers on Twitter. They put a lot of effort into targeting.
If you want to earn some success with your Twitter Ads you need to know who you’re targeting and how to reach them. If you’re stuck, target the followers of competitors. You can even target companies outside of your niche, that have followers you’d like to engage.
The ad copy and images must be appealing to your target market. This will help build on your targeting efforts. Once you’ve got the targeting down to a tee, you’re free to really experiment with a number of ideas.
You might offer a discount. You could even make use of upcoming events in order to promote your offer. Remember, however, that even though Twitter is a different ad platform, a great CTA is still essential.
Many of the companies that succeeded with Twitter, made their copy entertaining and conversational. This might not apply to all niches, but it’s definitely something to experiment with.
Provided that you’re watching your numbers with an eagle eye, it should all end well. Experiment wisely, and see how you can benefit from some of the strategies mentioned.
If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to mention them in the comments below.
Good Luck!
About The Author: Rakesh Kumar is a freelance writer and online marketer. He writes regularly on the topic of online marketing. He can help those in need of content or marketing advice.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1fGkOsK via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1SlupRF
July 15, 2015 at 01:03AM
Adwords in ‘01.
It was a goldmine – If you knew how to use it.
Twitter Ads have the potential to be the next gold rush for anyone looking to market their business.
But as with Adwords in ‘01, you need to know how to maneuver around and bend the Twitter platform to earn a ROI.
In this article we’ll look at the strategies used by 6 companies who managed to earn an ROI using Twitter Ads.
We’ll look at how their campaigns worked and why they worked. We’ll be pulling examples from all over the web, looking at companies in a variety of niches.
By the end of this article you’ll have a handful of Twitter tactics that you can take away and implement in your own business.
They won’t require you to play big. Even the smallest of takeaways could help you redefine your marketing approach.
1. The bathroom freshener that generated $73,000 in sales (94% of which came from new customers) using Twitter Ads
One thing I want to convey in this post is that you can pretty much market anything (within reason) if you know how to use Twitter Ads.
The first case study we’re going to look at is based on a company called ‘Poo-Pourri’ — a company that essentially sells a bathroom odor neutralizer.
They had already experienced some success with a viral video boosted by some YouTube Ads. The viral effect of their video allowed for them to build an organic following. They wanted to expand their efforts, so they looked into using Twitter and Facebook Ads.
The team at Poo-Pourri loves to instill humor into their ads and branding. They discovered that their Twitter audience resonated best with their comedic style.
Based on what they had found, Poo-Pourri decided that they should run a Twitter Ad campaign over the holidays.
The results were impressive:
$73,000 in sales
93% sales came from new customers
A 50% increase in basket size
The campaign targeted people who had relevant interests. They also targeted the followers of relevant Twitter accounts.
If you look at an example of a Poo-Pourri ad below, you’ll notice a number of things. Each of which contributed to their success.
Source
Notice how the image explains how the product works. It’s simple and easy to understand — also a bit funny. The image also makes up for limited character space too.
Look at the ad copy. There is a little bit of humor in the first line — though you could argue that isn’t really important. What’s more important is that it gives you a reason to consider the product. Poo-Pourri helps fix the problem of knowing what to buy for someone during the holidays.
The 20% off is also a big help. It entices people to consider the product and maybe even buy it.
If you want success with Twitter Ads, don’t worry about having a small Twitter following. Just target the right audience and consider experimenting with humor and have some fun. It’s always easy to switch to another advertisement if you’re not having luck with your original.
How you can implement the Poo-Pourri strategies into your own campaigns.
Awareness Days
Poo-Pourri based their campaign around the holidays. However, you don’t have to wait that long. You can try and promote a campaign around an ‘Awareness day.’
Check out national-awareness-days.com to find out if there is a relevant awareness day coming up.
Piggybacking off of an up and coming awareness day. In doing so, you too might be able to boost your sales in similar fashion to Poo-Pourri.
Creating Twitter Images
If you go to http://ift.tt/YNTLTc, you’ll be able to view websites related to photo editing and design. The websites listed will allow for you to create some awesome images for your Twitter Ads.
This article too, lists how you can create some images for your Twitter Ads.
If you have the budget, you might even consider using a service such as 99designs, to help you create the perfect image.
When creating images, try and ensure they’re eye catching. Faces are often helpful. Though if you can explain your product in the image, that can also help.
How to create effective copy for your Twitter Ads
This article can help you create the copy for your Twitter Ads. The examples listed use proven principles related to the world of copywriting.
These principles are then condensed so that they fit the Twitter character limit.
Experiment, and see how you can adapt the ideas to your own tweets.
2. The non-profit that managed to save lives using Twitter Ads
Nonprofits are always in need of ideas that help them raise awareness for their cause.
The nature of their business means that creativity is often key. Otherwise, they won’t be able to attract any attention, in what is an already crowded space.
Here is an example of a nonprofit called ‘The British Heart Foundation’ (BHF). They used Twitter Ads to raise awareness.
The BHF wanted to teach people how to administer CPR. Normally they’d go straight to TV. This time, however, they decided to use Twitter in order to promote their video first. Their campaign lead to 1.7 million views.
They also sparked a dialogue that lead to new Twitter trends being created. The trends were based on the BHF’s initial Twitter Ad campaign.
Here’s the video (it’s really well done!):
The most important metric, however, is that they were able to save lives.
Source
So what did they get right?
Firstly the video itself was very entertaining. Not all companies consider using video in their ads, so that decision alone was a creative move.
Secondly, the ad copy did a great job at developing curiosity. Upon reading it, you want to learn more.
The company also took another step to get their message out there. That was the act of creating a promoted trend.
If you’re familiar with Twitter you’ll know that trends refer to popular topics on the platform. A lot of people check out these trends to learn what’s going on in the world. The fact that the campaign was promoted as a trend, meant that it was placed in another location where people would be able to see it.
The trend tag #hardandfast, generated curiosity, compelling people to find out more. A promoted trend, however, can be very, very, expensive. Either way, even if it weren’t for the Twitter promoted trends ad, the campaign would do well.
That is because the key to their success, was that they created an entertaining campaign. As with the ‘Poo-Pourri’ campaign, comedy on Twitter is something that seems to flourish.
How you can implement the BHF strategy into your own campaign.
Creating a Video
It can be hard to create a viral video. This Kissmetrics post gives you some tips on how to create a viral video. Yet, even still you might find it challenging.
As a result you might just search for a company that can produce a great video. You don’t have to focus on this video going viral. You just have to ensure that it does a good job at selling your offer.
A lot of people have found that demoduck.com is a good company for creating video content. Though your video’s might not go viral, you can still experience an ROI if your video does a good job at communicating your message or value proposition.
3. The restaurant chain that created its biggest opening event ever thanks to Twitter Ads
A lot of the examples mentioned in this post relate to sales and conversations taking place online. However, there are going to be some of you who want to know how Twitter Ads can produce offline results.
The next company we’re going to look at is a restaurant chain. They promoted a new opening using Twitter Ads.
Known as Poncho 8, this restaurant is commonly referred to as a burrito bar. They were already active on Twitter. Using Twitter, they mainly focused on engaging existing customers and asking for feedback.
However, when the time came for promotion, they had to take a more active approach. The change led to them using Twitter Ads.
Using the platform, Poncho8 experienced the biggest restaurant opening ever in the company’s history (there are 6 restaurants). Twitter was definitely a big reason as to why this happened.
Let’s take a look at the steps that this company took to produce such results.
Their goal was to promote the launch event. To do this they used promoted tweets and promoted accounts.
Their promoted tweets mentioned special offers and popular menu items. The copy on the ad alluded to a new restaurant opening. This can be seen with the #Paddingtoncomingsoon tag.
Source
To ensure that the people saw their content, the company created a few promoted accounts. These promoted accounts were designed to attract followers . These users would then see more tweets on their timeline – related to the company.
An example of a promoted account
The promoted account copy alludes to a new restaurant opening. The offer of freebies and food is entices people to follow the company.
Being based in London, a lot of their target market is young professionals. As a result, Poncho 8 targeted the followers of companies that had an aligning customer base.
This was done by targeting the followers of publications which were aimed at young professionals. In doing so they were able to build up a relevant audience.
Poncho 8 monitored their results and focused on the twitter accounts that were bringing them the best results. This was in terms of the Twitter accounts that had the followers Poncho 8 wanted. The constant tinkering ensured that they were always maximizing their results.
The campaign produced a 23% increase in engagement rate for their tweets. This was a sign that they were targeting the right people.
All of the effort, led to the company having a huge restaurant opening. On the day, the company experienced one of their busiest lunches ever.
How You Can Implement the Strategies Used by Poncho8
Poncho 8 did a few things to ensure that their campaign went well. Here is how you can follow in their footsteps. Keep in mind that these tips relate to offline and online campaigns.
Creating a Promoted Account
A promoted account is effective in the long run. When you have a bunch of relevant followers you can reach a lot of people without having to spend money.
If you want to create a promoted account, you’ll need to take the following steps.
Go to the Twitter Ads dashboard and click on the “Create new campaign” button.
Then pick ‘Followers.’
Give your campaign a name. In terms of run date, choose immediately. That is unless you have another strategy in mind.
Set up the creative you want, i.e. the tweets. These tweets will need to entice people into following your account. Be benefit rich and include a call to action. You can use an existing Tweet. Though you might not have any Tweets that are designed to attract followers.
Here is some inspiration:
Remember, you can use the formulas mentioned in the Poo-Pourri section. That article will help you create copy that encourages people to take action.
Set a budget for your campaign.
When choosing the price, you have the option of using an automatic bid or a maximum bid. The challenge lies in working out the lifetime value of a follower.
If you know this, you might be able to decide on a maximum bid. If you want to just get started and not worry, an automatic bid is best.
Of course, you are free to enter a very high maximum bid to ensure tweets are shown. However keep in mind that Twitter still takes into account the relevancy, recency and the resonance of a tweet. The more you can improve those metrics, the increased chances of your ad being shown instead of another ads.
How to target a competitor’s Twitter followers
Target Twitter followers that are similar to the followers of other companies.
As seen, one way to find relevant followers is by targeting the followers of relevant companies, or direct competitors.
You can either target people who are similar to the followers of your competitors, or you can target the exact followers of competitors.
If you’re going to target similar followers, this is how you’d do it.
Create a campaign and then click on the add followers tab, underneath the targeting header.
Then enter the usernames of competitors or accounts that have an audience that matches your needs.
Once you’ve entered an account that has similar followers, Twitter will let you know what the estimated audience size is. It will also let you know of other companies you might want to include in your targeting preferences.
Underneath the suggested usernames, you’ll see an option to target users like your followers. Whether or not you click this option depends on what your goals are.
Do you want more people who are like your current followers? Or do you want to attract a completely different crowd?
How to target the exact followers of another Twitter account
If you want to target the exact followers of your competitors or of a relevant company, this is how you’d do it.
You first need to compile a list of followers, based on the company you’re interested in.
You can either go to your competitors account and spend a couple of hours entering their followers into a spreadsheet, or you can use FollowerWonk.
Assuming you use FollowerWonk, this is how you’d go about the process.
To export follower CSV lists, you will need a paid subscription – though there is a free trial of 30 days.
Once you become a member, click on the ‘Analyze’ tab. This is found on the homepage. Then enter the username you want to target. Once done, use the drop down menu and pick ‘analyze their followers’
It takes a little while to create the report.
FollowerWonk struggles in terms of downloading information based on more than 100,000 followers. It will therefore take a sample size.
After a little while click on FollowerWonk reports.
You’ll then see this screen. Pick the report you want to view.
You’ll then see the report.
Click on the icon highlighted to download the data.
It will ask you what format you want.
Pick one and then the report will be created. It will take some time.
Once downloaded, delete every other column in the file apart from the screen names. Be sure to delete the line called ‘Screen names’ too.
Then go about uploading this list to Twitter. Go to the Twitter Ads Dashboard. Then click on ‘Tools’ and choose ‘Audience manager.’
Pick a list name. Then click on usernames and upload your list.
Submit it all and then wait for Twitter to approve everything.
Note that the number generally needs to be over 500. If the audience is too small and you’ll get this message.
It will look like this when complete. Twitter will remove some people from the list you’ve added. The reasons for this vary. Some accounts might be inactive for example.
Once you’re custom audience has been uploaded, create a campaign.
Then go to this section of the page.
Click on ‘Add Tailored audiences.’
You’ll then be able to target the list of followers you uploaded.
Unclick the ‘Expand reach by targeting similar users’ button.
This feature is designed to include people who might be similar to the audience you’re targeting in that list. You most likely do not want this, as it will include other people and reduce the precision of your campaign.
Excluding a List of Twitter accounts
If you look at the text that follows the button, you will notice that it explains how you can exclude the audience that belongs to your list.
That might be helpful if the list you have downloaded, includes existing customers for example. If you want to create a campaign that excludes this audience list, you’d do the following.
Scroll down and click on the ‘Browse your tailored audiences’ button.
Then as before, select your audience list. Once selected, you’ll see that the chosen list of Twitter users are now excluded from your campaign.
From there on, go ahead and create the campaign as you normally would.
Viewing Twitter analytics
If you want to quickly find out some interesting information about your Twitter account, you can head over to analytics.twitter.com.
Even if you’re not running paid Twitter Ads, you can use the page to view some analytics data, based on past tweets.
4. The Twitter Ads technique that became the main source of app downloads for this London startup
If you thought your business was in a crowded market, you might just change your mind after looking at the market for apps.
Tons of apps are coming out each and every week. Yet despite this, a London startup still managed to gain some traction with their app.
Their main source of app downloads? Yep you guessed it – Twitter Ads.
Known as Bizzby (Their story is documented here), the company found that customer value was 20% higher for leads that came through Twitter. Their Twitter leads also produced more quality installs and lead to more returning users.
So what made their Twitter Ads effective?
As with every other company mentioned so far, they first focused on their targeting. They decided to take advantage of the fact that their app relied on local services.
Using Twitter’s ability to target by location, Bizzby focused their ads on specific locations.
When they did this, they were able to convey the precise targeting in the copy. Check out the image below.
Source
Because they were able to target by postcode, they could catch a user’s attention with personalized and relevant copy. This made the ad highly intriguing.
They also made the genius move of customizing their images – based on the device being targeted.
If they were advertising to android users, they would show what their app looks like on an android device. They did the same for an iPhone too. This added level of relevance, improved their ability to resonate with potential customers.
Bizzby continually optimized their campaign. They targeted audiences who had not downloaded their app before. The way that their campaigns were set up, meant that they were reaching new people each and every day.
There’s a lot that Bizzby got right. But by now a lot of it should not be new information. They targeted their ads as much as possible and made the copy appealing.
Something that hasn’t been previously touched upon, is that they picked the right kind of ad when setting up their campaign. The campaign was designed to drive app installs. The big button that says install makes it easy for people to do just that.
How you can implement the strategies used by Bizzby
Precise Location Targeting
Bizzby’s location targeting methods allowed for them to separate themselves from the crowd. If you’d like to try out something similar, this is how to implement that strategy.
Go to the targeting section of the campaign creator.
You have two options here. You can either enter the locations one by one or you can import a list of locations.
This is what happens when you search for locations.
Enter a postal code or a location and you’ll be presented with a drop down menu. Pick the one that is right for you.
If you want to manually import locations, click on the import locations button. You’ll then see the following screen.
When you import the locations you’ll subsequently see a drop down menu. This is allows for you to pick the right option.
Keep in mind that Twitter does not cover all areas just yet, and so there might be some errors on a few locations.
The drop down option is very useful. I’m actually looking to target the Manchester that is based in the UK, not the US one. If I click the drop down menu, I’ll be able to see the UK option of Manchester.
Once done, create your campaign as normal.
How to focus on obtaining new users
If you want to advertise to people who have not installed your app, this is how you would do it.
Click on the ‘Create new campaign’ button and select ‘App installs or engagements’.
Before you can advertise an App, you need to obtain the URL of the app. You can do this by going to the Playstore or App Store page of your app.
Visit the relevant store and copy the URL, as shown in the image below.
Then once you have this URL, go back to Twitter and click on ‘Add new App’.
Note that there is an icon here that relates to conversion tracking. You can set that up now or later. We’re going to focus on setting the app up first.
Once you click ‘Add a new app,’ you’ll be given a choice in terms of the device that you want to target. You can tailor your campaigns towards different devices. This is what the team at Bizzby did.
Ideally you’ll want to create different campaigns for each app. You’ll then have the option of having custom creatives for each app.
To do that choose the device/OS you’re looking to target and enter the URL of your app. If all goes well you should see a logo, based on the app you’re advertising. Click on save.
You’ll then see this. Click on ‘Select’ so that you can start setting up a campaign for this app.
You’ll then see this.
If you do not set up ‘conversion tracking’, Twitter will be doing a lot of guess work.
That means your ad will be shown to people who Twitter ‘thinks’ will like it. Therefore consider setting up conversion tracking on your app, to ensure you’re maximising your chances of drawing in new users.
If you want to activate conversion tracking, click on the blue link called set up conversion tracking.
You’ll then need to go through a process that will implement the tracking process.
Once done, choose the option of targeting ‘People without your app installed.’
The topic of conversion tracking on Twitter Ads can become an essay in itself. Here is a page created by Twitter, that details the concept and how you can implement it.
5. How a dating firm changed their Twitter Ads to boost CPA by 800%
Here is an example of a firm that used the Twitter Ads platform early on, but had little success. However as the platform matured and developed a better interface, the company began to see a return.
Of course they also made a few changes to the ads that they were running too.
Known as HowAboutWe, the dating firm explained here, how Twitter Advertising was a big help.
Eventually, Twitter Ads started to produce leads that had a 20% higher chance of becoming paid customers.
Twitter’s targeting capacities, once again came to the rescue. That is thanks to the fact that they could target by location and interest.
The big wins started coming, however, when they implemented a tactic similar to the one used by ‘Poo-Pourri.’
Once HowAboutWe decided to advertise a 50% discount using Twitter Ads, the company boosted their CPA by 800%. This was in comparison to other campaigns where no discount was present.
It can be seen, therefore, that if you’re looking to run a campaign on Twitter, a discount might be something to consider.
HowAboutWe also followed a similar approach to Bizzby, in that they called out their target locations in their copy. This was another step that also went on to boost conversions.
How to implement the strategies used by HowAboutWe
Interest Targeting
If you want to target people by interest, this is how.
Create a campaign as normal. Then scroll down to the ‘additional targeting criteria’ tab.
Enter the relevant interests. You can browse categories if you need some inspiration.
The more interests you tend to add, the larger your reach.
At the moment, it seem as though people will be targeted for their individual interests.
Meaning that if you have ‘Small business’ and ‘Marketing’ – you won’t be necessarily targeting people who like one AND the other. Rather its one OR the other, with maybe some occasional crossover.
That’s how it currently seems – it might be different once you start implementing your ads. You’ll notice that as you add more interests, reach expands. This might therefore dilute your market to message match, when advertising.
Such an effect might lead to more irrelevant clicks, therefore producing lower conversions and increased ad spend.
That is, of course, assuming that ‘Interests’ are you’re only targeting method. It is better to combine this tactic with the other targeting options provided by Twitter. That way you’ll be able to laser focus your ads.
6. The SaaS company that boosted conversion rates by 22% using Twitter Ads
The SaaS world can be an easy one to reach via Twitter. After all a lot of tech savvy people hang out there and readily engage with others on the platform.
Because of this, it’s easy to see why Pingometer (a company that helps minimize website downtime), managed to boost their conversion rates by 22% with the help of Twitter Ads.
When starting out, Pingometer explained here, how they targeted the audiences of similar companies. This kind of targeting shares similarities with the restaurant mentioned earlier.
Such targeting meant that 9/10 new customers after the campaign, first heard of Pingometer because they clicked on a Twitter Ad.
The firm also got into the habit of split testing their ads, so that they could see which variations did best. By testing their own assumptions, they were able to use hard data to improve their campaigns success.
Another thing that Pingometer tested was mobile and non-mobile targeting. They experimented by changing their targeting to non-mobile only. This campaign did much better than the one targeted at mobile users.
If you’re looking to run Twitter Ads, you too should get into the habit of segmenting audiences. There is a lot that you can segment, depending on what your product is and who you’re targeting.
Putting yourself in your customers shoes can really help. Pingometer realized that web developers, for instance, were less likely to go through the sign-up process on a mobile.
When looking to apply this to your own business, you’ll want to consider the product or service you’re offering. Consider whether or not your target market would, or even could, purchase your offering on a mobile device.
In any case, what is to be learned from this campaign?
Firstly, you must figure out how you can reach your target audience.
The easiest way for Pingometer to do this was to target the audiences of similar companies. This is a shortcut used by many firms in a variety of niches.
You must also experiment with different ad variations by adjusting copy and images. A new revelation, however, is that results can be amplified by doing some segmentation, to further improve your targeting.
Targeting Specific devices
If you want to target specific devices, do the following. Go about creating a campaign as normal.
Scroll down until you see ‘Select devices and platforms’. Click on that to expand it and you will see the following.
Pick the devices you want to target and test out your ads.
If you want to be really clever, you can focus on specific devices and connection types.
Relevance is always a good idea when advertising, no matter what the platform.
The options provided, also allow for you to account for human behavior. You may, for instance, only want to advertise an app to those who are connected to WiFi. People might not want to use their data allowance just to download an app.
Consider the points mentioned when creating ads.
Tips for split testing
When split testing it is important to only make one change at a time. That will tell you what lead to a rise or fall in conversions.
Split test the headline, copy and image (if you have one).
Keeping your own swipe file is a great way to come up with brilliant ad and split testing ideas. If you see an ad you like, or you even responded to, screenshot it and store it in your Evernote. Then adapt it to fit your offering and message.
You can also monitor the results of another company or person who used a bit.ly link. To do that, copy the link and then immediately put a plus sign after it. You’ll then be greeted by a dashboard that tells you what results the link attained.
This can be helpful because it can tell you in a sense, how powerful a certain ads call to action was. That is assuming they used a bit.ly link.
Learning more about your customer
When you know more about your existing customers you can then create better ads in the future. That’s because future ads will then resonate with people who share similarities with your existing customer base.
Figure out why people chose you, or what they like best about your service. Do that using a survey tool. Qualaroo is a good tool to use for those who want to learn more about their customers.
With the information you have discovered, make the relevant changes to your ads. Tinker with them so that they appeal to your target market as much as possible. That might include changes to the copy, for instance.
You should know what kinds of problems your potential customers are currently facing. These must be problems that you can solve. You should also know why existing customers choose you instead of everyone else. Once you know that, you can implement that information into your copy.
You can also look at the analytics of your Twitter account. What content resonated the most with your user base? What tweet produced the most customers? How can you emulate pass successes?
Time to Tweet?
So there you have it, 6 companies that managed to create an ROI using Twitter Ads. Looking back at each of the niches, it seems as though a trend is emerging.
Most of the firms who obtain a great ROI with Twitter Ads, found a way to locate their potential customers on Twitter. They put a lot of effort into targeting.
If you want to earn some success with your Twitter Ads you need to know who you’re targeting and how to reach them. If you’re stuck, target the followers of competitors. You can even target companies outside of your niche, that have followers you’d like to engage.
The ad copy and images must be appealing to your target market. This will help build on your targeting efforts. Once you’ve got the targeting down to a tee, you’re free to really experiment with a number of ideas.
You might offer a discount. You could even make use of upcoming events in order to promote your offer. Remember, however, that even though Twitter is a different ad platform, a great CTA is still essential.
Many of the companies that succeeded with Twitter, made their copy entertaining and conversational. This might not apply to all niches, but it’s definitely something to experiment with.
Provided that you’re watching your numbers with an eagle eye, it should all end well. Experiment wisely, and see how you can benefit from some of the strategies mentioned.
If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to mention them in the comments below.
Good Luck!
About The Author: Rakesh Kumar is a freelance writer and online marketer. He writes regularly on the topic of online marketing. He can help those in need of content or marketing advice.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1fGkOsK via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1SlupRF
July 15, 2015 at 01:03AM
Added: Sep 22, 2015 Via IFTTT
Maximize Your Google Analytics with These Helpful Add-Ons
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Maximize Your Google Analytics with These Helpful Add-Ons
You know all about Google Analytics and love the data it provides, but wouldn’t it be nice if there were tools to make managing all of that complex information simpler?
You’re in luck. There are!
These helpful add-ons for Google Analytics not only make it easier to digest data, but also help ensure you’re getting the most out of all Google Analytics has to offer.
Google Analytics Spreadsheet Add-on
Developed by Google Engineer Philip Walton, this spreadsheet add-on makes it easy to pair up your extensive Google Analytics data with the data manipulation tools in Google Spreadsheets. For you, this means better data visualization that you can share quickly and easily with your team.
Features include:
Privacy controlled data
Scheduled reporting
Embedding visualizations on third-party sites
Finding and reporting on data from various viewpoints
Computing and analyzing custom data reports
Use This Add-On If:
You are required to produce various Google Analytics reports on a regular basis. Automation features with this add-on makes reporting simpler, faster, and easy to examine.
Cost: Free
Google Tag Manager
Tag manager for Google Analytics helps you create and update tags for both mobile and website applications without having to write any code. With this add-on, you can launch fresh tags fast without having to wait for monthly code updates. Plus, debugging features help ensure your tags are reliable and working properly.
With the data collected by your tags, you can create stronger campaigns and make more informed decisions that help you get the most out of your marketing efforts.
Features include:
Flexible tag firing for event-triggered data collection
Multi-account access with user permissions
Debug mode for verifying new tags
Multi-device functionality with simple refrigeration
Use This Add-On If:
You have multiple campaigns running at once and often need to launch tags quickly to respond to real-time events.
Cost: Free
Debugger for Google Analytics
Using Chrome, this add-on uses the debug version of Google Analytics Javascript for all sites. Error messages and warnings are printed in the Javascript console so you can identify any tracking codes that aren’t functioning properly and never miss an important segment of Google Analytics data. Plus, the debugger sends a detailed report of each tracking beacon so you can find tracking code errors and missing data from your reports.
This add-on specifically helps spot incorrect method names, when the method name is cased incorrectly, strings containing leading or trailing whitespace, and when you’ve passed a non-string value using quotes.
Use This Add-On If:
You can’t afford errors in your tracking codes. We’re all human—mistakes happen. This add-on keeps you from making costly tracking mistakes by finding and alerting you of bugs (so you can fix things quickly without having to hunt down the problem.)
Cost: Free
Infinity Call Tracking
This call tracking add-on allows you to integrate your call data with Google Analytics (and Google AdWords) so you can study information such as call length, lead source, and other custom dimensions. Infinity also provides quality insights and ratings that can help to improve customer service efforts and streamline processes related to handling incoming calls. Site visitors are tracked via a custom phone number that ties in with their unique Google Client ID.
With availability in more than 50 countries, this add-on offers versatility to a wide variety of organizations and prides itself on easy integration with various CRMs so that no call goes untracked.
Use This Add-On If:
You’re interested in tracking your call data in tandem with website visitors. What once was difficult to study becomes infinitely insightful with this add-on.
Cost: Free trial available
Quill Engage
Quill Engage uses artificial intelligence to analyze your Google Analytics information and then transforms it into natural language reports that are easy to understand. Using this add-on, you can set up weekly and monthly email reports for different metrics, or run reports on demand.
Reports generated by this add-on include instant insights into different metrics (such as where site traffic is coming from) as well as actionable advice on where you can make changes to improve your site—all in a simple Word document format.
Use This Add-On If:
You don’t have time to write up detailed reports of Google Analytics data. This add-on makes it look like you broke down all of the detailed statistics into simple, actionable information.
Cost: Free with upgrades from $19.99-$49.99/month
Wordsmith for Marketing
If you need white-label Google Analytics reports as a marketing agency, Wordsmith for Marketing can help. This add-on generates professional-looking reports (written in plain English) that explain ROI in detail via charts, tables, and general notes.
Reports can be automated and sent to clients on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis and are 100% editable. Custom reporting dimensions include channels and parameters for conversion tracking.
Use This Add-On If:
You are an agency with multiple clients that need detailed reports on a regular basis. This add-on saves time and staff resources and makes analyzing detailed reports fast—so you can put those statistics to work for your customers.
Price: $250-$1,700/month
RegExr Regular Expression Tool
Google Analytics uses regular expressions (often called regex) to find patterns. Similar to what you learned in algebra class, these expressions work by discovering patterns within reports (like a table filter) and within separate report sets (like view filters). They’re also used to configure goal conversions and to define advanced segments and funnel stages.
RegExr is a free online tool that lets you build and test different regular expressions that then tie in with your Google Analytics to find interesting trends and patterns you may not have found otherwise.
Use This Add-On If:
You’re looking deep within Google Analytics to identify data trends that can increase conversions. This tool lets you work smarter (not harder) to spot patterns that you can then leverage to increase effectiveness with your online strategy.
Cost: Free
Table Booster
Table Booster is a Chrome add-on that improves the information grid within Google Analytics by creating three different types of visual representations for each metric.
Whether you need a bar chart, a heat map, or a grid, you can turn your metric data into simple visuals that are easy to understand. Bonus: This tool also allows you to compare two rows for rate difference via a Z-test that finds statistical significance.
Use This Add-On If:
You need to turn your Google Analytics into visual representations. If your team’s eyes glaze over at a report full of numbers, this might be a good way to bring greater understanding to trends and patterns within Google Analytics.
Cost: Free
Annotations Manager
If you need to copy annotations, remove multiple annotations, or export notes as a CSV, you can use this Annotations Manager in Firefox (thanks to Vincent Giersch.)
Use This Add-On If:
You’re tired of wasting precious time on annotations within Google Analytics. Annotations Manager lets you make multiple edits all at once instead of having to go through each individual line item.
Cost: Free
Campaign URL Builder
Using this add-on, you can save a few steps while generating custom URLs within Google Analytics.
This more robust version of the Google Analytics URL Builder has increased functionality, which includes:
Creation and management of pre-configured tag sets
Auto generation of final URL
Copy button
Bit.ly integration using official Bitly API
Default pre-defined tag set for automatic complete tag URL
Use This Add-On If:
You use Bitly links in your campaigns and hate having to switch between screens to generate links. This add-on can speed up the campaign URL generation process so you have more time to focus on results.
Cost: Free
UserReport.com
UserReport.com syncs with Google Analytics to fill in data gaps. Using surveys, UserReport asks site visitors questions about their gender, income level, and other custom dimensions, and then integrates with your existing Google Analytics data.
UserReport then helps you find in-depth information about conversion paths and learn exactly who your target customers are online.
Use This Add-On If:
You need deeper data about your website visitors to further define your niche online.
Cost: Free
Analytics Edge Add-In
If you use Microsoft Excel to manage your Google Analytics data, the Analytics Edge add-on allows you place query results anywhere on a worksheet that refresh with one click.
This means you can have multiple queries, used advanced segmentation, and search for specific metrics all within a single custom spreadsheet. The free version works for single channel data.
Use This Add-On If:
Your Google Analytics data lives in a custom MS Excel spreadsheet. Using this tool, you can update information quickly (and without having to export and import new information every time.)
Cost: Free
OWOX BI ROI
Thanks to OWOX BI ROI, you can calculate daily cost data of your external ad campaigns and to upload it to Google Analytics. Thus, you can compare your PPC efforts via Bing, Yahoo, Facebook, and other platforms all in one place.
Once it’s setup, you can study the cost, clicks, impressions, and more from your AdWords and non-AdWords campaigns to discover which advertising channels are bringing you the most ROI (without switching screens.)
Use This Add-On If:
You need ROI data for external advertising campaigns side-by-side with your online advertising mediums so you can identify what really works.
Cost: Free
Live Site Search Visualisation
Need to visualize user search data in real time? The Live Site Search Visualisation add-on accesses the Google Analytics real time reporting API to showcase live search activity with colored tiles.
Now you can see what people are looking for at any moment within a colorful display that’s easy to read.
Use This Add-On If:
You want to leverage your Google Analytics data for an insightful art piece within your workspace.
Cost: Free
Save Time With These Google Analytics Add-Ons
Your time is precious. Use these add-ons to make time spent analyzing Google Analytics data more effective and efficient (so you can get back to the other million things on your to-do list.)
Plus, they might even help you find that missing metric you weren’t quite sure how to track.
Are there any other add-ons you’d put on this list?
About the Author: Kaleigh Moore is a freelance writer and social media consultant who works with SaaS companies to create interesting, insightful content people actually want to read. Find her on Twitter @Kaleighf.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1QWNpqp via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1OsncSd
September 22, 2015 at 09:18PM
You know all about Google Analytics and love the data it provides, but wouldn’t it be nice if there were tools to make managing all of that complex information simpler?
You’re in luck. There are!
These helpful add-ons for Google Analytics not only make it easier to digest data, but also help ensure you’re getting the most out of all Google Analytics has to offer.
Google Analytics Spreadsheet Add-on
Developed by Google Engineer Philip Walton, this spreadsheet add-on makes it easy to pair up your extensive Google Analytics data with the data manipulation tools in Google Spreadsheets. For you, this means better data visualization that you can share quickly and easily with your team.
Features include:
Privacy controlled data
Scheduled reporting
Embedding visualizations on third-party sites
Finding and reporting on data from various viewpoints
Computing and analyzing custom data reports
Use This Add-On If:
You are required to produce various Google Analytics reports on a regular basis. Automation features with this add-on makes reporting simpler, faster, and easy to examine.
Cost: Free
Google Tag Manager
Tag manager for Google Analytics helps you create and update tags for both mobile and website applications without having to write any code. With this add-on, you can launch fresh tags fast without having to wait for monthly code updates. Plus, debugging features help ensure your tags are reliable and working properly.
With the data collected by your tags, you can create stronger campaigns and make more informed decisions that help you get the most out of your marketing efforts.
Features include:
Flexible tag firing for event-triggered data collection
Multi-account access with user permissions
Debug mode for verifying new tags
Multi-device functionality with simple refrigeration
Use This Add-On If:
You have multiple campaigns running at once and often need to launch tags quickly to respond to real-time events.
Cost: Free
Debugger for Google Analytics
Using Chrome, this add-on uses the debug version of Google Analytics Javascript for all sites. Error messages and warnings are printed in the Javascript console so you can identify any tracking codes that aren’t functioning properly and never miss an important segment of Google Analytics data. Plus, the debugger sends a detailed report of each tracking beacon so you can find tracking code errors and missing data from your reports.
This add-on specifically helps spot incorrect method names, when the method name is cased incorrectly, strings containing leading or trailing whitespace, and when you’ve passed a non-string value using quotes.
Use This Add-On If:
You can’t afford errors in your tracking codes. We’re all human—mistakes happen. This add-on keeps you from making costly tracking mistakes by finding and alerting you of bugs (so you can fix things quickly without having to hunt down the problem.)
Cost: Free
Infinity Call Tracking
This call tracking add-on allows you to integrate your call data with Google Analytics (and Google AdWords) so you can study information such as call length, lead source, and other custom dimensions. Infinity also provides quality insights and ratings that can help to improve customer service efforts and streamline processes related to handling incoming calls. Site visitors are tracked via a custom phone number that ties in with their unique Google Client ID.
With availability in more than 50 countries, this add-on offers versatility to a wide variety of organizations and prides itself on easy integration with various CRMs so that no call goes untracked.
Use This Add-On If:
You’re interested in tracking your call data in tandem with website visitors. What once was difficult to study becomes infinitely insightful with this add-on.
Cost: Free trial available
Quill Engage
Quill Engage uses artificial intelligence to analyze your Google Analytics information and then transforms it into natural language reports that are easy to understand. Using this add-on, you can set up weekly and monthly email reports for different metrics, or run reports on demand.
Reports generated by this add-on include instant insights into different metrics (such as where site traffic is coming from) as well as actionable advice on where you can make changes to improve your site—all in a simple Word document format.
Use This Add-On If:
You don’t have time to write up detailed reports of Google Analytics data. This add-on makes it look like you broke down all of the detailed statistics into simple, actionable information.
Cost: Free with upgrades from $19.99-$49.99/month
Wordsmith for Marketing
If you need white-label Google Analytics reports as a marketing agency, Wordsmith for Marketing can help. This add-on generates professional-looking reports (written in plain English) that explain ROI in detail via charts, tables, and general notes.
Reports can be automated and sent to clients on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis and are 100% editable. Custom reporting dimensions include channels and parameters for conversion tracking.
Use This Add-On If:
You are an agency with multiple clients that need detailed reports on a regular basis. This add-on saves time and staff resources and makes analyzing detailed reports fast—so you can put those statistics to work for your customers.
Price: $250-$1,700/month
RegExr Regular Expression Tool
Google Analytics uses regular expressions (often called regex) to find patterns. Similar to what you learned in algebra class, these expressions work by discovering patterns within reports (like a table filter) and within separate report sets (like view filters). They’re also used to configure goal conversions and to define advanced segments and funnel stages.
RegExr is a free online tool that lets you build and test different regular expressions that then tie in with your Google Analytics to find interesting trends and patterns you may not have found otherwise.
Use This Add-On If:
You’re looking deep within Google Analytics to identify data trends that can increase conversions. This tool lets you work smarter (not harder) to spot patterns that you can then leverage to increase effectiveness with your online strategy.
Cost: Free
Table Booster
Table Booster is a Chrome add-on that improves the information grid within Google Analytics by creating three different types of visual representations for each metric.
Whether you need a bar chart, a heat map, or a grid, you can turn your metric data into simple visuals that are easy to understand. Bonus: This tool also allows you to compare two rows for rate difference via a Z-test that finds statistical significance.
Use This Add-On If:
You need to turn your Google Analytics into visual representations. If your team’s eyes glaze over at a report full of numbers, this might be a good way to bring greater understanding to trends and patterns within Google Analytics.
Cost: Free
Annotations Manager
If you need to copy annotations, remove multiple annotations, or export notes as a CSV, you can use this Annotations Manager in Firefox (thanks to Vincent Giersch.)
Use This Add-On If:
You’re tired of wasting precious time on annotations within Google Analytics. Annotations Manager lets you make multiple edits all at once instead of having to go through each individual line item.
Cost: Free
Campaign URL Builder
Using this add-on, you can save a few steps while generating custom URLs within Google Analytics.
This more robust version of the Google Analytics URL Builder has increased functionality, which includes:
Creation and management of pre-configured tag sets
Auto generation of final URL
Copy button
Bit.ly integration using official Bitly API
Default pre-defined tag set for automatic complete tag URL
Use This Add-On If:
You use Bitly links in your campaigns and hate having to switch between screens to generate links. This add-on can speed up the campaign URL generation process so you have more time to focus on results.
Cost: Free
UserReport.com
UserReport.com syncs with Google Analytics to fill in data gaps. Using surveys, UserReport asks site visitors questions about their gender, income level, and other custom dimensions, and then integrates with your existing Google Analytics data.
UserReport then helps you find in-depth information about conversion paths and learn exactly who your target customers are online.
Use This Add-On If:
You need deeper data about your website visitors to further define your niche online.
Cost: Free
Analytics Edge Add-In
If you use Microsoft Excel to manage your Google Analytics data, the Analytics Edge add-on allows you place query results anywhere on a worksheet that refresh with one click.
This means you can have multiple queries, used advanced segmentation, and search for specific metrics all within a single custom spreadsheet. The free version works for single channel data.
Use This Add-On If:
Your Google Analytics data lives in a custom MS Excel spreadsheet. Using this tool, you can update information quickly (and without having to export and import new information every time.)
Cost: Free
OWOX BI ROI
Thanks to OWOX BI ROI, you can calculate daily cost data of your external ad campaigns and to upload it to Google Analytics. Thus, you can compare your PPC efforts via Bing, Yahoo, Facebook, and other platforms all in one place.
Once it’s setup, you can study the cost, clicks, impressions, and more from your AdWords and non-AdWords campaigns to discover which advertising channels are bringing you the most ROI (without switching screens.)
Use This Add-On If:
You need ROI data for external advertising campaigns side-by-side with your online advertising mediums so you can identify what really works.
Cost: Free
Live Site Search Visualisation
Need to visualize user search data in real time? The Live Site Search Visualisation add-on accesses the Google Analytics real time reporting API to showcase live search activity with colored tiles.
Now you can see what people are looking for at any moment within a colorful display that’s easy to read.
Use This Add-On If:
You want to leverage your Google Analytics data for an insightful art piece within your workspace.
Cost: Free
Save Time With These Google Analytics Add-Ons
Your time is precious. Use these add-ons to make time spent analyzing Google Analytics data more effective and efficient (so you can get back to the other million things on your to-do list.)
Plus, they might even help you find that missing metric you weren’t quite sure how to track.
Are there any other add-ons you’d put on this list?
About the Author: Kaleigh Moore is a freelance writer and social media consultant who works with SaaS companies to create interesting, insightful content people actually want to read. Find her on Twitter @Kaleighf.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1QWNpqp via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1OsncSd
September 22, 2015 at 09:18PM
Added: Aug 12, 2015 Via IFTTT
Not Your Grandmas Couponing: How to Modernize Your Coupon Strategy
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Not Your Grandma’s Couponing: How to Modernize Your Coupon Strategy
If the term “couponing” conjures images of your grandma clipping tiny newspaper squares or “extreme couponers” toeing the hoarder line, then you have a pretty antiquated take on it —chances are your business does, too.
When it comes to digital couponing strategies, many companies are stuck in the Dark Ages, basing digital tactics on old-fashioned practices. But couponing is actually a relevant marketing strategy that can add value to even the most brand-conscious companies.
A recent study reported that 73 percent of American women have printed a coupon from a website, and 53 percent of consumers use daily-deal sites like Groupon or LivingSocial. Here are the top couponing sites and their respective popularity among users:
When it comes to today’s couponing, the proof is in the pudding (or between the perforated dotted lines). Consider the following benefits of implementing a coupon strategy:
Amplified awareness: Coupon sites boast broad reach and large user bases that allow for maximum ROI delivery. Those who print digital coupons are typically young, affluent, and educated. Thus, you can target your most valuable consumers while they’re developing their tastes and, as they age, you have even more opportunity to build brand equity. These consumers are also 35 percent more likely to have a household income of $75,000 or more, and they’re 17 percent more likely to have graduated college.
Positive brand perception: If your customers are looking for discounts, adding a coupon strategy to your affiliate campaign can really furnish your brand’s perception. In a single day, Gap sold 445,000 “$50 for $25” coupons on Groupon thanks to social media promotion by customers.
Increased sales through exposure: A leading children’s clothing retailer ran a double cash-back promotion with Ebates and received deal of the week, daily double, and solo email placements. It saw a 125 percent increase in clicks, a 148 percent increase in orders, and a 120 percent increase in sales when comparing its placement week to the following week.
If your product is a commodity with a lot of competition, you know promotions are important for driving sales. Partnering with coupon sites can be crucial, provided you invest wisely and manage your program to deliver effective, data-driven results.
While these are solid benefits of a coupon strategy, be sure implementing one makes sense for your company.
For example, if your website lacks offer coupons or a promo box, it’s hard to understand how coupons will add value to your business. If you’re a single-channel retailer with a high degree of product personalization, examine how coupons affect your pricing approach. Also, determine at what point in the buying cycle customers will use them.
Whether you have an existing coupon strategy for your brand or you’re just getting started, it can be difficult adjusting to the digital age.
Build a Solid Infrastructure
These days, most digital coupon sites are part of affiliate programs; this is how merchants do business with them. If you want to gain value from coupon sites, invest in an affiliate program. Be sure to clearly identify the partners you want to work with and in what capacity you want to work.
The following tips touch on successfully working with coupon sites through your affiliate program:
Be selective with your coupon partners. Research coupon websites before accepting them into an affiliate program. To ensure relevance, visit each site that applies to your program. This could include an applicable category on the site or a prominent section featuring similar types of companies, offers, or products.
Have the right oversight in place. Experienced in-house managers or specialized third-party firms should oversee your team’s coupon partners. An effective in-house manager should work closely with the coupon site counterpart and use multi-attribution models to discern what’s converting the most viewers into buyers. New customer acquisition and incrementality should be key focal points.
Get serious about compliance. Affiliate managers must be clear about permissible behavior by coupon sites. Common hot buttons include trademark bidding, promotion of expired offers, promotion of nonexistent offers (e.g., “save up to 40 percent”), and forced-click tactics. To monitor coupon sites, check your larger partners’ pages weekly to ensure alignment.
Invest in your relationships. Regularly create unique promotions for specific coupon sites. Encourage sites to put your brand in front of their users by investing in their programs like email, blogging, social media, and display ads.
Reward based on desired behaviors. Set your commissions based on the value of behavioral results. Offer different levels of compensation based on outcome, whether it’s new customer acquisition, awareness, or conversions. Your large commission payouts should only go to coupon sites that add significant value.
Track results and incrementality. Tracking allows for understanding of your coupon sites’ contributions, from the beginning to the end of the customer journey. Then, you can use the data to inform program optimization.
Take It to the Next Level
Clearly, a solid base for your coupon strategy is important. Upgrade your plan further by taking a smart approach to common couponing challenges like codes leaving specific channels or ineffective partnership offers. Keep these points in mind as you forge ahead:
Don’t be surprised when your codes leave the intended channel. In 2015, you can’t publish a promo code in a magazine and expect it to stay in its originally intended channel; the same goes for digital coupons. This can have a major effect on your reporting if it’s only based on the code.
Seventy-two percent of online shopping carts are abandoned, with half of those shoppers leaving to search for coupon codes. It’s an unfortunate fact that coupon codes leak to coupon sites, social media pages, and dozens of other places — an occurrence called “coupon search leak.”
Send single-use codes for individual offers. If your code needs to stay in its channel, use a single-use code or a link-based code that activates an offer in the shopping cart, and limit the duration. This will mitigate the problem of a code appearing on an unintended coupon site.
If you’re tying certain offers to specific partners, give them link-based offers that activate based on a specific tracking link. That way, partners won’t steal other link-based offers because they would generate commissions for their competitor.
Use landing pages for offline partners. Printed coupons are long-term by nature, and their inability to be canceled can cause problems. Rather than run a code in a magazine or other print medium, direct readers to a landing page that engages a link-based offer. Not only will this approach save money, but it will also ensure the publication’s ROI is being measured actively and accurately.
Create and optimize a coupon code landing page on your site. Understandably, merchants are often bothered when searches for their coupons and brand lead to a coupon site rather than to their own. Correct this by creating a landing page on your company website that features coupon codes with a URL structure that looks like this: http://ift.tt/1L5EZL6.
Next, optimize your landing page and keep it fresh with content — chances are it will rank high and bring more users to your site. As evidenced by the below graphic, landing pages can also deliver 12 times more leads, making this a great approach for attracting and converting customers.
Coupon sites shouldn’t be an afterthought for customers already intending to make a purchase — they should be leveraged to drive customer engagement and funnel awareness. Use these tactics to foster a solid foundation for your couponing strategy, and upgrade your strategy to stay ahead of the curve.
A lot has changed since your grandma’s coupon-clipping sessions, and these updated digital methods will ensure your coupon strategy will never reach her kitchen table.
About the Author: Robert Glazer, founder and managing director of Acceleration Partners, is a customer acquisition specialist with an exceptional track record in growing revenue and profits for fast-growing consumer products and services companies. His clients include Adidas, eBay, Gymboree, the Honest Company, ModCloth, Reebok, Shutterfly, Target, Tiny Prints, and Warby Parker. For more info on how to make coupon sites work for your brand, download Acceleration Partners’ latest e-book.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1h2VRIQ via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1JcK6vy
August 12, 2015 at 09:18PM
If the term “couponing” conjures images of your grandma clipping tiny newspaper squares or “extreme couponers” toeing the hoarder line, then you have a pretty antiquated take on it —chances are your business does, too.
When it comes to digital couponing strategies, many companies are stuck in the Dark Ages, basing digital tactics on old-fashioned practices. But couponing is actually a relevant marketing strategy that can add value to even the most brand-conscious companies.
A recent study reported that 73 percent of American women have printed a coupon from a website, and 53 percent of consumers use daily-deal sites like Groupon or LivingSocial. Here are the top couponing sites and their respective popularity among users:
When it comes to today’s couponing, the proof is in the pudding (or between the perforated dotted lines). Consider the following benefits of implementing a coupon strategy:
Amplified awareness: Coupon sites boast broad reach and large user bases that allow for maximum ROI delivery. Those who print digital coupons are typically young, affluent, and educated. Thus, you can target your most valuable consumers while they’re developing their tastes and, as they age, you have even more opportunity to build brand equity. These consumers are also 35 percent more likely to have a household income of $75,000 or more, and they’re 17 percent more likely to have graduated college.
Positive brand perception: If your customers are looking for discounts, adding a coupon strategy to your affiliate campaign can really furnish your brand’s perception. In a single day, Gap sold 445,000 “$50 for $25” coupons on Groupon thanks to social media promotion by customers.
Increased sales through exposure: A leading children’s clothing retailer ran a double cash-back promotion with Ebates and received deal of the week, daily double, and solo email placements. It saw a 125 percent increase in clicks, a 148 percent increase in orders, and a 120 percent increase in sales when comparing its placement week to the following week.
If your product is a commodity with a lot of competition, you know promotions are important for driving sales. Partnering with coupon sites can be crucial, provided you invest wisely and manage your program to deliver effective, data-driven results.
While these are solid benefits of a coupon strategy, be sure implementing one makes sense for your company.
For example, if your website lacks offer coupons or a promo box, it’s hard to understand how coupons will add value to your business. If you’re a single-channel retailer with a high degree of product personalization, examine how coupons affect your pricing approach. Also, determine at what point in the buying cycle customers will use them.
Whether you have an existing coupon strategy for your brand or you’re just getting started, it can be difficult adjusting to the digital age.
Build a Solid Infrastructure
These days, most digital coupon sites are part of affiliate programs; this is how merchants do business with them. If you want to gain value from coupon sites, invest in an affiliate program. Be sure to clearly identify the partners you want to work with and in what capacity you want to work.
The following tips touch on successfully working with coupon sites through your affiliate program:
Be selective with your coupon partners. Research coupon websites before accepting them into an affiliate program. To ensure relevance, visit each site that applies to your program. This could include an applicable category on the site or a prominent section featuring similar types of companies, offers, or products.
Have the right oversight in place. Experienced in-house managers or specialized third-party firms should oversee your team’s coupon partners. An effective in-house manager should work closely with the coupon site counterpart and use multi-attribution models to discern what’s converting the most viewers into buyers. New customer acquisition and incrementality should be key focal points.
Get serious about compliance. Affiliate managers must be clear about permissible behavior by coupon sites. Common hot buttons include trademark bidding, promotion of expired offers, promotion of nonexistent offers (e.g., “save up to 40 percent”), and forced-click tactics. To monitor coupon sites, check your larger partners’ pages weekly to ensure alignment.
Invest in your relationships. Regularly create unique promotions for specific coupon sites. Encourage sites to put your brand in front of their users by investing in their programs like email, blogging, social media, and display ads.
Reward based on desired behaviors. Set your commissions based on the value of behavioral results. Offer different levels of compensation based on outcome, whether it’s new customer acquisition, awareness, or conversions. Your large commission payouts should only go to coupon sites that add significant value.
Track results and incrementality. Tracking allows for understanding of your coupon sites’ contributions, from the beginning to the end of the customer journey. Then, you can use the data to inform program optimization.
Take It to the Next Level
Clearly, a solid base for your coupon strategy is important. Upgrade your plan further by taking a smart approach to common couponing challenges like codes leaving specific channels or ineffective partnership offers. Keep these points in mind as you forge ahead:
Don’t be surprised when your codes leave the intended channel. In 2015, you can’t publish a promo code in a magazine and expect it to stay in its originally intended channel; the same goes for digital coupons. This can have a major effect on your reporting if it’s only based on the code.
Seventy-two percent of online shopping carts are abandoned, with half of those shoppers leaving to search for coupon codes. It’s an unfortunate fact that coupon codes leak to coupon sites, social media pages, and dozens of other places — an occurrence called “coupon search leak.”
Send single-use codes for individual offers. If your code needs to stay in its channel, use a single-use code or a link-based code that activates an offer in the shopping cart, and limit the duration. This will mitigate the problem of a code appearing on an unintended coupon site.
If you’re tying certain offers to specific partners, give them link-based offers that activate based on a specific tracking link. That way, partners won’t steal other link-based offers because they would generate commissions for their competitor.
Use landing pages for offline partners. Printed coupons are long-term by nature, and their inability to be canceled can cause problems. Rather than run a code in a magazine or other print medium, direct readers to a landing page that engages a link-based offer. Not only will this approach save money, but it will also ensure the publication’s ROI is being measured actively and accurately.
Create and optimize a coupon code landing page on your site. Understandably, merchants are often bothered when searches for their coupons and brand lead to a coupon site rather than to their own. Correct this by creating a landing page on your company website that features coupon codes with a URL structure that looks like this: http://ift.tt/1L5EZL6.
Next, optimize your landing page and keep it fresh with content — chances are it will rank high and bring more users to your site. As evidenced by the below graphic, landing pages can also deliver 12 times more leads, making this a great approach for attracting and converting customers.
Coupon sites shouldn’t be an afterthought for customers already intending to make a purchase — they should be leveraged to drive customer engagement and funnel awareness. Use these tactics to foster a solid foundation for your couponing strategy, and upgrade your strategy to stay ahead of the curve.
A lot has changed since your grandma’s coupon-clipping sessions, and these updated digital methods will ensure your coupon strategy will never reach her kitchen table.
About the Author: Robert Glazer, founder and managing director of Acceleration Partners, is a customer acquisition specialist with an exceptional track record in growing revenue and profits for fast-growing consumer products and services companies. His clients include Adidas, eBay, Gymboree, the Honest Company, ModCloth, Reebok, Shutterfly, Target, Tiny Prints, and Warby Parker. For more info on how to make coupon sites work for your brand, download Acceleration Partners’ latest e-book.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1h2VRIQ via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1JcK6vy
August 12, 2015 at 09:18PM
Added: Sep 15, 2015 Via IFTTT
Optimize Your Retargeting With These 10 Strategies
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Optimize Your Retargeting With These 10 Strategies
More than 80% of the visitors to your website will not convert. But what if you could get these visitors to return to your website so you could present your offer again? That’s where retargeting comes in.
And besides getting visitors back to your site, retargeting can also be used to reach people who didn’t open your email and people who showed a special interest in your product.
Even if you already use retargeting, you probably aren’t making the most of it.
In this article, I’ll teach you a few techniques that have enabled me to achieve the best results I’ve ever seen with paid advertising. Read on to discover 10 techniques that will help you target your consumers better and deliver more results from your retargeting campaigns.
The techniques below will work on either Google AdWords or Facebook Ads. Just consider the two as one medium for retargeting.
#1 – Engagement Factors
Custom Segment in Google Analytics allows you to segment your traffic with incredible precision. By linking Google Analytics and Google AdWords, you’ll be able to retarget specific segments of your audience. And you can use a wide range of factors to base your retargeting on. Some of my favorites include:
Page depth
Number of visits
Landing Pages
Session duration
Certain goal completion
You’ll need to crunch your data in order to understand what works for you. As an example, you may find that people who visited your website 3 times and spent more than 5 minutes are more likely to buy. You can then create a custom segment and target these people on the Google Display Network.
#2 – Vertical Website(s)
If you know your industry lacks knowledge regarding a specific topic but you don’t think it’s relevant on your main website, you can create a separate website.
Here are some examples:
You are developing accounting software, and you realize that people are looking for reviews. You can create a website reviewing all the software.
You notice that people are searching for “How to install [competitor’s product].” Create a website that shows how to install your competitor’s product.
Once you’ve created the new website, you can easily retarget warm prospects to your website.
To give you an example, Prezly developed PRStack.co, which features PR resources and enables them to channel traffic back to their product.
Look at what your industry is missing and what you can offer to fulfill that need. If you don’t create that website, someone else will.
This technique can work wonders if you rank on competitive keywords with your new website. If Google can bring you 100k visitors on a handful of keywords, do it. You won’t regret it.
Keep in mind that exact match domain names tend to rank pretty well. As an example, GrowthHackers.com will easily rank well for the keyword “growth hackers.”
#3 – Form Completion Status
You can track the people who started filling out a form but didn’t complete it. They may have had something else on their mind, or they may have been interrupted.
You can create a segment of warm leads who will be ready to fill in that form the next time it hits them.
#4 – Free Trials
How many people signed up for your product, used it for 5 minutes, and then never came back? Maybe they got distracted, or maybe the timing wasn’t right for them. After a few days of inactivity, you can send them some interesting content to remind them of your product.
You could send the emails directly, but I’d suggest you try different approaches, such as:
Email + retargeting
Retargeting alone
Email alone
See what works best for you.
#5 – Past Users
How many leads have you had in your entire history? This is probably a huge number. You can get these people back on your website through targeted ads. Since you already know their emails, you can get started in a few hours. Here are a few examples of what to promote:
Features / Benefits
Announcements
Use Cases
The main idea is to stay in touch with your past contacts and engage them with new content.
#6 – Active Users and Promoters
Customers are not created equal. Some are more likely to engage and share your content. What if you could target them directly?
You can measure engagement of users through an analytics tool like Kissmetrics (using the Cohort Report) or by using a NPS survey. You can then retarget these users based on how engaged they are.
Highly engaged users won’t hesitate for a second to share your content with their peers.
As an example, let’s say you use Kissmetrics every day and are delighted with their software. You’d be more likely to share something on your medium of choice (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) than to forward their weekly newsletter.
In this example, retargeting can allow you to meet your users on their own terms, where they are the most likely to engage with your brand. If you target the right people, you’ll drive more awareness.
#7 – Past Promotions
As a marketer, you run plenty of promotions to acquire customers. But the people who visit your website aren’t always ready to buy your products right away. The important thing is to make sure they remember you when they’re in need of a solution like yours.
This is where most businesses retarget. Once a person visits their site, the business will show ads to the person when he or she visits on other sites.
You can easily present your offer (even if it was six months ago) at several different times and places.
#8 – Email Marketing Combo
What if you could target people who never open your emails and people who open your emails but never click on them?
As a savvy marketer, you’re probably building an email list in order to keep engaging your audience. Think about all the people who never opened or clicked on your emails. You could easily target these people depending on how warm they are. You can then show them different content depending on where they stand within your funnel.
As an example, you might want to show very informative (top of the funnel) content to people who never engaged. You could show use cases and whitepapers to people who click on all your emails.
Implementing this tactic might require a bit of development on your end. It is however fairly easy to make a script to synchronize MailChimp and Facebook.
Doing this can have a great impact on the effectiveness of your email marketing strategy. People who never opened your emails will finally reach your website.
#9 – Content Series
Sometimes cold prospects don’t want to give you their emails right away no matter what you show them.
In that case, you can create a series of content and retarget them from one piece of content to the next. The best part? You don’t need their email, retargeting will do the trick…
You’ll don’t ask for their email until the last step. Here is a quick example:
Visitor lands on your blog
You retarget them to another article
You retarget them to a landing page
You retarget them to a whitepaper with email capture
This way, you can funnel your visitor toward interesting content. The warm prospects will convert whenever they want by inserting their emails, while the others will wait until they’re ready.
#10 – Page Based
One of the most common methods of retargeting is to base the content you show people on the pages they’ve seen on your website.
The content you would show people who’ve seen your pricing page would be different from the content you would show people who’ve seen only your blog.
You could also use this technique to show people content that is similar to what they’ve seen before.
Pro Tips
Avoid Being Creepy
You could retarget people whose payment failed with an ad saying “Your Payment Failed,” but I’m not sure they would like it.
These days, you can collect a massive amount of data about your users. Being able to target people with incredible precision based on that data is a great opportunity for marketers. However, make sure you’re not being too intrusive or annoying.
Retargeting can sometimes appear creepy. Use your good judgment to avoid these situations.
Consider Your Audience Size
If you have only a few hundred visitors on your website, you won’t be able to apply most of the techniques above.
Make sure you have a decent audience size when you begin retargeting. With a small audience, pay attention to your Budget and Frequency to avoid spamming people.
Clean Your Lists
If you can’t get people to buy from you, just let it go. Not everyone is interested in what you’re selling. If you keep showing them ads, they’ll get tired of you and they might even talk badly about you.
I sometimes notice that people who look at specific pages rarely convert (e.g., Career page). Knowing that, I exclude these people to improve a campaign’s ROI.
Also, pay close attention to the membership duration of your audiences. If you haven’t seen someone for the last 540 days, chances are, they won’t be interested.
Watch for Concurrent Ads
Ensure that your ads aren’t concurrent or that their concurrence doesn’t look weird. Let’s imagine the following context:
You retarget people who visited your blog with ToFu content
You retarget people who visited your pricing page with BoFu content
Therefore, people who saw both your blog and your pricing page will see both ToFu and BoFu content. Make sure the experience isn’t weird for them, or exclude the concurrent audience (target people who visited your blog but didn’t visit the pricing page).
Set Up Automation
I’ve seen people waste hours manually adding and removing customers from retargeting lists… Don’t do that! You’ll waste time and become overworked. The next thing you know you’ll be showing the wrong ads to the wrong people.
Linking your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) to your retargeting audiences is also possible. Integrate and automate as much as you can. Do as little work as possible. Automate to the maximum.
Make sure the whole process is automated and that you don’t need to do anything to update your audiences.
Keep Experimenting
You need to experiment with different techniques in order to discover what works best for you.
Techniques highlighted in this article are only some of the ones I’ve tried in the past. Don’t listen to me blindly; test them yourself and brainstorm around new ideas.
As an example, in previous campaigns, we realized that pushing content to new audiences and retargeting people who engaged was an incredible source of revenue.
When getting started, most people will think about conversions as the ultimate goal of their PPC strategy. This vision is clearly short-sighted. It’s primary to get your goals straight (e.g., generating revenue), but don’t forget other types of advertising that could lead to the same results.
Retarget Unopened Email
We are all building incredible email lists. It’s terrific because sending email doesn’t cost anything and can drive great results.
Unfortunately, more and more people aren’t even opening their emails. Gmail and their “Promotion” tab isn’t helping.
Something I like to do is send an email and then retarget people who didn’t convert (including those who didn’t open/click the email).
If you notice that your emails have a low open rate or a low CTR, retargeting may be one way to talk to these people and win back their attention.
Remove Poor Performing Geographical Locations
Not all leads are created equal. Some are ready to buy and are a great fit for your product, while others aren’t worth your time. Is there a certain geographic locations where poor quality leads are coming from? If so, you may want to eliminate that area from retargeting.
For example, if you find that you consistently find yourself getting low quality leads from Mexico, you’ll want to remove people in Mexico from being retargeted. This will make for a more cost-effective retargeting program.
Did you know? Using Kissmetrics, marketers can track the effectiveness of their online campaigns. You’ll see how many conversions and customers each campaign has delivered, allowing you to comfortably eliminate what’s not working so you can focus on what is. Become a better marketer today with Kissmetrics! Request a personal demo to learn more.
Retargeting Madness
Retargeting is very powerful and can show great results. It allows you to target the right people and show them timed and customized offers.
By doing so, you can expect to transform cold leads into warm leads and warm leads into customers. That’s everything a marketer could ask for, right?
Retargeting can be an incredible source of exposure. Get creative, find new ways to target people, and share them in the comments below.
Did you try any of these tactics? What kinds of results did you get? Did you have any trouble implementing them?
About the Author: Pierre Lechelle helps startups grow through digital marketing and growth hacking. Follow him on his blog or Twitter.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1UT497Z via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1LwC248
September 16, 2015 at 02:44AM
More than 80% of the visitors to your website will not convert. But what if you could get these visitors to return to your website so you could present your offer again? That’s where retargeting comes in.
And besides getting visitors back to your site, retargeting can also be used to reach people who didn’t open your email and people who showed a special interest in your product.
Even if you already use retargeting, you probably aren’t making the most of it.
In this article, I’ll teach you a few techniques that have enabled me to achieve the best results I’ve ever seen with paid advertising. Read on to discover 10 techniques that will help you target your consumers better and deliver more results from your retargeting campaigns.
The techniques below will work on either Google AdWords or Facebook Ads. Just consider the two as one medium for retargeting.
#1 – Engagement Factors
Custom Segment in Google Analytics allows you to segment your traffic with incredible precision. By linking Google Analytics and Google AdWords, you’ll be able to retarget specific segments of your audience. And you can use a wide range of factors to base your retargeting on. Some of my favorites include:
Page depth
Number of visits
Landing Pages
Session duration
Certain goal completion
You’ll need to crunch your data in order to understand what works for you. As an example, you may find that people who visited your website 3 times and spent more than 5 minutes are more likely to buy. You can then create a custom segment and target these people on the Google Display Network.
#2 – Vertical Website(s)
If you know your industry lacks knowledge regarding a specific topic but you don’t think it’s relevant on your main website, you can create a separate website.
Here are some examples:
You are developing accounting software, and you realize that people are looking for reviews. You can create a website reviewing all the software.
You notice that people are searching for “How to install [competitor’s product].” Create a website that shows how to install your competitor’s product.
Once you’ve created the new website, you can easily retarget warm prospects to your website.
To give you an example, Prezly developed PRStack.co, which features PR resources and enables them to channel traffic back to their product.
Look at what your industry is missing and what you can offer to fulfill that need. If you don’t create that website, someone else will.
This technique can work wonders if you rank on competitive keywords with your new website. If Google can bring you 100k visitors on a handful of keywords, do it. You won’t regret it.
Keep in mind that exact match domain names tend to rank pretty well. As an example, GrowthHackers.com will easily rank well for the keyword “growth hackers.”
#3 – Form Completion Status
You can track the people who started filling out a form but didn’t complete it. They may have had something else on their mind, or they may have been interrupted.
You can create a segment of warm leads who will be ready to fill in that form the next time it hits them.
#4 – Free Trials
How many people signed up for your product, used it for 5 minutes, and then never came back? Maybe they got distracted, or maybe the timing wasn’t right for them. After a few days of inactivity, you can send them some interesting content to remind them of your product.
You could send the emails directly, but I’d suggest you try different approaches, such as:
Email + retargeting
Retargeting alone
Email alone
See what works best for you.
#5 – Past Users
How many leads have you had in your entire history? This is probably a huge number. You can get these people back on your website through targeted ads. Since you already know their emails, you can get started in a few hours. Here are a few examples of what to promote:
Features / Benefits
Announcements
Use Cases
The main idea is to stay in touch with your past contacts and engage them with new content.
#6 – Active Users and Promoters
Customers are not created equal. Some are more likely to engage and share your content. What if you could target them directly?
You can measure engagement of users through an analytics tool like Kissmetrics (using the Cohort Report) or by using a NPS survey. You can then retarget these users based on how engaged they are.
Highly engaged users won’t hesitate for a second to share your content with their peers.
As an example, let’s say you use Kissmetrics every day and are delighted with their software. You’d be more likely to share something on your medium of choice (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) than to forward their weekly newsletter.
In this example, retargeting can allow you to meet your users on their own terms, where they are the most likely to engage with your brand. If you target the right people, you’ll drive more awareness.
#7 – Past Promotions
As a marketer, you run plenty of promotions to acquire customers. But the people who visit your website aren’t always ready to buy your products right away. The important thing is to make sure they remember you when they’re in need of a solution like yours.
This is where most businesses retarget. Once a person visits their site, the business will show ads to the person when he or she visits on other sites.
You can easily present your offer (even if it was six months ago) at several different times and places.
#8 – Email Marketing Combo
What if you could target people who never open your emails and people who open your emails but never click on them?
As a savvy marketer, you’re probably building an email list in order to keep engaging your audience. Think about all the people who never opened or clicked on your emails. You could easily target these people depending on how warm they are. You can then show them different content depending on where they stand within your funnel.
As an example, you might want to show very informative (top of the funnel) content to people who never engaged. You could show use cases and whitepapers to people who click on all your emails.
Implementing this tactic might require a bit of development on your end. It is however fairly easy to make a script to synchronize MailChimp and Facebook.
Doing this can have a great impact on the effectiveness of your email marketing strategy. People who never opened your emails will finally reach your website.
#9 – Content Series
Sometimes cold prospects don’t want to give you their emails right away no matter what you show them.
In that case, you can create a series of content and retarget them from one piece of content to the next. The best part? You don’t need their email, retargeting will do the trick…
You’ll don’t ask for their email until the last step. Here is a quick example:
Visitor lands on your blog
You retarget them to another article
You retarget them to a landing page
You retarget them to a whitepaper with email capture
This way, you can funnel your visitor toward interesting content. The warm prospects will convert whenever they want by inserting their emails, while the others will wait until they’re ready.
#10 – Page Based
One of the most common methods of retargeting is to base the content you show people on the pages they’ve seen on your website.
The content you would show people who’ve seen your pricing page would be different from the content you would show people who’ve seen only your blog.
You could also use this technique to show people content that is similar to what they’ve seen before.
Pro Tips
Avoid Being Creepy
You could retarget people whose payment failed with an ad saying “Your Payment Failed,” but I’m not sure they would like it.
These days, you can collect a massive amount of data about your users. Being able to target people with incredible precision based on that data is a great opportunity for marketers. However, make sure you’re not being too intrusive or annoying.
Retargeting can sometimes appear creepy. Use your good judgment to avoid these situations.
Consider Your Audience Size
If you have only a few hundred visitors on your website, you won’t be able to apply most of the techniques above.
Make sure you have a decent audience size when you begin retargeting. With a small audience, pay attention to your Budget and Frequency to avoid spamming people.
Clean Your Lists
If you can’t get people to buy from you, just let it go. Not everyone is interested in what you’re selling. If you keep showing them ads, they’ll get tired of you and they might even talk badly about you.
I sometimes notice that people who look at specific pages rarely convert (e.g., Career page). Knowing that, I exclude these people to improve a campaign’s ROI.
Also, pay close attention to the membership duration of your audiences. If you haven’t seen someone for the last 540 days, chances are, they won’t be interested.
Watch for Concurrent Ads
Ensure that your ads aren’t concurrent or that their concurrence doesn’t look weird. Let’s imagine the following context:
You retarget people who visited your blog with ToFu content
You retarget people who visited your pricing page with BoFu content
Therefore, people who saw both your blog and your pricing page will see both ToFu and BoFu content. Make sure the experience isn’t weird for them, or exclude the concurrent audience (target people who visited your blog but didn’t visit the pricing page).
Set Up Automation
I’ve seen people waste hours manually adding and removing customers from retargeting lists… Don’t do that! You’ll waste time and become overworked. The next thing you know you’ll be showing the wrong ads to the wrong people.
Linking your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) to your retargeting audiences is also possible. Integrate and automate as much as you can. Do as little work as possible. Automate to the maximum.
Make sure the whole process is automated and that you don’t need to do anything to update your audiences.
Keep Experimenting
You need to experiment with different techniques in order to discover what works best for you.
Techniques highlighted in this article are only some of the ones I’ve tried in the past. Don’t listen to me blindly; test them yourself and brainstorm around new ideas.
As an example, in previous campaigns, we realized that pushing content to new audiences and retargeting people who engaged was an incredible source of revenue.
When getting started, most people will think about conversions as the ultimate goal of their PPC strategy. This vision is clearly short-sighted. It’s primary to get your goals straight (e.g., generating revenue), but don’t forget other types of advertising that could lead to the same results.
Retarget Unopened Email
We are all building incredible email lists. It’s terrific because sending email doesn’t cost anything and can drive great results.
Unfortunately, more and more people aren’t even opening their emails. Gmail and their “Promotion” tab isn’t helping.
Something I like to do is send an email and then retarget people who didn’t convert (including those who didn’t open/click the email).
If you notice that your emails have a low open rate or a low CTR, retargeting may be one way to talk to these people and win back their attention.
Remove Poor Performing Geographical Locations
Not all leads are created equal. Some are ready to buy and are a great fit for your product, while others aren’t worth your time. Is there a certain geographic locations where poor quality leads are coming from? If so, you may want to eliminate that area from retargeting.
For example, if you find that you consistently find yourself getting low quality leads from Mexico, you’ll want to remove people in Mexico from being retargeted. This will make for a more cost-effective retargeting program.
Did you know? Using Kissmetrics, marketers can track the effectiveness of their online campaigns. You’ll see how many conversions and customers each campaign has delivered, allowing you to comfortably eliminate what’s not working so you can focus on what is. Become a better marketer today with Kissmetrics! Request a personal demo to learn more.
Retargeting Madness
Retargeting is very powerful and can show great results. It allows you to target the right people and show them timed and customized offers.
By doing so, you can expect to transform cold leads into warm leads and warm leads into customers. That’s everything a marketer could ask for, right?
Retargeting can be an incredible source of exposure. Get creative, find new ways to target people, and share them in the comments below.
Did you try any of these tactics? What kinds of results did you get? Did you have any trouble implementing them?
About the Author: Pierre Lechelle helps startups grow through digital marketing and growth hacking. Follow him on his blog or Twitter.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1UT497Z via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1LwC248
September 16, 2015 at 02:44AM
Added: Oct 02, 2015 Via IFTTT
Part 2 - What is Tiered Link Building by WebmasterForum.ws
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Part 2 - What is Tiered Link Building by WebmasterForum.ws
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Part 2 - What is Tiered Link Building
http://ift.tt/1FLtREH
October 02, 2015 at 06:51PM
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Part 2 - What is Tiered Link Building
http://ift.tt/1FLtREH
October 02, 2015 at 06:51PM
Added: Apr 22, 2019 Via IFTTT
Part 2 - What is Tiered Link Building by WebmasterForum.ws
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Part 2 - What is Tiered Link Building by WebmasterForum.ws
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Part 2 - What is Tiered Link Building
http://bit.ly/2Vek5r9
October 02, 2015 at 06:51PM
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Part 2 - What is Tiered Link Building
http://bit.ly/2Vek5r9
October 02, 2015 at 06:51PM
Added: Oct 02, 2015 Via IFTTT
Rankwyz Discount Code - 10% OFF for LIFE by WebmasterForum.ws
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Rankwyz Discount Code - 10% OFF for LIFE by WebmasterForum.ws
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Rankwyz Discount Code - 10% OFF for LIFE
http://ift.tt/1FMlbgW
October 02, 2015 at 05:11PM
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Rankwyz Discount Code - 10% OFF for LIFE
http://ift.tt/1FMlbgW
October 02, 2015 at 05:11PM
Added: Apr 22, 2019 Via IFTTT
Rankwyz Discount Code - 10% OFF for LIFE by WebmasterForum.ws
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Rankwyz Discount Code - 10% OFF for LIFE by WebmasterForum.ws
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Rankwyz Discount Code - 10% OFF for LIFE
http://bit.ly/2KU8LfO
October 02, 2015 at 05:11PM
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Rankwyz Discount Code - 10% OFF for LIFE
http://bit.ly/2KU8LfO
October 02, 2015 at 05:11PM
Added: Oct 02, 2015 Via IFTTT
RankWyz Review - Part 1 - An introduction to RankWyz by WebmasterForum.ws
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
RankWyz Review - Part 1 - An introduction to RankWyz by WebmasterForum.ws
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: RankWyz Review - Part 1 - An introduction to RankWyz
http://ift.tt/1FMletl
October 02, 2015 at 05:11PM
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: RankWyz Review - Part 1 - An introduction to RankWyz
http://ift.tt/1FMletl
October 02, 2015 at 05:11PM
Added: Apr 22, 2019 Via IFTTT
RankWyz Review - Part 1 - An introduction to RankWyz by WebmasterForum.ws
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
RankWyz Review - Part 1 - An introduction to RankWyz by WebmasterForum.ws
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: RankWyz Review - Part 1 - An introduction to RankWyz
http://bit.ly/2Vek2LZ
October 02, 2015 at 05:11PM
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: RankWyz Review - Part 1 - An introduction to RankWyz
http://bit.ly/2Vek2LZ
October 02, 2015 at 05:11PM
Added: Oct 02, 2015 Via IFTTT
RankWyz Review - Part 2 - What is Tiered Link Building by WebmasterForum.ws
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
RankWyz Review - Part 2 - What is Tiered Link Building by WebmasterForum.ws
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: RankWyz Review - Part 2 - What is Tiered Link Building
http://ift.tt/1O87ieo
October 02, 2015 at 05:14PM
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: RankWyz Review - Part 2 - What is Tiered Link Building
http://ift.tt/1O87ieo
October 02, 2015 at 05:14PM
Added: Apr 22, 2019 Via IFTTT
RankWyz Review - Part 2 - What is Tiered Link Building by WebmasterForum.ws
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
RankWyz Review - Part 2 - What is Tiered Link Building by WebmasterForum.ws
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: RankWyz Review - Part 2 - What is Tiered Link Building
http://bit.ly/2KVTvzb
October 02, 2015 at 05:14PM
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: RankWyz Review - Part 2 - What is Tiered Link Building
http://bit.ly/2KVTvzb
October 02, 2015 at 05:14PM
Added: Oct 02, 2015 Via IFTTT
RankWyz Tutorial
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
RankWyz Tutorial
RankWyz is a monster of an SEO Tool and has everything you need in order to rank your money sites pages on the first page of the SERPS. The biggest issue that people have is understanding how to use this tool, which is why we have put together a RankWyz tutorial. ×Proofread Part 1 - […]
The post RankWyz Tutorial appeared first on Webmaster Forum.
from Webmaster Forum | RSS Feed http://ift.tt/1L9mOWs via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Webmaster Forum | RSS Feed
http://ift.tt/1M75Gx2
October 03, 2015 at 04:21AM
RankWyz is a monster of an SEO Tool and has everything you need in order to rank your money sites pages on the first page of the SERPS. The biggest issue that people have is understanding how to use this tool, which is why we have put together a RankWyz tutorial. ×Proofread Part 1 - […]
The post RankWyz Tutorial appeared first on Webmaster Forum.
from Webmaster Forum | RSS Feed http://ift.tt/1L9mOWs via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Webmaster Forum | RSS Feed
http://ift.tt/1M75Gx2
October 03, 2015 at 04:21AM
Added: Apr 22, 2019 Via IFTTT
RankWyz Tutorial
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
RankWyz Tutorial
RankWyz is a monster of an SEO Tool and has everything you need in order to rank your money sites pages on the first page of the SERPS. The biggest issue that people have is understanding how to use this tool, which is why we have put together a RankWyz tutorial. ×Proofread Part 1 - […]
The post RankWyz Tutorial appeared first on Webmaster Forum.
from Webmaster Forum | RSS Feed http://ift.tt/1L9mOWs via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Webmaster Forum | RSS Feed
http://bit.ly/2KQrmt4
October 03, 2015 at 04:21AM
RankWyz is a monster of an SEO Tool and has everything you need in order to rank your money sites pages on the first page of the SERPS. The biggest issue that people have is understanding how to use this tool, which is why we have put together a RankWyz tutorial. ×Proofread Part 1 - […]
The post RankWyz Tutorial appeared first on Webmaster Forum.
from Webmaster Forum | RSS Feed http://ift.tt/1L9mOWs via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Webmaster Forum | RSS Feed
http://bit.ly/2KQrmt4
October 03, 2015 at 04:21AM
Added: Oct 02, 2015 Via IFTTT
RankWyz Tutorial - Part 3 - Features and Benefits by WebmasterForum.ws
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
RankWyz Tutorial - Part 3 - Features and Benefits by WebmasterForum.ws
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: RankWyz Tutorial - Part 3 - Features and Benefits
http://ift.tt/1LXrKP0
October 02, 2015 at 09:25PM
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: RankWyz Tutorial - Part 3 - Features and Benefits
http://ift.tt/1LXrKP0
October 02, 2015 at 09:25PM
Added: Apr 22, 2019 Via IFTTT
RankWyz Tutorial - Part 3 - Features and Benefits by WebmasterForum.ws
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
RankWyz Tutorial - Part 3 - Features and Benefits by WebmasterForum.ws
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: RankWyz Tutorial - Part 3 - Features and Benefits
http://bit.ly/2KSpY9m
October 02, 2015 at 09:25PM
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: RankWyz Tutorial - Part 3 - Features and Benefits
http://bit.ly/2KSpY9m
October 02, 2015 at 09:25PM
Added: Nov 09, 2015 Via IFTTT
RankWyz Tutorial Part 1
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
RankWyz Tutorial Part 1
This content is for members of webmaster forum. In order to become a member please sign up using the link below. SIGN UP NOW This content is for members of webmaster forum. In order to become a member please sign up using the link below. SIGN UP NOW
The post RankWyz Tutorial Part 1 appeared first on Webmaster Forum.
from Webmaster Forum | RSS Feed http://ift.tt/1kE4jPR via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Webmaster Forum | RSS Feed
http://ift.tt/1PjzTjb
November 09, 2015 at 05:41AM
This content is for members of webmaster forum. In order to become a member please sign up using the link below. SIGN UP NOW This content is for members of webmaster forum. In order to become a member please sign up using the link below. SIGN UP NOW
The post RankWyz Tutorial Part 1 appeared first on Webmaster Forum.
from Webmaster Forum | RSS Feed http://ift.tt/1kE4jPR via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Webmaster Forum | RSS Feed
http://ift.tt/1PjzTjb
November 09, 2015 at 05:41AM
Added: Apr 22, 2019 Via IFTTT
RankWyz Tutorial Part 1
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
RankWyz Tutorial Part 1
This content is for members of webmaster forum. In order to become a member please sign up using the link below. SIGN UP NOW This content is for members of webmaster forum. In order to become a member please sign up using the link below. SIGN UP NOW
The post RankWyz Tutorial Part 1 appeared first on Webmaster Forum.
from Webmaster Forum | RSS Feed http://ift.tt/1kE4jPR via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Webmaster Forum | RSS Feed
http://bit.ly/2KR8MRt
November 09, 2015 at 05:41AM
This content is for members of webmaster forum. In order to become a member please sign up using the link below. SIGN UP NOW This content is for members of webmaster forum. In order to become a member please sign up using the link below. SIGN UP NOW
The post RankWyz Tutorial Part 1 appeared first on Webmaster Forum.
from Webmaster Forum | RSS Feed http://ift.tt/1kE4jPR via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: Webmaster Forum | RSS Feed
http://bit.ly/2KR8MRt
November 09, 2015 at 05:41AM
Added: Oct 02, 2015 Via IFTTT
RankyWyz Tutorial - Part 4 - What RankWyz Does by WebmasterForum.ws
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
RankyWyz Tutorial - Part 4 - What RankWyz Does by WebmasterForum.ws
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: RankyWyz Tutorial - Part 4 - What RankWyz Does
http://ift.tt/1Pa35aX
October 03, 2015 at 03:46AM
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: RankyWyz Tutorial - Part 4 - What RankWyz Does
http://ift.tt/1Pa35aX
October 03, 2015 at 03:46AM
Added: Apr 22, 2019 Via IFTTT
RankyWyz Tutorial - Part 4 - What RankWyz Does by WebmasterForum.ws
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
RankyWyz Tutorial - Part 4 - What RankWyz Does by WebmasterForum.ws
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: RankyWyz Tutorial - Part 4 - What RankWyz Does
http://bit.ly/2VprILz
October 03, 2015 at 03:46AM
via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: RankyWyz Tutorial - Part 4 - What RankWyz Does
http://bit.ly/2VprILz
October 03, 2015 at 03:46AM
Added: Sep 21, 2015 Via IFTTT
Rebranding Done Right: 5 Examples You Can Learn From
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Rebranding Done Right: 5 Examples You Can Learn From
Rebranding. It’s the latest marketing trend in a whirlwind of efforts to appear fresh, new and relevant to today’s audiences. But oftentimes, a rebranding campaign focuses too much on the aesthetics and too little on the core components that drive it.
Rebranding is about more than just slapping up a new logo and calling it a day. It’s about helping your company, and your customers, make the switch gradually and confidently to a company that demonstrates how it aligns with the very same values it presents to its customers every day. It’s about making sure that pride, quality and satisfaction are more than buzzwords. And it’s about honoring your commitment to the new brand without abandoning the old.
Here are five companies that successfully rebranded themselves – and what you can learn from them.
CVS Pharmacy: Do the Right Thing, Even if it’s Seemingly Unpopular
The Problem:
The pharmacy. It’s where you go to get your medications, your vitamins, your protein shakes and your cigarettes.
Say what?
The Rebranding:
CVS is the first chain pharmacy to stop selling tobacco products – which, although they accounted for around 4% of its sales, was a positive step that perfectly illustrates the company’s commitment to health. In addition, they changed their name to CVS Health from its previous iteration as “CVS Caremark” (which meant nothing to anyone but them).
Changing their name and their stance on tobacco products resulted in doing more for the brand that nearly any other marketing initiative they’ve done. Through public relations support and social media buzz, they were able to generate over 100,000 tweets and even a comment from the President.
By making their actions louder than their words, CVS as proved that they stand for something rather than just talking about it. So far, no other pharmacies are following suit, but at this point, it really doesn’t matter – since the first one to make a bold move is always the one you remember.
What You Can Learn from Them:
When rebranding, make a strong statement and then stand behind it, even if it seems to be bold or unpopular at the time. Your unwavering commitment and dedication is what people will remember, and suddenly, the bold, fresh step you took becomes the norm. Just look at smoking on airplanes and in restaurants to see an example of this philosophy in action.
Burberry: The Luxury Brand of Thugs?
The Problem:
Burberry is commonly seen as a luxury brand. With over 150 years of history, this company brought the popularity waterproof gabardines and trench coats to our shores. Their iconic design is reflected everywhere, from clothing to handbags to fragrances. Unfortunately, they had also become a target as gangwear.
At one point, the use of the brand by thugs was so widespread that anyone caught wearing Burberry was banned from certain city pubs.
The Rebranding:
High priced clothing is always going to be attractive to gangs, but Burberry took the initiative in reinventing itself, putting a sexy spin on utility clothing and getting endorsements from well-known and well-liked celebrities.
Of course, the transformation wasn’t completely about focusing on the new and forgetting the old. Burberry still carries trench coats and swimwear – except now, they’ve taken an even more creative, artistic approach without sacrificing the 150 years of heritage and brand goodwill they’ve generated.
What You Can Learn from Them:
Although there’s nothing you can do to keep your brand from being adopted by an unintended target audience, you can look for ways to adjust that brand to become more modern and unique, without giving up years of quality and the reputation you’ve built.
Old Spice: Not Your Grandpa’s Deodorant
The Problem:
Old Spice is a men’s deodorant much like any other. It reminds many of the younger generation of their grandparents. Interestingly enough, the very first Old Spice was designed for women. When you think of something old-fashioned, you tend to think of stagnant, head-in-the-sand, traditional and unflattering fragrances. It may seem hard to sell something as everyday as deodorant, after all, there are thousands of options out there.
The Rebranding:
Old Spice worked with NFL Player Isaiah Mustafa, affectionately known as the Old Spice Guy, on a series of commercials aimed at women that portrayed Old Spice as something seductive and alluring. It even referred to its deodorant and body wash line as “scent vacations” rather than the same, old, antiperspirant pitch we’ve heard a million times before.
In addition, Old Spice didn’t have to change its logo. Rather it changed people’s impressions of Old Spice by using someone young, fun and attractive – all qualities that Old Spice wants people to think of when choosing their deodorant.
What You Can Learn from Them: Message and brand consistency are crucial in improving customer awareness and sales. Look for ways to turn something everyday (deodorant) into something new and interesting (scent vacations).
Pabst Blue Ribbon: Frat Beer Retails for $44 in China
(image source)
The Problem:
Pabst Blue Ribbon is an inexpensive, commonly found beer that’s hugely popular among the college and fraternity crowd. It’s not exceptionally refined, nor is it artisan quality – at least not in the U.S. China, however, is a different story.
The Rebranding:
Pabst is known as Blue Ribbon 1844 beer in China, based on the year the company was founded. A third party licensed the Pabst brand and formulated the beer slightly differently than its American version. The Chinese version sells for a whopping $44 and is hugely popular due to an upswing in the artisan beer market from upper middle class Chinese consumers.
Why China? Well, they have leaped beyond the U.S. and even Germany as the world’s largest beer drinking market, so although the ad itself (above) looks like something you’d see for a fine wine or brandy, it’s actually the very same Blue Ribbon you see at keg parties.
What You Can Learn from Them
It’s never too late to change what people associate with your brand. One culture’s perception of what you stand for may be radically different from another – something that is particularly important for companies that do business on a global scale (which means pretty much any business on the internet!)
Corn Syrup: Not as Sweet as You Think
(image source)
The Problem:
If I say the words “high fructose corn syrup” do you cringe? If so, you’re like the millions of others who have been clamoring for changes in the things we eat and drink every day. Facing a backlash from consumers over the rising rates of diabetes and obesity, food and drink manufacturers have started putting sugar back into their foods (as evinced by “Mountain Dew Throwback” and other original formula items) in place of previously favored high fructose corn syrup.
Not surprisingly, the corn industry is upset by this sudden vilification of their product.
The Rebranding:
Seeing money slip through its fingers, the corn industry rapidly tried a rebranding tactic that, had it worked, would’ve been a very slick trick. From a health point of view, it was rather low and sneaky. From a marketing point of view, it was brilliant. The answer?
Relabel corn syrup as corn sugar!
Corn sugar sounds natural and healthier than “high fructose corn syrup” doesn’t it? And it doesn’t have the same stigma that corn syrup has. Fortunately (or unfortunately for the corn industry), the FDA said “nope!” For one thing, syrup and sugar are two different substances. For another thing, corn sugar already exists (it’s chemically known as dextrose) and it has been used for over 30+ years by people who have had trouble digesting or processing sugar.
BONUS: Rebranding Disaster: Could Nothing Could Save “The Shack”?
The Problem:
RadioShack wanted to expand its brand to be more than just where your grandparents used to shop or where amateur hobbyists went for odd batteries.
The Rebranding:
They decided to rename themselves “The Shack” – but that didn’t help either. You don’t associate “The Shack” with electronics or technology. You associate it with a run-down place where questionable things happen. And for RadioShack, that, along with many other factors was the final nail in the coffin.
Had you been in charge of their rebranding effort, what would you have done instead? Tell us in the comments below!
About the Author: Sherice Jacob helps business owners improve website design and increase conversion rates through compelling copywriting, user-friendly design and smart analytics analysis. Learn more at iElectrify.com and download your free web copy tune-up and conversion checklist today!
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1Jl1GqM via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1MEJjEM
September 21, 2015 at 10:03PM
Rebranding. It’s the latest marketing trend in a whirlwind of efforts to appear fresh, new and relevant to today’s audiences. But oftentimes, a rebranding campaign focuses too much on the aesthetics and too little on the core components that drive it.
Rebranding is about more than just slapping up a new logo and calling it a day. It’s about helping your company, and your customers, make the switch gradually and confidently to a company that demonstrates how it aligns with the very same values it presents to its customers every day. It’s about making sure that pride, quality and satisfaction are more than buzzwords. And it’s about honoring your commitment to the new brand without abandoning the old.
Here are five companies that successfully rebranded themselves – and what you can learn from them.
CVS Pharmacy: Do the Right Thing, Even if it’s Seemingly Unpopular
The Problem:
The pharmacy. It’s where you go to get your medications, your vitamins, your protein shakes and your cigarettes.
Say what?
The Rebranding:
CVS is the first chain pharmacy to stop selling tobacco products – which, although they accounted for around 4% of its sales, was a positive step that perfectly illustrates the company’s commitment to health. In addition, they changed their name to CVS Health from its previous iteration as “CVS Caremark” (which meant nothing to anyone but them).
Changing their name and their stance on tobacco products resulted in doing more for the brand that nearly any other marketing initiative they’ve done. Through public relations support and social media buzz, they were able to generate over 100,000 tweets and even a comment from the President.
By making their actions louder than their words, CVS as proved that they stand for something rather than just talking about it. So far, no other pharmacies are following suit, but at this point, it really doesn’t matter – since the first one to make a bold move is always the one you remember.
What You Can Learn from Them:
When rebranding, make a strong statement and then stand behind it, even if it seems to be bold or unpopular at the time. Your unwavering commitment and dedication is what people will remember, and suddenly, the bold, fresh step you took becomes the norm. Just look at smoking on airplanes and in restaurants to see an example of this philosophy in action.
Burberry: The Luxury Brand of Thugs?
The Problem:
Burberry is commonly seen as a luxury brand. With over 150 years of history, this company brought the popularity waterproof gabardines and trench coats to our shores. Their iconic design is reflected everywhere, from clothing to handbags to fragrances. Unfortunately, they had also become a target as gangwear.
At one point, the use of the brand by thugs was so widespread that anyone caught wearing Burberry was banned from certain city pubs.
The Rebranding:
High priced clothing is always going to be attractive to gangs, but Burberry took the initiative in reinventing itself, putting a sexy spin on utility clothing and getting endorsements from well-known and well-liked celebrities.
Of course, the transformation wasn’t completely about focusing on the new and forgetting the old. Burberry still carries trench coats and swimwear – except now, they’ve taken an even more creative, artistic approach without sacrificing the 150 years of heritage and brand goodwill they’ve generated.
What You Can Learn from Them:
Although there’s nothing you can do to keep your brand from being adopted by an unintended target audience, you can look for ways to adjust that brand to become more modern and unique, without giving up years of quality and the reputation you’ve built.
Old Spice: Not Your Grandpa’s Deodorant
The Problem:
Old Spice is a men’s deodorant much like any other. It reminds many of the younger generation of their grandparents. Interestingly enough, the very first Old Spice was designed for women. When you think of something old-fashioned, you tend to think of stagnant, head-in-the-sand, traditional and unflattering fragrances. It may seem hard to sell something as everyday as deodorant, after all, there are thousands of options out there.
The Rebranding:
Old Spice worked with NFL Player Isaiah Mustafa, affectionately known as the Old Spice Guy, on a series of commercials aimed at women that portrayed Old Spice as something seductive and alluring. It even referred to its deodorant and body wash line as “scent vacations” rather than the same, old, antiperspirant pitch we’ve heard a million times before.
In addition, Old Spice didn’t have to change its logo. Rather it changed people’s impressions of Old Spice by using someone young, fun and attractive – all qualities that Old Spice wants people to think of when choosing their deodorant.
What You Can Learn from Them: Message and brand consistency are crucial in improving customer awareness and sales. Look for ways to turn something everyday (deodorant) into something new and interesting (scent vacations).
Pabst Blue Ribbon: Frat Beer Retails for $44 in China
(image source)
The Problem:
Pabst Blue Ribbon is an inexpensive, commonly found beer that’s hugely popular among the college and fraternity crowd. It’s not exceptionally refined, nor is it artisan quality – at least not in the U.S. China, however, is a different story.
The Rebranding:
Pabst is known as Blue Ribbon 1844 beer in China, based on the year the company was founded. A third party licensed the Pabst brand and formulated the beer slightly differently than its American version. The Chinese version sells for a whopping $44 and is hugely popular due to an upswing in the artisan beer market from upper middle class Chinese consumers.
Why China? Well, they have leaped beyond the U.S. and even Germany as the world’s largest beer drinking market, so although the ad itself (above) looks like something you’d see for a fine wine or brandy, it’s actually the very same Blue Ribbon you see at keg parties.
What You Can Learn from Them
It’s never too late to change what people associate with your brand. One culture’s perception of what you stand for may be radically different from another – something that is particularly important for companies that do business on a global scale (which means pretty much any business on the internet!)
Corn Syrup: Not as Sweet as You Think
(image source)
The Problem:
If I say the words “high fructose corn syrup” do you cringe? If so, you’re like the millions of others who have been clamoring for changes in the things we eat and drink every day. Facing a backlash from consumers over the rising rates of diabetes and obesity, food and drink manufacturers have started putting sugar back into their foods (as evinced by “Mountain Dew Throwback” and other original formula items) in place of previously favored high fructose corn syrup.
Not surprisingly, the corn industry is upset by this sudden vilification of their product.
The Rebranding:
Seeing money slip through its fingers, the corn industry rapidly tried a rebranding tactic that, had it worked, would’ve been a very slick trick. From a health point of view, it was rather low and sneaky. From a marketing point of view, it was brilliant. The answer?
Relabel corn syrup as corn sugar!
Corn sugar sounds natural and healthier than “high fructose corn syrup” doesn’t it? And it doesn’t have the same stigma that corn syrup has. Fortunately (or unfortunately for the corn industry), the FDA said “nope!” For one thing, syrup and sugar are two different substances. For another thing, corn sugar already exists (it’s chemically known as dextrose) and it has been used for over 30+ years by people who have had trouble digesting or processing sugar.
BONUS: Rebranding Disaster: Could Nothing Could Save “The Shack”?
The Problem:
RadioShack wanted to expand its brand to be more than just where your grandparents used to shop or where amateur hobbyists went for odd batteries.
The Rebranding:
They decided to rename themselves “The Shack” – but that didn’t help either. You don’t associate “The Shack” with electronics or technology. You associate it with a run-down place where questionable things happen. And for RadioShack, that, along with many other factors was the final nail in the coffin.
Had you been in charge of their rebranding effort, what would you have done instead? Tell us in the comments below!
About the Author: Sherice Jacob helps business owners improve website design and increase conversion rates through compelling copywriting, user-friendly design and smart analytics analysis. Learn more at iElectrify.com and download your free web copy tune-up and conversion checklist today!
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1Jl1GqM via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1MEJjEM
September 21, 2015 at 10:03PM
Added: Aug 27, 2015 Via IFTTT
Resource-Based Marketing: 5 SaaS Companies That Are Doing It Right
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Resource-Based Marketing: 5 SaaS Companies That Are Doing It Right
Want to put your company on the map? There are many ways you can approach your marketing in order to get eyeballs and grow your business.
From press releases that result in media mentions to a great paid campaign for your social media page, and from an ad that gets you seen in search engines to a commercial on TV or an ad on a website, there is no shortage of opportunities to grow your online footprint.
A lot of people use the aforementioned tactics to build visibility. When you think about it, online marketing typically encompasses the three standard marketing components: SEO, social media marketing, and PPC. That’s your SEM (search engine marketing) in a nutshell.
But what people don’t seem to recognize is that there are other creative tactics to use within SEM that could be incredibly valuable to your company’s bottom line.
What tactics, you ask?
Tools and education!
Lots of companies are using free tools and resources as well as education to power massive customer acquisition. In this article, I’d like to showcase five companies that have created significant resources which really helped grow awareness of their product.
1. HubSpot: Building a Product to Drive Leads
Inbound marketing company HubSpot is your classic example. Years ago, it launched to appeal to a niche audience of marketers by creating the now defunct Twitter Grader, which would grade your presence on the social media platform. At the time, the social media space was abuzz with news about the tool, and everyone wanted to share their statistics. The result was significant awareness (the company went public last year).
While Twitter Grader doesn’t exist anymore, HubSpot replaced it with a more ubiquitous (and more appropriate for its product offering) Website Marketing Grader. But, now, even that’s out of date, so HubSpot is building a better version at Website Grader.
Once you grade your site, you get pitched to try out HubSpot’s service offerings, all of which can help with your website presence online. By doing this, HubSpot not only offers a tool that’s relevant to what it does, it also captures leads regularly.
What you can learn from HubSpot: Product-based launches that are relevant to your business are best. Offer a tool that will lead people to want to know how to “fix” the problems you identify for them.
2. Groove: Building a Business on the Back of a Super Informative Blog
If you haven’t checked out Groove yet, you should. It’s one of my favorite blogs, and if you have a look, you’ll see why.
GrooveHQ is a relatively simple helpdesk application for small businesses. Beyond having a really great interface, their customer experience goes far beyond the product offering. Their blog is a goldmine of great content, and it keeps on getting better and better.
Groove has three blogs. Their main blog is the Startup Journey, and it is authored by their insanely intelligent CEO, Alex Turnbull. In it, Alex talks about his journey and gives tips on how people can learn from other businesses just like his. For example, he talks about how he grew his email subscription base to 50k, how to manage remote teams, and what he learned from failing to hit his 12-month growth goal. The blog is beautifully designed, giving readers a true chronology of his successes (and failures).
Groove’s second blog is the Customer Support blog. True to its name, it covers topics related to customer support, such as a weekly customer service maintenance checklist and articles on how to reduce the number of customer service emails you get, how to deal with bad reviews of your business, and how to turn your most unhappy customers into brand promoters. It is chock full of good content, as is their third blog, which is product-oriented.
The Product blog covers new feature additions written in such a way as to engage the reader. It also covers topics like “how Company ABC switched to Groove,” product hacks (i.e., how to make the product better with some hacking), and more. The way these posts are written is refreshing and really conveys a true interest in connecting with the reader. It’s not your typical educational blog. It is passion in (digital) print. No wonder Groove is growing so much.
What you can learn from Groove: If you write amazing content, your business blog can soar above the rest. It’s even better if you are transparent about your journey as a business, discussing your successes and failures so that people can really identify with you and the situations you describe.
3. Synup: Building a Resource that Drives Awareness on top of What You’re Already Selling
Synup, a local listings tool, has been really making waves in the local SEO space. Earlier this summer, it launched the Local SEO Checklist to help anyone working on local SEO to learn what steps need to be taken to ensure their local website has the best possible SEO. The tool is totally free, and it is a true checklist of every step necessary to grow a local online footprint.
Synup’s tool has worked. Their service has attracted thousands of new users in the past three months who needed to do more with their local SEO. After all, Synup’s offering is tangential to review monitoring for small local businesses. This complements the standard local SEO tips wonderfully. With the checklist, one will learn the steps it takes to be visible, while their review offering gives companies the tools to maintain positive visibility.
What you can learn from Synup: Customer acquisition can be jump-started by offering value-added functionality that enhances what you already offer, especially if it is tangential to your product offering. With Synup’s checklist and its review management solution, one gets a great grasp of local online marketing.
4. Zapier: Gated Content that Drives Product Awareness and Customer Acquisition
Zapier is a tool that connects apps you use and helps you automate tasks to get more out of your data. For example, you may want to use Zapier to add a Google Calendar entry to your to-do list or add basic information from LinkedIn contacts to a Google Spreadsheet or send emails directly to Slack.
Zapier has grown on me, especially through their great content promotions. Beyond their blog (which is incredible, just like Groove’s), they also have a learning center with more exhaustive guides that are way too big for a standard blog post. My favorite, by far, is “The Ultimate Guide to Remote Work” because it speaks to my lifestyle as well.
As you can see, not only are these guides beautifully designed, they are also pretty informative, too. The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing talks about how great emails are made, the top 25 best apps, how to grow your subscriber base, how to segment email lists, how to import/copy/remove subscribers, the basics of drip marketing with 25 tools to do so, the best 7 tools for transactional emails, how to a/b test, 21 mistakes to avoid, and how to keep sending great emails.
In other words, there are 15-20 blog posts in one super cool and informative eBook. And it’s free. This puts Zapier’s amazing service in front of many people who would be interested in learning more about what they have to offer.
What you can learn from Zapier: Going a step beyond what Groove did, rich pieces of informative content that read like eBooks are fantastic ways to acquire customers. Significantly, they shouldn’t be boring whitepapers, but rather cool content about a variety of topics that would be of interest to your audience, even if they’re not actually about what you’re selling!
5. Dropbox: Building a Product that Enhances the Usefulness of the Main Offering
Dropbox is one of the world’s topmost file sharing and storage tools out there, allowing people to easily store their most important files online with cloud backup and redundancy. Files can be synced from one computer to the next seamlessly. Dropbox has gotten better and better through the years and has enhanced its offering substantially.
While Dropbox has a lot of business applicability, it also has a lot of personal applicability. Dropbox encourages users to automatically upload photos to its platform, and that’s synced to its Carousel gallery app.
Carousel advertises itself as a “lifetime of photos, simplified.” It’s an amazing organizational tool for photographs, allowing users to see the photos anywhere. This app can also help you review what you’ve been doing in previous years, giving you small flashbacks into your life in the past.
These flashbacks are similar to a lesser-used Facebook feature (and what Timehop already does), but they are far more appropriate to the medium in this case. Since Dropbox stores files from the past and the present on the cloud, having photographs with a historical perspective at your fingertips is not just fun but applicable to the primary tool. Carousel is an optional download that simply enhances the Dropbox experience.
What you can learn from Dropbox: Offering tools that make your service more appealing to use is a great way to acquire customers. Your SaaS service or business may not be very exciting, but adding small tools that make product usage fun (even if it isn’t directly correlated to your business offering) is another great way to acquire new customers.
Create Resources to Grow Your Business
There are many terrific ways to market your product. Creating content or an app to enhance its presence online is an excellent way for your brand to stand out.
Has this article inspired you to create something outstanding? Then I hope you do so and reap the benefits.
About the Author: Tamar Weinberg is a professional hustler and author of The New Community Rules: Marketing on The Social Web. She blogs about all things tech, productivity, and social media customer success at Techipedia.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1U8Ra1u via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1JAExp8
August 28, 2015 at 02:32AM
Want to put your company on the map? There are many ways you can approach your marketing in order to get eyeballs and grow your business.
From press releases that result in media mentions to a great paid campaign for your social media page, and from an ad that gets you seen in search engines to a commercial on TV or an ad on a website, there is no shortage of opportunities to grow your online footprint.
A lot of people use the aforementioned tactics to build visibility. When you think about it, online marketing typically encompasses the three standard marketing components: SEO, social media marketing, and PPC. That’s your SEM (search engine marketing) in a nutshell.
But what people don’t seem to recognize is that there are other creative tactics to use within SEM that could be incredibly valuable to your company’s bottom line.
What tactics, you ask?
Tools and education!
Lots of companies are using free tools and resources as well as education to power massive customer acquisition. In this article, I’d like to showcase five companies that have created significant resources which really helped grow awareness of their product.
1. HubSpot: Building a Product to Drive Leads
Inbound marketing company HubSpot is your classic example. Years ago, it launched to appeal to a niche audience of marketers by creating the now defunct Twitter Grader, which would grade your presence on the social media platform. At the time, the social media space was abuzz with news about the tool, and everyone wanted to share their statistics. The result was significant awareness (the company went public last year).
While Twitter Grader doesn’t exist anymore, HubSpot replaced it with a more ubiquitous (and more appropriate for its product offering) Website Marketing Grader. But, now, even that’s out of date, so HubSpot is building a better version at Website Grader.
Once you grade your site, you get pitched to try out HubSpot’s service offerings, all of which can help with your website presence online. By doing this, HubSpot not only offers a tool that’s relevant to what it does, it also captures leads regularly.
What you can learn from HubSpot: Product-based launches that are relevant to your business are best. Offer a tool that will lead people to want to know how to “fix” the problems you identify for them.
2. Groove: Building a Business on the Back of a Super Informative Blog
If you haven’t checked out Groove yet, you should. It’s one of my favorite blogs, and if you have a look, you’ll see why.
GrooveHQ is a relatively simple helpdesk application for small businesses. Beyond having a really great interface, their customer experience goes far beyond the product offering. Their blog is a goldmine of great content, and it keeps on getting better and better.
Groove has three blogs. Their main blog is the Startup Journey, and it is authored by their insanely intelligent CEO, Alex Turnbull. In it, Alex talks about his journey and gives tips on how people can learn from other businesses just like his. For example, he talks about how he grew his email subscription base to 50k, how to manage remote teams, and what he learned from failing to hit his 12-month growth goal. The blog is beautifully designed, giving readers a true chronology of his successes (and failures).
Groove’s second blog is the Customer Support blog. True to its name, it covers topics related to customer support, such as a weekly customer service maintenance checklist and articles on how to reduce the number of customer service emails you get, how to deal with bad reviews of your business, and how to turn your most unhappy customers into brand promoters. It is chock full of good content, as is their third blog, which is product-oriented.
The Product blog covers new feature additions written in such a way as to engage the reader. It also covers topics like “how Company ABC switched to Groove,” product hacks (i.e., how to make the product better with some hacking), and more. The way these posts are written is refreshing and really conveys a true interest in connecting with the reader. It’s not your typical educational blog. It is passion in (digital) print. No wonder Groove is growing so much.
What you can learn from Groove: If you write amazing content, your business blog can soar above the rest. It’s even better if you are transparent about your journey as a business, discussing your successes and failures so that people can really identify with you and the situations you describe.
3. Synup: Building a Resource that Drives Awareness on top of What You’re Already Selling
Synup, a local listings tool, has been really making waves in the local SEO space. Earlier this summer, it launched the Local SEO Checklist to help anyone working on local SEO to learn what steps need to be taken to ensure their local website has the best possible SEO. The tool is totally free, and it is a true checklist of every step necessary to grow a local online footprint.
Synup’s tool has worked. Their service has attracted thousands of new users in the past three months who needed to do more with their local SEO. After all, Synup’s offering is tangential to review monitoring for small local businesses. This complements the standard local SEO tips wonderfully. With the checklist, one will learn the steps it takes to be visible, while their review offering gives companies the tools to maintain positive visibility.
What you can learn from Synup: Customer acquisition can be jump-started by offering value-added functionality that enhances what you already offer, especially if it is tangential to your product offering. With Synup’s checklist and its review management solution, one gets a great grasp of local online marketing.
4. Zapier: Gated Content that Drives Product Awareness and Customer Acquisition
Zapier is a tool that connects apps you use and helps you automate tasks to get more out of your data. For example, you may want to use Zapier to add a Google Calendar entry to your to-do list or add basic information from LinkedIn contacts to a Google Spreadsheet or send emails directly to Slack.
Zapier has grown on me, especially through their great content promotions. Beyond their blog (which is incredible, just like Groove’s), they also have a learning center with more exhaustive guides that are way too big for a standard blog post. My favorite, by far, is “The Ultimate Guide to Remote Work” because it speaks to my lifestyle as well.
As you can see, not only are these guides beautifully designed, they are also pretty informative, too. The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing talks about how great emails are made, the top 25 best apps, how to grow your subscriber base, how to segment email lists, how to import/copy/remove subscribers, the basics of drip marketing with 25 tools to do so, the best 7 tools for transactional emails, how to a/b test, 21 mistakes to avoid, and how to keep sending great emails.
In other words, there are 15-20 blog posts in one super cool and informative eBook. And it’s free. This puts Zapier’s amazing service in front of many people who would be interested in learning more about what they have to offer.
What you can learn from Zapier: Going a step beyond what Groove did, rich pieces of informative content that read like eBooks are fantastic ways to acquire customers. Significantly, they shouldn’t be boring whitepapers, but rather cool content about a variety of topics that would be of interest to your audience, even if they’re not actually about what you’re selling!
5. Dropbox: Building a Product that Enhances the Usefulness of the Main Offering
Dropbox is one of the world’s topmost file sharing and storage tools out there, allowing people to easily store their most important files online with cloud backup and redundancy. Files can be synced from one computer to the next seamlessly. Dropbox has gotten better and better through the years and has enhanced its offering substantially.
While Dropbox has a lot of business applicability, it also has a lot of personal applicability. Dropbox encourages users to automatically upload photos to its platform, and that’s synced to its Carousel gallery app.
Carousel advertises itself as a “lifetime of photos, simplified.” It’s an amazing organizational tool for photographs, allowing users to see the photos anywhere. This app can also help you review what you’ve been doing in previous years, giving you small flashbacks into your life in the past.
These flashbacks are similar to a lesser-used Facebook feature (and what Timehop already does), but they are far more appropriate to the medium in this case. Since Dropbox stores files from the past and the present on the cloud, having photographs with a historical perspective at your fingertips is not just fun but applicable to the primary tool. Carousel is an optional download that simply enhances the Dropbox experience.
What you can learn from Dropbox: Offering tools that make your service more appealing to use is a great way to acquire customers. Your SaaS service or business may not be very exciting, but adding small tools that make product usage fun (even if it isn’t directly correlated to your business offering) is another great way to acquire new customers.
Create Resources to Grow Your Business
There are many terrific ways to market your product. Creating content or an app to enhance its presence online is an excellent way for your brand to stand out.
Has this article inspired you to create something outstanding? Then I hope you do so and reap the benefits.
About the Author: Tamar Weinberg is a professional hustler and author of The New Community Rules: Marketing on The Social Web. She blogs about all things tech, productivity, and social media customer success at Techipedia.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1U8Ra1u via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1JAExp8
August 28, 2015 at 02:32AM
Added: Aug 04, 2015 Via IFTTT
Search Engine Ranking is Not The Point Check These Progress Signals Instead
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Search Engine Ranking is Not The Point – Check These Progress Signals Instead
We all want to show up higher in the SERP (Search Engine Results Page). That’s the name of the game. Most clients will see a rise in ranking and love you for it. However, have you really completed your job as a web marketer by improving your client’s key terms positions?
More often than most people think, a rise in ranking does not improve the bottom line. In fact, some clients will report that despite a rise in ranking, an improvement in calls/sales have yet to come.
The truth is that improving ranking does not necessarily improve sales.
Of course we want to improve our ranking, and in order to do this, we take a look at keywords, and their ranking data. However, while there is no question about the value of checking a set of keywords against the SERP and finding out their positioning, this information is simply over rated… and I’ll explain why.
Knowing the rankings for a set of keywords doesn’t really give you an idea of performance, it’s just a number. Not once, but many times I have witnessed keywords with high commerciality and decent search volume entering the performance zone (position 1-5), with little to no improvement. For the experienced readers, this is probably starting to sound familiar.
Improvement can be defined as: ranking increase, additional traffic, more conversions, better CTR, impressions, etc. However, some improvements are only stepping stones to end goals.
We should treat some improvements as signals indicating that we are on the right track, and others as actual success metrics – working towards reaching our goals. With this in mind, I am going to discuss discovering a website’s high ranking keywords and their signals, and more importantly, understanding how to utilize them for perusing success metrics (conversions goals).
Differentiating Signals vs. Success Metrics
Let’s pause for a second…. I know some of you might think that conversions on a website are affected from a range of metrics that sometimes SEO experts have no control of (no budget to improve code/design, bad sales copy, wrong call to action, bad offer all together, etc). So how can goal completions be an indication? To start, you are right! However, even though you still might not be able to reach the full potential of a website due to barriers, you should be able to see some incline with your success metrics, and that’s enough to prove that what you are doing is working. Getting more or less results is probably out of your hands if you don’t have access/resources to improve on-page conversion metrics as part of what you do.
Okay, now going back to signal/success metrics. Here are the metrics I review when promoting a business. I use Ignitur to automate the process, but you can do this on excel as well. Signals are just direction pointers, and the success metrics are what I’m really aiming for:
Signal – Impressions
Signal – CTR
Signal – Traffic
Signal – Ranking
Success metric – Goal completion
You should know that you might not find all of this data unless you have a PPC campaign in place, which if that isn’t the case, you will need to mine this information somewhere else. My method has helped me rely less on scraped keyword ranking data and more on what’s important to improve my client’s bottom line using Google Webmaster Tools (WMT).
Instead of checking the positioning of a set of keywords I/the client came up with, I compare them to the search terms list in Google Webmaster Tools to see what I’m already ranking for.
Example
Keyword: [Target Keyword]
I’m already ranking for:
Best [Target Keyword] in Phoenix AZ
Where to find [Target Keyword] in Phoenix
Buy [Target Keyword] near 85028
[Target Keyword] that sell also Ocean Breeze Orchids
Pictures of [Target Keyword]
[Target Keyword] (exact match)
You get the idea, right? I compare the core key terms I want to rank for as Phrase Match with what Google indicates I’m already ranking for. Aha moment! You now have a list of terms that your website is showing up for in the SERP that you most likely didn’t know about. You can do the same thing for each core keyword on your list, until you have a long list of keyword versions (and some exact match) of your core ones.
How To Do This Screening in Webmaster Tools?
Download the list of queries from Google Webmaster Tools.
Select ‘Search Traffic’ -> ‘Search Analytics’ -> click ‘Download’ on the bottom. Don’t forget to check all metric options available:
Note: this table provides 1000 records. Unless you are an eCommerce store with many products, that should be more than enough. However, and for probably a limited time (until Google takes this option out), Google gives the option to see up to 10,000 search queries if you just click the link ‘Go back to the old search queries report’.
Next…
Open the excel file and click CTRL F. Input your core keyword, click ‘replace’ -> click ‘options’ -> click ‘format’ -> click ‘fill’ -> choose the color green -> Click ‘ok’ and click ‘Replace All’. Now, all key terms containing your core keyword will be highlighted. Repeat for all keywords. (This works with excel on a PC, not a Mac)
What Do You Do With These Keywords?
The information you just downloaded and sorted has all the signals we talked about above:
Signal – Impressions
Signal – CTR
Signal – Traffic
Signal – Ranking
I will talk about the success metric in a little bit…
Actions You Should Take:
High ranking + Low CTR/Clicks – Improve meta description
High ranking + Low Impressions – Improve page relevancy
High CTR + Low Clicks/ Impressions – Make sure your keyword is in the title
High Impressions + Low Clicks – Improve page engagement and all relevancy metrics
Any combination of Low + Low means that the work needed is beyond a few tweaks.
When you are done with all content updates, wait for the next few crawls, review and adjust. You now probably see why just checking ranking for a list of keywords might feel like a half-way job. There was no direction on which actions to take and why. Right now you have your signal metrics to give you a clear direction.
Another immediate action you can take to improve your organic presence is using the metrics and actions above. Use the option in WMT to see ‘Pages’ in search metrics:
The results will display a table of URLs. Simply try to improve anything ranking on pages 2 to 5 (will show in the table positions 10.1 to 50 in the SERP. These pages have more chances of improving with a few minor tweaks, as opposed to pages 5 and down which indicate that relevancy level need more than a few content changes to bring them up in ranking.
Why Do I Need to Wait For a Few Crawls?
If you are working on inner pages, you want to make sure you give Google enough time to update its index. Alternatively, you can use the option in WMT ‘Fetch as Google’ in order to expedite this process.
Let’s Go Even Further and Separate Between Brand and Non-Brand Keywords
Simply continue working on the same excel file, but do your searches and sort by company name/ business owner name and color the cells in a different color. In the example below, the non-brand keywords are highlighted in green, and the brand keywords are highlighted in red.
Do I Still Need To Do Keyword Research?
Of course you do! Remember in the movie Stargate when the lab guy explains that for space travel you need six points to define the destination and another one to define the point of origin? (By the way, this is Hollywood misinterpretation – you only need three to define the destination and one for the origin…just like GPS).
Following this example, the core keywords you come up with after your keyword research are your coordinates to the destination. Your origin is the current status of those keywords – the signals I talked about earlier. Without one or the other, there really can’t prove any progress. Sadly, it is common to only check ranking on core keywords without really knowing the other important metrics needed to start moving the spaceship to its destination.
Do I Still Need to Check Ranking?
Not really, however, I found it very difficult to let others see it through this perspective, so in some cases, I still provide this data alongside all the goodies above. It simply keeps everybody happy.
What About the Success Metric?
Success metrics are merely Conversion Goals. This is a whole different topic, but I will still cover some of the essentials. You can bring the horse to the river, but you cannot force it to drink! As an SEO specialist, I feel responsible to bring relevant traffic to my client’s website, as well as conversions, but I cannot force a purchase.
Example #1:
I define a user conversion when a subscriber signed up for his 30-day software trial. It is not my responsibility to convert them from free subscribers to paying clients.
Example #2:
I define a user conversion on a hotel’s website when someone clicked ‘Book Now’. It is not my responsibility to convert them from prospects to vacationers (maybe the offer is bad…).
Example #3:
I define a user conversion when a user fills out a form or calls the company. It is not my responsibility to actually sell their services over the phone.
You are probably asking ‘what about eCommerce websites where conversions are actual sales?’ Excellent point! Well, it really is not different from the examples above. If the client decides to sell car parts 25% above suggested drop-shipping retail value instead of 15%, he will probably have less sales, but if you bring him relevant traffic, you will still be able to show him some improvement. However, it would be smart to define conversion goals from the start that are not actual website sales, where you have less control of. Here are a few ideas:
Increase email subscribers
Download discount coupon
Product searches on the website
Create an account
Calls (you can use a call tracking number)
To Sum It Up
Use Google WMT search metrics data to improve your SEO results. WMT provides 90 days of data. You can align your testing and tweaking strategy, and make adjustments every quarter according to the trends.
About the Author: Asher Elran is a practical software engineer and a marketing specialist. He is the CEO at Dynamic Search and founder of Web Ethics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1P4PD69 via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1OOfTBg
August 05, 2015 at 02:33AM
We all want to show up higher in the SERP (Search Engine Results Page). That’s the name of the game. Most clients will see a rise in ranking and love you for it. However, have you really completed your job as a web marketer by improving your client’s key terms positions?
More often than most people think, a rise in ranking does not improve the bottom line. In fact, some clients will report that despite a rise in ranking, an improvement in calls/sales have yet to come.
The truth is that improving ranking does not necessarily improve sales.
Of course we want to improve our ranking, and in order to do this, we take a look at keywords, and their ranking data. However, while there is no question about the value of checking a set of keywords against the SERP and finding out their positioning, this information is simply over rated… and I’ll explain why.
Knowing the rankings for a set of keywords doesn’t really give you an idea of performance, it’s just a number. Not once, but many times I have witnessed keywords with high commerciality and decent search volume entering the performance zone (position 1-5), with little to no improvement. For the experienced readers, this is probably starting to sound familiar.
Improvement can be defined as: ranking increase, additional traffic, more conversions, better CTR, impressions, etc. However, some improvements are only stepping stones to end goals.
We should treat some improvements as signals indicating that we are on the right track, and others as actual success metrics – working towards reaching our goals. With this in mind, I am going to discuss discovering a website’s high ranking keywords and their signals, and more importantly, understanding how to utilize them for perusing success metrics (conversions goals).
Differentiating Signals vs. Success Metrics
Let’s pause for a second…. I know some of you might think that conversions on a website are affected from a range of metrics that sometimes SEO experts have no control of (no budget to improve code/design, bad sales copy, wrong call to action, bad offer all together, etc). So how can goal completions be an indication? To start, you are right! However, even though you still might not be able to reach the full potential of a website due to barriers, you should be able to see some incline with your success metrics, and that’s enough to prove that what you are doing is working. Getting more or less results is probably out of your hands if you don’t have access/resources to improve on-page conversion metrics as part of what you do.
Okay, now going back to signal/success metrics. Here are the metrics I review when promoting a business. I use Ignitur to automate the process, but you can do this on excel as well. Signals are just direction pointers, and the success metrics are what I’m really aiming for:
Signal – Impressions
Signal – CTR
Signal – Traffic
Signal – Ranking
Success metric – Goal completion
You should know that you might not find all of this data unless you have a PPC campaign in place, which if that isn’t the case, you will need to mine this information somewhere else. My method has helped me rely less on scraped keyword ranking data and more on what’s important to improve my client’s bottom line using Google Webmaster Tools (WMT).
Instead of checking the positioning of a set of keywords I/the client came up with, I compare them to the search terms list in Google Webmaster Tools to see what I’m already ranking for.
Example
Keyword: [Target Keyword]
I’m already ranking for:
Best [Target Keyword] in Phoenix AZ
Where to find [Target Keyword] in Phoenix
Buy [Target Keyword] near 85028
[Target Keyword] that sell also Ocean Breeze Orchids
Pictures of [Target Keyword]
[Target Keyword] (exact match)
You get the idea, right? I compare the core key terms I want to rank for as Phrase Match with what Google indicates I’m already ranking for. Aha moment! You now have a list of terms that your website is showing up for in the SERP that you most likely didn’t know about. You can do the same thing for each core keyword on your list, until you have a long list of keyword versions (and some exact match) of your core ones.
How To Do This Screening in Webmaster Tools?
Download the list of queries from Google Webmaster Tools.
Select ‘Search Traffic’ -> ‘Search Analytics’ -> click ‘Download’ on the bottom. Don’t forget to check all metric options available:
Note: this table provides 1000 records. Unless you are an eCommerce store with many products, that should be more than enough. However, and for probably a limited time (until Google takes this option out), Google gives the option to see up to 10,000 search queries if you just click the link ‘Go back to the old search queries report’.
Next…
Open the excel file and click CTRL F. Input your core keyword, click ‘replace’ -> click ‘options’ -> click ‘format’ -> click ‘fill’ -> choose the color green -> Click ‘ok’ and click ‘Replace All’. Now, all key terms containing your core keyword will be highlighted. Repeat for all keywords. (This works with excel on a PC, not a Mac)
What Do You Do With These Keywords?
The information you just downloaded and sorted has all the signals we talked about above:
Signal – Impressions
Signal – CTR
Signal – Traffic
Signal – Ranking
I will talk about the success metric in a little bit…
Actions You Should Take:
High ranking + Low CTR/Clicks – Improve meta description
High ranking + Low Impressions – Improve page relevancy
High CTR + Low Clicks/ Impressions – Make sure your keyword is in the title
High Impressions + Low Clicks – Improve page engagement and all relevancy metrics
Any combination of Low + Low means that the work needed is beyond a few tweaks.
When you are done with all content updates, wait for the next few crawls, review and adjust. You now probably see why just checking ranking for a list of keywords might feel like a half-way job. There was no direction on which actions to take and why. Right now you have your signal metrics to give you a clear direction.
Another immediate action you can take to improve your organic presence is using the metrics and actions above. Use the option in WMT to see ‘Pages’ in search metrics:
The results will display a table of URLs. Simply try to improve anything ranking on pages 2 to 5 (will show in the table positions 10.1 to 50 in the SERP. These pages have more chances of improving with a few minor tweaks, as opposed to pages 5 and down which indicate that relevancy level need more than a few content changes to bring them up in ranking.
Why Do I Need to Wait For a Few Crawls?
If you are working on inner pages, you want to make sure you give Google enough time to update its index. Alternatively, you can use the option in WMT ‘Fetch as Google’ in order to expedite this process.
Let’s Go Even Further and Separate Between Brand and Non-Brand Keywords
Simply continue working on the same excel file, but do your searches and sort by company name/ business owner name and color the cells in a different color. In the example below, the non-brand keywords are highlighted in green, and the brand keywords are highlighted in red.
Do I Still Need To Do Keyword Research?
Of course you do! Remember in the movie Stargate when the lab guy explains that for space travel you need six points to define the destination and another one to define the point of origin? (By the way, this is Hollywood misinterpretation – you only need three to define the destination and one for the origin…just like GPS).
Following this example, the core keywords you come up with after your keyword research are your coordinates to the destination. Your origin is the current status of those keywords – the signals I talked about earlier. Without one or the other, there really can’t prove any progress. Sadly, it is common to only check ranking on core keywords without really knowing the other important metrics needed to start moving the spaceship to its destination.
Do I Still Need to Check Ranking?
Not really, however, I found it very difficult to let others see it through this perspective, so in some cases, I still provide this data alongside all the goodies above. It simply keeps everybody happy.
What About the Success Metric?
Success metrics are merely Conversion Goals. This is a whole different topic, but I will still cover some of the essentials. You can bring the horse to the river, but you cannot force it to drink! As an SEO specialist, I feel responsible to bring relevant traffic to my client’s website, as well as conversions, but I cannot force a purchase.
Example #1:
I define a user conversion when a subscriber signed up for his 30-day software trial. It is not my responsibility to convert them from free subscribers to paying clients.
Example #2:
I define a user conversion on a hotel’s website when someone clicked ‘Book Now’. It is not my responsibility to convert them from prospects to vacationers (maybe the offer is bad…).
Example #3:
I define a user conversion when a user fills out a form or calls the company. It is not my responsibility to actually sell their services over the phone.
You are probably asking ‘what about eCommerce websites where conversions are actual sales?’ Excellent point! Well, it really is not different from the examples above. If the client decides to sell car parts 25% above suggested drop-shipping retail value instead of 15%, he will probably have less sales, but if you bring him relevant traffic, you will still be able to show him some improvement. However, it would be smart to define conversion goals from the start that are not actual website sales, where you have less control of. Here are a few ideas:
Increase email subscribers
Download discount coupon
Product searches on the website
Create an account
Calls (you can use a call tracking number)
To Sum It Up
Use Google WMT search metrics data to improve your SEO results. WMT provides 90 days of data. You can align your testing and tweaking strategy, and make adjustments every quarter according to the trends.
About the Author: Asher Elran is a practical software engineer and a marketing specialist. He is the CEO at Dynamic Search and founder of Web Ethics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1P4PD69 via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1OOfTBg
August 05, 2015 at 02:33AM
Added: Jul 23, 2015 Via IFTTT
Stories are Told Not Programmed: 3 Keys to Marketing Your SaaS Product to Human Beings
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Stories are Told, Not Programmed: 3 Keys to Marketing Your SaaS Product to Human Beings
SaaS companies are quite literally changing the face of business. Seemingly every day new tech-driven solutions are challenging the status quo of the ways business communicate and share information.
While new developments in technology are obviously crucial to progress in any industry, what some SaaS companies fail to do is remember the single most crucial shared characteristic of their audience: they’re human.
Not capitalizing on the imagination of your audience is like trying to fix your printer by having a conversation with it. It simply isn’t what works. If we don’t try to talk to computers with human language, why do we try and do the opposite?
No matter what the industry, the way to create messages that resonate with people is through stories. Here’s three simple ways you can take your SaaS marketing strategies and bring your story to life:
1. Simplify
Keeping things simple may sound simple, but too often SaaS companies get in their own way and try to throw too much at their audience when marketing their product. If nothing else, simplicity is everything. As humans, we crave it. And perhaps the only thing smaller than our tolerance for complexity is our fleeting attention spans. The most effective language around SaaS products are the ones that waste no time in explaining exactly how it benefits a user.
Take 1Password for example: it’s a computer software that protects a variety of important log-ins and passwords from hackers or thieves. While 1Password is composed of an intricate security vault system, they simply speak to what the consumer truly cares about: safety.
1Password is advertised as simple, convenient security, which loosely translated, means peace of mind.
Dropbox’s branding similarly embodies this tactic – their leading message on their homepage reads: Good things happen when your stuff lives here. Much like 1Password, they focus on a simplified benefit of the product.
It’s conversational. The incredible complexity and technology behind Dropbox has been boiled down to the most basic and straightforward conclusions that could possibly be drawn, thus appealing on an emotional level to the humans who use it.
2. Metaphors + Parallels
This would be a technique perhaps best used during investor presentation or initial product demo to simply explain what it is your product or service is all about. Even when speaking to a tech-savvy audience (which isn’t always the case), we encourage our clients to draw parallels and metaphors to help explain their product’s problem, solution, technology etc. By bringing complex information back into ideas and concepts that anyone can understand, you can eliminate gaping question marks very quickly.
For example, say you’re pitching your SaaS platform that helps unify and monetize data sets and algorithms in the climate research space. Rather than diving head first into the back end framework and development strategy, consider stepping back and explaining the fundamental problem using a concept anyone can understand.
Lead with a story about farmland. It may sound farfetched, but it works. Say things like:
Imagine you wake up tomorrow and decide to become a farmer. You buy 200 acres of land to grow a combination of corn, beans. wheat, etc. You plant thousands and thousands of seeds in fertile ground and wait for mother nature to play it’s part. Only it never does. Your seeds have been planted by they lay dormant without a little help from mother nature.
Now imagine the farmer on the plot of next to you has the exact opposite problem. His land has been flooded with rain and the sun is shining, only there’s just one problem. He has no seeds. Both farms have incredible potential to grow useful crops, yet they both don’t have access to the things they need on their own.
Well that’s exactly the problem that exists in the world of climate science analytics today. Vital data and the analytical models they depend on have been and it’s why we created ForeCastle (fictional – not a bad name though, right??)
Paint a picture in your audience’s mind and not only will you win their attention immediately, but you’ll dispel any confusion about exactly what it is your product is all about.
3. Tell People What You Believe
Everything we do as people – from the toothpaste we buy to the car we drive – everything is governed by what we believe. Beliefs polarize, galvanize and inspire us into action. The best marketers are the ones who take advantage of this reality and build bold communication strategies that tell the world what they stand for.
Take one of the hottest communication platform SaaS companies in Slack for example: Their tag simply reads “Be less busy”. With three simple words, Slack is telling you that they understand the crazy workload you have to endure and that they believe something can be done about it. They tell you that they believe a fundamental flaw exists in the way businesses are run. While claiming that businesses should address their communication issues is certainly nothing new, claiming that they have a platform that could “end email” separates Slack from both competitors and potential customers who believe that email has become a sacred cow of the business world.
For Saas companies that similarly serve as networks, such as LinkedIn, this step is exceptionally important because those beliefs are what attract users. As a business oriented social networking site, LinkedIn believes that individuals should be in control of their professional identity and should have the opportunity to engage with likeminded, professional individuals. Therefore, those users who believe that a professional networking site is beneficial will use it, thus perpetuating the belief and creating a community of humans who feel the same way.
By using this belief as the foundation for the way they talk about their services, they’ve allowed us to connect with them in a way that’s as aspirational as it is human.
It’s easy to get caught up in the tech-first approach to marketing SaaS companies when that technology lives so close to the core of what your company is. But humans don’t respond to bone dry data like we do to stories and ideas. It may seem counterintuitive but the reality is – storytelling is one of the simplest and scientifically proven methods for connecting with people. With just a few strategies – you can capitalize on the most fundamental characteristic of your audience no matter who they are – they’re good old fashioned blood pumping human beings
About the Author: Maxx Parcell is the lead Content Writer and Developer at SquarePlanet in Chicago, IL. His job is to help our clients tell their story more effectively. Including anything from sales pitches to full brand message strategy, we work to help people improve the way they communicate and connect with people. We do things a bit differently. We believe in being pirates. For more information about exactly what that means and to read our own blog, please visit SquarePlanet.com.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1HVaNz5 via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1HVfPvq
July 23, 2015 at 11:18PM
SaaS companies are quite literally changing the face of business. Seemingly every day new tech-driven solutions are challenging the status quo of the ways business communicate and share information.
While new developments in technology are obviously crucial to progress in any industry, what some SaaS companies fail to do is remember the single most crucial shared characteristic of their audience: they’re human.
Not capitalizing on the imagination of your audience is like trying to fix your printer by having a conversation with it. It simply isn’t what works. If we don’t try to talk to computers with human language, why do we try and do the opposite?
No matter what the industry, the way to create messages that resonate with people is through stories. Here’s three simple ways you can take your SaaS marketing strategies and bring your story to life:
1. Simplify
Keeping things simple may sound simple, but too often SaaS companies get in their own way and try to throw too much at their audience when marketing their product. If nothing else, simplicity is everything. As humans, we crave it. And perhaps the only thing smaller than our tolerance for complexity is our fleeting attention spans. The most effective language around SaaS products are the ones that waste no time in explaining exactly how it benefits a user.
Take 1Password for example: it’s a computer software that protects a variety of important log-ins and passwords from hackers or thieves. While 1Password is composed of an intricate security vault system, they simply speak to what the consumer truly cares about: safety.
1Password is advertised as simple, convenient security, which loosely translated, means peace of mind.
Dropbox’s branding similarly embodies this tactic – their leading message on their homepage reads: Good things happen when your stuff lives here. Much like 1Password, they focus on a simplified benefit of the product.
It’s conversational. The incredible complexity and technology behind Dropbox has been boiled down to the most basic and straightforward conclusions that could possibly be drawn, thus appealing on an emotional level to the humans who use it.
2. Metaphors + Parallels
This would be a technique perhaps best used during investor presentation or initial product demo to simply explain what it is your product or service is all about. Even when speaking to a tech-savvy audience (which isn’t always the case), we encourage our clients to draw parallels and metaphors to help explain their product’s problem, solution, technology etc. By bringing complex information back into ideas and concepts that anyone can understand, you can eliminate gaping question marks very quickly.
For example, say you’re pitching your SaaS platform that helps unify and monetize data sets and algorithms in the climate research space. Rather than diving head first into the back end framework and development strategy, consider stepping back and explaining the fundamental problem using a concept anyone can understand.
Lead with a story about farmland. It may sound farfetched, but it works. Say things like:
Imagine you wake up tomorrow and decide to become a farmer. You buy 200 acres of land to grow a combination of corn, beans. wheat, etc. You plant thousands and thousands of seeds in fertile ground and wait for mother nature to play it’s part. Only it never does. Your seeds have been planted by they lay dormant without a little help from mother nature.
Now imagine the farmer on the plot of next to you has the exact opposite problem. His land has been flooded with rain and the sun is shining, only there’s just one problem. He has no seeds. Both farms have incredible potential to grow useful crops, yet they both don’t have access to the things they need on their own.
Well that’s exactly the problem that exists in the world of climate science analytics today. Vital data and the analytical models they depend on have been and it’s why we created ForeCastle (fictional – not a bad name though, right??)
Paint a picture in your audience’s mind and not only will you win their attention immediately, but you’ll dispel any confusion about exactly what it is your product is all about.
3. Tell People What You Believe
Everything we do as people – from the toothpaste we buy to the car we drive – everything is governed by what we believe. Beliefs polarize, galvanize and inspire us into action. The best marketers are the ones who take advantage of this reality and build bold communication strategies that tell the world what they stand for.
Take one of the hottest communication platform SaaS companies in Slack for example: Their tag simply reads “Be less busy”. With three simple words, Slack is telling you that they understand the crazy workload you have to endure and that they believe something can be done about it. They tell you that they believe a fundamental flaw exists in the way businesses are run. While claiming that businesses should address their communication issues is certainly nothing new, claiming that they have a platform that could “end email” separates Slack from both competitors and potential customers who believe that email has become a sacred cow of the business world.
For Saas companies that similarly serve as networks, such as LinkedIn, this step is exceptionally important because those beliefs are what attract users. As a business oriented social networking site, LinkedIn believes that individuals should be in control of their professional identity and should have the opportunity to engage with likeminded, professional individuals. Therefore, those users who believe that a professional networking site is beneficial will use it, thus perpetuating the belief and creating a community of humans who feel the same way.
By using this belief as the foundation for the way they talk about their services, they’ve allowed us to connect with them in a way that’s as aspirational as it is human.
It’s easy to get caught up in the tech-first approach to marketing SaaS companies when that technology lives so close to the core of what your company is. But humans don’t respond to bone dry data like we do to stories and ideas. It may seem counterintuitive but the reality is – storytelling is one of the simplest and scientifically proven methods for connecting with people. With just a few strategies – you can capitalize on the most fundamental characteristic of your audience no matter who they are – they’re good old fashioned blood pumping human beings
About the Author: Maxx Parcell is the lead Content Writer and Developer at SquarePlanet in Chicago, IL. His job is to help our clients tell their story more effectively. Including anything from sales pitches to full brand message strategy, we work to help people improve the way they communicate and connect with people. We do things a bit differently. We believe in being pirates. For more information about exactly what that means and to read our own blog, please visit SquarePlanet.com.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1HVaNz5 via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1HVfPvq
July 23, 2015 at 11:18PM
Added: Jul 28, 2015 Via IFTTT
Tackle Marketing Automation to Drive Conversions
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Tackle Marketing Automation to Drive Conversions
According to Aberdeen Group’s research study, “companies using marketing automation receive 53 percent higher conversion rates than non-users and an annualized revenue growth rate 3.1 percent higher than non-users.” Businesses notice the value of this technology and are taking advantage of its benefits to deploy successful campaigns.
Marketing automation helps companies increase workplace productivity by effectively eliminating repetitive manual processes with an automated solution-oriented substitution. Then, human error becomes less of an issue with these routine tasks.
Moreover, Gartner Research “predicts by 2020, customers will manage 85 percent of their relationships directly with companies without human interaction.” Thus, requiring efficiency in how we interact with our prospective clients online.
Marketing automation strengthens customer relationships, scales marketing campaigns, and gives businesses a competitive advantage. It makes it easy to integrate lead generation efforts to create a manageable sales cycle.
Save your company time and resources by automating lead nurturing programs and creating convenient drip marketing campaigns. Marketing automation does the habitual tasks, while your marketing and sales team can focus on more complicated projects.
Let’s explore the benefits of marketing automation, the strategies you can implement, and the results achieved from forward-thinking companies.
The Benefits
Based on the study “Marketing Automation Strategies for Sustaining Success,” 91% of successful users believe that marketing automation is “very important” to the general success of their marketing.
Companies perceive more relevant communication to be one of the main benefits of marketing automation, followed by increased customer engagement and more timely communication.
Source
Marketing automation is similar to a nerve center, “combining the management of marketing efforts and sales across all channels from lead to close.”
Back in the day, a customer representative’s job duties included following up with all leads that entered the sales system. Now, marketing automation software can identify leads that are qualified and ready to be approached by the sales team.
This technology eliminates the time spent on unqualified leads. It brings valuable insight to help your team members understand the needs and wants of the customer. How did they learn about your services? How did they land on your website? Which email newsletters have they subscribed to?
Here are the results of a March 2014 study by Regalix, reporting a staggering percentage of B2B marketers experiencing improved lead management and nurturing from marketing automation:
Source
Ever desired to align your sales and marketing goals? Well, here’s your opportunity. Marketing automation makes it easier for your teams to collaborate and focus on the customer life cycle.
As a result, you can create targeted buyer personas, content, and programs, leading to a more effective process for closing sales. If your desire is to maximize conversions through cross-selling and upselling opportunities, marketing automation reports offer analysis of customer data.
When customers are more informed–receiving the right information at the right times–they are more likely to spend more. Businesses mastering this process “generate 50% more sales-ready leads…[and] at a 33% lower cost per lead.” Therefore, companies receive higher revenues, while cutting marketing overhead costs.
Just because customers don’t purchase today, doesn’t mean they won’t ever buy your product or service tomorrow. Let marketing automation revitalize previous leads that have gone inactive. Through retargeting email campaigns, automation can periodically send informative content to leads that previously went cold.
The Strategy
Marketing automation streamlines your marketing activities, in order to turn visitors into loyal buyers. From lead generation to sales-ready leads, marketing automation equips you to grow your business. Here’s an infographic that cleverly explains the process:
Source
LinkedIn highlighted a list of the hottest skills in 2014, where statistical analysis led the pack and business intelligence held the sixth spot. Marketing campaigns rely on these talents to gain insight on user persona. Without market research and real-time prospect tracking, we wouldn’t gain accurate information to customize the customer’s buying journey.
Learn what your customers are clicking on. Improve your engagement rates by building upon what’s already working in your marketing strategy. Custom redirects let your employees see which links are receiving the most love and which ones are being ignored. Use this data to develop content and campaigns that will resonate with your prospective buyers.
One of the most effective marketing strategies is to create and deliver personalized experiences to customers. Personalization involves really getting to know your customer behaviors to execute content that is relevant and meets your client’s preferred timing and mode of communication.
To create effective, personalized follow-up sequences, understand the specific interests of your customer and the customer’s stage in the buying process.
Source
Drip campaigns let you set up a series of timely emails to your audience. Case studies reveal a 98% conversion rate from these types of campaigns. These targeted communications educate your clients about product benefits and features, welcome incoming customers, and warm up new leads.
Plus, drip campaigns can assist with long sales lead-times. You can stay in regular contact with prospective clients. Here’s an example email I received in my personal inbox from a SaaS business:
When setting up your drip campaign, remember to measure engagement and know the best time to engage directly. Lead scoring can help you automate the perfect time to do so.
Investing in analytics is the best marketing automation strategy to execute. When you implement marketing plans, “knowledge and information ensure your adoption of the right approach, right channel, and better results.”
Marketing automation software serves specific business purposes. Research companies to see how they can meet your company’s needs. Here are a few suggestions:
Hubspot
Marketo
Pardot
Act-On
The Results
When executing your marketing automation strategy, remember that success takes time. Don’t expect a huge jump in productivity in one week. Technology doesn’t automatically mean success. How your team effectively uses the software will produce the results.
Cincom Systems
Cincom Systems is an enterprise software solutions company. It’s challenge was identifying newsletter subscribers in the sales process.
With the help of Eloqua, Cincom launched a five-phase, behavior-based content campaign.
Phase 1: When a newsletter subscriber clicked through to an article, Eloqua would grab their information and begin to track them.
Phase 2: Tag each article by subject matter. Then, use these tags as signals that subscribers may – or may not be – interested in Cincom.
Phase 3: Conduct content audits that analyzed Cincom’s newsletters, website, blogs, ebooks and podcasts to look at what content worked best for their readers.
Phase 4: Gain a better picture of their readers through progressive profiling.
Phase 5: Pursue those leads based on the information that had been gathered.
Look at the results:
256% improvement in the campaign open rate.
1941% increase in the click-to-open rate.
1513 potential opportunities identified.
An average of 18 new sales leads every week.
Paper Style
Paper Style offers personalized invitations and announcements for special occasions. The company’s open and click-through rates suffered because they were sending the same message to visitors, despite their demographic or specific interests.
SilverPop helped walk Paper Style through segmentation of the wedding planning process. First, they created a typical timeline of a bride’s buying behavior. For example, assuming brides would more likely buy wedding invitations before thank you cards.
Once a bride entered their sales funnel, a series of messages were sent to identify whether the person was a bride or a friend of the bride. This simple question determined which sequence of emails the individual would receive.
Source
Changing from a generic newsletter to personalized marketing automation produced amazing results for Paper Style. Their open rates increased by 244%, email click rates by 161%, and their revenue per mailing increased by 330%.
Strengthen Your Customer Relationships
Marketing automation works to automate your communication programs. It integrates key elements of marketing into one system. Making it easier to create timely, structured campaigns with all of your prospects.
Now, your marketing and sales teams can automate and optimize your programs from initial contact through the entire sales process.
Prioritize your outreach. Streamline the process. Boost conversions with marketing automation.
About the Author: Shayla Price lives at the intersection of digital marketing, the law and social responsibility. She inspires a new breed of innovative attorneys at Hearsay Marketing. Connect with her on Twitter: @shaylaprice
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1HZ9y40 via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1Ipjil6
July 28, 2015 at 11:37PM
According to Aberdeen Group’s research study, “companies using marketing automation receive 53 percent higher conversion rates than non-users and an annualized revenue growth rate 3.1 percent higher than non-users.” Businesses notice the value of this technology and are taking advantage of its benefits to deploy successful campaigns.
Marketing automation helps companies increase workplace productivity by effectively eliminating repetitive manual processes with an automated solution-oriented substitution. Then, human error becomes less of an issue with these routine tasks.
Moreover, Gartner Research “predicts by 2020, customers will manage 85 percent of their relationships directly with companies without human interaction.” Thus, requiring efficiency in how we interact with our prospective clients online.
Marketing automation strengthens customer relationships, scales marketing campaigns, and gives businesses a competitive advantage. It makes it easy to integrate lead generation efforts to create a manageable sales cycle.
Save your company time and resources by automating lead nurturing programs and creating convenient drip marketing campaigns. Marketing automation does the habitual tasks, while your marketing and sales team can focus on more complicated projects.
Let’s explore the benefits of marketing automation, the strategies you can implement, and the results achieved from forward-thinking companies.
The Benefits
Based on the study “Marketing Automation Strategies for Sustaining Success,” 91% of successful users believe that marketing automation is “very important” to the general success of their marketing.
Companies perceive more relevant communication to be one of the main benefits of marketing automation, followed by increased customer engagement and more timely communication.
Source
Marketing automation is similar to a nerve center, “combining the management of marketing efforts and sales across all channels from lead to close.”
Back in the day, a customer representative’s job duties included following up with all leads that entered the sales system. Now, marketing automation software can identify leads that are qualified and ready to be approached by the sales team.
This technology eliminates the time spent on unqualified leads. It brings valuable insight to help your team members understand the needs and wants of the customer. How did they learn about your services? How did they land on your website? Which email newsletters have they subscribed to?
Here are the results of a March 2014 study by Regalix, reporting a staggering percentage of B2B marketers experiencing improved lead management and nurturing from marketing automation:
Source
Ever desired to align your sales and marketing goals? Well, here’s your opportunity. Marketing automation makes it easier for your teams to collaborate and focus on the customer life cycle.
As a result, you can create targeted buyer personas, content, and programs, leading to a more effective process for closing sales. If your desire is to maximize conversions through cross-selling and upselling opportunities, marketing automation reports offer analysis of customer data.
When customers are more informed–receiving the right information at the right times–they are more likely to spend more. Businesses mastering this process “generate 50% more sales-ready leads…[and] at a 33% lower cost per lead.” Therefore, companies receive higher revenues, while cutting marketing overhead costs.
Just because customers don’t purchase today, doesn’t mean they won’t ever buy your product or service tomorrow. Let marketing automation revitalize previous leads that have gone inactive. Through retargeting email campaigns, automation can periodically send informative content to leads that previously went cold.
The Strategy
Marketing automation streamlines your marketing activities, in order to turn visitors into loyal buyers. From lead generation to sales-ready leads, marketing automation equips you to grow your business. Here’s an infographic that cleverly explains the process:
Source
LinkedIn highlighted a list of the hottest skills in 2014, where statistical analysis led the pack and business intelligence held the sixth spot. Marketing campaigns rely on these talents to gain insight on user persona. Without market research and real-time prospect tracking, we wouldn’t gain accurate information to customize the customer’s buying journey.
Learn what your customers are clicking on. Improve your engagement rates by building upon what’s already working in your marketing strategy. Custom redirects let your employees see which links are receiving the most love and which ones are being ignored. Use this data to develop content and campaigns that will resonate with your prospective buyers.
One of the most effective marketing strategies is to create and deliver personalized experiences to customers. Personalization involves really getting to know your customer behaviors to execute content that is relevant and meets your client’s preferred timing and mode of communication.
To create effective, personalized follow-up sequences, understand the specific interests of your customer and the customer’s stage in the buying process.
Source
Drip campaigns let you set up a series of timely emails to your audience. Case studies reveal a 98% conversion rate from these types of campaigns. These targeted communications educate your clients about product benefits and features, welcome incoming customers, and warm up new leads.
Plus, drip campaigns can assist with long sales lead-times. You can stay in regular contact with prospective clients. Here’s an example email I received in my personal inbox from a SaaS business:
When setting up your drip campaign, remember to measure engagement and know the best time to engage directly. Lead scoring can help you automate the perfect time to do so.
Investing in analytics is the best marketing automation strategy to execute. When you implement marketing plans, “knowledge and information ensure your adoption of the right approach, right channel, and better results.”
Marketing automation software serves specific business purposes. Research companies to see how they can meet your company’s needs. Here are a few suggestions:
Hubspot
Marketo
Pardot
Act-On
The Results
When executing your marketing automation strategy, remember that success takes time. Don’t expect a huge jump in productivity in one week. Technology doesn’t automatically mean success. How your team effectively uses the software will produce the results.
Cincom Systems
Cincom Systems is an enterprise software solutions company. It’s challenge was identifying newsletter subscribers in the sales process.
With the help of Eloqua, Cincom launched a five-phase, behavior-based content campaign.
Phase 1: When a newsletter subscriber clicked through to an article, Eloqua would grab their information and begin to track them.
Phase 2: Tag each article by subject matter. Then, use these tags as signals that subscribers may – or may not be – interested in Cincom.
Phase 3: Conduct content audits that analyzed Cincom’s newsletters, website, blogs, ebooks and podcasts to look at what content worked best for their readers.
Phase 4: Gain a better picture of their readers through progressive profiling.
Phase 5: Pursue those leads based on the information that had been gathered.
Look at the results:
256% improvement in the campaign open rate.
1941% increase in the click-to-open rate.
1513 potential opportunities identified.
An average of 18 new sales leads every week.
Paper Style
Paper Style offers personalized invitations and announcements for special occasions. The company’s open and click-through rates suffered because they were sending the same message to visitors, despite their demographic or specific interests.
SilverPop helped walk Paper Style through segmentation of the wedding planning process. First, they created a typical timeline of a bride’s buying behavior. For example, assuming brides would more likely buy wedding invitations before thank you cards.
Once a bride entered their sales funnel, a series of messages were sent to identify whether the person was a bride or a friend of the bride. This simple question determined which sequence of emails the individual would receive.
Source
Changing from a generic newsletter to personalized marketing automation produced amazing results for Paper Style. Their open rates increased by 244%, email click rates by 161%, and their revenue per mailing increased by 330%.
Strengthen Your Customer Relationships
Marketing automation works to automate your communication programs. It integrates key elements of marketing into one system. Making it easier to create timely, structured campaigns with all of your prospects.
Now, your marketing and sales teams can automate and optimize your programs from initial contact through the entire sales process.
Prioritize your outreach. Streamline the process. Boost conversions with marketing automation.
About the Author: Shayla Price lives at the intersection of digital marketing, the law and social responsibility. She inspires a new breed of innovative attorneys at Hearsay Marketing. Connect with her on Twitter: @shaylaprice
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1HZ9y40 via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1Ipjil6
July 28, 2015 at 11:37PM
Added: Aug 21, 2015 Via IFTTT
The Advanced Guide to Startup PR
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
The Advanced Guide to Startup PR
It’s no secret that in order to grow, your startup requires effective promotion – and there are few things that will give your company the boost it needs as effectively as press coverage.
Here’s why: PR converts. In fact, it generates conversion rates of 10 to 50 times that of advertising. And that’s probably because 92% of consumers trust earned media over traditional ads.
Exposure doesn’t happen by chance. It’s no accident that the hottest startups right now (AirBnB, Slack, and Etsy, to name a few) are all over the media. That’s the power of PR machinery at work. All of these brands have great services – but that’s not what gets them the coverage. As VentureBeat points out, “Great products fail all the time because they never make their way into the public eye.”
Behind every great brand story you see in the media is a great PR strategy – and with the right strategy, you can turn your startup into press-worthy news.
This advanced guide will show you how to get the right press coverage so that you can increase your visibility and acquire more customers at a key stage in your startup’s development.
Mastering Your Story for the Media
A good story taps into our human experience and has the power to move people and motivate action. As a study done by the Center of Neuroeconomics at Claremont Graduate University shows, a compelling story can actually alter our brain chemistry, making us more trusting and open to new ideas.
As you’ve probably guessed, crafting a great story isn’t easy. There are several components that you need to consider in order to make your startup story worthy of media attention.
1. Follow the 3 P’s of PR Storytelling: Product, Purpose, and Passion
Your story for the media should be built on three basic elements: your product, purpose, and passion. Using this framework will allow you to go through an exercise of company and customer discovery, which will help you illuminate the high-level, “big picture” stuff about your startup:
Product: Define exactly what your product or service is and/or what it does, and where its niche offering currently fits into the existing industry landscape. In order to truly define your product, you need to know how it’s different, so do your competitive analysis at a very early stage if you haven’t already.
Purpose: Identify your company’s “reason for being.” What problem does your product or service solve, and for whom? You exist because of your target customer, so you need to have a detailed understanding of who they are and what they care about.
Passion: Use an enthusiastic, authentic tone that captures the passion, vision, and culture of your startup. You’ll want to present your story and company as human and relatable, so use real characters and events to shape your story. Honesty and vulnerability go a long way.
If you have a deep understanding of the 3Ps, then you’ve undergone a critical phase in startup development by articulating how your product or service aligns with the true and actual needs of your market.
Take Buffer, the social media management app, as an example. Like many startups, Buffer founders Joel Gascoigne and Leo Widrich started their work in a basement. Buffer is now generating $5 million in yearly revenue and has over two million users. So, how did these founders begin telling their story?
First, as Gascoigne tells us, they sought out to address the real pain point of their customers: people losing precious productivity time by posting manually on social media. When they had established a minimum viable product that met this need, they also started the BufferSocial blog to write content on social media topics that their target customers would care about. After ten months of blogging, they had 100,000 users.
By mastering the 3Ps – developing a working product, knowing their customers’ pain points, and writing passionately for their audience – they were able to acquire thousands of customers while establishing themselves as an authority on all things social.
2. Think Like a Journalist to Earn a Journalist’s Attention
Developing your 3P story allows you to position your startup in a clear and concise way. However, no matter how exciting you believe your 3P story to be, a journalist won’t find it interesting unless you give them a reason to. If you start thinking like a journalist you’ll dramatically increase your chances for success.
And that means making your story newsworthy.
“When a dog bites a man that is not news, but when a man bites a dog that is news.”
Charles Anderson Dana, American Journalist, 1819-1897
Here are some key elements of newsworthiness to keep in mind:
Timeliness: News, by its very definition, is ‘new’ information. Think about ways you can contribute to cutting-edge discussions in your industry.
Relevance: Keep a pulse on the most recent articles by journalists in your industry. Do an in-depth analysis of popular posts and see how you can tie them to your own story.
Novelty: Consider how your particular angle or argument is unique. If you’re saying the same thing as everybody else, you’re not making a very strong case for why you should be heard in the crowd.
When you live and breathe your startup, it can be hard to acknowledge that your product might not be inherently interesting to someone else. Nevertheless, it’s absolutely essential to develop a strong filter for what’s newsworthy in order to get coverage.
Let’s use Renters Warehouse, a professional property management company and longtime Onboardly client, as a case study. In all honesty, real estate isn’t interesting to anyone who isn’t already making money from it. So, how do you connect with journalists who can get you in front of tens of thousands of potential real estate investors?
You tell the story of your inspiring young founder, Brenton Hayden, who retired at 27. The booming rental market (in a slow seller’s market) was cutting edge. At the time, Gen Y success (and failure) stories were incredibly relevant. And hey, what’s not novel about the idea of retiring at 27?
Brenton’s story quickly spread from Entrepreneur to Yahoo! Finance to The Steve Harvey Show. The result? Over 82,000 page views in 24 hours to the Renters Warehouse website (which crashed due to traffic overload), and 576 solid leads in under two weeks. Not too bad — and all because his story showcased his 3Ps and was told with journalists in mind.
3. Find the Right Angle: Tailor Your Story to Each Journalist
If you’ve developed a genuine story that is newsworthy, you’re halfway there. The next challenge is to figure out how to personalize that story according to each journalist you plan on reaching out to.
What ultimately ‘grabs’ the journalist is going to be highly subjective. That’s why it’s so important to establish your target journalists well in advance and do the appropriate research to figure out how to find the right angle.
Here’s an overview of how to nail down your targets and tailor your story:
Identify the Right Journalists: Pick 3-5 journalists and make sure that they meet the following criteria: relevant industry, topic, and publication. This won’t leave you with a ton of options, but that’s the point: research shows that 20% of your outreach will yield 80% of your results.
Tip: Go for smaller publications that cover your relevant niche. You’re much more likely to get traction if you focus on similar interests rather than getting the biggest media outlet. Place your bets on where your key audience is – that’s how you get the best engagement.
When working with the folks at BeauCoo, a body positive startup helping women feel and dress their best, there was a lot of pressure as a tech startup to be featured in TechCrunch. In the end, the company was featured on niche style blogs written by passionate, body positive ambassadors and on highly relevant women’s sites that led to quality user acquisition. Once style bloggers tried the app out for themselves and blogged about the experience, more and more body positive supporters were signing up too. Thanks to targeted outreach amongst a highly qualified crowd, before long, an army of women were behind the app and word of mouth became the ultimate user acquisition strategy.
Research Your Targets: By subscribing to your target journalists’ social feeds and publications, you will begin to get a sense of their style, their sense of humour, and what they’re passionate about. This will help you tailor your story to their interests, and write to them in a way that feels more personal.
Tip: You should also research your target journalists’ audiences. There should be overlap with your own, but there will also be entirely new elements to consider. For example, journalists are loyal to their editors and publication in addition to their readership – so your research should cover those bases.
Establish Your Newsworthy Hook: In order for your story to grab the attention of a journalist, you need to ensure that you can build a reason for why they would care. Use all of the research at your disposal to create your hook.
Tip: Find a way to relate your story to topics that your target journalists are invested in. Ask yourself: what topics do they cover often, and what are their most popular articles?
Journalist Pete Schroeder makes a joke about how he’s sick of getting tax-related email pitches during tax season. Schroeder’s point is that you have to go deeper, more individual to really hook someone. For example, let’s say that a journalist writes passionately about underdog startups that manage to win over the hearts of customers by providing quirky, alternative solutions to that of a major corporation. You know that your tech solution follows the classic David and Goliath storyline – but with an unexpected twist – you’ve captured a truly unique customer story that underscores how meaningful your product or service is. Therein lies the hook.
Cold calls and cookie cutter emails annoy journalists and can easily land you on their blacklist. If you put in the work up front to personalize your outreach, you’re much more likely to get something in return.
Focus on ‘Human Relations’ for Long-Term Success
Targeting the right journalists is absolutely essential to your success. However, if you’re not developing any kind of relationship with these journalists, that still means you’re reaching out to them as a stranger in the crowd of many vying for their attention. Imagine how much easier it would be to send your story to someone that you had already built rapport with a year ago?
A good relationship can make all the difference to your PR efforts. However, the idea is not to go out and start pestering journalists with the hope that they’ll become ‘useful contacts.’ Instead, take an approach that’s proactive in building community. As journalist Patrick Coffee says in Adweek’s PR series: “Journos rarely sing the praises of their PR contacts in public, and most pros wouldn’t want such attention anyway because we all know that the key word in media relations is “relations” as in relationships.”
Follow the Golden Rule of PR: Make Friends Before You Need Them
Invest in relationships early on by giving something valuable before you ask for something in return.
If you’re wondering how to reach out to journalists and industry experts without it feeling forced or self-serving, look at natural opportunities to chat about topics that you both care about, where you can add value. You can do this by:
Joining relevant groups
Replying to publications and group forums
Taking part in social media discussions
Having a mutual friend introduce you
Sharing interesting work on your networks
Attending industry events
Do not post promotional content when you’re engaged in these discussions. Instead, focus on providing industry expertise and knowledge.
We believe that successful PR is altruistic because it focuses on creating mutually beneficial relationships. You have to put in ongoing effort, and it only pays off when you deserve it.
Connecting with a Journalist: Five Key Tactics to Follow
Once you’ve begun building connections and providing valuable contributions to your industry, you can start reaching out to your target journalists.
The most important thing to keep in mind about your outreach is that it does boil down to your initial interaction – and there’s some key tactics that will significantly improve your chances for getting traction:
1. Always seek permission before pitching: Don’t assume that a journalist will automatically want to listen. You’re more likely to get a ‘yes’ if you ask. Keep it short, but personal:
Hey there,
Congratulations on the new gig with Business Insider.
A fellow PR friend mentioned you were a pleasure to work with at Forbes, I hope this new opportunity with BI is just as awesome.
I was wondering if it’s cool if I share a few details with you on a company in the HR/Small Biz space that may appeal to your Careers readers. Just in case they fit with anything you’re working on or perhaps spark an idea.
Thanks in advance. I look forward to hearing from you.
2. Hone in on what’s in it for them: Use a tailored and personalized approach that speaks to their professional interests and offers value.
3. Work the headline: Follow basic copywriting 101: if you can get them to click on the headline, then you may be able to get them to read your first line of copy (and honestly, that’s the hardest part).
4. Back everything with facts: Use relevant stats, case studies and/or facts to show the impact of your organization. You helped get a client find success? Say it and show it.
5. Be prepared to support your pitch: Don’t wait until you get a ‘yes’ to compile the supporting pieces that accompany your story, otherwise you run the risk of keeping a journalist waiting. Have your media kit ready before you send your pitch.
One of the most important things to remember is that you should treat a ‘no’ like a future ‘yes.’ When you get a no, take the opportunity to ask for feedback and suggestions. Never burn bridges and always thank journalists for their time.
Example Pitch (once you’ve received permission):
Subject: >
Hey there,
I’m wondering if you might be interested in hearing more about a company that has developed a solution that >
Company is > and they are >.
In short….
>
>
>
Solid founder story >
I’d love to gauge your interest on if you think there’s a compelling story here.
Going Beyond Media Relations: How to Evolve Your PR Strategy
Building media relations and getting the right press coverage is hugely important for getting brand exposure, since earned media from trusted journalists carries a lot of weight in the eyes of your potential buyers.
However, the ways in which you can ‘be in the media’ have changed dramatically in recent years. As Top Rank Online Marketing CEO Lee Odden reminds us, there’s been a steady decline in the readership of traditional media outlets, which has been balanced out by the explosion of indie publications, social outlets, mobile technologies, and a huge movement towards brand publishing.
Today, it’s almost impossible to not take a blended approach to your PR in order to evolve your strategy. Here’s where to start:
1. Create Valuable and Consistent Content
Your brand story is part of, and can be enhanced through, every piece of content you create. It provides a unified, consistent voice across multiple digital platforms and improves your credibility. In fact, 61% of consumers feel more positive about (and are more likely to buy from) a company that provides custom content. That’s why so many influential brands (think Red Bull) have become publishing powerhouses – creating everything from social content, blogs, e-books, infographics, events, and videos. They’re bringing the news to their customers.
Clarity’s Mo Money, Mo Problems infographic was picked up by Forbes.
Branded content is also a strategic way to get the media’s attention because it instantly offers value to your shared audiences. For one of our former clients, Clarity, content creation paved the way to major success. Clarity’s eBook generated over 1,200 new content subscribers in less than a month, and its infographics were featured on Entrepreneur, Forbes, and Business Insider – which led to over 20,000 people sharing its content within the first week of publication.
They are now considered the de facto resource for on-demand startup advice and have been acquired by a huge startup platform called Startups.co. The lesson? It pays to have valuable, educational content as part of your PR strategy.
2. Share Your Expertise on Non-Branded Outlets
Last year, Onboardly teamed up with Column Five to create an eBook and an accompanying infographic. As a result, many niche marketing publications published our content.
An excellent way to build credibility is to contribute content on industry topics for media outlets or companies. This might come in the form of a guest post or an opinion piece on another company’s blog, or a partnership webinar or podcast. Sharing your expertise on non-branded outlets allows you to get third party endorsements, build connections with thought leaders in your industry, and engage with your audience in new and exciting ways.
3. Leverage Your Social Outlets
Social media and social bookmarking give you a huge opportunity to attract and engage with niche communities in ways that were unheard of just 10 years ago. These social outlets can (and should) be used as a mutually reinforcing tool to your PR efforts.
In addition to joining discussions on traditional social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.), consider capitalizing on social bookmarking sites like Growth Hackers, Inbound.org, Reddit, StumbleUpon, and Quibb. They offer an amazing way for startups to stay plugged in, create discussions, and amplify the reach of PR placements. Remember, it’s important to engage on a regular basis because most of the content from major publications gets picked up organically. Focus only on relevant outlets and really dive into those communities.
4. Use PR Metrics to Measure and Improve
Tip: Enable goal tracking to see how each media outlet converts.
New technologies have helped turned PR into a practice that you can measure – and this is something you should certainly take advantage of. As we’ve discussed before at Onboardly, it’s important to start developing PR metrics to ensure that you’re accountable to your benchmarks, and that you’re improving your bottom line. If you’re just starting out, you can use Google Analytics for basic tracking, or KISSMetrics to get more insights on who your customers are.
15Five (shown in the Google Analytics snapshot above), for example, follow their leads from email submission to free trial signup. They know the exact ROI of their PR efforts. If you do PR analytics right, you will know which outlets generate the most traffic. More importantly, you will know which outlets actually convert.
Maintaining an ‘Always-on’ Presence: How to Map Out Your PR Calendar
There’s no doubt that the way we consume news has changed dramatically over the past few years. As FastCompany rightfully points out, “No longer are episodic, big budget launch campaigns the ticket to success. Instead, brands must widen the net and maintain an always-on presence.”
So, how do you keep a constant presence and remain top of mind for your customers? With proper planning, you can ensure that there’s always a piece of news about your startup, 12 months of the year:
Step 1. Brainstorm ideas: Create a mind map of ideas for the most newsworthy elements of your product or service. Get input from every single member of your team – this is not a ‘marketing only’ exercise. Each department will have valuable insight on how to address the needs of your customer.
Step 2. Establish emerging themes: Consider emerging themes from your brainstorming session and articulate how and why they will engage your target audience. Apply your journalistic lens – what will make a journalist want to bite?
Step 3. Map themes onto your calendar: Map out your themes onto a 12-month calendar. Consider one campaign every 4-6 weeks.
Step 4. Develop relevant campaigns: Think about how content and social outreach can aid your PR outreach effort during each campaign cycle. What kind of content would be the best suited to each campaign? Create this content accordingly.
Step 5. Invest in relationships: Start getting to know your target journalists well in advance of your pitch. With advanced planning, you can get yourself into a process where you’re one cycle/campaign ahead of your outreach.
Step 6. Track your outreach: Log each correspondence you have with the media. Use tools like Hubspot’s Sidekick or other email tracking software to understand if/when journalists open your email.
Step 7. Gear up for sprints: Your team should be fully aware of campaign cycles and should be ready to participate, share, and engage with customers during these ‘sprint’ periods. The more activity you can leverage during these periods, the better exposure you’ll have with customers.
Step 8. Plan for down time: Don’t ignore the in-between times to publish great content. Think about white papers, eBooks, guest blogging, partnered webinars or podcast discussions. Aim for content that will have the greatest impact, keeping in mind that less is more. Consider partnering with brands boasting larger networks to create joint content, and keep it consistent with your overarching PR themes.
Step 9. Test and re-assess: Analyze the value of each media placement. Were there any problems that should be resolved? Build in monthly, department-wide meetings to track your progress. Learn from any mistakes and refocus your energy to ensure you’re maximizing your PR efforts.
Every single person on your team should be aware of what’s going on in your campaign cycle – from development, to sales, to marketing, to admin. Keep lines of communication open at all times and update campaigns accordingly.
PR is a Critical Component to Your Demand Marketing Mix
It’s not uncommon for startups to place their emphasis on product development rather than on customer development. However, as Steve Blank argues, this is totally misguided: “… the product development diagram completely ignores the fundamental truth about startups and all new products. The greatest risk—and hence the greatest cause of failure — in startups is not in the development of the new product but in the development of customers and markets.”
For a growth model that puts the customer first, you need to utilize PR in the early stages of your startup. It will help you discover your customers, continually refine your positioning, give much needed exposure, and inform the building of the product itself.
PR is an essential component to your startup demand marketing mix – but it’s only really useful if you take a proactive approach. While it doesn’t solve last minute customer acquisition issues in the eleventh hour, with strategic planning and execution, it can take your startup down a more successful, fulfilling path.
About the Author: Renee Warren is co-founder of Onboardly, a demand marketing agency that works with funded tech startups to gain greater visibility and acquire more customers. We work at the intersection where public relations, content marketing, and social media meet, to deliver marketing that gets results. Follow her on Twitter @renee_warren.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1KzUtEx via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1EI2zZO
August 21, 2015 at 09:17PM
It’s no secret that in order to grow, your startup requires effective promotion – and there are few things that will give your company the boost it needs as effectively as press coverage.
Here’s why: PR converts. In fact, it generates conversion rates of 10 to 50 times that of advertising. And that’s probably because 92% of consumers trust earned media over traditional ads.
Exposure doesn’t happen by chance. It’s no accident that the hottest startups right now (AirBnB, Slack, and Etsy, to name a few) are all over the media. That’s the power of PR machinery at work. All of these brands have great services – but that’s not what gets them the coverage. As VentureBeat points out, “Great products fail all the time because they never make their way into the public eye.”
Behind every great brand story you see in the media is a great PR strategy – and with the right strategy, you can turn your startup into press-worthy news.
This advanced guide will show you how to get the right press coverage so that you can increase your visibility and acquire more customers at a key stage in your startup’s development.
Mastering Your Story for the Media
A good story taps into our human experience and has the power to move people and motivate action. As a study done by the Center of Neuroeconomics at Claremont Graduate University shows, a compelling story can actually alter our brain chemistry, making us more trusting and open to new ideas.
As you’ve probably guessed, crafting a great story isn’t easy. There are several components that you need to consider in order to make your startup story worthy of media attention.
1. Follow the 3 P’s of PR Storytelling: Product, Purpose, and Passion
Your story for the media should be built on three basic elements: your product, purpose, and passion. Using this framework will allow you to go through an exercise of company and customer discovery, which will help you illuminate the high-level, “big picture” stuff about your startup:
Product: Define exactly what your product or service is and/or what it does, and where its niche offering currently fits into the existing industry landscape. In order to truly define your product, you need to know how it’s different, so do your competitive analysis at a very early stage if you haven’t already.
Purpose: Identify your company’s “reason for being.” What problem does your product or service solve, and for whom? You exist because of your target customer, so you need to have a detailed understanding of who they are and what they care about.
Passion: Use an enthusiastic, authentic tone that captures the passion, vision, and culture of your startup. You’ll want to present your story and company as human and relatable, so use real characters and events to shape your story. Honesty and vulnerability go a long way.
If you have a deep understanding of the 3Ps, then you’ve undergone a critical phase in startup development by articulating how your product or service aligns with the true and actual needs of your market.
Take Buffer, the social media management app, as an example. Like many startups, Buffer founders Joel Gascoigne and Leo Widrich started their work in a basement. Buffer is now generating $5 million in yearly revenue and has over two million users. So, how did these founders begin telling their story?
First, as Gascoigne tells us, they sought out to address the real pain point of their customers: people losing precious productivity time by posting manually on social media. When they had established a minimum viable product that met this need, they also started the BufferSocial blog to write content on social media topics that their target customers would care about. After ten months of blogging, they had 100,000 users.
By mastering the 3Ps – developing a working product, knowing their customers’ pain points, and writing passionately for their audience – they were able to acquire thousands of customers while establishing themselves as an authority on all things social.
2. Think Like a Journalist to Earn a Journalist’s Attention
Developing your 3P story allows you to position your startup in a clear and concise way. However, no matter how exciting you believe your 3P story to be, a journalist won’t find it interesting unless you give them a reason to. If you start thinking like a journalist you’ll dramatically increase your chances for success.
And that means making your story newsworthy.
“When a dog bites a man that is not news, but when a man bites a dog that is news.”
Charles Anderson Dana, American Journalist, 1819-1897
Here are some key elements of newsworthiness to keep in mind:
Timeliness: News, by its very definition, is ‘new’ information. Think about ways you can contribute to cutting-edge discussions in your industry.
Relevance: Keep a pulse on the most recent articles by journalists in your industry. Do an in-depth analysis of popular posts and see how you can tie them to your own story.
Novelty: Consider how your particular angle or argument is unique. If you’re saying the same thing as everybody else, you’re not making a very strong case for why you should be heard in the crowd.
When you live and breathe your startup, it can be hard to acknowledge that your product might not be inherently interesting to someone else. Nevertheless, it’s absolutely essential to develop a strong filter for what’s newsworthy in order to get coverage.
Let’s use Renters Warehouse, a professional property management company and longtime Onboardly client, as a case study. In all honesty, real estate isn’t interesting to anyone who isn’t already making money from it. So, how do you connect with journalists who can get you in front of tens of thousands of potential real estate investors?
You tell the story of your inspiring young founder, Brenton Hayden, who retired at 27. The booming rental market (in a slow seller’s market) was cutting edge. At the time, Gen Y success (and failure) stories were incredibly relevant. And hey, what’s not novel about the idea of retiring at 27?
Brenton’s story quickly spread from Entrepreneur to Yahoo! Finance to The Steve Harvey Show. The result? Over 82,000 page views in 24 hours to the Renters Warehouse website (which crashed due to traffic overload), and 576 solid leads in under two weeks. Not too bad — and all because his story showcased his 3Ps and was told with journalists in mind.
3. Find the Right Angle: Tailor Your Story to Each Journalist
If you’ve developed a genuine story that is newsworthy, you’re halfway there. The next challenge is to figure out how to personalize that story according to each journalist you plan on reaching out to.
What ultimately ‘grabs’ the journalist is going to be highly subjective. That’s why it’s so important to establish your target journalists well in advance and do the appropriate research to figure out how to find the right angle.
Here’s an overview of how to nail down your targets and tailor your story:
Identify the Right Journalists: Pick 3-5 journalists and make sure that they meet the following criteria: relevant industry, topic, and publication. This won’t leave you with a ton of options, but that’s the point: research shows that 20% of your outreach will yield 80% of your results.
Tip: Go for smaller publications that cover your relevant niche. You’re much more likely to get traction if you focus on similar interests rather than getting the biggest media outlet. Place your bets on where your key audience is – that’s how you get the best engagement.
When working with the folks at BeauCoo, a body positive startup helping women feel and dress their best, there was a lot of pressure as a tech startup to be featured in TechCrunch. In the end, the company was featured on niche style blogs written by passionate, body positive ambassadors and on highly relevant women’s sites that led to quality user acquisition. Once style bloggers tried the app out for themselves and blogged about the experience, more and more body positive supporters were signing up too. Thanks to targeted outreach amongst a highly qualified crowd, before long, an army of women were behind the app and word of mouth became the ultimate user acquisition strategy.
Research Your Targets: By subscribing to your target journalists’ social feeds and publications, you will begin to get a sense of their style, their sense of humour, and what they’re passionate about. This will help you tailor your story to their interests, and write to them in a way that feels more personal.
Tip: You should also research your target journalists’ audiences. There should be overlap with your own, but there will also be entirely new elements to consider. For example, journalists are loyal to their editors and publication in addition to their readership – so your research should cover those bases.
Establish Your Newsworthy Hook: In order for your story to grab the attention of a journalist, you need to ensure that you can build a reason for why they would care. Use all of the research at your disposal to create your hook.
Tip: Find a way to relate your story to topics that your target journalists are invested in. Ask yourself: what topics do they cover often, and what are their most popular articles?
Journalist Pete Schroeder makes a joke about how he’s sick of getting tax-related email pitches during tax season. Schroeder’s point is that you have to go deeper, more individual to really hook someone. For example, let’s say that a journalist writes passionately about underdog startups that manage to win over the hearts of customers by providing quirky, alternative solutions to that of a major corporation. You know that your tech solution follows the classic David and Goliath storyline – but with an unexpected twist – you’ve captured a truly unique customer story that underscores how meaningful your product or service is. Therein lies the hook.
Cold calls and cookie cutter emails annoy journalists and can easily land you on their blacklist. If you put in the work up front to personalize your outreach, you’re much more likely to get something in return.
Focus on ‘Human Relations’ for Long-Term Success
Targeting the right journalists is absolutely essential to your success. However, if you’re not developing any kind of relationship with these journalists, that still means you’re reaching out to them as a stranger in the crowd of many vying for their attention. Imagine how much easier it would be to send your story to someone that you had already built rapport with a year ago?
A good relationship can make all the difference to your PR efforts. However, the idea is not to go out and start pestering journalists with the hope that they’ll become ‘useful contacts.’ Instead, take an approach that’s proactive in building community. As journalist Patrick Coffee says in Adweek’s PR series: “Journos rarely sing the praises of their PR contacts in public, and most pros wouldn’t want such attention anyway because we all know that the key word in media relations is “relations” as in relationships.”
Follow the Golden Rule of PR: Make Friends Before You Need Them
Invest in relationships early on by giving something valuable before you ask for something in return.
If you’re wondering how to reach out to journalists and industry experts without it feeling forced or self-serving, look at natural opportunities to chat about topics that you both care about, where you can add value. You can do this by:
Joining relevant groups
Replying to publications and group forums
Taking part in social media discussions
Having a mutual friend introduce you
Sharing interesting work on your networks
Attending industry events
Do not post promotional content when you’re engaged in these discussions. Instead, focus on providing industry expertise and knowledge.
We believe that successful PR is altruistic because it focuses on creating mutually beneficial relationships. You have to put in ongoing effort, and it only pays off when you deserve it.
Connecting with a Journalist: Five Key Tactics to Follow
Once you’ve begun building connections and providing valuable contributions to your industry, you can start reaching out to your target journalists.
The most important thing to keep in mind about your outreach is that it does boil down to your initial interaction – and there’s some key tactics that will significantly improve your chances for getting traction:
1. Always seek permission before pitching: Don’t assume that a journalist will automatically want to listen. You’re more likely to get a ‘yes’ if you ask. Keep it short, but personal:
Hey there,
Congratulations on the new gig with Business Insider.
A fellow PR friend mentioned you were a pleasure to work with at Forbes, I hope this new opportunity with BI is just as awesome.
I was wondering if it’s cool if I share a few details with you on a company in the HR/Small Biz space that may appeal to your Careers readers. Just in case they fit with anything you’re working on or perhaps spark an idea.
Thanks in advance. I look forward to hearing from you.
2. Hone in on what’s in it for them: Use a tailored and personalized approach that speaks to their professional interests and offers value.
3. Work the headline: Follow basic copywriting 101: if you can get them to click on the headline, then you may be able to get them to read your first line of copy (and honestly, that’s the hardest part).
4. Back everything with facts: Use relevant stats, case studies and/or facts to show the impact of your organization. You helped get a client find success? Say it and show it.
5. Be prepared to support your pitch: Don’t wait until you get a ‘yes’ to compile the supporting pieces that accompany your story, otherwise you run the risk of keeping a journalist waiting. Have your media kit ready before you send your pitch.
One of the most important things to remember is that you should treat a ‘no’ like a future ‘yes.’ When you get a no, take the opportunity to ask for feedback and suggestions. Never burn bridges and always thank journalists for their time.
Example Pitch (once you’ve received permission):
Subject: >
Hey there,
I’m wondering if you might be interested in hearing more about a company that has developed a solution that >
Company is > and they are >.
In short….
>
>
>
Solid founder story >
I’d love to gauge your interest on if you think there’s a compelling story here.
Going Beyond Media Relations: How to Evolve Your PR Strategy
Building media relations and getting the right press coverage is hugely important for getting brand exposure, since earned media from trusted journalists carries a lot of weight in the eyes of your potential buyers.
However, the ways in which you can ‘be in the media’ have changed dramatically in recent years. As Top Rank Online Marketing CEO Lee Odden reminds us, there’s been a steady decline in the readership of traditional media outlets, which has been balanced out by the explosion of indie publications, social outlets, mobile technologies, and a huge movement towards brand publishing.
Today, it’s almost impossible to not take a blended approach to your PR in order to evolve your strategy. Here’s where to start:
1. Create Valuable and Consistent Content
Your brand story is part of, and can be enhanced through, every piece of content you create. It provides a unified, consistent voice across multiple digital platforms and improves your credibility. In fact, 61% of consumers feel more positive about (and are more likely to buy from) a company that provides custom content. That’s why so many influential brands (think Red Bull) have become publishing powerhouses – creating everything from social content, blogs, e-books, infographics, events, and videos. They’re bringing the news to their customers.
Clarity’s Mo Money, Mo Problems infographic was picked up by Forbes.
Branded content is also a strategic way to get the media’s attention because it instantly offers value to your shared audiences. For one of our former clients, Clarity, content creation paved the way to major success. Clarity’s eBook generated over 1,200 new content subscribers in less than a month, and its infographics were featured on Entrepreneur, Forbes, and Business Insider – which led to over 20,000 people sharing its content within the first week of publication.
They are now considered the de facto resource for on-demand startup advice and have been acquired by a huge startup platform called Startups.co. The lesson? It pays to have valuable, educational content as part of your PR strategy.
2. Share Your Expertise on Non-Branded Outlets
Last year, Onboardly teamed up with Column Five to create an eBook and an accompanying infographic. As a result, many niche marketing publications published our content.
An excellent way to build credibility is to contribute content on industry topics for media outlets or companies. This might come in the form of a guest post or an opinion piece on another company’s blog, or a partnership webinar or podcast. Sharing your expertise on non-branded outlets allows you to get third party endorsements, build connections with thought leaders in your industry, and engage with your audience in new and exciting ways.
3. Leverage Your Social Outlets
Social media and social bookmarking give you a huge opportunity to attract and engage with niche communities in ways that were unheard of just 10 years ago. These social outlets can (and should) be used as a mutually reinforcing tool to your PR efforts.
In addition to joining discussions on traditional social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.), consider capitalizing on social bookmarking sites like Growth Hackers, Inbound.org, Reddit, StumbleUpon, and Quibb. They offer an amazing way for startups to stay plugged in, create discussions, and amplify the reach of PR placements. Remember, it’s important to engage on a regular basis because most of the content from major publications gets picked up organically. Focus only on relevant outlets and really dive into those communities.
4. Use PR Metrics to Measure and Improve
Tip: Enable goal tracking to see how each media outlet converts.
New technologies have helped turned PR into a practice that you can measure – and this is something you should certainly take advantage of. As we’ve discussed before at Onboardly, it’s important to start developing PR metrics to ensure that you’re accountable to your benchmarks, and that you’re improving your bottom line. If you’re just starting out, you can use Google Analytics for basic tracking, or KISSMetrics to get more insights on who your customers are.
15Five (shown in the Google Analytics snapshot above), for example, follow their leads from email submission to free trial signup. They know the exact ROI of their PR efforts. If you do PR analytics right, you will know which outlets generate the most traffic. More importantly, you will know which outlets actually convert.
Maintaining an ‘Always-on’ Presence: How to Map Out Your PR Calendar
There’s no doubt that the way we consume news has changed dramatically over the past few years. As FastCompany rightfully points out, “No longer are episodic, big budget launch campaigns the ticket to success. Instead, brands must widen the net and maintain an always-on presence.”
So, how do you keep a constant presence and remain top of mind for your customers? With proper planning, you can ensure that there’s always a piece of news about your startup, 12 months of the year:
Step 1. Brainstorm ideas: Create a mind map of ideas for the most newsworthy elements of your product or service. Get input from every single member of your team – this is not a ‘marketing only’ exercise. Each department will have valuable insight on how to address the needs of your customer.
Step 2. Establish emerging themes: Consider emerging themes from your brainstorming session and articulate how and why they will engage your target audience. Apply your journalistic lens – what will make a journalist want to bite?
Step 3. Map themes onto your calendar: Map out your themes onto a 12-month calendar. Consider one campaign every 4-6 weeks.
Step 4. Develop relevant campaigns: Think about how content and social outreach can aid your PR outreach effort during each campaign cycle. What kind of content would be the best suited to each campaign? Create this content accordingly.
Step 5. Invest in relationships: Start getting to know your target journalists well in advance of your pitch. With advanced planning, you can get yourself into a process where you’re one cycle/campaign ahead of your outreach.
Step 6. Track your outreach: Log each correspondence you have with the media. Use tools like Hubspot’s Sidekick or other email tracking software to understand if/when journalists open your email.
Step 7. Gear up for sprints: Your team should be fully aware of campaign cycles and should be ready to participate, share, and engage with customers during these ‘sprint’ periods. The more activity you can leverage during these periods, the better exposure you’ll have with customers.
Step 8. Plan for down time: Don’t ignore the in-between times to publish great content. Think about white papers, eBooks, guest blogging, partnered webinars or podcast discussions. Aim for content that will have the greatest impact, keeping in mind that less is more. Consider partnering with brands boasting larger networks to create joint content, and keep it consistent with your overarching PR themes.
Step 9. Test and re-assess: Analyze the value of each media placement. Were there any problems that should be resolved? Build in monthly, department-wide meetings to track your progress. Learn from any mistakes and refocus your energy to ensure you’re maximizing your PR efforts.
Every single person on your team should be aware of what’s going on in your campaign cycle – from development, to sales, to marketing, to admin. Keep lines of communication open at all times and update campaigns accordingly.
PR is a Critical Component to Your Demand Marketing Mix
It’s not uncommon for startups to place their emphasis on product development rather than on customer development. However, as Steve Blank argues, this is totally misguided: “… the product development diagram completely ignores the fundamental truth about startups and all new products. The greatest risk—and hence the greatest cause of failure — in startups is not in the development of the new product but in the development of customers and markets.”
For a growth model that puts the customer first, you need to utilize PR in the early stages of your startup. It will help you discover your customers, continually refine your positioning, give much needed exposure, and inform the building of the product itself.
PR is an essential component to your startup demand marketing mix – but it’s only really useful if you take a proactive approach. While it doesn’t solve last minute customer acquisition issues in the eleventh hour, with strategic planning and execution, it can take your startup down a more successful, fulfilling path.
About the Author: Renee Warren is co-founder of Onboardly, a demand marketing agency that works with funded tech startups to gain greater visibility and acquire more customers. We work at the intersection where public relations, content marketing, and social media meet, to deliver marketing that gets results. Follow her on Twitter @renee_warren.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1KzUtEx via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1EI2zZO
August 21, 2015 at 09:17PM
Added: Aug 25, 2015 Via IFTTT
The Dark Side of Retargeting: How Retargeting Could Be Killing Your Sales
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
The Dark Side of Retargeting: How Retargeting Could Be Killing Your Sales
Retargeting is the holy grail of digital marketing. It’s the solution to shopping cart abandonment. It’s the end of wasted Adwords revenue. It’s the panacea for everything that ails you.
It’s awesome. Except when it isn’t.
Before I launch into what comes next, I want to make it clear that I am a fan of retargeting/remarketing. I use it. I recommend it. I think it rocks.
Whether you’re trying to sell a pair of shoes or marketing a SaaS, retargeting has major advantages. It works on social media, general web browsing, and even across devices. Remarketing is a smart technique with a ton of advantages.
But is there a dark side to retargeting? The short answer is yes. Let me explain.
Retargeting Can Be Expensive
Many marketers leap into retargeting because they assume that it would somehow reduce their overall advertising costs.
For a long time, PPC experts have been strategizing the means and methods for reducing adspend. The high cost of Adwords and the meteoric bidding levels for ultra-competitive terms have sabotaged some marketing budgets.
Based on the promises of many retargeting services, it seemed the obvious solution.
In reality, however, the way to reduce spending is to make a decision and stick to it. While retargeting may have a higher ad ROI, it doesn’t necessarily follow that you’re going to spend less on it.
Here’s one popular retargeting claim:
Sounds awesome, right? Well it is. But you are ultimately in charge of your retargeting costs. If you let things get out of hand, you can end up spending just as much if not more, and you may have diminishing returns on investment.
Don’t allow your excitement over retargeting to blind you to its real cost.
Retargeting Can Annoy or Anger Customers
When it comes right down to it, what does your customer think of retargeting? This is a significant issue, because ultimately, retargeting is about them (not you).
Take a look at the data. InSkin Media’s consumer survey found that the two main responses to a retargeted ad were annoyance and anger.
Source
Based on the data, the more frequently an ad is displayed, the more aggravating it can be. By the tenth time someone sees an ad, they get the message. More impressions aren’t going to compel them. You’ve driven them off a cliff. It’s too late.
What do these emotions mean for sales? Again, let’s look at the data. The news isn’t great.
55% of customers put off buying
53% get irritated
Only 10% buy
Source
If you are retargeting, it’s probably not a good idea to increase the number of impressions. The higher your frequency, the greater the likelihood of ticking someone off.
The chance at gaining 10% is nice. But what about the remainder of your potential customers? Are you gaining a few at the expense of alienating a majority?
Rather than risk it, it’s best to err on the side of fewer impressions and happier potential customers.
Retargeting Can Create Concerns Over Privacy
One of the most common complaints about retargeting is that it’s “creepy.” This is why ClickZ had to try to explain away the creepy sentiment surrounding retargeting.
Retargeting may not be creepy in actuality, but that won’t keep customers from thinking it’s creepy. Saying it ain’t so won’t change the fact that they think it’s so.
In a New York Times article on retargeting, reporters quoted Julie Matlin who was innocently looking for shoes.
Her quick glance at a pair of kicks on Zappos.com turned into a recurring marketing experience:
“For days or weeks, every site I went to seemed to be showing me ads for those shoes,” said Ms. Matlin, a mother of two from Montreal. “It is a pretty clever marketing tool. But it’s a little creepy, especially if you don’t know what’s going on.”
The creepy sensation has been enough to increase the interest in Do Not Track laws rolled out by the FTC.
Retargeting Can Ignore the Buy Cycle
It’s ironic. One of the most fundamental of all marketing principles can be so easily overlooked in the frenzied rush towards retargeting.
I’m talking about the marketing buy cycle — the concept that customers go through a cyclical process that prepares them to buy.
It’s similar to the sales funnel, in that the process begins with more customers, and ends up with the converting few.
Source
Retargeting is intended to capture more of those consumers as they proceed through the funnel. If you’re not careful, however, you can actually damage conversion rates by ignoring the buy cycle.
The customer may simply not be ready to buy. They’re no longer leaning towards your alternative. They’ve chosen a competitor. Maybe they already bought the product from a competitor.
If you keep your retargeting window open for a long time, you increase the likelihood that you are retargeting a customer who is no longer in the right spot of the buy cycle.
Retargeting can cause you to abdicate control.
One of the major benefits of retargeting is that it allows a more hands-off approach to marketing.
One B2B blog describes the advantages of a managed retargeting platform:
Managed platforms are ideal for retargeting newcomers who are unlikely to roll up their sleeves and dig into the minutia of managing a retargeting campaign. Managed platform providers will help you run your retargeting campaigns based on the target metrics and settings you specify. These platforms offer account managers and automated optimization tools that help build and tweak campaigns to maximize performance.
Yet this perceived advantage can quickly become a disadvantage. Being hands-off of any marketing effort is risky, to say the least. At worst, it can turn into a sales-killing, prospect-aggravating, brand-ruining fiasco.
I have a very simple recommendation if you’re considering pulling letting your retargeting machine roll along on its own: Don’t do it.
It’s not just about losing control. It’s more about losing all awareness. If there’s one thing that marketers need, it’s a keen understanding of their data and the effectiveness of their marketing initiatives. What’s successful and what’s not. Who’s converting on what? Which method has the higher ROI? Which version is adequately reaching our target audience?
Setting up your retargeting, and letting it purr along without your oversight is a risk too great to take.
Retargeting Can Show You Only Partial Data
In the section above, I referenced data — the marketer’s best friend.
Any retargeting platform you use will give you plenty of data. You’ll feel like you are awash in a sea of data. But is it the right kind of data?
Keep in mind that retargeters show you the kind of data that they want you to see. It is in their best interest to compel you to continue purchasing retargeting services and impressions.
Source
Thus, their carefully curated metric presentation can blind you to some of the not-so-pleasant trends in remarketing.
Marketers run risk of overlooking the small customizations and refinements that retargeting requires. Are you presenting multiple impressions on a single page? Are your prospects seeing ads long after their original visit?
Beyond the metric-driven insights, it’s critical to stay aware of the non-data information. Every impression is either enhancing or tarnishing your brand. If your retargeting is ruining your brand’s reputation, the marginal uptick in impressions may actually be a net loss if you take the longview.
The Makegood group provides this cautionary comment:
While retargeting can create a lift in direct response metrics, what is the long impact on branding from being relentlessly stalked like this? It’s a question that smart brands are considering carefully.
Conclusion
Am I saying that you should stop retargeting? Absolutely not.
Retargeting is the modern wave of marketing, and we ought not neglect anything simply because of some attendant risks. We don’t give up on something just because it has risks.
There is risk in doing business. There is risk in life. The pathway to success is paved with bricks of risk. What we must do is be aware of the risks in retargeting.
It’s not the holy grail that some marketers claim it is. It’s powerful. It’s effective. But it does have a dark side. Know this dark side, and you’ll be able to use retargeting with maximum effectiveness.
Have you seen any pitfalls with retargeting?
About the Author: Neil Patel is a lifelong evangelist of Kissmetrics and blogs at Quick Sprout.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1fDRFh7 via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1Egn58R
August 25, 2015 at 09:46PM
Retargeting is the holy grail of digital marketing. It’s the solution to shopping cart abandonment. It’s the end of wasted Adwords revenue. It’s the panacea for everything that ails you.
It’s awesome. Except when it isn’t.
Before I launch into what comes next, I want to make it clear that I am a fan of retargeting/remarketing. I use it. I recommend it. I think it rocks.
Whether you’re trying to sell a pair of shoes or marketing a SaaS, retargeting has major advantages. It works on social media, general web browsing, and even across devices. Remarketing is a smart technique with a ton of advantages.
But is there a dark side to retargeting? The short answer is yes. Let me explain.
Retargeting Can Be Expensive
Many marketers leap into retargeting because they assume that it would somehow reduce their overall advertising costs.
For a long time, PPC experts have been strategizing the means and methods for reducing adspend. The high cost of Adwords and the meteoric bidding levels for ultra-competitive terms have sabotaged some marketing budgets.
Based on the promises of many retargeting services, it seemed the obvious solution.
In reality, however, the way to reduce spending is to make a decision and stick to it. While retargeting may have a higher ad ROI, it doesn’t necessarily follow that you’re going to spend less on it.
Here’s one popular retargeting claim:
Sounds awesome, right? Well it is. But you are ultimately in charge of your retargeting costs. If you let things get out of hand, you can end up spending just as much if not more, and you may have diminishing returns on investment.
Don’t allow your excitement over retargeting to blind you to its real cost.
Retargeting Can Annoy or Anger Customers
When it comes right down to it, what does your customer think of retargeting? This is a significant issue, because ultimately, retargeting is about them (not you).
Take a look at the data. InSkin Media’s consumer survey found that the two main responses to a retargeted ad were annoyance and anger.
Source
Based on the data, the more frequently an ad is displayed, the more aggravating it can be. By the tenth time someone sees an ad, they get the message. More impressions aren’t going to compel them. You’ve driven them off a cliff. It’s too late.
What do these emotions mean for sales? Again, let’s look at the data. The news isn’t great.
55% of customers put off buying
53% get irritated
Only 10% buy
Source
If you are retargeting, it’s probably not a good idea to increase the number of impressions. The higher your frequency, the greater the likelihood of ticking someone off.
The chance at gaining 10% is nice. But what about the remainder of your potential customers? Are you gaining a few at the expense of alienating a majority?
Rather than risk it, it’s best to err on the side of fewer impressions and happier potential customers.
Retargeting Can Create Concerns Over Privacy
One of the most common complaints about retargeting is that it’s “creepy.” This is why ClickZ had to try to explain away the creepy sentiment surrounding retargeting.
Retargeting may not be creepy in actuality, but that won’t keep customers from thinking it’s creepy. Saying it ain’t so won’t change the fact that they think it’s so.
In a New York Times article on retargeting, reporters quoted Julie Matlin who was innocently looking for shoes.
Her quick glance at a pair of kicks on Zappos.com turned into a recurring marketing experience:
“For days or weeks, every site I went to seemed to be showing me ads for those shoes,” said Ms. Matlin, a mother of two from Montreal. “It is a pretty clever marketing tool. But it’s a little creepy, especially if you don’t know what’s going on.”
The creepy sensation has been enough to increase the interest in Do Not Track laws rolled out by the FTC.
Retargeting Can Ignore the Buy Cycle
It’s ironic. One of the most fundamental of all marketing principles can be so easily overlooked in the frenzied rush towards retargeting.
I’m talking about the marketing buy cycle — the concept that customers go through a cyclical process that prepares them to buy.
It’s similar to the sales funnel, in that the process begins with more customers, and ends up with the converting few.
Source
Retargeting is intended to capture more of those consumers as they proceed through the funnel. If you’re not careful, however, you can actually damage conversion rates by ignoring the buy cycle.
The customer may simply not be ready to buy. They’re no longer leaning towards your alternative. They’ve chosen a competitor. Maybe they already bought the product from a competitor.
If you keep your retargeting window open for a long time, you increase the likelihood that you are retargeting a customer who is no longer in the right spot of the buy cycle.
Retargeting can cause you to abdicate control.
One of the major benefits of retargeting is that it allows a more hands-off approach to marketing.
One B2B blog describes the advantages of a managed retargeting platform:
Managed platforms are ideal for retargeting newcomers who are unlikely to roll up their sleeves and dig into the minutia of managing a retargeting campaign. Managed platform providers will help you run your retargeting campaigns based on the target metrics and settings you specify. These platforms offer account managers and automated optimization tools that help build and tweak campaigns to maximize performance.
Yet this perceived advantage can quickly become a disadvantage. Being hands-off of any marketing effort is risky, to say the least. At worst, it can turn into a sales-killing, prospect-aggravating, brand-ruining fiasco.
I have a very simple recommendation if you’re considering pulling letting your retargeting machine roll along on its own: Don’t do it.
It’s not just about losing control. It’s more about losing all awareness. If there’s one thing that marketers need, it’s a keen understanding of their data and the effectiveness of their marketing initiatives. What’s successful and what’s not. Who’s converting on what? Which method has the higher ROI? Which version is adequately reaching our target audience?
Setting up your retargeting, and letting it purr along without your oversight is a risk too great to take.
Retargeting Can Show You Only Partial Data
In the section above, I referenced data — the marketer’s best friend.
Any retargeting platform you use will give you plenty of data. You’ll feel like you are awash in a sea of data. But is it the right kind of data?
Keep in mind that retargeters show you the kind of data that they want you to see. It is in their best interest to compel you to continue purchasing retargeting services and impressions.
Source
Thus, their carefully curated metric presentation can blind you to some of the not-so-pleasant trends in remarketing.
Marketers run risk of overlooking the small customizations and refinements that retargeting requires. Are you presenting multiple impressions on a single page? Are your prospects seeing ads long after their original visit?
Beyond the metric-driven insights, it’s critical to stay aware of the non-data information. Every impression is either enhancing or tarnishing your brand. If your retargeting is ruining your brand’s reputation, the marginal uptick in impressions may actually be a net loss if you take the longview.
The Makegood group provides this cautionary comment:
While retargeting can create a lift in direct response metrics, what is the long impact on branding from being relentlessly stalked like this? It’s a question that smart brands are considering carefully.
Conclusion
Am I saying that you should stop retargeting? Absolutely not.
Retargeting is the modern wave of marketing, and we ought not neglect anything simply because of some attendant risks. We don’t give up on something just because it has risks.
There is risk in doing business. There is risk in life. The pathway to success is paved with bricks of risk. What we must do is be aware of the risks in retargeting.
It’s not the holy grail that some marketers claim it is. It’s powerful. It’s effective. But it does have a dark side. Know this dark side, and you’ll be able to use retargeting with maximum effectiveness.
Have you seen any pitfalls with retargeting?
About the Author: Neil Patel is a lifelong evangelist of Kissmetrics and blogs at Quick Sprout.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1fDRFh7 via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1Egn58R
August 25, 2015 at 09:46PM
Added: Jul 21, 2015 Via IFTTT
The Elements of a High Quality Website (Infographic)
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
The Elements of a High Quality Website (Infographic)
The perception that people have of your business is a reflection of your website. If you have an impressive website, people are more likely to think highly of your business, and they are more likely to purchase.
Think about it. If you go to a website that has spelling errors, pages that don’t render correctly, and little useful information, are you more or less likely to buy? Even more, do you suspect that search engines might penalize the site?
Putting time and work into your website to make it read well is one of the best things you can do to improve conversions and rank better on search.
To help get you zeroed in on the important aspects to focus on, Neil Patel at Quick Sprout has created an infographic that outlines the 10 key elements of a high quality website.
Courtesy of: Quick Sprout
For more information on building a high quality website, check out some of our other content:
8 Elements That Make a Great SaaS Website
Roadmap for a Trustworthy Website
How to Build a Trustworthy Website
9 User Experiment Pitfalls That Repel Website Visitors
And here are three related articles from other sources:
10 Steps to the Perfect Portfolio Websites
A Short Guide to Writing Good Copy
9 Website Strategies That Lead to More Sales
About the Author: Zach Bulygo (Twitter) is a Content Writer for Kissmetrics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1gMvRAT via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1IcgszX
July 21, 2015 at 11:48PM
The perception that people have of your business is a reflection of your website. If you have an impressive website, people are more likely to think highly of your business, and they are more likely to purchase.
Think about it. If you go to a website that has spelling errors, pages that don’t render correctly, and little useful information, are you more or less likely to buy? Even more, do you suspect that search engines might penalize the site?
Putting time and work into your website to make it read well is one of the best things you can do to improve conversions and rank better on search.
To help get you zeroed in on the important aspects to focus on, Neil Patel at Quick Sprout has created an infographic that outlines the 10 key elements of a high quality website.
Courtesy of: Quick Sprout
For more information on building a high quality website, check out some of our other content:
8 Elements That Make a Great SaaS Website
Roadmap for a Trustworthy Website
How to Build a Trustworthy Website
9 User Experiment Pitfalls That Repel Website Visitors
And here are three related articles from other sources:
10 Steps to the Perfect Portfolio Websites
A Short Guide to Writing Good Copy
9 Website Strategies That Lead to More Sales
About the Author: Zach Bulygo (Twitter) is a Content Writer for Kissmetrics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1gMvRAT via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1IcgszX
July 21, 2015 at 11:48PM
Added: Jul 31, 2015 Via IFTTT
The Five Elements of a Perfect SaaS Support System
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
The Five Elements of a Perfect SaaS Support System
If you’re a SaaS business, chances are support is one area of your business that you want to be flawless. Providing great support is the key to your growth and success. According to an Oracle study, 9 out of 10 customers have abandoned a business because of a poor customer support experience. You don’t want to be that business, do you?
At the same time, customer support can be the most time-consuming (and expensive) activity in your business if it’s not handled correctly. Hence, the way you provide support can make or break your business. It’s not one of those things you can do “quick and dirty” at first and then improve later. Well, you could, but that would be a very risky decision.
I’ve been running SaaS companies for the last 15 years. In the early days, support meant email, and that was not very efficient. Then came the help desks, the chat solutions, the knowledge bases, and a lot of tools that made support optimization possible.
In 2015, it’s much easier to build a top-notch support system, but despite all the available solutions and content on the topic, I still stumble upon SaaS products that are not doing it right. I’d like to share my experience with you so you can optimize your support process, too!
1. First and Foremost: Make Support Easy to Find
When an app user needs support, she’s already entered into “frustration mode.” In most cases, she’s trying to figure out something or trying to do something with your app and cannot do it intuitively. Maybe your product is too complex to be 100% intuitive, or maybe certain features are not user friendly enough. She may have encountered a bug or is missing a feature that is key for her. Whatever the reason, as soon as she needs an answer, she tries to locate the “support” link. And if she can’t find it within 5 or 10 seconds, her frustration grows.
I’ve lost count of the number of SaaS apps I’ve used that have hidden access to their support resources so well that it took me a full website audit to find it! We use Recurly to handle our subscription payments; look how well they’ve hidden their support link in the footer, in small print:
If you use our app, on the other hand, the support tab is much more obvious. It’s right there under your eyes at all times:
Hiding your support resources or, worse, contact channels is NOT the kind of mistake you want to make. And there are no excuses, as the solutions to fix the problem exist and are not difficult to implement.
Ideally, your support contact form and your support resources should all be accessible via one very visible support tab or link.
Products like Zendesk, UserVoice, or Support Hero will do that for you. That’s an easy win that won’t take more than five minutes in most cases.
2. Make Sure Your FAQ Does a Good Job Helping Your Users
I don’t know about you, but most of the time, when I have a question about a SaaS product I’m using, I’d much rather find the answer on my own, in five minutes, than have to send a support ticket and wait on an answer for two hours or, worse, two days!
I’m not the only one. A recent study recently conducted by Zendesk showed that 67% of users prefer self-service support over speaking to a company representative. And a whopping 91% said they would use a knowledge base if it met their needs. No wonder all the major help desks offer a knowledge base along with their ticket management system.
But here’s the problem: if you ask any support person if they know how well their knowledge base is working, the answer you’ll get every time will be, “I have no idea.” I used to have the same answer with our own knowledge base. We had one – it took us days to build – but still, we had no idea if our investment was paying off.
We tried to leverage the statistics provided by the tools we were using, but, at best, the only stats we got were the number of times FAQ articles were read and the keywords users entered when they searched for answers. That didn’t really help.
These are the insights we were looking for:
What keywords our users were searching for when looking for answers
Whether we had content matching those keywords
What content users read or watched after searching for keywords
Which queries were successful and which ones failed to provide the answer sought
What ticket was being sent after a “failed” search
The software we finally decided to use was Support Hero. It had the advantage of giving us the information we needed in order to understand how well our self-help knowledge base was working and how we could improve it!
Thanks to these insights, we reduced our incoming support tickets by an astounding 50%. As you can see on the graph from our Helpdesk’s statistics, below, our inbound support ticket volume was becoming unbearable despite the existence of a knowledge base (hosted on UserVoice at the time). We gathered insights about the performance of our knowledge base, and, after two months of fine-tuning, we got back to a level we could manage.
Basically, if you want to better deflect support tickets with your self-help knowledge base, you have to understand how well it’s working and use that knowledge to improve it.
For example, we had a FAQ article explaining how to add other admins to an account on Agorapulse. That article referred to the word “admin.” But looking at the data we gathered through Support Hero, we quickly realized that our users were typing in a whole range of different words to search for this. For example, they used “team members,” “users,” or “managers.” For those three keywords, no article was showing up, leading to a support ticket every time. All we had to do was add those keywords to the FAQ as shown below and, presto, no more tickets on that feature!
3. Understand Why You Get Support Requests, and Fix the Cause (When You Can)
Support requests usually fall into three major categories:
Bugs
Missing features
Confusing or hidden features
Bugs are the first problems you need to get rid of. But, honestly, having been in SaaS for years, I can tell you that you’ll always have bugs, especially if you’re building new features on a regular basis or making changes to your existing code. An optimized support process will not prevent bugs from happening, and the corresponding support tickets will come in. There isn’t much you can do here.
All SaaS products are, by definition, not finished. There’s no such thing as being done when you build a software application; there will always be features missing from your product. But if a missing feature keeps showing up in the support requests you get, adding that feature is probably not a bad idea. Not only will you receive fewer requests from your customers about it; but, more important, you’ll make them happier, and they’ll stick around longer.
If you decide that a feature should not be built (let’s say it doesn’t fit in your midterm roadmap), at least create a FAQ entry explaining why and offering alternative solutions. The last thing you want is a frustrated customer left wondering why you wouldn’t accommodate her.
But if you really want to get fewer support tickets, the category you need to pay the most attention to is the one of confusing or hidden features. A confusing feature is a feature your users were able to spot but couldn’t figure out. A hidden feature is a feature you actually have but users couldn’t find.
Both are problems, and they can be big problems. A good support system should help you quantify how bad the problems are.
Let me give you an example we experienced firsthand. We recently had an internal debate about how our team feature was working. We were not agreeing on whether we were doing a good job of letting users manage their social media accounts as teams. So I called our support data to the rescue! I looked at our most-read FAQs, and guess what? The articles on team features were among the ones most read by our users:
Let me put it this way: if one of your features requires your users to read your knowledge base every time they want to use it, it’s definitely not doing a good job. A great product should be intuitive. I don’t know of any perfect product, of course, but if you look at your support data and identify a feature that requires your users to check your knowledge base all the time or search for answers, then working on making that feature more intuitive will definitely help. You will get more users as well as fewer support requests. Win-win.
Some support tools will help you spot the most-read articles or the most common search queries. To name a few: Help Scout, Groove, and Support Hero.
4. Make Sure All Support Requests Go To One Place
These days, communication goes in all directions – email, chat, in-app messages, Twitter, Facebook, and so on.
Your users don’t care what channel you prefer for support; they’ll use whatever is easiest for them at the time. Since most questions will arise as people use your product, you need to make sure that the way to contact your support team is very easy to spot (see above).
But you’ll always get emails from your website, Facebook messages, tweets, and even chat messages if you’ve decided to respond to your users in real-time. It can be totally overwhelming. Things start slipping through the cracks, conversation history is lost, and the list goes on. This is not sustainable. What you really have to do is concentrate most, if not all, of your support conversations in one place.
To communicate with our users, we’re using five different channels:
Email
Chat (Olark)
In-app messages (Intercom)
Facebook
Twitter
I have to say it’s challenging. And while we haven’t found any solution that would centralize everything, at least most of it goes to one place.
Our tool of choice to group all support requests is Help Scout. Thanks to its third party integrations, we are able to get all the Olark chats forwarded to Help Scout, so if we need to follow up on a chat conversation later by email, Help Scout does the job.
We receive very few support requests on Twitter, a few more on Facebook. But compared with the 20 or 25 requests we get daily by chat or email, the 4 or 5 requests we get every week on our social channels do not create a real problem. And we use our own tool to handle those social messages – “eat your own dog food,” as they say!
The main problem comes from the conversations we have via Intercom. Intercom is our tool of choice for in-app user communication. But Intercom is far from being as versatile and comprehensive a support tool as Help Scout. Ideally, we should switch everything to Intercom, but given the disruption this would create for our support process as of today and the fact that we’ve based that process on existing Help Scout features, it’s a hard move to make.
Now that Intercom provides real-time chat (it didn’t when we decided to start with Olark) and better support features (it was beyond poor two years ago when we started using it for in-app messages on top of Help Scout for support), if I were starting from scratch today, I would go all-in with Intercom and wouldn’t use Olark or Help Scout.
Help Scout and Olark both offer features that we like very much and would miss, but having discussions with users across several channels is a bigger problem. And we could replace Help Scout and Olark with Intercom, but not the other way around.
However, Intercom is missing a key feature when it comes to providing top-notch support: a knowledge base! Without a knowledge base, my support team would end up in the nuthouse! Fortunately, the solution we use for that, Support Hero, has an API connection with Intercom, and using both together does a perfect job.
5. View Support Differently in Your App and On Your Website
Most SaaS CEOs think about product/technical support when they think about their support framework. They see support as a way to help current users understand how their product works and to help them solve bugs and technical issues.
It’s true that support in SaaS has always been primarily focused on helping current users of our products. But, limiting your support efforts to your current users is a big mistake.
There is actually a much larger population that expects support from you, and it’s a critical population for your business – your prospects. Actually, you probably have more prospects (i.e., website visitors) than current users, and ignoring them can be a very bad idea.
Your prospects will visit your website and check a couple of pages to get a general idea of your product. Maybe they’ll watch your video. If you’ve done a good job with your website, they’ll probably start becoming interested. But that’s also when they’ll start having questions pop up in their minds: Does your product connect with Salesforce? Is it available in Italian? Can we export our data in .csv? Is there a discount for nonprofits?
Most of the time, the answers to these questions will not be on your website. The goal of a website is not to address every potential question a prospective user has about how your product functions; its only goal is to sell the unique value proposition to convince them it’s worth their time digging around.
If you’ve succeeded in capturing the interest of prospects with your big value proposition, kudos to you. But don’t stop there; make sure they can also easily find all the cool features you have to offer.
To give you an example of that, I was recently looking for a new application to run NPS with our users. After a bunch of research on Google, I identified two potential solutions: SatisMeter and Promoter.io. They both had well-designed websites that conveyed their value proposition clearly.
But I needed answers to two important questions before making a decision:
Which one(s) will allow me to run a survey “in-app” instead of by email?
Which one(s) will connect to Intercom (my CRM of choice) to make sure I can correctly record the responses and leverage them?
Guess what? After scouting the two websites, I couldn’t find my answers. If the one(s) that were offering these features had allowed me to figure this out very quickly via a knowledge base, things would have been much easier and faster. Even more important, I would probably have ignored the competing solutions that were not responding to my questions!
Most important of all, I decided to eat my own dog food a couple of weeks ago and installed the Support Hero knowledge base widget on our website. So I verified all of the above: prospects are not looking for the same answers as current users; their questions will relate to your pricing, the languages you offer in your app, and all the nitty gritty options that you may or may not have (and, of course, which they badly need).
Now look at the screenshot below. Five users wondered if we had a white-label option. We actually do, but as you can see, no content was showing for those requests. I probably lost five customers because I didn’t do my job properly.
Key Takeaways To Make Your Support Work For You (And Not the Other Way Around!)
First, you need to accept that support is not a “set it and forget it” kind of thing. Like everything else in SaaS, you’ll need to constantly iterate, analyze and improve. You’re being lean about your marketing? Your product development? Your pricing? Support is no different.
Second, make sure it’s easy to find support. This really is the most common mistake and it’s easy to fix.
Then, invest in self help support and keep in mind that more than two users out of three will rather find her answer on her own rather than contacting support. There’s a common misconception among startup founders that they need to talk to customers and support is a good way to do that. It’s actually not. When users get frustrated enough to contact your support, knowing that they’ll have to wait more than they’d like to get the help they’re looking for, they won’t be in the right mood to chat with you. Yes, it is a good thing to talk to customers. But it’s not a good thing to force them to do so by not providing them with self help answers.
Finally, understand that support is not a stand-alone activity, it is deeply entangled with everything else you’re doing: product design, missing or messed-up features, marketing and customer success. Make sure you include what you learn from support in everything else you do for your SaaS business.
Your turn. What’s your experience with support? What have you learned that I’ve missed in this post? I’d love to benefit from your experience too!
About the Author: Emeric is the CEO and co-founder of agorapulse, a Paris and San Francisco based Social Media Management Software launched in 2011. Agorapulse is currently being used by more than 5,000 businesses across 180 countries. He is a regular speaker at Facebook Marketing conferences such as the AllFacebook Marketing Conference, Facebook Success Summit, iStrategy and the Online Marketing Institute.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1UcoxNA via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1KEdUBm
July 31, 2015 at 09:48PM
If you’re a SaaS business, chances are support is one area of your business that you want to be flawless. Providing great support is the key to your growth and success. According to an Oracle study, 9 out of 10 customers have abandoned a business because of a poor customer support experience. You don’t want to be that business, do you?
At the same time, customer support can be the most time-consuming (and expensive) activity in your business if it’s not handled correctly. Hence, the way you provide support can make or break your business. It’s not one of those things you can do “quick and dirty” at first and then improve later. Well, you could, but that would be a very risky decision.
I’ve been running SaaS companies for the last 15 years. In the early days, support meant email, and that was not very efficient. Then came the help desks, the chat solutions, the knowledge bases, and a lot of tools that made support optimization possible.
In 2015, it’s much easier to build a top-notch support system, but despite all the available solutions and content on the topic, I still stumble upon SaaS products that are not doing it right. I’d like to share my experience with you so you can optimize your support process, too!
1. First and Foremost: Make Support Easy to Find
When an app user needs support, she’s already entered into “frustration mode.” In most cases, she’s trying to figure out something or trying to do something with your app and cannot do it intuitively. Maybe your product is too complex to be 100% intuitive, or maybe certain features are not user friendly enough. She may have encountered a bug or is missing a feature that is key for her. Whatever the reason, as soon as she needs an answer, she tries to locate the “support” link. And if she can’t find it within 5 or 10 seconds, her frustration grows.
I’ve lost count of the number of SaaS apps I’ve used that have hidden access to their support resources so well that it took me a full website audit to find it! We use Recurly to handle our subscription payments; look how well they’ve hidden their support link in the footer, in small print:
If you use our app, on the other hand, the support tab is much more obvious. It’s right there under your eyes at all times:
Hiding your support resources or, worse, contact channels is NOT the kind of mistake you want to make. And there are no excuses, as the solutions to fix the problem exist and are not difficult to implement.
Ideally, your support contact form and your support resources should all be accessible via one very visible support tab or link.
Products like Zendesk, UserVoice, or Support Hero will do that for you. That’s an easy win that won’t take more than five minutes in most cases.
2. Make Sure Your FAQ Does a Good Job Helping Your Users
I don’t know about you, but most of the time, when I have a question about a SaaS product I’m using, I’d much rather find the answer on my own, in five minutes, than have to send a support ticket and wait on an answer for two hours or, worse, two days!
I’m not the only one. A recent study recently conducted by Zendesk showed that 67% of users prefer self-service support over speaking to a company representative. And a whopping 91% said they would use a knowledge base if it met their needs. No wonder all the major help desks offer a knowledge base along with their ticket management system.
But here’s the problem: if you ask any support person if they know how well their knowledge base is working, the answer you’ll get every time will be, “I have no idea.” I used to have the same answer with our own knowledge base. We had one – it took us days to build – but still, we had no idea if our investment was paying off.
We tried to leverage the statistics provided by the tools we were using, but, at best, the only stats we got were the number of times FAQ articles were read and the keywords users entered when they searched for answers. That didn’t really help.
These are the insights we were looking for:
What keywords our users were searching for when looking for answers
Whether we had content matching those keywords
What content users read or watched after searching for keywords
Which queries were successful and which ones failed to provide the answer sought
What ticket was being sent after a “failed” search
The software we finally decided to use was Support Hero. It had the advantage of giving us the information we needed in order to understand how well our self-help knowledge base was working and how we could improve it!
Thanks to these insights, we reduced our incoming support tickets by an astounding 50%. As you can see on the graph from our Helpdesk’s statistics, below, our inbound support ticket volume was becoming unbearable despite the existence of a knowledge base (hosted on UserVoice at the time). We gathered insights about the performance of our knowledge base, and, after two months of fine-tuning, we got back to a level we could manage.
Basically, if you want to better deflect support tickets with your self-help knowledge base, you have to understand how well it’s working and use that knowledge to improve it.
For example, we had a FAQ article explaining how to add other admins to an account on Agorapulse. That article referred to the word “admin.” But looking at the data we gathered through Support Hero, we quickly realized that our users were typing in a whole range of different words to search for this. For example, they used “team members,” “users,” or “managers.” For those three keywords, no article was showing up, leading to a support ticket every time. All we had to do was add those keywords to the FAQ as shown below and, presto, no more tickets on that feature!
3. Understand Why You Get Support Requests, and Fix the Cause (When You Can)
Support requests usually fall into three major categories:
Bugs
Missing features
Confusing or hidden features
Bugs are the first problems you need to get rid of. But, honestly, having been in SaaS for years, I can tell you that you’ll always have bugs, especially if you’re building new features on a regular basis or making changes to your existing code. An optimized support process will not prevent bugs from happening, and the corresponding support tickets will come in. There isn’t much you can do here.
All SaaS products are, by definition, not finished. There’s no such thing as being done when you build a software application; there will always be features missing from your product. But if a missing feature keeps showing up in the support requests you get, adding that feature is probably not a bad idea. Not only will you receive fewer requests from your customers about it; but, more important, you’ll make them happier, and they’ll stick around longer.
If you decide that a feature should not be built (let’s say it doesn’t fit in your midterm roadmap), at least create a FAQ entry explaining why and offering alternative solutions. The last thing you want is a frustrated customer left wondering why you wouldn’t accommodate her.
But if you really want to get fewer support tickets, the category you need to pay the most attention to is the one of confusing or hidden features. A confusing feature is a feature your users were able to spot but couldn’t figure out. A hidden feature is a feature you actually have but users couldn’t find.
Both are problems, and they can be big problems. A good support system should help you quantify how bad the problems are.
Let me give you an example we experienced firsthand. We recently had an internal debate about how our team feature was working. We were not agreeing on whether we were doing a good job of letting users manage their social media accounts as teams. So I called our support data to the rescue! I looked at our most-read FAQs, and guess what? The articles on team features were among the ones most read by our users:
Let me put it this way: if one of your features requires your users to read your knowledge base every time they want to use it, it’s definitely not doing a good job. A great product should be intuitive. I don’t know of any perfect product, of course, but if you look at your support data and identify a feature that requires your users to check your knowledge base all the time or search for answers, then working on making that feature more intuitive will definitely help. You will get more users as well as fewer support requests. Win-win.
Some support tools will help you spot the most-read articles or the most common search queries. To name a few: Help Scout, Groove, and Support Hero.
4. Make Sure All Support Requests Go To One Place
These days, communication goes in all directions – email, chat, in-app messages, Twitter, Facebook, and so on.
Your users don’t care what channel you prefer for support; they’ll use whatever is easiest for them at the time. Since most questions will arise as people use your product, you need to make sure that the way to contact your support team is very easy to spot (see above).
But you’ll always get emails from your website, Facebook messages, tweets, and even chat messages if you’ve decided to respond to your users in real-time. It can be totally overwhelming. Things start slipping through the cracks, conversation history is lost, and the list goes on. This is not sustainable. What you really have to do is concentrate most, if not all, of your support conversations in one place.
To communicate with our users, we’re using five different channels:
Chat (Olark)
In-app messages (Intercom)
I have to say it’s challenging. And while we haven’t found any solution that would centralize everything, at least most of it goes to one place.
Our tool of choice to group all support requests is Help Scout. Thanks to its third party integrations, we are able to get all the Olark chats forwarded to Help Scout, so if we need to follow up on a chat conversation later by email, Help Scout does the job.
We receive very few support requests on Twitter, a few more on Facebook. But compared with the 20 or 25 requests we get daily by chat or email, the 4 or 5 requests we get every week on our social channels do not create a real problem. And we use our own tool to handle those social messages – “eat your own dog food,” as they say!
The main problem comes from the conversations we have via Intercom. Intercom is our tool of choice for in-app user communication. But Intercom is far from being as versatile and comprehensive a support tool as Help Scout. Ideally, we should switch everything to Intercom, but given the disruption this would create for our support process as of today and the fact that we’ve based that process on existing Help Scout features, it’s a hard move to make.
Now that Intercom provides real-time chat (it didn’t when we decided to start with Olark) and better support features (it was beyond poor two years ago when we started using it for in-app messages on top of Help Scout for support), if I were starting from scratch today, I would go all-in with Intercom and wouldn’t use Olark or Help Scout.
Help Scout and Olark both offer features that we like very much and would miss, but having discussions with users across several channels is a bigger problem. And we could replace Help Scout and Olark with Intercom, but not the other way around.
However, Intercom is missing a key feature when it comes to providing top-notch support: a knowledge base! Without a knowledge base, my support team would end up in the nuthouse! Fortunately, the solution we use for that, Support Hero, has an API connection with Intercom, and using both together does a perfect job.
5. View Support Differently in Your App and On Your Website
Most SaaS CEOs think about product/technical support when they think about their support framework. They see support as a way to help current users understand how their product works and to help them solve bugs and technical issues.
It’s true that support in SaaS has always been primarily focused on helping current users of our products. But, limiting your support efforts to your current users is a big mistake.
There is actually a much larger population that expects support from you, and it’s a critical population for your business – your prospects. Actually, you probably have more prospects (i.e., website visitors) than current users, and ignoring them can be a very bad idea.
Your prospects will visit your website and check a couple of pages to get a general idea of your product. Maybe they’ll watch your video. If you’ve done a good job with your website, they’ll probably start becoming interested. But that’s also when they’ll start having questions pop up in their minds: Does your product connect with Salesforce? Is it available in Italian? Can we export our data in .csv? Is there a discount for nonprofits?
Most of the time, the answers to these questions will not be on your website. The goal of a website is not to address every potential question a prospective user has about how your product functions; its only goal is to sell the unique value proposition to convince them it’s worth their time digging around.
If you’ve succeeded in capturing the interest of prospects with your big value proposition, kudos to you. But don’t stop there; make sure they can also easily find all the cool features you have to offer.
To give you an example of that, I was recently looking for a new application to run NPS with our users. After a bunch of research on Google, I identified two potential solutions: SatisMeter and Promoter.io. They both had well-designed websites that conveyed their value proposition clearly.
But I needed answers to two important questions before making a decision:
Which one(s) will allow me to run a survey “in-app” instead of by email?
Which one(s) will connect to Intercom (my CRM of choice) to make sure I can correctly record the responses and leverage them?
Guess what? After scouting the two websites, I couldn’t find my answers. If the one(s) that were offering these features had allowed me to figure this out very quickly via a knowledge base, things would have been much easier and faster. Even more important, I would probably have ignored the competing solutions that were not responding to my questions!
Most important of all, I decided to eat my own dog food a couple of weeks ago and installed the Support Hero knowledge base widget on our website. So I verified all of the above: prospects are not looking for the same answers as current users; their questions will relate to your pricing, the languages you offer in your app, and all the nitty gritty options that you may or may not have (and, of course, which they badly need).
Now look at the screenshot below. Five users wondered if we had a white-label option. We actually do, but as you can see, no content was showing for those requests. I probably lost five customers because I didn’t do my job properly.
Key Takeaways To Make Your Support Work For You (And Not the Other Way Around!)
First, you need to accept that support is not a “set it and forget it” kind of thing. Like everything else in SaaS, you’ll need to constantly iterate, analyze and improve. You’re being lean about your marketing? Your product development? Your pricing? Support is no different.
Second, make sure it’s easy to find support. This really is the most common mistake and it’s easy to fix.
Then, invest in self help support and keep in mind that more than two users out of three will rather find her answer on her own rather than contacting support. There’s a common misconception among startup founders that they need to talk to customers and support is a good way to do that. It’s actually not. When users get frustrated enough to contact your support, knowing that they’ll have to wait more than they’d like to get the help they’re looking for, they won’t be in the right mood to chat with you. Yes, it is a good thing to talk to customers. But it’s not a good thing to force them to do so by not providing them with self help answers.
Finally, understand that support is not a stand-alone activity, it is deeply entangled with everything else you’re doing: product design, missing or messed-up features, marketing and customer success. Make sure you include what you learn from support in everything else you do for your SaaS business.
Your turn. What’s your experience with support? What have you learned that I’ve missed in this post? I’d love to benefit from your experience too!
About the Author: Emeric is the CEO and co-founder of agorapulse, a Paris and San Francisco based Social Media Management Software launched in 2011. Agorapulse is currently being used by more than 5,000 businesses across 180 countries. He is a regular speaker at Facebook Marketing conferences such as the AllFacebook Marketing Conference, Facebook Success Summit, iStrategy and the Online Marketing Institute.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1UcoxNA via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1KEdUBm
July 31, 2015 at 09:48PM
Added: Sep 01, 2015 Via IFTTT
The Marketers Guide to Periscope
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
The Marketer’s Guide to Periscope
Everyone and their mom knows that Periscope is becoming more and more popular. In fact, according to TechCrunch, over a million people signed into the app in the first 10 days after the launch on March 26.
That’s just incredible!
Want to know the best part?
Periscope still “fresh”, and you (as a marketer) have a HUGE opportunity to start growing your network. This is why I decided to create this guide; to show you step-by-step where to start and how to crush it with live video streaming.
Let’s get rolling…
Fundamentals: How to Develop a Successful Plan
As with anything in marketing, you need to start with a plan. Why? Because this way you’ll know where you are going, why you are going there and exactly how to get there.
Most importantly, a well-thought plan helps you stay focused on the right things, which ultimately will save you a ton of time and money.
In simpler words: Without a plan, you’re going to fail.
The question is: How can I develop a plan?
Start by following the next steps:
1) Set Your Goals
You need to know exactly why you are using Periscope in the first place. Just because your competitors are doesn’t mean you should. Start by answering the next questions:
What do I want to accomplish?
Do you want to drive traffic to other channels? Do you want to get more leads or customers? Do you want to build your brand? Whatever you want to achieve, just write it down.
Writing your goals will invite accountability and will be easier to measure the results. The more specific, the better.
For example, if you decide to use Periscope to drive traffic to your blog or social media accounts, your goals could be:
1st quarter: 5,000 extra visitors
2nd quarter: 8,000 extra visitors
3rd quarter: 10,000 extra visitors
4th quarter: 12,000 extra visitors
This way, all your goals will be measureable and tracking results will be relatively easy.
Now that you know what you’re trying to achieve, you need to define why you’re trying to achieve it. Numbers alone don’t mean nothing. You need to know the why.
Why do you want 5,000 extra visitors? Why do you want 10 leads every day? How can these goals influence your business? Write it down.
2) Perform a Competitive Analysis
One of the worst mistakes you can make is to try to develop a strategy from scratch. It can work, but chances are that you’ll fail.
It is much better to analyze what competitors are doing, and then model those things that are giving them the most success. This way, your chances to win increase.
Start by following your competitors on Periscope and analyze what kinds of videos they create, how often they’re sharing new content, what topics they’re covering and even the gaps or what they’re not covering in their strategy.
Become an active member of their communities. You’ll learn a lot by watching.
3) Create a Differentiator
When you’ve been studying your competitors for a while, you start noticing certain patterns on what they do – you start noticing gaps.
And when you find gaps in your competition’s strategies you can create content that helps your audience in better ways.
This is where you need to find a differentiator. Something that makes your content unique – it might be your style, specific topics or certain angles your competitors don’t cover – this will help you stand out from the crowd and get noticed.
For example, Derek Halpern, from Social Triggers, focuses on “scooping” marketing and entrepreneurship insights from a psychological perspective. That’s his differentiator.
How to Setup and Use Periscope
Now that you’ve created a plan, you’re ahead of most of your competitors. However, in order to get results you need to get familiar with the app.
Don’t worry, it’s really straightforward, just follow these steps below and you’ll be ok.
1) Download the app – you can choose between Apple or Android.
2) Sign-up – you have two options:
You can either:
A. Log in with your Twitter credentials (the easier one)
B. Sign up with your phone number
3) Create a username – Periscope still has a lot of usernames available, so this is your opportunity to get the name you really want.
Although there is no real science of choosing the right username, it’s highly recommended that you go personal and choose your real name.
4) Do something cool – the best thing about Periscope is that it’s really simple. Once you’ve signed up, you have three options:
Follow people
Start a broadcast
Watch other people’s broadcasts
I recommend that you start by watching other people’s broadcasts, so you can see how the thing works – you only need to click the globe icon to see who’s live right now.
How to Crush it With Live Video Streaming
I’ve seen many people fail with video streaming just because they focus on applying trendy techniques, but forget to follow the principles.
Remember, techniques change over the time, but principles remain the same. This applies to any subject, so if you learn and master principles, you’ll always ok.
Here are the 5 counterintuitive principles of live video streaming:
1) Tell a story that matches up with your audience’s worldview – It’s not a big secret that storytelling is a powerful tool to engage an audience. However, there are good and bad stories, so you need to make sure you’re telling a story your audience really want to hear.
Of course, you need to know your audience to make this works. You need to know who they admire, what are their problems, what makes them feel good or bad – this is where buyer personas come in handy – so you can start creating stories around those things.
For example, Spotify constantly shares behind-the-scenes videos with celebrities their audience admire.
LIVE on #Periscope: We’re about to go live with @ImAveryWilson on @periscopeco, interviewing him with our questions… https://t.co/NCxLortkht
— Spotify (@Spotify) May 13, 2015
2) Develop a distribution plan before you start the broadcast – People only have 24 hours to watch a replay. This means that you have a limited amount of time to promote your videos. If you start to develop a distribution plan after your presentation, you’re screwed.
Instead, start planning with at least 2 days of anticipation, this way you’ll always have an ace up your sleeve. For example, I always create a list of 100 to 250 people who might be interested in what I’m going to publish the upcoming week. Then, once the content goes live, I let them know about it.
You can also let your audience know ahead of time. For example, you may say “this Thursday at 2PM Central I’ll be on Periscope discussing how to market electric cars. Mark your calendars! I’ll tweet with the link once we go live.”
3) Encourage users to participate – You’ll reach more people and be more effective if you can turn your audience into promoters. This is why you need to encourage them to comment and share.
Giveaways are a great way to encourage people to participate, so you can try to create some kind of “mini-contest”. For example, Doritos is releasing a contest that consists on tagging three people with the hashtag #DoritosRoulette. Those people participate as a team and have the opportunity to win great prizes.
LIVE on #Periscope: WIN FREE PRIZES ON DORITOS ROULETTE LIVE!!! https://t.co/D7bTSCtPb5
— Doritos (@Doritos) June 30, 2015
Of course, they share the live event through Periscope. It’s a really smart strategy.
4) Use Periscope to solve specific needs – If you focus on solving your audience’s problems, they’ll come back again and again – you’ll create a loyal community. Start by asking your audience what topics they want you to talk about, and start developing ideas based on that information.
How to Create the Perfect Headline for Your Broadcast
I don’t need to tell you that headlines are basically the most important thing of any piece of content. If your headline sucks, nobody will care about the rest of your article, video or audio. This is why you need to spend enough time on this.
But don’t worry, creating a good headline is not that hard. There’s lots of information on headline copywriting you can get through, but in the meantime you can start by following the next “hacks”:
Step 1: Find a proven headline idea
Instead of using a headline you think might work, it’s much better to use a headline that has a proven record of success – there are two options:
A) Reverse engineer BuzzSumo results:
First, go to BuzzSumo and type in a keyword related to your main topic.
B. Select “Video”:
C. Then, sort the results by Twitter shares:
D. Select 2-3 successful headlines and create a template.
For example: Is this the ______ [Your Topic] job ever?
B) Find popular YouTube videos:
Go to Youtube and type in a keyword related to your main topic
Look for videos with over 100,000 views
Take 2-3 of them and create templates
For example: Top [number] [your topic] mistakes (and how to avoid them)
Step 2: Use Twitter to Test Your Headlines and Find a Winner
Once you have 3-5 headlines, it is time to test which of them is best. To do that, you need to have access to:
Twitter account with at least 1,000 followers (or at least get someone with a high follower count to retweet you)
Your best time to tweet
First, tweet out one of your headlines when most of your audience is online, wait 24 hours and then tweet out the other headline. Repeat the process with each of your headlines and see which of them got the most engagement. That’s the winner.
This might not be an exact science, but will give you an educated clue of what people want.
As an alternative, you can list out your headlines in 1-3 tweets and ask your followers which they like best. In most cases, this will only work if your audience is copywriters, marketers, or writers.
How to Get More Periscope Followers
The more followers you have, the more reach you’ll get, right? Here are some ways to get the most out of your current resources to get more Periscope followers:
1) Follow Other People
I’ve heard a lot of people who say that the “follow back” approach doesn’t work. That’s BS. It works extremely well. As long as you just follow relevant people and avoid spam you’ll be fine.
The first step is create a list of at least 100 people in your industry who are already using Periscope to market their businesses. Then, follow them and start the conversation.
Start watching their broadcasts, commenting and even creating content around them. If you do that, you’ll definitely get noticed and a good percentage of them (and their followers) will follow you too.
2) Respond to Every Single Comment
People always come back to the places where they feel appreciated.
Think about it: Which store would you come back to? The store where employees are rude, or the store where everyone treats you incredibly well?
The answer is obvious.
If you treat every member of your community like if she or he were the most important person in the world, they’ll feel really appreciated. And one of the best ways to demonstrate your appreciation online is by responding to their comments.
This will encourage more people to follow you because it will help turn followers into evangelists.
3) Don’t Go to the Third Round
Some people will analyze everything you do, including the good and bad things.This is why you need to be careful with what you do. Not only on Periscope, but in all social networks.
What I mean by “don’t go to the third round” is that if someone starts to post negative comments on your videos, don’t fight with them.
You can reply once, but if that person replies back, no matter how much you want to tell them how wrong he or she is, just don’t do it. Ignore that person. If people see that you offend your audience, they won’t follow you.
4) Be Constant
People like to follow people who constantly shares new stuff. If you’re expecting that people follow you because you published a video 3 months ago, you’ll not see the results that you want.
The best you can do is creating a publishing schedule. This way, you and your team can develop ideas and keep your calendar full.
You can schedule a 20-30 minute meeting each week or month to do this.
How to Increase Your Reach
1) Leverage the Power of Brand Evangelists
It doesn’t matter how small your follower base is, you’ll always have a small group of people who always are sharing, commenting and linking to your content.
These are your “brand evangelists”.
Most people make the mistake of trying to connect and engage with every one of their followers. It’s much more effective to focus on creating strong relationships with your evangelists and then let them introduce you to their own audiences.
Focus your energy on the few and you’ll get the most out of the masses. It’s a smarter approach to social media.
2) Find Your Best Time To Go Live
As with anything in social media, there are better times to publish your content than others. For example, Buffer found that on average, tweeting at 5 PM can increase your chances to get noticed.
It doesn’t mean you should share your videos at that time, but it definitely means that you can increase your reach by finding the exact hour where most of your audience is online, so you can share your content at that time.
There are no tools to do this with Periscope yet. However, since Twitter owns this app, a huge percentage of your Periscope followers are already on Twitter (if not all of them), which is very useful.
You can use tools like FollowerWonk or Hootsuite to find your best time to publish content on social media. In addition, this guide from Hubspot will guide you step-by-step through an effective process.
3) Create Co-Branded Content
One of the best ways to grow your audience is by creating relationships with people who have an established audience in your industry, but who aren’t your competitors. This way you can collaborate to create content that both of you can use.
For example, Noah Kagan recently launched a co-branded free training course where he and other industry experts collaborate to help you get your first 1 million visitors. They created special deals, so people who subscribe to the course can get products they own at special prices.
It’s a win-win.
You can look for relevant people in your industry who are doing it well on Periscope, and then create co-branded live video streaming, so both of you can get introduced to a different audience, and therefore, grow yours.
How to Hack the Advanced Twitter Search to Evangelize Your Videos
One of the best things about Twitter is that you can easily find people who might be interested in your content. Just need to type a keyword in the search bar and Twitter will show you all the people who have shared content on that specific topic.
And when someone shares something on Twitter you know two things:
That person is interested in your topic
That person likes to share content related to that topic
That is very useful because now all you need to do is put your content in front of them.
Here’s how:
Step 1: Go to Twitter and type in a keyword that describes your main topic. For example, if I was going to share a video related to greenhouses, I could look for “gardening”.
Another option is to look for a specific name. If you know that one of your competitors is doing it well with Periscope, you can search for their name.
Step 2: Click on “more options” and select “Advanced Search”.
Step 3: Fill the form as you need, just make sure to add #Periscope in the section called “these hashtags”. This way, Twitter will show you only tweets that have that specific hasthag.
Remember, we want to find people who might be interested in attending your live video streaming, so is highly important that you follow this step.
Step 4: Make a list of all the people who appear in the results and let them know about your upcoming event. Since they’ve seen and shared similar content before, they’re very likely to attend to your streaming, too.
You can use the following script:
Hi NAME,
I noticed that you tweeted out a Periscope broadcast the other day: TITLE OF THE BROADCAST
Great stuff, I really enjoyed it, too.
I actually have a broadcast on TOPIC coming out on DATE
Let me know if you want a heads up when it comes out :)
Cheers,
NAME
Note: For this strategy to work, I recommend that you create a list of at least 50 people. Also, If you’re wondering how to find a person’s email, you can read this post.
How to Get Tangible Results
One of the biggest problems people have with live video streaming is they don’t know how to achieve results. I’ve found that the reason for it is they simply don’t know how to connect it with business objectives.
We talked about setting your goals earlier in this guide for that simple reason. When your goals are clear, everything is much simpler.
Here are 4 ways to connect the dots between Periscope and your core marketing goals, so you can see tangible results. Choose those ones that better fit your business objectives.
1) Humanize Your Brand
One of your main goals as a brand is to build strong relationships with your audience, and Periscope helps you do that in a very unique way – you can basically open the gate and give to people an inside-look to your company.
Think about it: What better way to humanize your brand than sharing what you do in a common day?
Reality TV is so popular because people love to connect with other human beings. If you share behind-the-scenes content to your audience, they’ll feel more connected with you, and therefore they will trust you more.
2) Product Demos
What better way to offer proof than showing your audience a live product demonstration? This way, they can see in real time how your product actually works and the results they can achieve if they decide to buy it.
3) Customer and Audience Research
Audience research is one of the hardest things when it comes to online marketing (especially when you don’t know where to look). However, once you get it done, you’ll an unfair advantage over your competition.
Periscope gives you the opportunity to learn what your audience really wants, in real-time. You can conduct live Q & A to see what specific questions they ask, you can study comments people are making to find patterns on the way they think, and you can even find untapped keywords they’re using to describe their problems.
This information will help you develop better strategies and help your audience in unique ways.
4) Create Exclusive Content For Your Subscribers
You can create a private group for your blog subscribers and share content that only people who are in your private community can see. This will create an athmosphere of exclusiviness, which people love so much.
Over to You
Periscope is new and fresh. If you think it’s right for your business and goals, then take a dive and start a broadcast using the guidelines we discussed.
Hopefully this guide has shown you that Periscope is a powerful social media tool to grow your brand.
What other tips, techniques and insights do you have about Periscope?
About the Author: Josue Valles is a content marketing evangelist, strategist and die-hard entrepreneur. He constantly blogs about Inbound Marketing, SEO and Social Media Marketing at Engagebit. You can also follow him on Twitter.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1hRhQCT via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1EvNsYG
September 01, 2015 at 09:18PM
Everyone and their mom knows that Periscope is becoming more and more popular. In fact, according to TechCrunch, over a million people signed into the app in the first 10 days after the launch on March 26.
That’s just incredible!
Want to know the best part?
Periscope still “fresh”, and you (as a marketer) have a HUGE opportunity to start growing your network. This is why I decided to create this guide; to show you step-by-step where to start and how to crush it with live video streaming.
Let’s get rolling…
Fundamentals: How to Develop a Successful Plan
As with anything in marketing, you need to start with a plan. Why? Because this way you’ll know where you are going, why you are going there and exactly how to get there.
Most importantly, a well-thought plan helps you stay focused on the right things, which ultimately will save you a ton of time and money.
In simpler words: Without a plan, you’re going to fail.
The question is: How can I develop a plan?
Start by following the next steps:
1) Set Your Goals
You need to know exactly why you are using Periscope in the first place. Just because your competitors are doesn’t mean you should. Start by answering the next questions:
What do I want to accomplish?
Do you want to drive traffic to other channels? Do you want to get more leads or customers? Do you want to build your brand? Whatever you want to achieve, just write it down.
Writing your goals will invite accountability and will be easier to measure the results. The more specific, the better.
For example, if you decide to use Periscope to drive traffic to your blog or social media accounts, your goals could be:
1st quarter: 5,000 extra visitors
2nd quarter: 8,000 extra visitors
3rd quarter: 10,000 extra visitors
4th quarter: 12,000 extra visitors
This way, all your goals will be measureable and tracking results will be relatively easy.
Now that you know what you’re trying to achieve, you need to define why you’re trying to achieve it. Numbers alone don’t mean nothing. You need to know the why.
Why do you want 5,000 extra visitors? Why do you want 10 leads every day? How can these goals influence your business? Write it down.
2) Perform a Competitive Analysis
One of the worst mistakes you can make is to try to develop a strategy from scratch. It can work, but chances are that you’ll fail.
It is much better to analyze what competitors are doing, and then model those things that are giving them the most success. This way, your chances to win increase.
Start by following your competitors on Periscope and analyze what kinds of videos they create, how often they’re sharing new content, what topics they’re covering and even the gaps or what they’re not covering in their strategy.
Become an active member of their communities. You’ll learn a lot by watching.
3) Create a Differentiator
When you’ve been studying your competitors for a while, you start noticing certain patterns on what they do – you start noticing gaps.
And when you find gaps in your competition’s strategies you can create content that helps your audience in better ways.
This is where you need to find a differentiator. Something that makes your content unique – it might be your style, specific topics or certain angles your competitors don’t cover – this will help you stand out from the crowd and get noticed.
For example, Derek Halpern, from Social Triggers, focuses on “scooping” marketing and entrepreneurship insights from a psychological perspective. That’s his differentiator.
How to Setup and Use Periscope
Now that you’ve created a plan, you’re ahead of most of your competitors. However, in order to get results you need to get familiar with the app.
Don’t worry, it’s really straightforward, just follow these steps below and you’ll be ok.
1) Download the app – you can choose between Apple or Android.
2) Sign-up – you have two options:
You can either:
A. Log in with your Twitter credentials (the easier one)
B. Sign up with your phone number
3) Create a username – Periscope still has a lot of usernames available, so this is your opportunity to get the name you really want.
Although there is no real science of choosing the right username, it’s highly recommended that you go personal and choose your real name.
4) Do something cool – the best thing about Periscope is that it’s really simple. Once you’ve signed up, you have three options:
Follow people
Start a broadcast
Watch other people’s broadcasts
I recommend that you start by watching other people’s broadcasts, so you can see how the thing works – you only need to click the globe icon to see who’s live right now.
How to Crush it With Live Video Streaming
I’ve seen many people fail with video streaming just because they focus on applying trendy techniques, but forget to follow the principles.
Remember, techniques change over the time, but principles remain the same. This applies to any subject, so if you learn and master principles, you’ll always ok.
Here are the 5 counterintuitive principles of live video streaming:
1) Tell a story that matches up with your audience’s worldview – It’s not a big secret that storytelling is a powerful tool to engage an audience. However, there are good and bad stories, so you need to make sure you’re telling a story your audience really want to hear.
Of course, you need to know your audience to make this works. You need to know who they admire, what are their problems, what makes them feel good or bad – this is where buyer personas come in handy – so you can start creating stories around those things.
For example, Spotify constantly shares behind-the-scenes videos with celebrities their audience admire.
LIVE on #Periscope: We’re about to go live with @ImAveryWilson on @periscopeco, interviewing him with our questions… https://t.co/NCxLortkht
— Spotify (@Spotify) May 13, 2015
2) Develop a distribution plan before you start the broadcast – People only have 24 hours to watch a replay. This means that you have a limited amount of time to promote your videos. If you start to develop a distribution plan after your presentation, you’re screwed.
Instead, start planning with at least 2 days of anticipation, this way you’ll always have an ace up your sleeve. For example, I always create a list of 100 to 250 people who might be interested in what I’m going to publish the upcoming week. Then, once the content goes live, I let them know about it.
You can also let your audience know ahead of time. For example, you may say “this Thursday at 2PM Central I’ll be on Periscope discussing how to market electric cars. Mark your calendars! I’ll tweet with the link once we go live.”
3) Encourage users to participate – You’ll reach more people and be more effective if you can turn your audience into promoters. This is why you need to encourage them to comment and share.
Giveaways are a great way to encourage people to participate, so you can try to create some kind of “mini-contest”. For example, Doritos is releasing a contest that consists on tagging three people with the hashtag #DoritosRoulette. Those people participate as a team and have the opportunity to win great prizes.
LIVE on #Periscope: WIN FREE PRIZES ON DORITOS ROULETTE LIVE!!! https://t.co/D7bTSCtPb5
— Doritos (@Doritos) June 30, 2015
Of course, they share the live event through Periscope. It’s a really smart strategy.
4) Use Periscope to solve specific needs – If you focus on solving your audience’s problems, they’ll come back again and again – you’ll create a loyal community. Start by asking your audience what topics they want you to talk about, and start developing ideas based on that information.
How to Create the Perfect Headline for Your Broadcast
I don’t need to tell you that headlines are basically the most important thing of any piece of content. If your headline sucks, nobody will care about the rest of your article, video or audio. This is why you need to spend enough time on this.
But don’t worry, creating a good headline is not that hard. There’s lots of information on headline copywriting you can get through, but in the meantime you can start by following the next “hacks”:
Step 1: Find a proven headline idea
Instead of using a headline you think might work, it’s much better to use a headline that has a proven record of success – there are two options:
A) Reverse engineer BuzzSumo results:
First, go to BuzzSumo and type in a keyword related to your main topic.
B. Select “Video”:
C. Then, sort the results by Twitter shares:
D. Select 2-3 successful headlines and create a template.
For example: Is this the ______ [Your Topic] job ever?
B) Find popular YouTube videos:
Go to Youtube and type in a keyword related to your main topic
Look for videos with over 100,000 views
Take 2-3 of them and create templates
For example: Top [number] [your topic] mistakes (and how to avoid them)
Step 2: Use Twitter to Test Your Headlines and Find a Winner
Once you have 3-5 headlines, it is time to test which of them is best. To do that, you need to have access to:
Twitter account with at least 1,000 followers (or at least get someone with a high follower count to retweet you)
Your best time to tweet
First, tweet out one of your headlines when most of your audience is online, wait 24 hours and then tweet out the other headline. Repeat the process with each of your headlines and see which of them got the most engagement. That’s the winner.
This might not be an exact science, but will give you an educated clue of what people want.
As an alternative, you can list out your headlines in 1-3 tweets and ask your followers which they like best. In most cases, this will only work if your audience is copywriters, marketers, or writers.
How to Get More Periscope Followers
The more followers you have, the more reach you’ll get, right? Here are some ways to get the most out of your current resources to get more Periscope followers:
1) Follow Other People
I’ve heard a lot of people who say that the “follow back” approach doesn’t work. That’s BS. It works extremely well. As long as you just follow relevant people and avoid spam you’ll be fine.
The first step is create a list of at least 100 people in your industry who are already using Periscope to market their businesses. Then, follow them and start the conversation.
Start watching their broadcasts, commenting and even creating content around them. If you do that, you’ll definitely get noticed and a good percentage of them (and their followers) will follow you too.
2) Respond to Every Single Comment
People always come back to the places where they feel appreciated.
Think about it: Which store would you come back to? The store where employees are rude, or the store where everyone treats you incredibly well?
The answer is obvious.
If you treat every member of your community like if she or he were the most important person in the world, they’ll feel really appreciated. And one of the best ways to demonstrate your appreciation online is by responding to their comments.
This will encourage more people to follow you because it will help turn followers into evangelists.
3) Don’t Go to the Third Round
Some people will analyze everything you do, including the good and bad things.This is why you need to be careful with what you do. Not only on Periscope, but in all social networks.
What I mean by “don’t go to the third round” is that if someone starts to post negative comments on your videos, don’t fight with them.
You can reply once, but if that person replies back, no matter how much you want to tell them how wrong he or she is, just don’t do it. Ignore that person. If people see that you offend your audience, they won’t follow you.
4) Be Constant
People like to follow people who constantly shares new stuff. If you’re expecting that people follow you because you published a video 3 months ago, you’ll not see the results that you want.
The best you can do is creating a publishing schedule. This way, you and your team can develop ideas and keep your calendar full.
You can schedule a 20-30 minute meeting each week or month to do this.
How to Increase Your Reach
1) Leverage the Power of Brand Evangelists
It doesn’t matter how small your follower base is, you’ll always have a small group of people who always are sharing, commenting and linking to your content.
These are your “brand evangelists”.
Most people make the mistake of trying to connect and engage with every one of their followers. It’s much more effective to focus on creating strong relationships with your evangelists and then let them introduce you to their own audiences.
Focus your energy on the few and you’ll get the most out of the masses. It’s a smarter approach to social media.
2) Find Your Best Time To Go Live
As with anything in social media, there are better times to publish your content than others. For example, Buffer found that on average, tweeting at 5 PM can increase your chances to get noticed.
It doesn’t mean you should share your videos at that time, but it definitely means that you can increase your reach by finding the exact hour where most of your audience is online, so you can share your content at that time.
There are no tools to do this with Periscope yet. However, since Twitter owns this app, a huge percentage of your Periscope followers are already on Twitter (if not all of them), which is very useful.
You can use tools like FollowerWonk or Hootsuite to find your best time to publish content on social media. In addition, this guide from Hubspot will guide you step-by-step through an effective process.
3) Create Co-Branded Content
One of the best ways to grow your audience is by creating relationships with people who have an established audience in your industry, but who aren’t your competitors. This way you can collaborate to create content that both of you can use.
For example, Noah Kagan recently launched a co-branded free training course where he and other industry experts collaborate to help you get your first 1 million visitors. They created special deals, so people who subscribe to the course can get products they own at special prices.
It’s a win-win.
You can look for relevant people in your industry who are doing it well on Periscope, and then create co-branded live video streaming, so both of you can get introduced to a different audience, and therefore, grow yours.
How to Hack the Advanced Twitter Search to Evangelize Your Videos
One of the best things about Twitter is that you can easily find people who might be interested in your content. Just need to type a keyword in the search bar and Twitter will show you all the people who have shared content on that specific topic.
And when someone shares something on Twitter you know two things:
That person is interested in your topic
That person likes to share content related to that topic
That is very useful because now all you need to do is put your content in front of them.
Here’s how:
Step 1: Go to Twitter and type in a keyword that describes your main topic. For example, if I was going to share a video related to greenhouses, I could look for “gardening”.
Another option is to look for a specific name. If you know that one of your competitors is doing it well with Periscope, you can search for their name.
Step 2: Click on “more options” and select “Advanced Search”.
Step 3: Fill the form as you need, just make sure to add #Periscope in the section called “these hashtags”. This way, Twitter will show you only tweets that have that specific hasthag.
Remember, we want to find people who might be interested in attending your live video streaming, so is highly important that you follow this step.
Step 4: Make a list of all the people who appear in the results and let them know about your upcoming event. Since they’ve seen and shared similar content before, they’re very likely to attend to your streaming, too.
You can use the following script:
Hi NAME,
I noticed that you tweeted out a Periscope broadcast the other day: TITLE OF THE BROADCAST
Great stuff, I really enjoyed it, too.
I actually have a broadcast on TOPIC coming out on DATE
Let me know if you want a heads up when it comes out :)
Cheers,
NAME
Note: For this strategy to work, I recommend that you create a list of at least 50 people. Also, If you’re wondering how to find a person’s email, you can read this post.
How to Get Tangible Results
One of the biggest problems people have with live video streaming is they don’t know how to achieve results. I’ve found that the reason for it is they simply don’t know how to connect it with business objectives.
We talked about setting your goals earlier in this guide for that simple reason. When your goals are clear, everything is much simpler.
Here are 4 ways to connect the dots between Periscope and your core marketing goals, so you can see tangible results. Choose those ones that better fit your business objectives.
1) Humanize Your Brand
One of your main goals as a brand is to build strong relationships with your audience, and Periscope helps you do that in a very unique way – you can basically open the gate and give to people an inside-look to your company.
Think about it: What better way to humanize your brand than sharing what you do in a common day?
Reality TV is so popular because people love to connect with other human beings. If you share behind-the-scenes content to your audience, they’ll feel more connected with you, and therefore they will trust you more.
2) Product Demos
What better way to offer proof than showing your audience a live product demonstration? This way, they can see in real time how your product actually works and the results they can achieve if they decide to buy it.
3) Customer and Audience Research
Audience research is one of the hardest things when it comes to online marketing (especially when you don’t know where to look). However, once you get it done, you’ll an unfair advantage over your competition.
Periscope gives you the opportunity to learn what your audience really wants, in real-time. You can conduct live Q & A to see what specific questions they ask, you can study comments people are making to find patterns on the way they think, and you can even find untapped keywords they’re using to describe their problems.
This information will help you develop better strategies and help your audience in unique ways.
4) Create Exclusive Content For Your Subscribers
You can create a private group for your blog subscribers and share content that only people who are in your private community can see. This will create an athmosphere of exclusiviness, which people love so much.
Over to You
Periscope is new and fresh. If you think it’s right for your business and goals, then take a dive and start a broadcast using the guidelines we discussed.
Hopefully this guide has shown you that Periscope is a powerful social media tool to grow your brand.
What other tips, techniques and insights do you have about Periscope?
About the Author: Josue Valles is a content marketing evangelist, strategist and die-hard entrepreneur. He constantly blogs about Inbound Marketing, SEO and Social Media Marketing at Engagebit. You can also follow him on Twitter.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1hRhQCT via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1EvNsYG
September 01, 2015 at 09:18PM
Added: Aug 20, 2015 Via IFTTT
The Power of Persuasion: Utilizing Brain Science to Get Users to Act
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
The Power of Persuasion: Utilizing Brain Science to Get Users to Act
Making fact-based, data-driven design decisions (say that five times fast!) is the mantra of Google, and who better to emulate than the Big Kahuna itself, right? That being said, utilizing data for web design isn’t always as easy as it sounds. But did you know there’s a heap of scientific research from the brainiacs at academic powerhouses, such as Stanford, Princeton and Harvard and the like that can help you persuade people to buy your product? I know… it sounds heavy, but let me make it easy. Just read on.
Here you’ll find three ways to design utilizing brain science data that will persuade your users to act. I’ve found word-of-mouth consumer research studies, marketing studies on fluent and disfluent typography, and cost transparency research that can all be applied to your next web design project. My hope is that this will help guide you in the right direction, one smartypants design decision at a time.
The Science & UX Behind Reviews
What does PTSD research, persuasive design and writing online reviews all have in common? Well, not much… except for one little connection that I learned of after talking with Dr. Sarah Moore, a prestigious consumer researcher hailing from the University of Alberta, Canada.
When Moore and her research group looked at past clinical psychology research on how journaling helps alleviate PTSD symptoms, they noticed that journaling helped some sufferers experience amazing, curative results, while others still suffered. Moore explained to me that the difference is people who wrote using what researchers call explaining language, (whereupon they sought to understand and evaluate their traumatic event), recovered better—but when they ruminate and re-lived the experience via journaling, they tended to get worse or stay the same.
How people feel after they write reviews that are positive or negative great affects the way the view the experience and describe it in future word-of-mouth situations.
Using this knowledge to power her own study, Moore looked at how people felt during and after writing positive or negative reviews. She determined that writing positive reviews using explaining language, words like “I feel because ABC,” or “I think this because XYZ,” made the reviewer feel less positive about the experience. Conversely, writing negative reviews made storytellers feel less negative when using the same explaining language.
Moore explained this phenom with her own experience as a child watching “Jurassic Park” with her sister. “We were terrified of that movie,” she said chuckling, “But then someone explained to us that all those ‘bone-crushing’ special effect sounds were actually created by breaking ice cream cones in toilet bowls and we weren’t really scared anymore. It unpacked the fears for us and made us less afraid.”
Her results are interesting, but you may be wondering, what are the implications for UX design? When businesses use reviews to build awareness, or use testimonials to create positive social proof, there may be a better way to design the review experience guided by her research.
Using Moore’s research as a guidepost, it could be suggested that making reviews available only via desktop could be viable, but what about the effects of negative reviewing on the fly? Those folks seem to self-soothe by ranting, so perhaps let them have their say. So maybe it’s about changing the design.
What if your review platform served up only canned questions with a rating scale of 1-10? This might alleviate the positive reviewer’s apathy while still allowing the negative reviewers a space to vent and forgive-and-forget.
Changing the paradigm so that people can easily offer a rating will help you maintain social proof without sacrificing the possible post-review apathy that Moore’s study highlights. After all, you want a positive reviewer to remain positive, so although a testimonial on your site is dandy, it’s not worth as much as a heart-felt referral to one of their colleagues. The more positive reviewers unpack their emotions about the experience and explain it thoroughly, the more they feel less attached to the positive emotions they had, and they may even lose sight of their love for your brand, or products, Moore explained.
Another creative approach is to solicit fact-based customer feedback or testimonials. Storytelling may well be the ultimate weapon, but it works best in certain areas of a strategy. So, let’s not inadvertently shoot ourselves in the foot by asking “why,” “how come,” and the like.
Moore concluded in her final study that using explaining language makes reviewers “less likely to retell their experience in the future,” so with that in mind, use your design and copy wisely to make sure the happy campers and the not-so-happy ones walk away thinking and feeling more positively about your business, regardless of the emotions behind their sentiments.
Typography & Background: dO YoU knOW wHAT i WanT?
What is it about Facebook’s Status Update Form that makes people just spill their guts? I mean, you only have to look, here, or here, or here, for some really juicy stuff.
In 2009, Adam Alter, a marketing-focused researcher, best-selling author and professor at NYU decided to study this phenomenon. What he uncovered was quite interesting: “Cognitive fluency encourages self-disclosure.” To put it in layman’s terms: Using easy-to-read typography and contrasting elements persuades users to freely disclose some really embarrassing tidbits. These UI decisions can be made simply, and potentially have a huge impact.
The simplicity of Facebook’s Status Update Form is, according to research, a winning way to encourage users to freely disclose their deepest, darkest thoughts.
Thanks to Alter’s research findings, we can now see the connection between typography and its effects of readability on user’s behavior.
Alter’s work suggests:
Simplistic, serif typefaces — which are fluent—encourage people to disclose more information.
Script-y, fancy typefaces — which are deemed disfluent (hard to read)—encourage people to disclose less personal information.
Black text on a white background, versus the opposite, has the same effect as fluent typefaces—more disclosure.
The overarching results of these studies “suggested that people are less willing to disclose potentially damaging information about themselves when they experience disfluency,” Alter explained in the study’s introduction. “One likely explanation for this effect,” he went on to note, “is that people tend to experience diminished confidence and greater vigilance when they experience disfluency, which might temper their willingness to disclose self-incriminating attributes.”
The goal then, of all their work combined, was to show that there’s a distinct connection between how you present content and how it engages or disengages users. The implications of this for designers, product managers, and marketers is quite exciting! Let’s say you are soliciting your customers for their personal information—you want their name, address, email address, age, family size, maybe even their banking information. Using these insights to design your form could improve conversion rates.
Alter and his team of researchers found a website that was about to make a simple UI change, which would bolster their research because it was an organic, naturalistic setting for the study. The site was called Grouphug.com and the powers-that-be at Grouphug agreed to allow Alter to study their UI change, which was really quite small. All they were going to do was update their black background color to a white background color. And guess what? Confessors tended to disclose more embarrassing information on the white background than on the black, hard-to-see background.
Or, another use case could be surveying your customers or potential customers. Designing the right survey could be the key to garnering the type of unbridled criticism or praise that your company is seeking. For instance, Typeform uses a minimalist layout and design plus the ol’ black-fluent-font-on-a-white-background formula, too. The ease of which users can see, understand and visualize “the ask,” the more willing they are to give up the goods, so to speak.
Persuade with Pricing Transparency
Harvard Business School (HBS) is ripe with data on consumer research and pricing studies are a hot topic as of late. Bhavya Mohan, a doctoral marketing student, alongside HBS assistant professors, Ryan Buell and Leslie John, researched the phenomenon of pricing transparency in their recent paper, “Lifting the Veil: The Benefits of Cost Transparency.”. The results showed that “when a company selling T-shirts, for example, itemizes what it spends on cotton, cutting, sewing, dyeing, finishing, and transporting each shirt, consumers become more attracted to the brand and more likely to purchase.” In addition, the researchers also noted that whether or not the customer was brand spankin’ new or a longtime brand advocate, using cost transparency surfaced positive buying motivations.
Consumer’s apparently feel so positively about cost transparency because they consider it an “intimate disclosure.” In fact, they discovered that businesses can actually charge quite a lot above the actual cost of production before consumers start getting ticked off.
Dr. Buell interviewed with Working Knowledge, a news organization at HBS dedicated to showcasing their employees’ work and explained this phenom, “We wanted to understand when cost transparency would be harmful,” Buell said. “With a T-shirt that cost $6.50 to produce, it seemed reasonable to us that cost transparency would be helpful [in motivating buyers] if the price of the shirt was $10. But even at $35, we still saw an advantage to revealing the cost of production, which is interesting because the markup was five times the cost.”
What he noted during the research is that the markup could go quite high and consumers still didn’t care, as long as the pricing transparency was there. Surprising, in one of their studies checks-and-balances, they finally informed people in one condition that regardless of the transparency, they were indeed being price gouged. Then, and only then, did the pricing strategy fall apart. Folks needed to be told point-blank that it was a rip-off before they questioned the cost of the goods. Pretty amazing, huh?
To enforce their findings, as we noted, the researchers did look to the “real world” to study retailers that were actually using price transparency as a marketing strategy. Both Everlane and HonestBy augment this strategy. In an interview with Forbes, the CEO of Everlane, Michael Preysman, said of his pricing strategy:
“Before founding Everlane, I worked in venture capital. During my time there, I learned a lot about the astronomical markups in fashion. I really couldn’t understand why a shirt that cost $7 to make was selling at stores for $50 and up. We realized people had no idea of these markups and saw that there was a real need to educate consumers. At that moment, we decided to incorporate pricing and factory transparency with every product we make.”
Bloomberg reported on this pricing phenomenon, noting that, although Everlane sold only T-shirts back in 2011 when it launched, it now sells other types of clothing and boasts sales of about 30K tees, topping off at about $30 apiece. So clearly the transparency strategy isn’t slowing Everlane down.
Other companies are following suit, such as Zady and OfAKind, who show consumers how it was made via the production process to provide transparency in the manner in which it was crafted.
This also helps consumers understand the indirect cost and that cost may be higher because the product wasn’t produced in a “sweatshop” -esque environment.
In this instance, using the power of storytelling to convey the pricing strategy is useful if you have a competitive edge that you would like to remain private, or perhaps is also useful if you have so many manufacturers to account for that creating a transparent price may be too tricky to execute, the study showed. No matter your logic behind your technique, being honest and transparent with consumers seems to always provide big wins, as long as you’re being honest.
Are You Convinced?
Using scientific data and brain research studies to support design decisions isn’t cut-and-dry. But many of these techniques offer high yield for those willing to apply these findings to their business. For example, in one of the experiments on pricing transparency, the researchers noted that there was a 44 percent increase in sales for products with transparent pricing as opposed to not.
Alter’s font research showed up to 20-40 percent increases in disclosure when using content designed fluently.
Lastly, with Moore’s research on word-of-mouth, we can see significant indicators for how and why you encourage or showcase reviews of your products or services. This isn’t brain surgery, it’s brain science. Don’t be afraid to get your neurons a little wet!
About the Author: Lauren Ventura has been researching persuasion, reasoning and its effects on users, customers and everyone else since her graduate school days. Way back then, in her Rhetoric program, she learned the basics—Socrates, Plato and Aristotle—and the not-so-basics—the Toulmin Model. She’s found that there’s not much difference between user experience and those old Greeks—it’s all about convincing the right people with the right strategies in the right place. She currently works at a UX design agency, DigitalTelepathy, as their in-house copywriter. Follow her on Twitter @DoItWriteNow.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1HXXexy via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1E74cVJ
August 20, 2015 at 09:18PM
Making fact-based, data-driven design decisions (say that five times fast!) is the mantra of Google, and who better to emulate than the Big Kahuna itself, right? That being said, utilizing data for web design isn’t always as easy as it sounds. But did you know there’s a heap of scientific research from the brainiacs at academic powerhouses, such as Stanford, Princeton and Harvard and the like that can help you persuade people to buy your product? I know… it sounds heavy, but let me make it easy. Just read on.
Here you’ll find three ways to design utilizing brain science data that will persuade your users to act. I’ve found word-of-mouth consumer research studies, marketing studies on fluent and disfluent typography, and cost transparency research that can all be applied to your next web design project. My hope is that this will help guide you in the right direction, one smartypants design decision at a time.
The Science & UX Behind Reviews
What does PTSD research, persuasive design and writing online reviews all have in common? Well, not much… except for one little connection that I learned of after talking with Dr. Sarah Moore, a prestigious consumer researcher hailing from the University of Alberta, Canada.
When Moore and her research group looked at past clinical psychology research on how journaling helps alleviate PTSD symptoms, they noticed that journaling helped some sufferers experience amazing, curative results, while others still suffered. Moore explained to me that the difference is people who wrote using what researchers call explaining language, (whereupon they sought to understand and evaluate their traumatic event), recovered better—but when they ruminate and re-lived the experience via journaling, they tended to get worse or stay the same.
How people feel after they write reviews that are positive or negative great affects the way the view the experience and describe it in future word-of-mouth situations.
Using this knowledge to power her own study, Moore looked at how people felt during and after writing positive or negative reviews. She determined that writing positive reviews using explaining language, words like “I feel because ABC,” or “I think this because XYZ,” made the reviewer feel less positive about the experience. Conversely, writing negative reviews made storytellers feel less negative when using the same explaining language.
Moore explained this phenom with her own experience as a child watching “Jurassic Park” with her sister. “We were terrified of that movie,” she said chuckling, “But then someone explained to us that all those ‘bone-crushing’ special effect sounds were actually created by breaking ice cream cones in toilet bowls and we weren’t really scared anymore. It unpacked the fears for us and made us less afraid.”
Her results are interesting, but you may be wondering, what are the implications for UX design? When businesses use reviews to build awareness, or use testimonials to create positive social proof, there may be a better way to design the review experience guided by her research.
Using Moore’s research as a guidepost, it could be suggested that making reviews available only via desktop could be viable, but what about the effects of negative reviewing on the fly? Those folks seem to self-soothe by ranting, so perhaps let them have their say. So maybe it’s about changing the design.
What if your review platform served up only canned questions with a rating scale of 1-10? This might alleviate the positive reviewer’s apathy while still allowing the negative reviewers a space to vent and forgive-and-forget.
Changing the paradigm so that people can easily offer a rating will help you maintain social proof without sacrificing the possible post-review apathy that Moore’s study highlights. After all, you want a positive reviewer to remain positive, so although a testimonial on your site is dandy, it’s not worth as much as a heart-felt referral to one of their colleagues. The more positive reviewers unpack their emotions about the experience and explain it thoroughly, the more they feel less attached to the positive emotions they had, and they may even lose sight of their love for your brand, or products, Moore explained.
Another creative approach is to solicit fact-based customer feedback or testimonials. Storytelling may well be the ultimate weapon, but it works best in certain areas of a strategy. So, let’s not inadvertently shoot ourselves in the foot by asking “why,” “how come,” and the like.
Moore concluded in her final study that using explaining language makes reviewers “less likely to retell their experience in the future,” so with that in mind, use your design and copy wisely to make sure the happy campers and the not-so-happy ones walk away thinking and feeling more positively about your business, regardless of the emotions behind their sentiments.
Typography & Background: dO YoU knOW wHAT i WanT?
What is it about Facebook’s Status Update Form that makes people just spill their guts? I mean, you only have to look, here, or here, or here, for some really juicy stuff.
In 2009, Adam Alter, a marketing-focused researcher, best-selling author and professor at NYU decided to study this phenomenon. What he uncovered was quite interesting: “Cognitive fluency encourages self-disclosure.” To put it in layman’s terms: Using easy-to-read typography and contrasting elements persuades users to freely disclose some really embarrassing tidbits. These UI decisions can be made simply, and potentially have a huge impact.
The simplicity of Facebook’s Status Update Form is, according to research, a winning way to encourage users to freely disclose their deepest, darkest thoughts.
Thanks to Alter’s research findings, we can now see the connection between typography and its effects of readability on user’s behavior.
Alter’s work suggests:
Simplistic, serif typefaces — which are fluent—encourage people to disclose more information.
Script-y, fancy typefaces — which are deemed disfluent (hard to read)—encourage people to disclose less personal information.
Black text on a white background, versus the opposite, has the same effect as fluent typefaces—more disclosure.
The overarching results of these studies “suggested that people are less willing to disclose potentially damaging information about themselves when they experience disfluency,” Alter explained in the study’s introduction. “One likely explanation for this effect,” he went on to note, “is that people tend to experience diminished confidence and greater vigilance when they experience disfluency, which might temper their willingness to disclose self-incriminating attributes.”
The goal then, of all their work combined, was to show that there’s a distinct connection between how you present content and how it engages or disengages users. The implications of this for designers, product managers, and marketers is quite exciting! Let’s say you are soliciting your customers for their personal information—you want their name, address, email address, age, family size, maybe even their banking information. Using these insights to design your form could improve conversion rates.
Alter and his team of researchers found a website that was about to make a simple UI change, which would bolster their research because it was an organic, naturalistic setting for the study. The site was called Grouphug.com and the powers-that-be at Grouphug agreed to allow Alter to study their UI change, which was really quite small. All they were going to do was update their black background color to a white background color. And guess what? Confessors tended to disclose more embarrassing information on the white background than on the black, hard-to-see background.
Or, another use case could be surveying your customers or potential customers. Designing the right survey could be the key to garnering the type of unbridled criticism or praise that your company is seeking. For instance, Typeform uses a minimalist layout and design plus the ol’ black-fluent-font-on-a-white-background formula, too. The ease of which users can see, understand and visualize “the ask,” the more willing they are to give up the goods, so to speak.
Persuade with Pricing Transparency
Harvard Business School (HBS) is ripe with data on consumer research and pricing studies are a hot topic as of late. Bhavya Mohan, a doctoral marketing student, alongside HBS assistant professors, Ryan Buell and Leslie John, researched the phenomenon of pricing transparency in their recent paper, “Lifting the Veil: The Benefits of Cost Transparency.”. The results showed that “when a company selling T-shirts, for example, itemizes what it spends on cotton, cutting, sewing, dyeing, finishing, and transporting each shirt, consumers become more attracted to the brand and more likely to purchase.” In addition, the researchers also noted that whether or not the customer was brand spankin’ new or a longtime brand advocate, using cost transparency surfaced positive buying motivations.
Consumer’s apparently feel so positively about cost transparency because they consider it an “intimate disclosure.” In fact, they discovered that businesses can actually charge quite a lot above the actual cost of production before consumers start getting ticked off.
Dr. Buell interviewed with Working Knowledge, a news organization at HBS dedicated to showcasing their employees’ work and explained this phenom, “We wanted to understand when cost transparency would be harmful,” Buell said. “With a T-shirt that cost $6.50 to produce, it seemed reasonable to us that cost transparency would be helpful [in motivating buyers] if the price of the shirt was $10. But even at $35, we still saw an advantage to revealing the cost of production, which is interesting because the markup was five times the cost.”
What he noted during the research is that the markup could go quite high and consumers still didn’t care, as long as the pricing transparency was there. Surprising, in one of their studies checks-and-balances, they finally informed people in one condition that regardless of the transparency, they were indeed being price gouged. Then, and only then, did the pricing strategy fall apart. Folks needed to be told point-blank that it was a rip-off before they questioned the cost of the goods. Pretty amazing, huh?
To enforce their findings, as we noted, the researchers did look to the “real world” to study retailers that were actually using price transparency as a marketing strategy. Both Everlane and HonestBy augment this strategy. In an interview with Forbes, the CEO of Everlane, Michael Preysman, said of his pricing strategy:
“Before founding Everlane, I worked in venture capital. During my time there, I learned a lot about the astronomical markups in fashion. I really couldn’t understand why a shirt that cost $7 to make was selling at stores for $50 and up. We realized people had no idea of these markups and saw that there was a real need to educate consumers. At that moment, we decided to incorporate pricing and factory transparency with every product we make.”
Bloomberg reported on this pricing phenomenon, noting that, although Everlane sold only T-shirts back in 2011 when it launched, it now sells other types of clothing and boasts sales of about 30K tees, topping off at about $30 apiece. So clearly the transparency strategy isn’t slowing Everlane down.
Other companies are following suit, such as Zady and OfAKind, who show consumers how it was made via the production process to provide transparency in the manner in which it was crafted.
This also helps consumers understand the indirect cost and that cost may be higher because the product wasn’t produced in a “sweatshop” -esque environment.
In this instance, using the power of storytelling to convey the pricing strategy is useful if you have a competitive edge that you would like to remain private, or perhaps is also useful if you have so many manufacturers to account for that creating a transparent price may be too tricky to execute, the study showed. No matter your logic behind your technique, being honest and transparent with consumers seems to always provide big wins, as long as you’re being honest.
Are You Convinced?
Using scientific data and brain research studies to support design decisions isn’t cut-and-dry. But many of these techniques offer high yield for those willing to apply these findings to their business. For example, in one of the experiments on pricing transparency, the researchers noted that there was a 44 percent increase in sales for products with transparent pricing as opposed to not.
Alter’s font research showed up to 20-40 percent increases in disclosure when using content designed fluently.
Lastly, with Moore’s research on word-of-mouth, we can see significant indicators for how and why you encourage or showcase reviews of your products or services. This isn’t brain surgery, it’s brain science. Don’t be afraid to get your neurons a little wet!
About the Author: Lauren Ventura has been researching persuasion, reasoning and its effects on users, customers and everyone else since her graduate school days. Way back then, in her Rhetoric program, she learned the basics—Socrates, Plato and Aristotle—and the not-so-basics—the Toulmin Model. She’s found that there’s not much difference between user experience and those old Greeks—it’s all about convincing the right people with the right strategies in the right place. She currently works at a UX design agency, DigitalTelepathy, as their in-house copywriter. Follow her on Twitter @DoItWriteNow.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1HXXexy via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1E74cVJ
August 20, 2015 at 09:18PM
Added: Aug 21, 2015 Via IFTTT
The Simple A/B Test That Increased Our Product Adoption by 16.5% and Blog Conversion by 9.2%
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
The Simple A/B Test That Increased Our Product Adoption by 16.5% and Blog Conversion by 9.2%
Imagine you are shopping for an upcoming vacation. You walk into a department store, you have no idea where to go and start looking around for anything you need.
Now imagine a store associate comes up to you right as this moment and asks, “Can I help you find anything?” You tell her you’re just browsing and she mentions, “Well, we just marked down a lot of our most popular sunglasses.” How did they know? You lost your sunglasses two weeks ago and have been meaning to replace them ever since.
That friendly reminder about sunglasses is similar to what an Engagement is, our latest conversion rate optimization tool for websites and apps. Websites and apps don’t have in-person customer service like this, and that’s where a tool like Engage comes into play. Read on and we’ll tell you how we used it at Kissmetrics for a successful product launch and increased conversion on our blog.
For New Product Launches
In June of this year, we launched a new product called Engage, which allows you to set up smart onsite interactions to a segment of your audience with a personalized message–in order to guide them into conversion.
And while very exciting, it was also a bit challenging to introduce a new product that was very different from our core product, Analyze. Even though we had promoted the new product at the time of the launch, there was still a segment of our users who didn’t know what Engage is or why they should use it.
Because the product is so new, we wanted to see if we could increase adoption of Engage by using Engage. Basically it’s an Engagement about Engage–so meta, right?
We set up an Engagement within the app and served it 50% of users who logged into Kissmetrics as an A/B test. It fired immediately upon loading the page.
The Engagement linked to the setup wizard where they can select their design, audience, and message. We served the Engagement for one month, and here’s what happened:
We ran the test with our own A/B Test Report. Here are the results:
The variation with the Engagement received a conversion rate 16.57% higher than the control!
This was one of the most effective and easiest way to drive adoption for the product. The user is already in the app, so it’s easier to guide them to the Engagement setup because we’re not disrupting what they’re doing. Our other option besides an Engagement would be to send an email, but it would have taken much longer to write, design, and send the email than it would be to create an in-app notification.
And this isn’t just for product launches. If you have just written an eBook or want to promote your best content, you can use an Engagement to guide them in the right direction.
For Growing Our Blog Email List
While our blog already has a fairly large email list, we wanted to see what effect launching an Engagement on our blog would have for our conversions.
We set up an Engagement to new visitors who have visited the top 50 high traffic pages on our blog. It shows up when you scroll ¼ the way down the page. When you click it, it takes you to the blog newsletter signup landing page.
Not surprisingly, we saw a 9.2% increase in subscribers per day on average in just one week from 6/29/15-7/6/15. We compared this to the daily average during 1/1/15-5/29/15.
If we had used a pop-up instead, the numbers might have looked different. We wanted to start off testing out this bumper because it caught our visitors’ attention in a polite way. We’re not exactly sure yet if our visitors find pop-ups to be annoying or not, so the nudge Engagement was a great first test.
Nudge Your Users Towards Adoption and Conversions With a Friendly Reminder
The truth is, not all of your visitors will get to your CTA and subscribe, even if they love your content. And not all of your customers open and read your emails about your product launches or newly released. The best and easiest way to guide your audience into conversion (and to cut conversion time in half) is to simply remind them what to do and how to do it–just like friendly sales associates in the store.
Want to see more about Engage? Just click the Play button below.
Interested in using Engage on your site? Request a personal demo.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1hQvYMp via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1JaNWzY
August 22, 2015 at 02:33AM
Imagine you are shopping for an upcoming vacation. You walk into a department store, you have no idea where to go and start looking around for anything you need.
Now imagine a store associate comes up to you right as this moment and asks, “Can I help you find anything?” You tell her you’re just browsing and she mentions, “Well, we just marked down a lot of our most popular sunglasses.” How did they know? You lost your sunglasses two weeks ago and have been meaning to replace them ever since.
That friendly reminder about sunglasses is similar to what an Engagement is, our latest conversion rate optimization tool for websites and apps. Websites and apps don’t have in-person customer service like this, and that’s where a tool like Engage comes into play. Read on and we’ll tell you how we used it at Kissmetrics for a successful product launch and increased conversion on our blog.
For New Product Launches
In June of this year, we launched a new product called Engage, which allows you to set up smart onsite interactions to a segment of your audience with a personalized message–in order to guide them into conversion.
And while very exciting, it was also a bit challenging to introduce a new product that was very different from our core product, Analyze. Even though we had promoted the new product at the time of the launch, there was still a segment of our users who didn’t know what Engage is or why they should use it.
Because the product is so new, we wanted to see if we could increase adoption of Engage by using Engage. Basically it’s an Engagement about Engage–so meta, right?
We set up an Engagement within the app and served it 50% of users who logged into Kissmetrics as an A/B test. It fired immediately upon loading the page.
The Engagement linked to the setup wizard where they can select their design, audience, and message. We served the Engagement for one month, and here’s what happened:
We ran the test with our own A/B Test Report. Here are the results:
The variation with the Engagement received a conversion rate 16.57% higher than the control!
This was one of the most effective and easiest way to drive adoption for the product. The user is already in the app, so it’s easier to guide them to the Engagement setup because we’re not disrupting what they’re doing. Our other option besides an Engagement would be to send an email, but it would have taken much longer to write, design, and send the email than it would be to create an in-app notification.
And this isn’t just for product launches. If you have just written an eBook or want to promote your best content, you can use an Engagement to guide them in the right direction.
For Growing Our Blog Email List
While our blog already has a fairly large email list, we wanted to see what effect launching an Engagement on our blog would have for our conversions.
We set up an Engagement to new visitors who have visited the top 50 high traffic pages on our blog. It shows up when you scroll ¼ the way down the page. When you click it, it takes you to the blog newsletter signup landing page.
Not surprisingly, we saw a 9.2% increase in subscribers per day on average in just one week from 6/29/15-7/6/15. We compared this to the daily average during 1/1/15-5/29/15.
If we had used a pop-up instead, the numbers might have looked different. We wanted to start off testing out this bumper because it caught our visitors’ attention in a polite way. We’re not exactly sure yet if our visitors find pop-ups to be annoying or not, so the nudge Engagement was a great first test.
Nudge Your Users Towards Adoption and Conversions With a Friendly Reminder
The truth is, not all of your visitors will get to your CTA and subscribe, even if they love your content. And not all of your customers open and read your emails about your product launches or newly released. The best and easiest way to guide your audience into conversion (and to cut conversion time in half) is to simply remind them what to do and how to do it–just like friendly sales associates in the store.
Want to see more about Engage? Just click the Play button below.
Interested in using Engage on your site? Request a personal demo.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1hQvYMp via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1JaNWzY
August 22, 2015 at 02:33AM
Added: Jul 30, 2015 Via IFTTT
The Top 3 Ways to Get Your SaaS Customers to Open Your Emails
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
The Top 3 Ways to Get Your SaaS Customers to Open Your Emails
Quick poll question: How many of you have signed up for a free software trial and then cancelled it after getting the welcome email?
Most people have at least once. Mainly because the welcome email was just so awful that there’s no way the software could have been good, right? For SaaS companies, this can be a big problem. Emails are the lifeblood of many SaaS providers, so losing subscribers (and by extension leads and customers) can be the difference between hitting a sales target and not.
Let’s take a look at the top 3 ways you can craft better welcome emails for your SaaS customers.
1. Clear & Tidy Headlines
Recipients know what they’re getting, so don’t worry about cluttering up the headline of the email. It sets up the expectation with customers that you’ll give them what you say you’re giving them. The welcome email is truly a welcome email, no more, no less.
What to try: A simple “Welcome to [company name]”.
Example: Vero
Vero, an email marketing software company, does exactly that in their first email after signing up to their blog. The subject line is “Welcome to the Vero blog!” Recipients are reminded about what they signed up for (updates from the blog), who it’s from (Vero), and that it’s the first email from Vero (the “welcome” is a pretty big sign.)
Source
2. Clear CTAs Throughout the Email
Many welcome emails just repeat information or contain so many links that readers stop reading after the first couple of lines.
What to try: A single CTA in your welcome email.
Next time, try adding a link for readers to log in to their new account, or a reminder about a feature that solves a pain point for the reader, just keep it simple.
For example, if it’s a free trial of collaboration SaaS software, a CTA to “add coworkers to your account” may suffice.
Example: Vero
You may have noticed that Vero’s welcome email goes against this idea and has a few CTAs in it. But they’re all very simple ones that readers can choose to see or ignore.
The first CTA is a link to Vero’s About Us page. It’s hyperlinked so readers can check out the page, or continue reading.
The second CTA is a list of some of the blog’s more practical posts. Again, they’re linked very simply, and the reader can choose to read them now or save them for later.
The third and final CTA is a set of email addresses readers can send messages to if they have immediate feedback.
Sure, there are three CTAs in the single email, but they’re all pretty simple ones, which is the key thing to keep in mind in your welcome emails.
Source
Example: Tictail
Here’s a better example of the one CTA per welcome email – It’s from Tictail, another ecommerce software solution. After signing up , readers are invited to visit their dashboard right away. Simple and clean, with good visuals to invite readers to click it.
Source
3. Consistent Look and Feel
To avoid the spam filter of today’s email accounts, it’s important to craft a welcome email that doesn’t look like spam. However, that doesn’t mean you should ignore your current branding to the point that the recipient doesn’t know who you are and why you’re in their inbox.
What to do: Colors, logos, fonts, company name, etc. all should reflect what’s on your website right now. Ensure that someone’s always looking at your emails whenever you change your branding.
Example: Buffer
Buffer does a great job in their welcome email, using their logo, font, and colors really well.
Here’s their main website:
And here’s their welcome email:
Source
Example: Shopify
Shopify’s welcome email does the same as Buffer, but also includes their quirky, casual tone they use with their audience, who are mainly entrepreneurs.
Here’s their main website:
And here’s their welcome email:
Bonus Tip: Delay Sending That First Email
You’ve probably got your email signup form hooked into software that sends out responses as soon as someone signs up, right? You want to make sure that the lead doesn’t go cold. Yet doing so gives off a negative impression of your SaaS company.
Why? Because it just screams “automated email”. Especially if you’re located in a different time zone. There’s just no way that you’d be sending a personalized email at 3am your time.
What to try/do: Send out a quick email right away that acknowledges the signup and that’s it. Just a short “Thanks for subscribing. Look for our welcome email in your inbox shortly” kind of message. Then, send your welcome message during YOUR business hours [Author’s note: link this to the other article I submitted on personalizing emails], regardless of where the customer is located.
You’ll give the appearance of having someone manually composing and/or sending the email to the customer, even though it’s another automated email. Your SaaS customer’s perception of you goes up, increasing their chances of converting into a long-term paying customer. (Even if they really know that the welcome email is coming from an automated system, it gives the appearance that it’s not, which they like – actually, we all like it. That’s why personalized emails do better than generic ones.)
Conclusion
Welcome emails are a tricky thing to do well. Some SaaS companies cram them so full of information that customers run away immediately. The successful companies welcome them simply and directly, and keep them as customers by sending out a well -written and –timed email that provides useful information to them.
Use these four tips to set up better welcome emails for your SaaS customers. You’ll look more professional, appear more successful, and earn a spot on their vendor shortlist more often.
About the Author: Julia Borgini helps Geeks sell their stuff. A self-proclaimed Geek & writer, she works with B2B technology & sports companies, creating helpful content & copy for their lead generation and content marketing programs. Follow her on Twitter @spacebarpress to see what she’s writing about now.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1I5mNQN via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1KC7iU2
July 31, 2015 at 02:33AM
Quick poll question: How many of you have signed up for a free software trial and then cancelled it after getting the welcome email?
Most people have at least once. Mainly because the welcome email was just so awful that there’s no way the software could have been good, right? For SaaS companies, this can be a big problem. Emails are the lifeblood of many SaaS providers, so losing subscribers (and by extension leads and customers) can be the difference between hitting a sales target and not.
Let’s take a look at the top 3 ways you can craft better welcome emails for your SaaS customers.
1. Clear & Tidy Headlines
Recipients know what they’re getting, so don’t worry about cluttering up the headline of the email. It sets up the expectation with customers that you’ll give them what you say you’re giving them. The welcome email is truly a welcome email, no more, no less.
What to try: A simple “Welcome to [company name]”.
Example: Vero
Vero, an email marketing software company, does exactly that in their first email after signing up to their blog. The subject line is “Welcome to the Vero blog!” Recipients are reminded about what they signed up for (updates from the blog), who it’s from (Vero), and that it’s the first email from Vero (the “welcome” is a pretty big sign.)
Source
2. Clear CTAs Throughout the Email
Many welcome emails just repeat information or contain so many links that readers stop reading after the first couple of lines.
What to try: A single CTA in your welcome email.
Next time, try adding a link for readers to log in to their new account, or a reminder about a feature that solves a pain point for the reader, just keep it simple.
For example, if it’s a free trial of collaboration SaaS software, a CTA to “add coworkers to your account” may suffice.
Example: Vero
You may have noticed that Vero’s welcome email goes against this idea and has a few CTAs in it. But they’re all very simple ones that readers can choose to see or ignore.
The first CTA is a link to Vero’s About Us page. It’s hyperlinked so readers can check out the page, or continue reading.
The second CTA is a list of some of the blog’s more practical posts. Again, they’re linked very simply, and the reader can choose to read them now or save them for later.
The third and final CTA is a set of email addresses readers can send messages to if they have immediate feedback.
Sure, there are three CTAs in the single email, but they’re all pretty simple ones, which is the key thing to keep in mind in your welcome emails.
Source
Example: Tictail
Here’s a better example of the one CTA per welcome email – It’s from Tictail, another ecommerce software solution. After signing up , readers are invited to visit their dashboard right away. Simple and clean, with good visuals to invite readers to click it.
Source
3. Consistent Look and Feel
To avoid the spam filter of today’s email accounts, it’s important to craft a welcome email that doesn’t look like spam. However, that doesn’t mean you should ignore your current branding to the point that the recipient doesn’t know who you are and why you’re in their inbox.
What to do: Colors, logos, fonts, company name, etc. all should reflect what’s on your website right now. Ensure that someone’s always looking at your emails whenever you change your branding.
Example: Buffer
Buffer does a great job in their welcome email, using their logo, font, and colors really well.
Here’s their main website:
And here’s their welcome email:
Source
Example: Shopify
Shopify’s welcome email does the same as Buffer, but also includes their quirky, casual tone they use with their audience, who are mainly entrepreneurs.
Here’s their main website:
And here’s their welcome email:
Bonus Tip: Delay Sending That First Email
You’ve probably got your email signup form hooked into software that sends out responses as soon as someone signs up, right? You want to make sure that the lead doesn’t go cold. Yet doing so gives off a negative impression of your SaaS company.
Why? Because it just screams “automated email”. Especially if you’re located in a different time zone. There’s just no way that you’d be sending a personalized email at 3am your time.
What to try/do: Send out a quick email right away that acknowledges the signup and that’s it. Just a short “Thanks for subscribing. Look for our welcome email in your inbox shortly” kind of message. Then, send your welcome message during YOUR business hours [Author’s note: link this to the other article I submitted on personalizing emails], regardless of where the customer is located.
You’ll give the appearance of having someone manually composing and/or sending the email to the customer, even though it’s another automated email. Your SaaS customer’s perception of you goes up, increasing their chances of converting into a long-term paying customer. (Even if they really know that the welcome email is coming from an automated system, it gives the appearance that it’s not, which they like – actually, we all like it. That’s why personalized emails do better than generic ones.)
Conclusion
Welcome emails are a tricky thing to do well. Some SaaS companies cram them so full of information that customers run away immediately. The successful companies welcome them simply and directly, and keep them as customers by sending out a well -written and –timed email that provides useful information to them.
Use these four tips to set up better welcome emails for your SaaS customers. You’ll look more professional, appear more successful, and earn a spot on their vendor shortlist more often.
About the Author: Julia Borgini helps Geeks sell their stuff. A self-proclaimed Geek & writer, she works with B2B technology & sports companies, creating helpful content & copy for their lead generation and content marketing programs. Follow her on Twitter @spacebarpress to see what she’s writing about now.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1I5mNQN via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1KC7iU2
July 31, 2015 at 02:33AM
Added: Sep 16, 2015 Via IFTTT
The Top Five Kissmetrics Reports Every Content Marketer Needs
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
The Top Five Kissmetrics Reports Every Content Marketer Needs
As a content marketer, you’re always pushing out content you hope visitors will find and love. And you’re always trying to get visitors to convert into customers.
Those are your two jobs – producing content and converting visitors.
But are your efforts paying off? And, if they are, how do you know what’s working and what’s not? How do you optimize your content marketing?
Thankfully, Kissmetrics is here to help. I’ve detailed five reports every content marketer can use to refine and optimize their content marketing. The measuring and reporting tools outlined below will help you get focused on the work that will produce the best results.
Let’s get started.
1. Track and Improve Conversions with the Funnel Report
You’re a marketer and you have numbers you need to meet every day, week, month, quarter, etc. Maybe the goal is to increase email signups by 2x, drive more people to a “Send Me Info” form, sign up people for your product, deliver orders (for ecommerce companies), get people to leave comments on a blog post, or drive people to a landing page. Whatever it is, you need to start by seeing how many people are already moving toward that goal.
Enter the Kissmetrics Funnel Report. This report shows you how people move through a website flow. This can be a signup flow, product usage flow, checkout flow, etc. You can place it anywhere on your site, and you’ll see where you’re losing customers. Here’s a sample funnel:
Now ask yourself:
Where am I trying to drive my users? What would make my boss happy? Would it be acquiring customers, increasing email signup rates, or bringing more leads to our sales team?
Figure out what this is (or “these are,” as you can certainly work toward increasing more than one number). Who knows, maybe you want to see how many people are commenting on your blog posts. If you want to move that needle (or are just curious), that’s cool. I won’t judge.
Then you can use the Kissmetrics Funnel Report to see your baseline, and use A/B tests to move the needle (more on that later).
Being able to see where you’re losing customers is pretty great, right? In addition to that, you can also segment your traffic. Segment is a fancy analytics word for “group.” You can group your traffic by things like marketing channel and see which channel is sending you the most customers. You’ll be able to see how each group moves along your funnel. Here’s an example (it’s the columns and rows underneath each step in the funnel):
You can break out each group and see how well it moves through your funnel. The best groups should get more of your attention and money, while the worst groups should be toned down.
Actionable Tips for Content Marketers
You aren’t limited to grouping people only by channel. Here are a few other groups I’d recommend:
Blog Category – If you run a blog, you can use blog category to track which category drives the most signups. We do this for our own blog and know which blog categories are the most effective at driving signups for the Kissmetrics product. This helps drive our content strategy because we know which content attracts the right audience. Note that “blog category” is not automatically tracked in Kissmetrics. You’ll need a little help from a developer. Once you implement it, you’ll find the information is helpful.
Type of Content – Content marketing is more than just text-based content. Maybe you have videos, audio files, infographics, etc. You can track each of these content types and see how people who view them move through your funnel. This will help you answer questions like “We’re spending all this time and money on infographics, but are we actually getting customers from them?” or “We have tons of videos, but do people who view the videos go on to sign up for our product?” Again, “type of content” is not automatically tracked in Kissmetrics. Just get a little bit of time from a developer, and they’ll set you up.
Referrer – Here’s one that is automatically tracked in Kissmetrics. I use referrer all the time to see which URLs are sending us customers. All I do is create a funnel for the steps “Visited Blog” to “Signed Up.” Signed Up triggers when someone…signs up. Then I do this:
This tells Kissmetrics to show me who the referrer was when someone visited the blog and to show me the full URL, not just the domain name. I click Apply and get my data:
The blurred column on the left is a list of the exact URLs that sent traffic and signups.
This is especially useful with guest blogging. If you guest blog and link back to your marketing site in the byline, you will be able to see how many people visit and how many of them sign up.
If you have an affiliate program, you can track traffic from each affiliate and see how it moves down your funnel.
Okay, so you get the idea about the Funnel Report. You can see where you’re losing customers through website flow, you can segment group traffic by whatever will get you the best insights, and you can optimize your marketing. On top of all that, you can put a smile on both your face and your boss’s face when that needle moves in the right direction.
Now, how do we move the needle? Through tests and iteration, of course. Let’s get into that now.
2. Test the Entire Funnel with the A/B Test Report
You want to get more people to sign up (or reach whatever goal you have). The best way to do this is to A/B test.
Since you’re a marketer, you’re probably running tests galore. You also probably use Optimizely, VWO, Unbounce, or some other testing tool.
The good news is that you can track the results and import the data (automatically) with Kissmetrics. There’s nothing additional to buy – it all comes with our Analyze product. We call it the A/B Test Report, and it’s pretty awesome. Here’s why:
You can test any part of your funnel. This is especially useful if you have a long onboarding process. Let’s say you run a SaaS company and your blog gets a lot of traffic. You can run a test on your blog to see how it impacts product use, not just to see how many signed up for your product. After all, what good is a signup if they don’t use your product? We’ve run plenty of internal tests at Kissmetrics on variants that appeared to be winners at the top of the funnel, but as we went further on down the funnel, they were losers. If we weren’t using the A/B Test Report, we would have launched a losing variant!
The A/B Test Report will display the statistical significance of your test. This is really important, as too many marketers (hopefully you’re not one of them) cut their test way too short. They’ll bring it live on Monday and close the test the following Wednesday, well before enough data has come in. (You can think about statistical significance this way [if you’re not a sports fan, skip this part]: Baseball, hockey, and football player stats in the first few games don’t really matter. Stay with me here: When the 2016-2017 baseball season starts, no one is going to put too much stock in a player’s first few games. Why? Well, if they go 3 for 4 in their first game, their batting percentage is going to be 750%. Obviously, it’s going to come back down to earth shortly. And no one looks at what a player did in the first game – watch the TV broadcast and notice they show the stats on how the player batted the previous year. There’s more data there. The same is true for your test.) You need to allow enough data to come in before you can reach conclusions. And since you’re using the Kissmetrics A/B Test Report, you’ll quickly know the statistical significance. If you don’t pay attention to this, you may launch a losing variant before enough data has come in.
The A/B Test Report will give you a recommendation. Was the original page the winner with statistical significance? If so, it will tell you to keep that. Or was it the variant? Or was it a toss-up? You’ll know with the A/B Test Report. No more guessing.
You will see every person who was in the test. And you won’t see just the number of people, but who the people actually were. You can dig deeper and see where they came from, if they converted to a paying customer, etc.
Here’s an example of how the report looks:
At the very top, you select a baseline. Below that, in bright blue, is the recommendation. On the next line, those 5 numbers in bold are the metrics for the test: how long it ran, how many people were in it, how many conversions there were, the improvement, and the certainty of improvement (aka statistical significance). You’ll want to go for at least 95% certainty.
The middle of the report is the data visualization. You can see the variant was the big winner here and that it was during the entire time the test was running.
The bottom section contains the metrics for each variant. You see the number of people in each variant (click the number to see a list of every person), the number of conversions for each (click the number to see each person who converted in the specified variant), the conversion rate, the improvement, and the certainty.
Actionable Tips for Content Marketers
This depends on which needle you want to drive. Since you’re a marketer, I’m assuming you’re in charge of increasing signup rates. Your boss tells you “If you double signups by the end of the year, you get a bonus.” You accept the challenge (why wouldn’t you?).
Awesome, now start testing. You’ll run the test on your blog. It’ll include a small CTA that shows up at the end of blog posts.
Talk to a designer, get something sketched up, bring in a developer to get the variant page running, and create your test in Optimizely, VWO, Unbounce, etc. (we integrate with them all), and track the results in the A/B Test Report.
Again (and this is important), you can test any part of your funnel with the A/B Test Report.
So more people click on the CTA in your variant page. Great? But did they actually start using your product? You’ll know with the A/B Test Report.
Here are a few more tips on where to A/B test:
Landing Pages – If you have landing pages for webinars or eBooks, you can test various elements on these pages. Try removing fields or adding/removing steps, and see how it affects your conversion rate.
CTAs, Button Copy – What content site doesn’t have a few CTAs and signup forms on every page (besides Zen Habits)? As a marketer, you know you need to test and optimize everything you can get your hands on. Test your headlines and your button copy. See that orange “Try Kissmetrics” at the top of this page? We’ve gone through dozens of copy for that button. “Try Kissmetrics” is what has performed best. If the button copy isn’t “Try Kissmetrics,” that means we’ve found another winner that beat it. We’re always testing.
Optimization Tools – Tools like BounceX, Hello Bar, and SumoMe are getting more popular for content marketers as a way to get something out of visitors who show intent to leave. In most cases, this is a chance for the marketer to grab an email address. Other times, it’s used for making an offer. Quick Sprout uses Hello Bar to increase its Facebook fans. Just visit the blog, hover near the top (as if you are going to close the tab), and this appears:
It’s a good idea to A/B test these tools on your website to see if they actually move the needle.
The general rule of thumb is this: anything the visitor can see should be tested.
The visitor can see a lot of things (CTA, headlines, optimization tools, elements on landing pages, etc.), and you should test them all.
3. Track and Grow Reader Retention with the Cohort Report
Building loyalty is difficult. This rule goes for almost anything, but especially for building a loyal audience on the web. There is an unlimited number of websites, but visitors are able to keep only a small number of sites in their rotation. For most people, that might include Facebook, their favorite news site, YouTube, and a few others. So it’s very difficult to get into that daily rotation. The best you can hope for is to have people sign up for your email newsletter and/or subscribe to your RSS feed.
Now, how do you track reader loyalty?
If you’re not familiar with the term, “cohort” can be quite intimidating. It may sound like something you’d see in studies or medical journals. “A cohort of people were put on x” or “There was the y chromosome cohort” (also known as males). Don’t let the 6-letter word put you off so that you never learn what it is. A cohort is pretty simple:
A cohort is a group of people who share a common experience or characteristic within a defined period of time.
For marketers, this could be a group of people who signed up for your product in May. It could be called the “May Signup Cohort.” People who visited your blog and commented may be a cohort you pay attention to.
If you want to see the cohort of people who visited your blog from a specific marketing channel, here’s how that would look (actual data will vary):
On the left-hand side, we see the list of marketing channels. People who first visited the blog during our date range (May 1, 2013 – May 31, 2014) are put in one of these buckets, depending on the channel. In the next column, we see the total number of people in each channel who visited the blog during those months.
On the right, the blue shaded cells with percentages in them show us when the people visited the blog. So if a person came to the blog from a Google search in May 2013, they would be put in the organic bucket (20%). If they visited the blog again in July, they would be put in column 3 across from organic. The higher the percentages (darker shades of blue), the more retention there is. Since you’re a content marketer and you want to drive retention, you’ll want to get more traffic from the marketing channels that have proven to deliver strong reader retention.
This example shows us that email brings strong reader retention. The main takeaway for us is that we need to continue to drive people to our email newsletter. Once we do that, we will have a strong possibility of keeping them as readers. So our new goal is to build up our email list.
Actionable Tips for Content Marketers
Here are a few other ways you can use the Cohort Report:
Track which types of content bring in loyal readers. Are certain pieces of content keeping people from returning?
Track signup rates across marketing channels or types of content. Perhaps one type of content leads more people to sign up.
If you guest blog on other platforms, you can track referrers and see which bring loyal readers, or even signups.
You’re probably thinking “Why track signups on a Cohort Report? I can use the Funnel Report.”
Yes, you can. But the Cohort Report allows you to track signups over time. So if someone comes to your site in March but doesn’t sign up until November, the Funnel Report may not report that if you don’t extend your date range long enough.
Another benefit of using the Cohort Report to track signups is that you can see how long it takes people to sign up after they visit your site. Did you have a marketing campaign in April that didn’t get many signups? Perhaps people who visited in April weren’t ready but came back 8 months later and signed up. You’ll see this with the Cohort Report. You’ll be able to tie marketing campaigns to signups.
We’ve written a lot about this before. Check it out if you would like more information.
4. Use People Search to See Which Content Moves the Needle
A big benefit of using an advanced analytics platform like Kissmetrics is that it tracks people. Every action on your site gets tied to a person – THE person who performed the action. This opens a world of possibilities, one of them being the ability to tie content to business growth. Let’s break it down.
You create content because you want to build awareness and convert traffic into customers. But can you see exactly which pieces of content convert readers into customers? With Kissmetrics, you can. There are two ways:
If you want to see whether a specific piece of content brought in signups/leads/customers/whatever you track, use the People Search feature.
If you want to see pieces of content lined up next to each other and see which leads to signups, use the Funnel Report.
In the first option, you have a piece of content on your website, be it a blog post, video, audio page, etc. You want to know if people who viewed that page eventually went on to sign up, submit a lead form, etc. Here’s how you do it.
Step 1) Open the Kissmetrics People Search
Here is the starting page in People Search. In simple terms, you can find people based on things they have done on your site.
Step 2) Set Your Criteria
We’ll click on “Add a condition” and set our criteria. We’ll look for people who have viewed a particular blog post:
We’ll use the “Viewed Url” property:
We’ll use a blog post url and select “Sign up” as the event. This means that people will have to have viewed the url and signed up. If they viewed the url but didn’t sign up, they will not be in this list. The same goes for if they signed up but did not view the url. They have to have done both to be in this list.
A quick note: This is not in chronological order. A person does not need to view the url and then sign up. They can sign up and then view the url. They just have to have done both within the selected date range.
We’ll select the date range as the last 30 days. This means that people must have viewed the url and signed up within the last 30 days. We’ll also find out when each person signed up.
The final step is to click Search.
Step 3) Get Your Data
Within a few seconds of clicking Search, we get our list of people:
The blurred out column on the left is a list of email addresses. This is how we choose to identify people. You can use anything you like, but email address is usually best.
So we see that over the last 30 days, 4 signups have viewed that specific url.
You can do this with any url on your site. Just set your criteria, and you’ll get your data.
Actionable Tips for Content Marketers
Here’s what you can do with this data:
You’ll learn which content turns visitors into readers. Maybe a post got a lot of traffic but actually zero signups, while a less-visited post actually converted a lot of people.
Take what you learn from this data and tailor your content accordingly. If you have a gardening site and see that content about perennials doesn’t convert people to purchase but content about apple trees does, then you can tailor more of your content toward apple trees.
This can totally change your content strategy game. The question shifts from:
“How much traffic did that post get?”
to…
“How many signups did that post bring?”
Again, you don’t have to use signups. Just use whatever goals you have or what needle you want to move.
A quick note about this data:
This is great data, but don’t draw conclusions too quickly. Keep in mind that a person may view a dozen pages before signing up. Just because they viewed a page and signed up doesn’t mean it was that page or piece of content that led them to sign up. You’ll have to get a little more granular if you want to see the exact path they took. Fortunately, you don’t have to leave Kissmetrics to get the data. It’s all within the Kissmetrics Person Details report.
If you want to get a more broad view of the relationship between content and revenue, you can use the Kissmetrics Revenue Report.
5. Let the Revenue Report Show You Which Content Brings Customers
Sometimes you just want a bird’s-eye view of what type of content is bringing you the most revenue. You may have questions like:
Which blog post categories acquire the most customers?
Which type of content brings the most customers?
Which content brings the most valuable customers?
If you’re asking these questions, then the Kissmetrics Revenue Report is your new favorite tool.
This report gives you an overview of your revenue. You’ll get a graphical representation of your revenue. Also, you’ll be able to break up your revenue into segments (groups) to see which group is performing the best.
Why is this useful?
Because, taken as a whole, your revenue is just a number. It’s great by itself, but it really doesn’t give you the information you need to bring more revenue to your company.
You can break up sources of revenue into groups. For instance, you can look at the customers who came from each marketing campaign and see which campaign brought the most valuable customers. When you do this, you’ll have a much better understanding of what you need to do. This is exactly why it’s called actionable data. And it’s exactly the type of data you get in Kissmetrics.
Enough talk, time to see the Revenue Report in action. I’m not going to bore you with every step of setting up a report. We’ve already been through that.
Let’s say we have an ecommerce store selling auto parts. Throughout our site, we have content on car repair and maintenance – everything from changing oil to replacing transmission gaskets. We love producing the content, but we also need to make sales. We want to know which type of content brings us the best customers, so we use the Kissmetrics Revenue Report.
Here’s how our data looks:
We’re sorting by total revenue. We can see that the most revenue comes from customers who viewed articles about transmission repair.
There are a few other important metrics. I particularly like lifetime value. This tells us the total amount of revenue we can expect from each customer. As we can see, customers with the highest lifetime value viewed articles on transmission repair. Our largest number of paying customers also came from this post category.
What about our old friend, churn? For our ecommerce company, we need return customers. Businesses aren’t built with one-off customers. We need to keep churn as low as possible.
With the Revenue Report, you can trigger churn as an event or if a customer doesn’t pay you within x number of days. In this case, churn is pretty high, and there isn’t much variation among post categories. This looks like a larger company-wide issue.
Also, we may need to expand our churn time frame. Some car parts and materials are consumable – people will always need to buy quarts of oil, filters, wiper blades, etc. Other products are bought only once. This makes churn a little more difficult to nail down. Customers will repurchase some items, but not others.
So here’s the plan:
Investigate high churn numbers.
Keep producing content on transmission repair. These articles bring us a lot of customers with a high lifetime value.
Maintenance and body repair are also strong post categories. After that, there is a drop-off. So we’ll focus on writing and expanding our library of transmission repair, maintenance, and body repair content.
Actionable Tips for Content Marketers
See how types of content correlate with revenue. You can also do this with different subjects.
Look to see if customers came from a PDF, a webinar, a blog post, etc. This will help you narrow down what’s working so you can put more energy into those things.
If you’re doing a lot of guest blogging, you can check out referrer or channel to see if your efforts are actually bringing enough valuable customers.
Become a Content Marketing Hero with Kissmetrics
Marketing is all about measuring and optimizing, and these five Kissmetrics reports will help take your content marketing to the next level.
And you aren’t limited to just these five reports. Every business is different, and you have goals you need to meet and exceed. Kissmetrics is a versatile product. You can track any action a person takes on your site. It could be clicking a button, submitting an order, downloading a file, etc. Track everything or only a few things. It’s up to you. Kissmetrics is here to give you the data you need to optimize your growth.
Now, finally, I’ve got one more tool up my sleeve. This tool will help you boost conversions towards whatever needle you’re looking to move. Let me tell you a little bit about it.
Bonus! Use Engage to Nudge Visitors toward Conversion
Kissmetrics has this great tool called Engage. It allows marketers to create nudges that move visitors toward action. This video explains it all:
Here are a few things content marketers can use Engage for:
Increase blog newsletter list – Do you have an email list of subscribers who receive updates and new content you produce? Create an engagement on your site that points visitors to the email signup landing page.
Move visitors toward content – You know what type of content converts. Now you just need to move people to that content. Use Engage to point people in the right direction.
Drive traffic to landing pages – Gated content is one of the best ways to drive leads. The more people you can get to your landing page, the more leads you’ll have.
Introduce people to your service – Content marketing isn’t really marketing if you’re not bringing in any customers. Show people what you really do (besides blogging). Create an engagement that sends them back to your main website. The more visitors you can turn into prospects, the better.
With Engage, you’ll have a great tool that can optimize conversions and turn visitors into customers. Use it wisely.
Got All That?
We’ve gone through a lot. Here’s a recap:
The Funnel Report allows you to see where visitors are dropping off in a conversion funnel. Track whatever needle you need to move, whether it’s signups, downloading a white paper, submitting a landing page, etc. Find out which types of content and which referrers are delivering the most customers. See if guest blogging is working for you by observing whether people who viewed a guest post of yours visited your site and signed up for your service.
The A/B Test Report allows you to test any part of your funnel. Create your test in Optimizely, VWO, Unbounce, etc., and track the results with the A/B Test Report. Test your landing pages and CTAs to see if any optimization tools actually do you any good.
Track reader retention with the Cohort Report. See which types of content bring people back and even which marketing channels bring loyal readers.
See which content converts with the People Search. Pick a piece of content and see if it has brought you signups. No longer do you have to guess – you can see which content converts.
Get a bird’s-eye view with the Revenue Report. See which types of content bring you the most valuable customers. Track total revenue, average revenue per customer, lifetime value, total number of paying customers, and churn rate.
Nudge visitors toward conversion with our Engage tool. Create lightboxes that move people to sign up for blog updates and gated content or that send people back to your main website.
Optimize Your Marketing with Kissmetrics
These are just a few examples of what content marketers can do with Kissmetrics. Our reports are more than vanity metrics – they provide insights into how users are behaving on your site. Once you see this data, you’ll know what needs to be improved.
Ready to get straight into the action? Just click the button below to request a personal demo of Kissmetrics. You’ll learn more about Kissmetrics and how it will help you optimize your marketing.
About the Author: Zach Bulygo (Twitter) is a Content Writer for Kissmetrics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1Mc03Al via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1UV8W3a
September 16, 2015 at 10:49PM
As a content marketer, you’re always pushing out content you hope visitors will find and love. And you’re always trying to get visitors to convert into customers.
Those are your two jobs – producing content and converting visitors.
But are your efforts paying off? And, if they are, how do you know what’s working and what’s not? How do you optimize your content marketing?
Thankfully, Kissmetrics is here to help. I’ve detailed five reports every content marketer can use to refine and optimize their content marketing. The measuring and reporting tools outlined below will help you get focused on the work that will produce the best results.
Let’s get started.
1. Track and Improve Conversions with the Funnel Report
You’re a marketer and you have numbers you need to meet every day, week, month, quarter, etc. Maybe the goal is to increase email signups by 2x, drive more people to a “Send Me Info” form, sign up people for your product, deliver orders (for ecommerce companies), get people to leave comments on a blog post, or drive people to a landing page. Whatever it is, you need to start by seeing how many people are already moving toward that goal.
Enter the Kissmetrics Funnel Report. This report shows you how people move through a website flow. This can be a signup flow, product usage flow, checkout flow, etc. You can place it anywhere on your site, and you’ll see where you’re losing customers. Here’s a sample funnel:
Now ask yourself:
Where am I trying to drive my users? What would make my boss happy? Would it be acquiring customers, increasing email signup rates, or bringing more leads to our sales team?
Figure out what this is (or “these are,” as you can certainly work toward increasing more than one number). Who knows, maybe you want to see how many people are commenting on your blog posts. If you want to move that needle (or are just curious), that’s cool. I won’t judge.
Then you can use the Kissmetrics Funnel Report to see your baseline, and use A/B tests to move the needle (more on that later).
Being able to see where you’re losing customers is pretty great, right? In addition to that, you can also segment your traffic. Segment is a fancy analytics word for “group.” You can group your traffic by things like marketing channel and see which channel is sending you the most customers. You’ll be able to see how each group moves along your funnel. Here’s an example (it’s the columns and rows underneath each step in the funnel):
You can break out each group and see how well it moves through your funnel. The best groups should get more of your attention and money, while the worst groups should be toned down.
Actionable Tips for Content Marketers
You aren’t limited to grouping people only by channel. Here are a few other groups I’d recommend:
Blog Category – If you run a blog, you can use blog category to track which category drives the most signups. We do this for our own blog and know which blog categories are the most effective at driving signups for the Kissmetrics product. This helps drive our content strategy because we know which content attracts the right audience. Note that “blog category” is not automatically tracked in Kissmetrics. You’ll need a little help from a developer. Once you implement it, you’ll find the information is helpful.
Type of Content – Content marketing is more than just text-based content. Maybe you have videos, audio files, infographics, etc. You can track each of these content types and see how people who view them move through your funnel. This will help you answer questions like “We’re spending all this time and money on infographics, but are we actually getting customers from them?” or “We have tons of videos, but do people who view the videos go on to sign up for our product?” Again, “type of content” is not automatically tracked in Kissmetrics. Just get a little bit of time from a developer, and they’ll set you up.
Referrer – Here’s one that is automatically tracked in Kissmetrics. I use referrer all the time to see which URLs are sending us customers. All I do is create a funnel for the steps “Visited Blog” to “Signed Up.” Signed Up triggers when someone…signs up. Then I do this:
This tells Kissmetrics to show me who the referrer was when someone visited the blog and to show me the full URL, not just the domain name. I click Apply and get my data:
The blurred column on the left is a list of the exact URLs that sent traffic and signups.
This is especially useful with guest blogging. If you guest blog and link back to your marketing site in the byline, you will be able to see how many people visit and how many of them sign up.
If you have an affiliate program, you can track traffic from each affiliate and see how it moves down your funnel.
Okay, so you get the idea about the Funnel Report. You can see where you’re losing customers through website flow, you can segment group traffic by whatever will get you the best insights, and you can optimize your marketing. On top of all that, you can put a smile on both your face and your boss’s face when that needle moves in the right direction.
Now, how do we move the needle? Through tests and iteration, of course. Let’s get into that now.
2. Test the Entire Funnel with the A/B Test Report
You want to get more people to sign up (or reach whatever goal you have). The best way to do this is to A/B test.
Since you’re a marketer, you’re probably running tests galore. You also probably use Optimizely, VWO, Unbounce, or some other testing tool.
The good news is that you can track the results and import the data (automatically) with Kissmetrics. There’s nothing additional to buy – it all comes with our Analyze product. We call it the A/B Test Report, and it’s pretty awesome. Here’s why:
You can test any part of your funnel. This is especially useful if you have a long onboarding process. Let’s say you run a SaaS company and your blog gets a lot of traffic. You can run a test on your blog to see how it impacts product use, not just to see how many signed up for your product. After all, what good is a signup if they don’t use your product? We’ve run plenty of internal tests at Kissmetrics on variants that appeared to be winners at the top of the funnel, but as we went further on down the funnel, they were losers. If we weren’t using the A/B Test Report, we would have launched a losing variant!
The A/B Test Report will display the statistical significance of your test. This is really important, as too many marketers (hopefully you’re not one of them) cut their test way too short. They’ll bring it live on Monday and close the test the following Wednesday, well before enough data has come in. (You can think about statistical significance this way [if you’re not a sports fan, skip this part]: Baseball, hockey, and football player stats in the first few games don’t really matter. Stay with me here: When the 2016-2017 baseball season starts, no one is going to put too much stock in a player’s first few games. Why? Well, if they go 3 for 4 in their first game, their batting percentage is going to be 750%. Obviously, it’s going to come back down to earth shortly. And no one looks at what a player did in the first game – watch the TV broadcast and notice they show the stats on how the player batted the previous year. There’s more data there. The same is true for your test.) You need to allow enough data to come in before you can reach conclusions. And since you’re using the Kissmetrics A/B Test Report, you’ll quickly know the statistical significance. If you don’t pay attention to this, you may launch a losing variant before enough data has come in.
The A/B Test Report will give you a recommendation. Was the original page the winner with statistical significance? If so, it will tell you to keep that. Or was it the variant? Or was it a toss-up? You’ll know with the A/B Test Report. No more guessing.
You will see every person who was in the test. And you won’t see just the number of people, but who the people actually were. You can dig deeper and see where they came from, if they converted to a paying customer, etc.
Here’s an example of how the report looks:
At the very top, you select a baseline. Below that, in bright blue, is the recommendation. On the next line, those 5 numbers in bold are the metrics for the test: how long it ran, how many people were in it, how many conversions there were, the improvement, and the certainty of improvement (aka statistical significance). You’ll want to go for at least 95% certainty.
The middle of the report is the data visualization. You can see the variant was the big winner here and that it was during the entire time the test was running.
The bottom section contains the metrics for each variant. You see the number of people in each variant (click the number to see a list of every person), the number of conversions for each (click the number to see each person who converted in the specified variant), the conversion rate, the improvement, and the certainty.
Actionable Tips for Content Marketers
This depends on which needle you want to drive. Since you’re a marketer, I’m assuming you’re in charge of increasing signup rates. Your boss tells you “If you double signups by the end of the year, you get a bonus.” You accept the challenge (why wouldn’t you?).
Awesome, now start testing. You’ll run the test on your blog. It’ll include a small CTA that shows up at the end of blog posts.
Talk to a designer, get something sketched up, bring in a developer to get the variant page running, and create your test in Optimizely, VWO, Unbounce, etc. (we integrate with them all), and track the results in the A/B Test Report.
Again (and this is important), you can test any part of your funnel with the A/B Test Report.
So more people click on the CTA in your variant page. Great? But did they actually start using your product? You’ll know with the A/B Test Report.
Here are a few more tips on where to A/B test:
Landing Pages – If you have landing pages for webinars or eBooks, you can test various elements on these pages. Try removing fields or adding/removing steps, and see how it affects your conversion rate.
CTAs, Button Copy – What content site doesn’t have a few CTAs and signup forms on every page (besides Zen Habits)? As a marketer, you know you need to test and optimize everything you can get your hands on. Test your headlines and your button copy. See that orange “Try Kissmetrics” at the top of this page? We’ve gone through dozens of copy for that button. “Try Kissmetrics” is what has performed best. If the button copy isn’t “Try Kissmetrics,” that means we’ve found another winner that beat it. We’re always testing.
Optimization Tools – Tools like BounceX, Hello Bar, and SumoMe are getting more popular for content marketers as a way to get something out of visitors who show intent to leave. In most cases, this is a chance for the marketer to grab an email address. Other times, it’s used for making an offer. Quick Sprout uses Hello Bar to increase its Facebook fans. Just visit the blog, hover near the top (as if you are going to close the tab), and this appears:
It’s a good idea to A/B test these tools on your website to see if they actually move the needle.
The general rule of thumb is this: anything the visitor can see should be tested.
The visitor can see a lot of things (CTA, headlines, optimization tools, elements on landing pages, etc.), and you should test them all.
3. Track and Grow Reader Retention with the Cohort Report
Building loyalty is difficult. This rule goes for almost anything, but especially for building a loyal audience on the web. There is an unlimited number of websites, but visitors are able to keep only a small number of sites in their rotation. For most people, that might include Facebook, their favorite news site, YouTube, and a few others. So it’s very difficult to get into that daily rotation. The best you can hope for is to have people sign up for your email newsletter and/or subscribe to your RSS feed.
Now, how do you track reader loyalty?
If you’re not familiar with the term, “cohort” can be quite intimidating. It may sound like something you’d see in studies or medical journals. “A cohort of people were put on x” or “There was the y chromosome cohort” (also known as males). Don’t let the 6-letter word put you off so that you never learn what it is. A cohort is pretty simple:
A cohort is a group of people who share a common experience or characteristic within a defined period of time.
For marketers, this could be a group of people who signed up for your product in May. It could be called the “May Signup Cohort.” People who visited your blog and commented may be a cohort you pay attention to.
If you want to see the cohort of people who visited your blog from a specific marketing channel, here’s how that would look (actual data will vary):
On the left-hand side, we see the list of marketing channels. People who first visited the blog during our date range (May 1, 2013 – May 31, 2014) are put in one of these buckets, depending on the channel. In the next column, we see the total number of people in each channel who visited the blog during those months.
On the right, the blue shaded cells with percentages in them show us when the people visited the blog. So if a person came to the blog from a Google search in May 2013, they would be put in the organic bucket (20%). If they visited the blog again in July, they would be put in column 3 across from organic. The higher the percentages (darker shades of blue), the more retention there is. Since you’re a content marketer and you want to drive retention, you’ll want to get more traffic from the marketing channels that have proven to deliver strong reader retention.
This example shows us that email brings strong reader retention. The main takeaway for us is that we need to continue to drive people to our email newsletter. Once we do that, we will have a strong possibility of keeping them as readers. So our new goal is to build up our email list.
Actionable Tips for Content Marketers
Here are a few other ways you can use the Cohort Report:
Track which types of content bring in loyal readers. Are certain pieces of content keeping people from returning?
Track signup rates across marketing channels or types of content. Perhaps one type of content leads more people to sign up.
If you guest blog on other platforms, you can track referrers and see which bring loyal readers, or even signups.
You’re probably thinking “Why track signups on a Cohort Report? I can use the Funnel Report.”
Yes, you can. But the Cohort Report allows you to track signups over time. So if someone comes to your site in March but doesn’t sign up until November, the Funnel Report may not report that if you don’t extend your date range long enough.
Another benefit of using the Cohort Report to track signups is that you can see how long it takes people to sign up after they visit your site. Did you have a marketing campaign in April that didn’t get many signups? Perhaps people who visited in April weren’t ready but came back 8 months later and signed up. You’ll see this with the Cohort Report. You’ll be able to tie marketing campaigns to signups.
We’ve written a lot about this before. Check it out if you would like more information.
4. Use People Search to See Which Content Moves the Needle
A big benefit of using an advanced analytics platform like Kissmetrics is that it tracks people. Every action on your site gets tied to a person – THE person who performed the action. This opens a world of possibilities, one of them being the ability to tie content to business growth. Let’s break it down.
You create content because you want to build awareness and convert traffic into customers. But can you see exactly which pieces of content convert readers into customers? With Kissmetrics, you can. There are two ways:
If you want to see whether a specific piece of content brought in signups/leads/customers/whatever you track, use the People Search feature.
If you want to see pieces of content lined up next to each other and see which leads to signups, use the Funnel Report.
In the first option, you have a piece of content on your website, be it a blog post, video, audio page, etc. You want to know if people who viewed that page eventually went on to sign up, submit a lead form, etc. Here’s how you do it.
Step 1) Open the Kissmetrics People Search
Here is the starting page in People Search. In simple terms, you can find people based on things they have done on your site.
Step 2) Set Your Criteria
We’ll click on “Add a condition” and set our criteria. We’ll look for people who have viewed a particular blog post:
We’ll use the “Viewed Url” property:
We’ll use a blog post url and select “Sign up” as the event. This means that people will have to have viewed the url and signed up. If they viewed the url but didn’t sign up, they will not be in this list. The same goes for if they signed up but did not view the url. They have to have done both to be in this list.
A quick note: This is not in chronological order. A person does not need to view the url and then sign up. They can sign up and then view the url. They just have to have done both within the selected date range.
We’ll select the date range as the last 30 days. This means that people must have viewed the url and signed up within the last 30 days. We’ll also find out when each person signed up.
The final step is to click Search.
Step 3) Get Your Data
Within a few seconds of clicking Search, we get our list of people:
The blurred out column on the left is a list of email addresses. This is how we choose to identify people. You can use anything you like, but email address is usually best.
So we see that over the last 30 days, 4 signups have viewed that specific url.
You can do this with any url on your site. Just set your criteria, and you’ll get your data.
Actionable Tips for Content Marketers
Here’s what you can do with this data:
You’ll learn which content turns visitors into readers. Maybe a post got a lot of traffic but actually zero signups, while a less-visited post actually converted a lot of people.
Take what you learn from this data and tailor your content accordingly. If you have a gardening site and see that content about perennials doesn’t convert people to purchase but content about apple trees does, then you can tailor more of your content toward apple trees.
This can totally change your content strategy game. The question shifts from:
“How much traffic did that post get?”
to…
“How many signups did that post bring?”
Again, you don’t have to use signups. Just use whatever goals you have or what needle you want to move.
A quick note about this data:
This is great data, but don’t draw conclusions too quickly. Keep in mind that a person may view a dozen pages before signing up. Just because they viewed a page and signed up doesn’t mean it was that page or piece of content that led them to sign up. You’ll have to get a little more granular if you want to see the exact path they took. Fortunately, you don’t have to leave Kissmetrics to get the data. It’s all within the Kissmetrics Person Details report.
If you want to get a more broad view of the relationship between content and revenue, you can use the Kissmetrics Revenue Report.
5. Let the Revenue Report Show You Which Content Brings Customers
Sometimes you just want a bird’s-eye view of what type of content is bringing you the most revenue. You may have questions like:
Which blog post categories acquire the most customers?
Which type of content brings the most customers?
Which content brings the most valuable customers?
If you’re asking these questions, then the Kissmetrics Revenue Report is your new favorite tool.
This report gives you an overview of your revenue. You’ll get a graphical representation of your revenue. Also, you’ll be able to break up your revenue into segments (groups) to see which group is performing the best.
Why is this useful?
Because, taken as a whole, your revenue is just a number. It’s great by itself, but it really doesn’t give you the information you need to bring more revenue to your company.
You can break up sources of revenue into groups. For instance, you can look at the customers who came from each marketing campaign and see which campaign brought the most valuable customers. When you do this, you’ll have a much better understanding of what you need to do. This is exactly why it’s called actionable data. And it’s exactly the type of data you get in Kissmetrics.
Enough talk, time to see the Revenue Report in action. I’m not going to bore you with every step of setting up a report. We’ve already been through that.
Let’s say we have an ecommerce store selling auto parts. Throughout our site, we have content on car repair and maintenance – everything from changing oil to replacing transmission gaskets. We love producing the content, but we also need to make sales. We want to know which type of content brings us the best customers, so we use the Kissmetrics Revenue Report.
Here’s how our data looks:
We’re sorting by total revenue. We can see that the most revenue comes from customers who viewed articles about transmission repair.
There are a few other important metrics. I particularly like lifetime value. This tells us the total amount of revenue we can expect from each customer. As we can see, customers with the highest lifetime value viewed articles on transmission repair. Our largest number of paying customers also came from this post category.
What about our old friend, churn? For our ecommerce company, we need return customers. Businesses aren’t built with one-off customers. We need to keep churn as low as possible.
With the Revenue Report, you can trigger churn as an event or if a customer doesn’t pay you within x number of days. In this case, churn is pretty high, and there isn’t much variation among post categories. This looks like a larger company-wide issue.
Also, we may need to expand our churn time frame. Some car parts and materials are consumable – people will always need to buy quarts of oil, filters, wiper blades, etc. Other products are bought only once. This makes churn a little more difficult to nail down. Customers will repurchase some items, but not others.
So here’s the plan:
Investigate high churn numbers.
Keep producing content on transmission repair. These articles bring us a lot of customers with a high lifetime value.
Maintenance and body repair are also strong post categories. After that, there is a drop-off. So we’ll focus on writing and expanding our library of transmission repair, maintenance, and body repair content.
Actionable Tips for Content Marketers
See how types of content correlate with revenue. You can also do this with different subjects.
Look to see if customers came from a PDF, a webinar, a blog post, etc. This will help you narrow down what’s working so you can put more energy into those things.
If you’re doing a lot of guest blogging, you can check out referrer or channel to see if your efforts are actually bringing enough valuable customers.
Become a Content Marketing Hero with Kissmetrics
Marketing is all about measuring and optimizing, and these five Kissmetrics reports will help take your content marketing to the next level.
And you aren’t limited to just these five reports. Every business is different, and you have goals you need to meet and exceed. Kissmetrics is a versatile product. You can track any action a person takes on your site. It could be clicking a button, submitting an order, downloading a file, etc. Track everything or only a few things. It’s up to you. Kissmetrics is here to give you the data you need to optimize your growth.
Now, finally, I’ve got one more tool up my sleeve. This tool will help you boost conversions towards whatever needle you’re looking to move. Let me tell you a little bit about it.
Bonus! Use Engage to Nudge Visitors toward Conversion
Kissmetrics has this great tool called Engage. It allows marketers to create nudges that move visitors toward action. This video explains it all:
Here are a few things content marketers can use Engage for:
Increase blog newsletter list – Do you have an email list of subscribers who receive updates and new content you produce? Create an engagement on your site that points visitors to the email signup landing page.
Move visitors toward content – You know what type of content converts. Now you just need to move people to that content. Use Engage to point people in the right direction.
Drive traffic to landing pages – Gated content is one of the best ways to drive leads. The more people you can get to your landing page, the more leads you’ll have.
Introduce people to your service – Content marketing isn’t really marketing if you’re not bringing in any customers. Show people what you really do (besides blogging). Create an engagement that sends them back to your main website. The more visitors you can turn into prospects, the better.
With Engage, you’ll have a great tool that can optimize conversions and turn visitors into customers. Use it wisely.
Got All That?
We’ve gone through a lot. Here’s a recap:
The Funnel Report allows you to see where visitors are dropping off in a conversion funnel. Track whatever needle you need to move, whether it’s signups, downloading a white paper, submitting a landing page, etc. Find out which types of content and which referrers are delivering the most customers. See if guest blogging is working for you by observing whether people who viewed a guest post of yours visited your site and signed up for your service.
The A/B Test Report allows you to test any part of your funnel. Create your test in Optimizely, VWO, Unbounce, etc., and track the results with the A/B Test Report. Test your landing pages and CTAs to see if any optimization tools actually do you any good.
Track reader retention with the Cohort Report. See which types of content bring people back and even which marketing channels bring loyal readers.
See which content converts with the People Search. Pick a piece of content and see if it has brought you signups. No longer do you have to guess – you can see which content converts.
Get a bird’s-eye view with the Revenue Report. See which types of content bring you the most valuable customers. Track total revenue, average revenue per customer, lifetime value, total number of paying customers, and churn rate.
Nudge visitors toward conversion with our Engage tool. Create lightboxes that move people to sign up for blog updates and gated content or that send people back to your main website.
Optimize Your Marketing with Kissmetrics
These are just a few examples of what content marketers can do with Kissmetrics. Our reports are more than vanity metrics – they provide insights into how users are behaving on your site. Once you see this data, you’ll know what needs to be improved.
Ready to get straight into the action? Just click the button below to request a personal demo of Kissmetrics. You’ll learn more about Kissmetrics and how it will help you optimize your marketing.
About the Author: Zach Bulygo (Twitter) is a Content Writer for Kissmetrics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1Mc03Al via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1UV8W3a
September 16, 2015 at 10:49PM
Added: Sep 09, 2015 Via IFTTT
The Ultimate Guide to Copywriting
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
The Ultimate Guide to Copywriting
Killer copy is the backbone of marketing.
Creating it is a powerful art and sweet science.
And it’s not about being clever or cute.
It’s about getting the person who’s reading your words to do one thing, and one thing only…
To take the desired action you want.
That’s it.
However to get your prospect to act, you need to grab his attention and keep it…all the way down to the last word. You need to push his emotional hot buttons and bring him to boiling point. And you need to lift risk off his shoulders, overcome objections, ask for the sale and justify your price.
Doing the above–without sounding like a robotic product description with a buy it now button–sounds like a handful doesn’t it?
Don’t worry, I got you covered. After reading this guide you’ll be equipped to:
Create straight-for-the-jugular headlines that grab attention
Nail your openings and introductions
Craft a smooth sales message that propels your reader forward
Create copy that keeps readers straightjacketed to the page
Comfort your reader’s gnawing objections
Learn how to hook your prospect with (proven) psychological hacks
So get comfortable, it’s time to harness the power of the written word to beef up your business with higher conversions.
Let’s go.
Get Into Bed With Your Customer
You can have beautifully written copy. You can have a gorgeous website design. You can even have a kick-ass product.
But if you don’t have a firm, white-knuckle grasp on the nightmare inducing pains and heart warming dreams of your customers; you’ll get as far as a solar powered snail…in an eclipse.
Think about it…if you aren’t aware of what fears make your customer’s throat dry and his heart heavy, and what goals he continually “replays” in his head when nobody is watching. How on earth are you going to convince him that your product/service can help him?
You can’t.
Velocity partners boasts a good understanding of their customers:
They could have spoke about anything related to content marketing, but they know their audience values the concept of branding.
This understanding allows them to create hot topic that emotionally resonates with their audience.
Here’s another great example from the Myfitnesspal mobile app:
They know their audience is serious about losing weight; serious enough to track every calorie they consume.
They also know that people think counting calories is time consuming and difficult. So they stress how effortless it is to log recipes, and how easy the app is to use.
This snags the attention of anyone who’s committed to tracking calories without ripping their hair out or being robbed of their time.
To unearth the desires and pains that’ll sway your prospect towards action, start by resting your marketing hat for a minute and donning your “sales detective” one.
Becoming A Sales Detective
This is where you roll your sleeves up and start sleuthing behind the scenes.
Infamous copywriter John Carlton calls this becoming a sales detective and getting into a “ bogart-like gumshoe frame of mind.” You’re going to:
Dig through previous copy or sales literature
Interview customers
Interview employees
Scout out your competition, James Bond style
Pump Google Alerts for info
Analyse your web analytics
Becoming a sales detective is all about using research to step inside your customer’s world.
It will inject empathy into your copy and answers the all-important question…“who are you dealing with here?”
With the “preliminaries” out the way, let’s dive into the “nitty gritty” details of creating powerful copy.
Crafting Headlines That Jar Prospects Into Attention
Famed copywriter David Ogilvy said:
“On the average, five times as many people read the headlines as the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent 80 cents out of your dollar.”
Or in other words: A weak headline can make your business bleed money.
A case study by contentverve.com shows the huge power behind headlines. They switched the landing page headline for a local scandinavian gym from, “You Work Out Smarter at Fitness World” to “Group Training and Fitness at Your Local Gym”.
The results?
A 38.46% increase in memberships sold.
All from changing a headline.
When it comes to your copy, your headline has two main jobs:
To snag the attention of your audience
And seduce them into your pitch or ad
Different headlines work for different pages and user goals. But most high performing headlines usually do the following:
Offer a mouthwatering benefit to the reader
Tickle the reader’s curiosity
Promise specific results within a certain time frame
One simple but effective headline formula you can follow is:
Benefit to customer + Time Period Where He’ll Get The Benefit + Overcome His Objections
“Double Your Website Traffic + In 2 months + Or Your Money Back”.
Another way to strengthen your headline is to attack it from a different angle. To do this, run it through a filter.
The Benefit Driven Filter
This attacks from a benefit driven angle, and simply focuses on telling the reader what’s in it for him.
Here’s an example from Box.
“Securely send & share large files without email or FTP client.”
It’s quick, clean, and does what any great headline should do; tell the reader what’s in it for him.
The Inspirational Filter
Applying this filter forces you to focus on how your product/service will help your reader achieve an “inspirational” goal or result.
Here’s an example from Tom Ewers Paid to Blog subscription service:
“It is possible to make $100+ Per Hour From Freelance Blogging. I want to show you how.”
Some freelancers are skeptical about making a comfortable living with blogging.
This headline confronts that doubt by claiming that it’s possible, and that the product will show you how.
The Aggressive/Competitive Filter
Who doesn’t like sound of of being the best or beating the competition?
That’s what aggressive filters focus on: Leaving the competition coughing in your dust bubbles.
Here’s an example from webprofits.com:
“Get a free backlink analysis and find out how to beat your competition on google”.
It conveys a solid benefit to the reader, and promises information on how they can overthrow their competition on Google.
Looking for more ways to come up with attention grabbing headlines? Here’s 9 more proven formulas.
The AIDA Formula
You have a white knuckle grasp on who your prospect is. You know his pains and desires. And you have a headline that’ll drag him in like demonic tornado.
Now it’s time to lay down some copy.
Productivity usually plummets at this stage. People find themselves drowning in writer’s block… wondering “what now?”
Well fear not, the famous AIDA formula (popularized by the legendary Gary Halbert) will pluck you from the crushing coils of writer’s block. Just like a superhero swinging down to pluck you from a speeding car.
The AIDA formula acts as a skeleton for most sales letters. It is structured around the wavering interest levels of your reader. Which helps you anticipate his thoughts, questions and objections.
This magnetizes your copy and gets your prospect to act.
So what exactly does AIDA stand for?
A – Attention
The opening, where you snag your prospect’s attention and quickly convey that what you have to say will benefit him. Usually the headline and the opening sentence.
I – Interest
This is where you pique the interest of your reader by either “rubbing salt in his open wounds” (agitating his pain), or by weaving a story that highlights how he’ll fulfill his desires.
D – Desire
Your reader is interested in your offer. Now it’s time to “stomp on his greed glands” and arouse his emotions by describing how your product/service will enhance his life.
A – Action
After your product sweeps the reader of his feet, this is where you invite him to take action. Usually to buy, download, click or subscribe.
Here’s an example of the AIDA formula from Get Response.com:
The headline “world’s easiest email marketing” grabs your attention.
And the bulleted list of benefits, sows the seeds of interest by telling you how their software will power up your email marketing.
The page then mentions who the product is for, and describes how its features and perks can help you, regardless of your skill level. This piques your interest, works up your desire and begins to chip away at your objections.
The page then intensifies your desire and tackles objections further. This is done by showing testimonials from industry leaders who you probably look up to.
The page then calls the reader to action by inviting them to a 30 day trial.
If you spend too much time gazing at a blank screen with a blinking cursor…use the AIDA formula. It’ll inject your copy with a smooth flow and structure that holds your readers attention and doesn’t let go.
Apply the Boxer Mindset To Copy
Writing copy is like boxing.
Especially when it comes to your openings.
In the ring, if you don’t want to be eating the canvas, you have to think 3-4 punches ahead.
You have to predict your opponent’s counters, slips and movement patterns before he even thinks of doing them. Will you throw feints to keep him on his toes? Or mix up your style to land more shots? Or close the distance for more impact?
Similarly, if you want to keep readers hooked to your copy, you have to anticipate their thoughts and be mindful of each word, sentence and paragraph you deliver.
To hit hard and get results–like a boxer’s punches–your words have to flow. Non-stop.
Are you going to mix up long and short sentences to keep your copy exciting? Ask questions that flow into the next paragraph? Or deploy an analogy to bring home the point you’re trying to make?
Whatever you do, remember that your reader should smoothly slip into each new tightly woven sentence and paragraph.
You’re essentially guiding his thoughts, just as you would aim to guide your opponents movements and strikes in the ring.
Crafting Openings That Suck People In
If you don’t have a killer opening that goes straight for the jugular, you don’t stand a chance at converting your prospect.
Because if your opening doesn’t motivate him to, he isn’t going to travel down your sales letter and click your buy it now button.
So how do you create openings that nudge your reader along? Here are 3 ways:
Open With a Question
Opening with a question is a great way to start your sales letter.
It almost forces your reader to mentally respond, creates a little conversation, and keeps your copy fresh. This helps streamline your reader’s thoughts on to the next sentence.
Keep It Short
Short sentences and paragraphs are like grease on a slide, they keep you moving forward, fast.
They also make for great openings.
Think about it, you’re more inclined to read a series of sweet, short 2-3 sentence paragraphs over a huge mammoth-like chunk of text, right?
Why? Because short sentences and paragraphs feel easy, and people take the path of least resistance. They also build momentum, which makes it easier for the reader to continue reading.
Joe Sugarman (renowned copywriter) describes this as being like a locomotive:
“When the locomotive starts to chug from a standing start, it really works hard. The amount of commitment the train must exert is monumental. But once this train starts to move, the next few feet become easier and the next few even easier. So it is with copy.”
Wistia does a great job of combining the two techniques above:
Notice how their copy feels engaging and conversational? That’s the questions at work. The questions also do a great job of setting the reader up for the next sentence and keeping him speeding through the copy.
Also, notice how you float from one sentence to another? That’s those short sentences at work.
State Your Claim
No fancy stuff.
Just be blunt and let readers know what you’re about.
Here’s an example from the Kissmetrics homepage:
There’s no cuteness. They lay it out in the open by telling you exactly what they can do for you.
And because it is blunt and upfront…you will either instantly prickle with recognition, or pay no attention at all.
Lighting Up Your Prospects Greed Glands
Gary Halbert said:
“When it comes to writing copy, far too much attention is paid to the actual writing and far too little is paid to ferreting out facts about that which the copywriter is trying to sell.”
You’ve opened your copy with a bang. Got your reader’s attention and have captured his interest with a killer opening.
Next comes the meat of your sales letter.
Where you switch to full-auto, releasing a barrage of benefits that make your reader’s heart swell with desire, and create a burning itch that has to be scratched.
Benefits transform an ember of interest into a raging fire of desire that motivates people to act.
Michael Aagaard blasted conversions up 80% by adding three benefit driven bullet points to his opt-in form. That’s the kind of power benefits have.That’s why they are a must if you want to sell anything.
Here’s a lovely example of benefit driven copy from Wrangler:
Wrangler could have listed their features and said:
These regular rise jeans have slimming side seams and a subtle boot cut
They also have a reverse yoke
The jeans also have vertical back pockets and a contour waistband
Instead, they harnessed the power of benefit driven copy by showing how the features of their products benefit the user.
Slimming side seams and subtle boot cut to flatter your shape
A reverse yoke lifts the seat
Vertical back pockets are proportion to make the most of your assets
Contour waistbands means these jeans won’t gap in the back
Each feature constantly relates back to how it will make the reader look sexier, slimmer and more desirable. Which doesn’t just describe what they’re selling. It seductively drip feeds the product benefits into her brain.
A Note on Bullet Points
Bullet points are easy to read, make your copy more scannable, and allow you to pile on the mouthwatering benefits of your product.
But two lesser-known ways of maximizing your results with bullets are to mix them up with…
Blind Bullets
Blind bullets can be described as teaser bullets.
They provide a clear image of the benefit you receive, but not the specifics or the“how” behind the benefit. This deliberate vagueness arouses the reader’s curiosity and keeps him interested.
Take a look at these examples from the sales page for Doberman Dan’s newsletter:
See what’s going on here?
There’s a juicy benefit being offered, and its value is made higher with specific numbers. But the benefit still shadow-dances around the edges of the “how”.
It’s blind.
This prompts the reader to think “what secret food will give me a 5% edge?”, and “what is the master key to making serious money?” Adding to his curiosity and desire.
Open Bullets
Open bullets are the opposite of blind bullets.
They wow the reader by giving away detailed specifics behind the benefit.
Just like this opt in page:
Each point has a “blind” style headline. Followed by detailed information on each case study and the benefit it offers. This soars the value of each point, and helps establish the idea that the seller “knows their stuff”.
Be sure to mix in blind and open bullets to keep your copy more engaging.
Take The Weight off His Shoulders
Your reader has breezed through your copy.
He’s ready.
He knows your offer will greatly benefit him. And his credit card is peeking out his wallet. But if only he could squash those doubts pecking at his brain…
“What if you don’t deliver?” “What if he doesn’t make extra money with your product? “What if he doesn’t save time?”
We’ve all felt this to some degree, right?
You’re at a checkout page and you love the product. But you’re just not sure.
I’ve experienced this many times. I’ve thought, would I get results from this? What if it tanks? And guess what?
After knowing that I didn’t risk a penny and there is no risk on me. I could just return the product or ask for my money back, I whipped my card out and completed the check-out.
Because I felt safe in buying the product.
That’s why guarantees are such an important part of your copy. They help you eliminate the risk of your prospect being “taken”.
Now, you don’t need a groundbreaking guarantee.
A guarantee that shows that your prospect isn’t at risk and stands to lose nothing will suffice.
If you’re selling software, you can offer trials and let your prospect try before they buy. I recently made a purchase from GetResponse, but only because they offered me a risk free trial beforehand.
A free trial also does your marketing for you. And it allows you to put your money where your mouth is.
Your prospect gets first hand experience of the benefits of your product. He could potentially boost sales/conversions without spending a dime. And nothing sells someone like fresh cash, or concrete results.
Create a Greased Slide
How your copy is written will impact your results greatly.
That’s why it’s important to make sure that your copy is easy and fun to read.
As Joseph Sugarman said, your copy should read like a greased slide.
There are 101 ways to power up your writing, but some basic techniques that you should stick to are:
Keep Sentences Short, But Vary Your Pace
Gary Provost sums this up perfectly…
Deploy Powerful Action Verbs, Kill Fluff
“Adjectives are just fluff and air. Like tossing flowers out of your ad to get your prospects attention.” — John Carlton
Here’s a written scene that relies on adjectives instead of verbs:
“He quickly raised his combat knife to see where his attackers were. He composedly stepped out of his life-saving cover. The black gun menacingly fired two loud shot that quickly found their targets.”
The same scene after powering it up with action verbs:
“He used the reflection in his combat knife to gather a rough idea of their location and stepped out of cover. The gun rattled to life. Each shot whizzed to its destination with lightening fast speed.”
See the difference here?
One description is heavy and hard. It requires the reader to wade through bloated words and mundane text.
The other packs-a-punch, and delivers powerful imagery straight into the reader’s brain. Because it uses action verbs to describe and removes the fluff.
Make it Easy To Swing From Paragraph to Paragraph
Ever heard of transitions?
They’re words and phrases that can be viewed as “literary tubes”, because they connect ideas and sentences together.
For example, the sentence below uses “so” as a transition:
“You want to boost your conversions without spending tons of money, so you tweak your copy.”
Unless you want to sound like an illiterate robot, transitions are a must in all forms of writing. But they are even more effective when they become delayed transitions.
Delayed transitions place the joining phrase, or word, at the beginning of the next sentence or paragraph.
Here’s an example from Apple’s watchOS 2 preview page:
Delayed transitions are used at the beginning of each sentence to connect and flow right into the next.
Using delayed transition makes your copy better because:
They make it easier to start reading a new line.
They help create shorter sentences. This keeps readers engaged and builds momentum.
They switch up your flow, which as we know, prevents your copy from becoming stale.
Psychologically Advanced Copywriting Tricks
The basics have been covered.
Now it’s time for some advanced copywriting tips to magnetize your copy.
Boost your Perceived Value With Re-framing
According to Wikipedia, “reframing is a psychological technique that consists of identifying and then disputing irrational or maladaptive thoughts. Reframing is a way of viewing and experiencing events, ideas, concepts and emotions to find more positive alternatives.”
With regards to marketing, reframing is when you increase the perceived value of a product by tweaking the buying lens from which your reader views it.
And it’s been proven to work.
Here’s an example of reframing from Volkswagen:
The price of a brand new car is reframed with the price of two lattes a day. This instantly makes the offer more appealing because it softens the blow of the price.
Here’s another more detailed example:
What price can you place on learning how to get more copywriting clients than you can manage? $2,000? $3000? $5000? (You can easily earn all these numbers back within a month of learning how to secure clients.)
My standard fee for private coaching is $300/hour and in my supercharged copywriting course, you get over 15 hours of my teaching. That would leave the bill at $4,500.
However, supercharged copy course won’t cost you anywhere near that. This investment in your career and life is only…
$260.
And let’s be real, you’ll most likely earn twice that much with your first gig.
There are two re-frames going on at the same time.
The first is when the price of the course ($260) is contrasted to how much you can earn in your first month ($2000). The second occurs when the price of private coaching ($4500) is compared to the price of the course ($260).
This takes the reader’s view of the product from being just a “$260 video course” to a wise educational investment in which they save $4460.
Keep Readers Hooked With Open Loops
Open loops are everywhere.
And they’re powerful, because our brains have a natural craving for completion.
As discovered by scientist Bluma Zeigarnik, our brains undergo a state of tension when they view something as incomplete.
A tension that won’t be relieved until you feel the task at hand, or whatever you’re involved in, is complete.
It’s the feeling you get when you’re immersed in a book that you just can’t seem to put down.
The feeling you get when your favorite TV episode ends, and you’re itching to find out what happens next.
It’s the gnawing feeling in the back of your brain when leave your keys at home and step out the house.
When it comes to writing copy, an open loop is a portion of your sales letter that doesn’t immediately tie up.
Here’s an example from Jon Morrow’s Serious Bloggers Only sales letter:
Jon opens an itching open loop in the reader’s brain at the start of the sales letter. He does this by mentioning the “biggest secret to taking your blog to six or seven figures per year”.
After opening this loop, he doesn’t tie it up immediately.
Instead, he teases the reader by asking if they’d like to know. And mentions how people pay him up to $5000 for his expertise and advice…
A deeper mental itch is then created because this causes the reader to question “why is his knowledge so valuable?” and “what makes him so special, whats this secret?”
This motivates the reader to travel further down the copy. Where he ties up the open loop, and pitches to the reader.
The easiest way to implement open loops in your copy is to ask more questions.
Or…ask questions and delay the answer to keep your reader invested.
One Final Thing
“You must not come lightly to the blank page.”
–Stephen King, On Writing
Ever seen an athlete or world-class performer come to his task lightly?
You don’t.
Because to give a riveting performance, or win, they have to be focused, charged, and ready to spring.
The same mentality applies to writing copy…or anything that moves people to action.
Jon Morrow put this perfectly when he said:
“Your readers are the dead batteries. You are the live one. The written word is your pair of jumper cables.”
Charge yourself with emotion, close your eyes and imagine yourself as your customer, feeling the pain that your product/service solves.
You’ll instantly add a flaming intensity to your copy that snaps readers out of their slumber, and connect to the living, breathing human who will benefit from your offer.
Conclusion
What design converts better with your copy?
What words or phrases seem to click with your readers?
Where do reader’s lose/gain interest?
You can only know if you test.
Be sure to experiment with different calls to actions, headlines and benefits for maximum conversions.
What do you find most frustrating about writing copy? Let me know in the comments below.
About the Author: Hassan Ud-deen is a content marketing consultant who is addicted to words. He’s a specialist in article and case study writing for traffic generation. Hit him up on LinkedIn or Twitter.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1L1L7WD via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1idzP6H
September 09, 2015 at 10:24PM
Killer copy is the backbone of marketing.
Creating it is a powerful art and sweet science.
And it’s not about being clever or cute.
It’s about getting the person who’s reading your words to do one thing, and one thing only…
To take the desired action you want.
That’s it.
However to get your prospect to act, you need to grab his attention and keep it…all the way down to the last word. You need to push his emotional hot buttons and bring him to boiling point. And you need to lift risk off his shoulders, overcome objections, ask for the sale and justify your price.
Doing the above–without sounding like a robotic product description with a buy it now button–sounds like a handful doesn’t it?
Don’t worry, I got you covered. After reading this guide you’ll be equipped to:
Create straight-for-the-jugular headlines that grab attention
Nail your openings and introductions
Craft a smooth sales message that propels your reader forward
Create copy that keeps readers straightjacketed to the page
Comfort your reader’s gnawing objections
Learn how to hook your prospect with (proven) psychological hacks
So get comfortable, it’s time to harness the power of the written word to beef up your business with higher conversions.
Let’s go.
Get Into Bed With Your Customer
You can have beautifully written copy. You can have a gorgeous website design. You can even have a kick-ass product.
But if you don’t have a firm, white-knuckle grasp on the nightmare inducing pains and heart warming dreams of your customers; you’ll get as far as a solar powered snail…in an eclipse.
Think about it…if you aren’t aware of what fears make your customer’s throat dry and his heart heavy, and what goals he continually “replays” in his head when nobody is watching. How on earth are you going to convince him that your product/service can help him?
You can’t.
Velocity partners boasts a good understanding of their customers:
They could have spoke about anything related to content marketing, but they know their audience values the concept of branding.
This understanding allows them to create hot topic that emotionally resonates with their audience.
Here’s another great example from the Myfitnesspal mobile app:
They know their audience is serious about losing weight; serious enough to track every calorie they consume.
They also know that people think counting calories is time consuming and difficult. So they stress how effortless it is to log recipes, and how easy the app is to use.
This snags the attention of anyone who’s committed to tracking calories without ripping their hair out or being robbed of their time.
To unearth the desires and pains that’ll sway your prospect towards action, start by resting your marketing hat for a minute and donning your “sales detective” one.
Becoming A Sales Detective
This is where you roll your sleeves up and start sleuthing behind the scenes.
Infamous copywriter John Carlton calls this becoming a sales detective and getting into a “ bogart-like gumshoe frame of mind.” You’re going to:
Dig through previous copy or sales literature
Interview customers
Interview employees
Scout out your competition, James Bond style
Pump Google Alerts for info
Analyse your web analytics
Becoming a sales detective is all about using research to step inside your customer’s world.
It will inject empathy into your copy and answers the all-important question…“who are you dealing with here?”
With the “preliminaries” out the way, let’s dive into the “nitty gritty” details of creating powerful copy.
Crafting Headlines That Jar Prospects Into Attention
Famed copywriter David Ogilvy said:
“On the average, five times as many people read the headlines as the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent 80 cents out of your dollar.”
Or in other words: A weak headline can make your business bleed money.
A case study by contentverve.com shows the huge power behind headlines. They switched the landing page headline for a local scandinavian gym from, “You Work Out Smarter at Fitness World” to “Group Training and Fitness at Your Local Gym”.
The results?
A 38.46% increase in memberships sold.
All from changing a headline.
When it comes to your copy, your headline has two main jobs:
To snag the attention of your audience
And seduce them into your pitch or ad
Different headlines work for different pages and user goals. But most high performing headlines usually do the following:
Offer a mouthwatering benefit to the reader
Tickle the reader’s curiosity
Promise specific results within a certain time frame
One simple but effective headline formula you can follow is:
Benefit to customer + Time Period Where He’ll Get The Benefit + Overcome His Objections
“Double Your Website Traffic + In 2 months + Or Your Money Back”.
Another way to strengthen your headline is to attack it from a different angle. To do this, run it through a filter.
The Benefit Driven Filter
This attacks from a benefit driven angle, and simply focuses on telling the reader what’s in it for him.
Here’s an example from Box.
“Securely send & share large files without email or FTP client.”
It’s quick, clean, and does what any great headline should do; tell the reader what’s in it for him.
The Inspirational Filter
Applying this filter forces you to focus on how your product/service will help your reader achieve an “inspirational” goal or result.
Here’s an example from Tom Ewers Paid to Blog subscription service:
“It is possible to make $100+ Per Hour From Freelance Blogging. I want to show you how.”
Some freelancers are skeptical about making a comfortable living with blogging.
This headline confronts that doubt by claiming that it’s possible, and that the product will show you how.
The Aggressive/Competitive Filter
Who doesn’t like sound of of being the best or beating the competition?
That’s what aggressive filters focus on: Leaving the competition coughing in your dust bubbles.
Here’s an example from webprofits.com:
“Get a free backlink analysis and find out how to beat your competition on google”.
It conveys a solid benefit to the reader, and promises information on how they can overthrow their competition on Google.
Looking for more ways to come up with attention grabbing headlines? Here’s 9 more proven formulas.
The AIDA Formula
You have a white knuckle grasp on who your prospect is. You know his pains and desires. And you have a headline that’ll drag him in like demonic tornado.
Now it’s time to lay down some copy.
Productivity usually plummets at this stage. People find themselves drowning in writer’s block… wondering “what now?”
Well fear not, the famous AIDA formula (popularized by the legendary Gary Halbert) will pluck you from the crushing coils of writer’s block. Just like a superhero swinging down to pluck you from a speeding car.
The AIDA formula acts as a skeleton for most sales letters. It is structured around the wavering interest levels of your reader. Which helps you anticipate his thoughts, questions and objections.
This magnetizes your copy and gets your prospect to act.
So what exactly does AIDA stand for?
A – Attention
The opening, where you snag your prospect’s attention and quickly convey that what you have to say will benefit him. Usually the headline and the opening sentence.
I – Interest
This is where you pique the interest of your reader by either “rubbing salt in his open wounds” (agitating his pain), or by weaving a story that highlights how he’ll fulfill his desires.
D – Desire
Your reader is interested in your offer. Now it’s time to “stomp on his greed glands” and arouse his emotions by describing how your product/service will enhance his life.
A – Action
After your product sweeps the reader of his feet, this is where you invite him to take action. Usually to buy, download, click or subscribe.
Here’s an example of the AIDA formula from Get Response.com:
The headline “world’s easiest email marketing” grabs your attention.
And the bulleted list of benefits, sows the seeds of interest by telling you how their software will power up your email marketing.
The page then mentions who the product is for, and describes how its features and perks can help you, regardless of your skill level. This piques your interest, works up your desire and begins to chip away at your objections.
The page then intensifies your desire and tackles objections further. This is done by showing testimonials from industry leaders who you probably look up to.
The page then calls the reader to action by inviting them to a 30 day trial.
If you spend too much time gazing at a blank screen with a blinking cursor…use the AIDA formula. It’ll inject your copy with a smooth flow and structure that holds your readers attention and doesn’t let go.
Apply the Boxer Mindset To Copy
Writing copy is like boxing.
Especially when it comes to your openings.
In the ring, if you don’t want to be eating the canvas, you have to think 3-4 punches ahead.
You have to predict your opponent’s counters, slips and movement patterns before he even thinks of doing them. Will you throw feints to keep him on his toes? Or mix up your style to land more shots? Or close the distance for more impact?
Similarly, if you want to keep readers hooked to your copy, you have to anticipate their thoughts and be mindful of each word, sentence and paragraph you deliver.
To hit hard and get results–like a boxer’s punches–your words have to flow. Non-stop.
Are you going to mix up long and short sentences to keep your copy exciting? Ask questions that flow into the next paragraph? Or deploy an analogy to bring home the point you’re trying to make?
Whatever you do, remember that your reader should smoothly slip into each new tightly woven sentence and paragraph.
You’re essentially guiding his thoughts, just as you would aim to guide your opponents movements and strikes in the ring.
Crafting Openings That Suck People In
If you don’t have a killer opening that goes straight for the jugular, you don’t stand a chance at converting your prospect.
Because if your opening doesn’t motivate him to, he isn’t going to travel down your sales letter and click your buy it now button.
So how do you create openings that nudge your reader along? Here are 3 ways:
Open With a Question
Opening with a question is a great way to start your sales letter.
It almost forces your reader to mentally respond, creates a little conversation, and keeps your copy fresh. This helps streamline your reader’s thoughts on to the next sentence.
Keep It Short
Short sentences and paragraphs are like grease on a slide, they keep you moving forward, fast.
They also make for great openings.
Think about it, you’re more inclined to read a series of sweet, short 2-3 sentence paragraphs over a huge mammoth-like chunk of text, right?
Why? Because short sentences and paragraphs feel easy, and people take the path of least resistance. They also build momentum, which makes it easier for the reader to continue reading.
Joe Sugarman (renowned copywriter) describes this as being like a locomotive:
“When the locomotive starts to chug from a standing start, it really works hard. The amount of commitment the train must exert is monumental. But once this train starts to move, the next few feet become easier and the next few even easier. So it is with copy.”
Wistia does a great job of combining the two techniques above:
Notice how their copy feels engaging and conversational? That’s the questions at work. The questions also do a great job of setting the reader up for the next sentence and keeping him speeding through the copy.
Also, notice how you float from one sentence to another? That’s those short sentences at work.
State Your Claim
No fancy stuff.
Just be blunt and let readers know what you’re about.
Here’s an example from the Kissmetrics homepage:
There’s no cuteness. They lay it out in the open by telling you exactly what they can do for you.
And because it is blunt and upfront…you will either instantly prickle with recognition, or pay no attention at all.
Lighting Up Your Prospects Greed Glands
Gary Halbert said:
“When it comes to writing copy, far too much attention is paid to the actual writing and far too little is paid to ferreting out facts about that which the copywriter is trying to sell.”
You’ve opened your copy with a bang. Got your reader’s attention and have captured his interest with a killer opening.
Next comes the meat of your sales letter.
Where you switch to full-auto, releasing a barrage of benefits that make your reader’s heart swell with desire, and create a burning itch that has to be scratched.
Benefits transform an ember of interest into a raging fire of desire that motivates people to act.
Michael Aagaard blasted conversions up 80% by adding three benefit driven bullet points to his opt-in form. That’s the kind of power benefits have.That’s why they are a must if you want to sell anything.
Here’s a lovely example of benefit driven copy from Wrangler:
Wrangler could have listed their features and said:
These regular rise jeans have slimming side seams and a subtle boot cut
They also have a reverse yoke
The jeans also have vertical back pockets and a contour waistband
Instead, they harnessed the power of benefit driven copy by showing how the features of their products benefit the user.
Slimming side seams and subtle boot cut to flatter your shape
A reverse yoke lifts the seat
Vertical back pockets are proportion to make the most of your assets
Contour waistbands means these jeans won’t gap in the back
Each feature constantly relates back to how it will make the reader look sexier, slimmer and more desirable. Which doesn’t just describe what they’re selling. It seductively drip feeds the product benefits into her brain.
A Note on Bullet Points
Bullet points are easy to read, make your copy more scannable, and allow you to pile on the mouthwatering benefits of your product.
But two lesser-known ways of maximizing your results with bullets are to mix them up with…
Blind Bullets
Blind bullets can be described as teaser bullets.
They provide a clear image of the benefit you receive, but not the specifics or the“how” behind the benefit. This deliberate vagueness arouses the reader’s curiosity and keeps him interested.
Take a look at these examples from the sales page for Doberman Dan’s newsletter:
See what’s going on here?
There’s a juicy benefit being offered, and its value is made higher with specific numbers. But the benefit still shadow-dances around the edges of the “how”.
It’s blind.
This prompts the reader to think “what secret food will give me a 5% edge?”, and “what is the master key to making serious money?” Adding to his curiosity and desire.
Open Bullets
Open bullets are the opposite of blind bullets.
They wow the reader by giving away detailed specifics behind the benefit.
Just like this opt in page:
Each point has a “blind” style headline. Followed by detailed information on each case study and the benefit it offers. This soars the value of each point, and helps establish the idea that the seller “knows their stuff”.
Be sure to mix in blind and open bullets to keep your copy more engaging.
Take The Weight off His Shoulders
Your reader has breezed through your copy.
He’s ready.
He knows your offer will greatly benefit him. And his credit card is peeking out his wallet. But if only he could squash those doubts pecking at his brain…
“What if you don’t deliver?” “What if he doesn’t make extra money with your product? “What if he doesn’t save time?”
We’ve all felt this to some degree, right?
You’re at a checkout page and you love the product. But you’re just not sure.
I’ve experienced this many times. I’ve thought, would I get results from this? What if it tanks? And guess what?
After knowing that I didn’t risk a penny and there is no risk on me. I could just return the product or ask for my money back, I whipped my card out and completed the check-out.
Because I felt safe in buying the product.
That’s why guarantees are such an important part of your copy. They help you eliminate the risk of your prospect being “taken”.
Now, you don’t need a groundbreaking guarantee.
A guarantee that shows that your prospect isn’t at risk and stands to lose nothing will suffice.
If you’re selling software, you can offer trials and let your prospect try before they buy. I recently made a purchase from GetResponse, but only because they offered me a risk free trial beforehand.
A free trial also does your marketing for you. And it allows you to put your money where your mouth is.
Your prospect gets first hand experience of the benefits of your product. He could potentially boost sales/conversions without spending a dime. And nothing sells someone like fresh cash, or concrete results.
Create a Greased Slide
How your copy is written will impact your results greatly.
That’s why it’s important to make sure that your copy is easy and fun to read.
As Joseph Sugarman said, your copy should read like a greased slide.
There are 101 ways to power up your writing, but some basic techniques that you should stick to are:
Keep Sentences Short, But Vary Your Pace
Gary Provost sums this up perfectly…
Deploy Powerful Action Verbs, Kill Fluff
“Adjectives are just fluff and air. Like tossing flowers out of your ad to get your prospects attention.” — John Carlton
Here’s a written scene that relies on adjectives instead of verbs:
“He quickly raised his combat knife to see where his attackers were. He composedly stepped out of his life-saving cover. The black gun menacingly fired two loud shot that quickly found their targets.”
The same scene after powering it up with action verbs:
“He used the reflection in his combat knife to gather a rough idea of their location and stepped out of cover. The gun rattled to life. Each shot whizzed to its destination with lightening fast speed.”
See the difference here?
One description is heavy and hard. It requires the reader to wade through bloated words and mundane text.
The other packs-a-punch, and delivers powerful imagery straight into the reader’s brain. Because it uses action verbs to describe and removes the fluff.
Make it Easy To Swing From Paragraph to Paragraph
Ever heard of transitions?
They’re words and phrases that can be viewed as “literary tubes”, because they connect ideas and sentences together.
For example, the sentence below uses “so” as a transition:
“You want to boost your conversions without spending tons of money, so you tweak your copy.”
Unless you want to sound like an illiterate robot, transitions are a must in all forms of writing. But they are even more effective when they become delayed transitions.
Delayed transitions place the joining phrase, or word, at the beginning of the next sentence or paragraph.
Here’s an example from Apple’s watchOS 2 preview page:
Delayed transitions are used at the beginning of each sentence to connect and flow right into the next.
Using delayed transition makes your copy better because:
They make it easier to start reading a new line.
They help create shorter sentences. This keeps readers engaged and builds momentum.
They switch up your flow, which as we know, prevents your copy from becoming stale.
Psychologically Advanced Copywriting Tricks
The basics have been covered.
Now it’s time for some advanced copywriting tips to magnetize your copy.
Boost your Perceived Value With Re-framing
According to Wikipedia, “reframing is a psychological technique that consists of identifying and then disputing irrational or maladaptive thoughts. Reframing is a way of viewing and experiencing events, ideas, concepts and emotions to find more positive alternatives.”
With regards to marketing, reframing is when you increase the perceived value of a product by tweaking the buying lens from which your reader views it.
And it’s been proven to work.
Here’s an example of reframing from Volkswagen:
The price of a brand new car is reframed with the price of two lattes a day. This instantly makes the offer more appealing because it softens the blow of the price.
Here’s another more detailed example:
What price can you place on learning how to get more copywriting clients than you can manage? $2,000? $3000? $5000? (You can easily earn all these numbers back within a month of learning how to secure clients.)
My standard fee for private coaching is $300/hour and in my supercharged copywriting course, you get over 15 hours of my teaching. That would leave the bill at $4,500.
However, supercharged copy course won’t cost you anywhere near that. This investment in your career and life is only…
$260.
And let’s be real, you’ll most likely earn twice that much with your first gig.
There are two re-frames going on at the same time.
The first is when the price of the course ($260) is contrasted to how much you can earn in your first month ($2000). The second occurs when the price of private coaching ($4500) is compared to the price of the course ($260).
This takes the reader’s view of the product from being just a “$260 video course” to a wise educational investment in which they save $4460.
Keep Readers Hooked With Open Loops
Open loops are everywhere.
And they’re powerful, because our brains have a natural craving for completion.
As discovered by scientist Bluma Zeigarnik, our brains undergo a state of tension when they view something as incomplete.
A tension that won’t be relieved until you feel the task at hand, or whatever you’re involved in, is complete.
It’s the feeling you get when you’re immersed in a book that you just can’t seem to put down.
The feeling you get when your favorite TV episode ends, and you’re itching to find out what happens next.
It’s the gnawing feeling in the back of your brain when leave your keys at home and step out the house.
When it comes to writing copy, an open loop is a portion of your sales letter that doesn’t immediately tie up.
Here’s an example from Jon Morrow’s Serious Bloggers Only sales letter:
Jon opens an itching open loop in the reader’s brain at the start of the sales letter. He does this by mentioning the “biggest secret to taking your blog to six or seven figures per year”.
After opening this loop, he doesn’t tie it up immediately.
Instead, he teases the reader by asking if they’d like to know. And mentions how people pay him up to $5000 for his expertise and advice…
A deeper mental itch is then created because this causes the reader to question “why is his knowledge so valuable?” and “what makes him so special, whats this secret?”
This motivates the reader to travel further down the copy. Where he ties up the open loop, and pitches to the reader.
The easiest way to implement open loops in your copy is to ask more questions.
Or…ask questions and delay the answer to keep your reader invested.
One Final Thing
“You must not come lightly to the blank page.”
–Stephen King, On Writing
Ever seen an athlete or world-class performer come to his task lightly?
You don’t.
Because to give a riveting performance, or win, they have to be focused, charged, and ready to spring.
The same mentality applies to writing copy…or anything that moves people to action.
Jon Morrow put this perfectly when he said:
“Your readers are the dead batteries. You are the live one. The written word is your pair of jumper cables.”
Charge yourself with emotion, close your eyes and imagine yourself as your customer, feeling the pain that your product/service solves.
You’ll instantly add a flaming intensity to your copy that snaps readers out of their slumber, and connect to the living, breathing human who will benefit from your offer.
Conclusion
What design converts better with your copy?
What words or phrases seem to click with your readers?
Where do reader’s lose/gain interest?
You can only know if you test.
Be sure to experiment with different calls to actions, headlines and benefits for maximum conversions.
What do you find most frustrating about writing copy? Let me know in the comments below.
About the Author: Hassan Ud-deen is a content marketing consultant who is addicted to words. He’s a specialist in article and case study writing for traffic generation. Hit him up on LinkedIn or Twitter.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1L1L7WD via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1idzP6H
September 09, 2015 at 10:24PM
Added: Sep 24, 2015 Via IFTTT
Three Key Legal Issues Online Marketers Need to Know About
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Three Key Legal Issues Online Marketers Need to Know About
Editor’s Note: For any issues or questions regarding the law, please contact an attorney.
Marketing can be extremely beneficial for your business. It consolidates already-existing client relationships and builds new ones.
However, there are several key legal issues you need to be aware of before you start contacting customers or potential customers. The three main legal areas you need to consider are privacy and data collection, intellectual property issues, and rules and regulations of the FTC and other consumer protection bodies.
Let’s begin by looking at privacy and the online collection and storage of data.
1. Privacy and Data Collection
It may seem simplistic to point out that before you can send marketing emails or messages, you need to collect the contact information of your customers or potential customers. Yet, the actual process of collecting the information is far more complex than it seems, particularly if you’re trying to collect it in a legally compliant manner.
Laws and Your Privacy Policy
Most jurisdictions around the world have privacy legislation in place that requires you to notify people before you collect their personal information. This includes someone who is already a customer, although the UK has some slightly more permissive laws for people who have already purchased something from you.
In the US, there is no overarching privacy law that applies to the collection of data, but California has a piece of legislation that covers online privacy – the California Online Privacy Protection Act (OPPA). It requires that you need to disclose:
The kinds of information your website or online marketing tactics collect
How the information may be shared
The process your customers can follow to review and change the information you have about them
Your policy’s effective date and a description of any changes since then
If you have an online store or if you’re marketing to people online in the US, you’re quite likely to have customers or potential customers in California, so you should take care to comply with this law.
The easiest way to comply is to set up a Privacy Policy on your website and require your customers or website users to agree to it when you collect information from them.
To make sure your customer’s or user’s agreement will stand up legally, use a clickwrap method. A clickwrap method is where your customer or user has to click “I Agree” to your Privacy Policy in some way. This could be when they sign up to receive your marketing messages or when they make a purchase on your website. Here’s an example of what a clickwrap method looks like:
Source
In this example, the customer or user is required to tick the box to agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy of The Weather Channel before they can receive the newsletter.
Security and Cloud Storage
It’s also important to reassure your customers that once you’ve collected their information, you will keep it secure. Your users need to feel they can trust you. You can show them you are trustworthy by informing them about how you will protect and store their information.
Take a look at this example from Google that lists the protection mechanisms they have in place:
Source
One simple way to protect customer privacy when you collect information is to use security mechanisms such as SSL. SSL means that the connection between your website and the user’s browser is secure when data is transmitted. Ensure that any websites you use with your customers have SSL enabled.
Another potential security issue is the storage of customer data. A popular way for many online businesses and marketing companies to store data is to use cloud storage providers. To reassure your customers that you are keeping their data safe, always choose a reputable provider.
And, preferably, choose a reputable provider within your own jurisdiction. This is because some jurisdictions have legal requirements that data should either not be transferred out (or must be accessible even if it is stored overseas) or should be transferred only to jurisdictions with similar legal protections for the data in place. If you overlook this fact and store data with a cloud storage provider in another jurisdiction that has inadequate protections, you may be in breach of your local laws.
If you use a cloud storage provider, you need to ensure that your Privacy Policy and/or your website Terms of Use cover the situation in which a cloud storage provider has a privacy breach and your customer data is released. Here’s an example from Amazon of that type of clause:
Source
You can see that the clause limits Amazon’s liability and includes no liability for loss to any files. You want to ensure that you are not liable if a third party (the cloud storage provider) has a data leak. To maintain customer trust, use only reputable providers and be transparent about whom your customer data is stored with.
How to Comply
Set up a Privacy Policy on your website
Require your customers or website users to agree to it when you collect information from them
Once you’ve collected the data, keep it with a reputable cloud storage provider
Protect yourself from liability in the case of data loss
2. Intellectual Property Issues
The next legal issue to consider as a marketer is intellectual property. First, you want to protect your own intellectual property, such as trademarks and copyright. Second, you want to ensure that you don’t infringe on the intellectual property of others. Let’s take a look at the main types of intellectual property protection you may need.
Trademark
If you are sending out marketing emails or contacting people with flyers or advertisements, the first thing you will need to protect is your brand or logo.
Registering a trademark gives you the exclusive right to use a specific word or words, name, design, or logo in connection with specific goods or services. It is valid for 10 years and is renewable if certain requirements are met.
Before you register yours, check that you are not infringing on anyone else’s trademark and that your logo is not too similar to someone else’s. The easiest way to do this is to have your lawyer check whether your proposed mark is similar to any other marks. The lawyer will search an intellectual property register, namely the US Trademark Database. They may also search international registers or registers in other jurisdictions, depending on how broadly you plan to market using your mark.
You can search the US Trademark Database yourself, but an intellectual property lawyer will have a better idea of what you need to search for. Sometimes you need to search for the same trademark in multiple categories of goods; for example, a trademark that you want to register for marketing relating to a supermarket roadshow may come under categories relating to food, alcohol, other beverages, supermarkets and retail stores, marketing, and many more.
When you’re ready to file your trademark application online, in the US, you can use the Trademark Electronic Application System.
Copyright
If you use original marketing language on your website or text in emails, you may want to copyright that text. Copyright relates to authorship of original works, including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, architectural, and a broad range of other works.
If you work with any third parties who write your marketing copy or text for you, ensure that their work is checked for plagiarism. You don’t want to infringe on someone else’s copyrighted work when sending out your emails or newsletters.
Here’s an example from Ads Direct of what you might include in your Terms of Service to protect your intellectual property:
You can see that they list a number of different types of intellectual property (names, graphics, logos, etc.) and that they also claim they do not own any third-party names, trademarks, or service marks that may appear on their website. If you partner with any other organizations or use quality assurance marks on your marketing materials, this may also be worth covering in your clause.
How to Comply
Check that your proposed branding is not infringing on anyone else’s
Get your intellectual property registered
Hire a lawyer if you need help
Set out your intellectual property use expectations clearly in your Terms of Service
Rules and Regulations of the FTC and Other Consumer Protection Bodies
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has dominion over several key areas relevant to marketers: privacy, anti-spam legislation, and truth in advertising. We’ve already covered privacy above, so let’s take a look at some of the FTC’s rules on advertising and anti-spam practices.
3. Advertising
The FTC requires that advertisements and marketing messages must not mislead consumers or unfairly affect consumers’ behavior or decisions about the product or service. Unfair or deceptive advertising is prohibited, which means that any marketing must tell the truth and not leave out any relevant information that a consumer would be interested in.
Be careful with any comparative advertising or marketing. If you don’t compare products fairly and transparently, you may be breaching advertising standards. Check the wording of your marketing messages carefully and ensure that someone outside of your marketing team (such as someone from your legal team) has a quick look at what your message is saying. A fresh pair of eyes may notice claims that aren’t quite true or descriptions that overemphasize a product’s abilities.
Other regulators on the advertising front that you may need to keep in mind are the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council, which governs the National Advertising Review Board and the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU). If any of your marketing is targeted at children, ensure that you are fully aware of CARU’s guidelines.
Anti-Spam Law
The main anti-spam law in the US is called CAN-SPAM. The FTC enforces CAN-SPAM and has issued guidance on how to comply.
We’ve covered this previously. To recap, CAN-SPAM requires that you:
Don’t use false or misleading header information
Don’t use deceptive subject lines
Identify the message as an ad
Tell recipients where you’re located
Tell recipients how to opt out of receiving future email from you
Honor opt-out requests promptly
Monitor what others are doing on your behalf
The FTC also has a great guide that provides a checklist and guidelines to help you make your business “consumer friendly” overall for international ecommerce. Before you begin marketing your business, be sure that you’ve incorporated some consumer friendly business tips so that you don’t run into trouble further down the line.
If you get into trouble with the FTC or any other consumer protection body, be prompt and clear in your communication with them. Aim to work together toward a solution right away, as it may help you avoid prosecution.
How to Comply
Be aware of what regulations and laws the FTC and other regulators cover
Educate yourself on what you need to do to comply
If you get into hot water with any regulator, work with them to solve the problem
Conclusion
To comply with the law, the key things to remember are: get consent to send your marketing material; ensure that your customers are aware of and sign up to your Privacy Policy when you originally obtain their information; protect your intellectual property and don’t infringe on that of others; be honest and clear with all marketing messages; and allow your customers to opt out of your messages if they wish.
As a marketer, you may be wary of legal pitfalls, but by keeping the issues of privacy and data protection, intellectual property, and consumer protection laws and regulations in the forefront of your mind, you can ensure that you won’t run into any problems.
About the Author: Leah Hamilton is a qualified Solicitor and writer working at TermsFeed, where businesses can create their Privacy Policies and Terms and Conditions in minutes.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1VdsKPC via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1NXdQOm
September 25, 2015 at 03:18AM
Editor’s Note: For any issues or questions regarding the law, please contact an attorney.
Marketing can be extremely beneficial for your business. It consolidates already-existing client relationships and builds new ones.
However, there are several key legal issues you need to be aware of before you start contacting customers or potential customers. The three main legal areas you need to consider are privacy and data collection, intellectual property issues, and rules and regulations of the FTC and other consumer protection bodies.
Let’s begin by looking at privacy and the online collection and storage of data.
1. Privacy and Data Collection
It may seem simplistic to point out that before you can send marketing emails or messages, you need to collect the contact information of your customers or potential customers. Yet, the actual process of collecting the information is far more complex than it seems, particularly if you’re trying to collect it in a legally compliant manner.
Laws and Your Privacy Policy
Most jurisdictions around the world have privacy legislation in place that requires you to notify people before you collect their personal information. This includes someone who is already a customer, although the UK has some slightly more permissive laws for people who have already purchased something from you.
In the US, there is no overarching privacy law that applies to the collection of data, but California has a piece of legislation that covers online privacy – the California Online Privacy Protection Act (OPPA). It requires that you need to disclose:
The kinds of information your website or online marketing tactics collect
How the information may be shared
The process your customers can follow to review and change the information you have about them
Your policy’s effective date and a description of any changes since then
If you have an online store or if you’re marketing to people online in the US, you’re quite likely to have customers or potential customers in California, so you should take care to comply with this law.
The easiest way to comply is to set up a Privacy Policy on your website and require your customers or website users to agree to it when you collect information from them.
To make sure your customer’s or user’s agreement will stand up legally, use a clickwrap method. A clickwrap method is where your customer or user has to click “I Agree” to your Privacy Policy in some way. This could be when they sign up to receive your marketing messages or when they make a purchase on your website. Here’s an example of what a clickwrap method looks like:
Source
In this example, the customer or user is required to tick the box to agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy of The Weather Channel before they can receive the newsletter.
Security and Cloud Storage
It’s also important to reassure your customers that once you’ve collected their information, you will keep it secure. Your users need to feel they can trust you. You can show them you are trustworthy by informing them about how you will protect and store their information.
Take a look at this example from Google that lists the protection mechanisms they have in place:
Source
One simple way to protect customer privacy when you collect information is to use security mechanisms such as SSL. SSL means that the connection between your website and the user’s browser is secure when data is transmitted. Ensure that any websites you use with your customers have SSL enabled.
Another potential security issue is the storage of customer data. A popular way for many online businesses and marketing companies to store data is to use cloud storage providers. To reassure your customers that you are keeping their data safe, always choose a reputable provider.
And, preferably, choose a reputable provider within your own jurisdiction. This is because some jurisdictions have legal requirements that data should either not be transferred out (or must be accessible even if it is stored overseas) or should be transferred only to jurisdictions with similar legal protections for the data in place. If you overlook this fact and store data with a cloud storage provider in another jurisdiction that has inadequate protections, you may be in breach of your local laws.
If you use a cloud storage provider, you need to ensure that your Privacy Policy and/or your website Terms of Use cover the situation in which a cloud storage provider has a privacy breach and your customer data is released. Here’s an example from Amazon of that type of clause:
Source
You can see that the clause limits Amazon’s liability and includes no liability for loss to any files. You want to ensure that you are not liable if a third party (the cloud storage provider) has a data leak. To maintain customer trust, use only reputable providers and be transparent about whom your customer data is stored with.
How to Comply
Set up a Privacy Policy on your website
Require your customers or website users to agree to it when you collect information from them
Once you’ve collected the data, keep it with a reputable cloud storage provider
Protect yourself from liability in the case of data loss
2. Intellectual Property Issues
The next legal issue to consider as a marketer is intellectual property. First, you want to protect your own intellectual property, such as trademarks and copyright. Second, you want to ensure that you don’t infringe on the intellectual property of others. Let’s take a look at the main types of intellectual property protection you may need.
Trademark
If you are sending out marketing emails or contacting people with flyers or advertisements, the first thing you will need to protect is your brand or logo.
Registering a trademark gives you the exclusive right to use a specific word or words, name, design, or logo in connection with specific goods or services. It is valid for 10 years and is renewable if certain requirements are met.
Before you register yours, check that you are not infringing on anyone else’s trademark and that your logo is not too similar to someone else’s. The easiest way to do this is to have your lawyer check whether your proposed mark is similar to any other marks. The lawyer will search an intellectual property register, namely the US Trademark Database. They may also search international registers or registers in other jurisdictions, depending on how broadly you plan to market using your mark.
You can search the US Trademark Database yourself, but an intellectual property lawyer will have a better idea of what you need to search for. Sometimes you need to search for the same trademark in multiple categories of goods; for example, a trademark that you want to register for marketing relating to a supermarket roadshow may come under categories relating to food, alcohol, other beverages, supermarkets and retail stores, marketing, and many more.
When you’re ready to file your trademark application online, in the US, you can use the Trademark Electronic Application System.
Copyright
If you use original marketing language on your website or text in emails, you may want to copyright that text. Copyright relates to authorship of original works, including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, architectural, and a broad range of other works.
If you work with any third parties who write your marketing copy or text for you, ensure that their work is checked for plagiarism. You don’t want to infringe on someone else’s copyrighted work when sending out your emails or newsletters.
Here’s an example from Ads Direct of what you might include in your Terms of Service to protect your intellectual property:
You can see that they list a number of different types of intellectual property (names, graphics, logos, etc.) and that they also claim they do not own any third-party names, trademarks, or service marks that may appear on their website. If you partner with any other organizations or use quality assurance marks on your marketing materials, this may also be worth covering in your clause.
How to Comply
Check that your proposed branding is not infringing on anyone else’s
Get your intellectual property registered
Hire a lawyer if you need help
Set out your intellectual property use expectations clearly in your Terms of Service
Rules and Regulations of the FTC and Other Consumer Protection Bodies
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has dominion over several key areas relevant to marketers: privacy, anti-spam legislation, and truth in advertising. We’ve already covered privacy above, so let’s take a look at some of the FTC’s rules on advertising and anti-spam practices.
3. Advertising
The FTC requires that advertisements and marketing messages must not mislead consumers or unfairly affect consumers’ behavior or decisions about the product or service. Unfair or deceptive advertising is prohibited, which means that any marketing must tell the truth and not leave out any relevant information that a consumer would be interested in.
Be careful with any comparative advertising or marketing. If you don’t compare products fairly and transparently, you may be breaching advertising standards. Check the wording of your marketing messages carefully and ensure that someone outside of your marketing team (such as someone from your legal team) has a quick look at what your message is saying. A fresh pair of eyes may notice claims that aren’t quite true or descriptions that overemphasize a product’s abilities.
Other regulators on the advertising front that you may need to keep in mind are the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council, which governs the National Advertising Review Board and the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU). If any of your marketing is targeted at children, ensure that you are fully aware of CARU’s guidelines.
Anti-Spam Law
The main anti-spam law in the US is called CAN-SPAM. The FTC enforces CAN-SPAM and has issued guidance on how to comply.
We’ve covered this previously. To recap, CAN-SPAM requires that you:
Don’t use false or misleading header information
Don’t use deceptive subject lines
Identify the message as an ad
Tell recipients where you’re located
Tell recipients how to opt out of receiving future email from you
Honor opt-out requests promptly
Monitor what others are doing on your behalf
The FTC also has a great guide that provides a checklist and guidelines to help you make your business “consumer friendly” overall for international ecommerce. Before you begin marketing your business, be sure that you’ve incorporated some consumer friendly business tips so that you don’t run into trouble further down the line.
If you get into trouble with the FTC or any other consumer protection body, be prompt and clear in your communication with them. Aim to work together toward a solution right away, as it may help you avoid prosecution.
How to Comply
Be aware of what regulations and laws the FTC and other regulators cover
Educate yourself on what you need to do to comply
If you get into hot water with any regulator, work with them to solve the problem
Conclusion
To comply with the law, the key things to remember are: get consent to send your marketing material; ensure that your customers are aware of and sign up to your Privacy Policy when you originally obtain their information; protect your intellectual property and don’t infringe on that of others; be honest and clear with all marketing messages; and allow your customers to opt out of your messages if they wish.
As a marketer, you may be wary of legal pitfalls, but by keeping the issues of privacy and data protection, intellectual property, and consumer protection laws and regulations in the forefront of your mind, you can ensure that you won’t run into any problems.
About the Author: Leah Hamilton is a qualified Solicitor and writer working at TermsFeed, where businesses can create their Privacy Policies and Terms and Conditions in minutes.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1VdsKPC via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1NXdQOm
September 25, 2015 at 03:18AM
Added: Apr 22, 2019 Via IFTTT
Three Key Legal Issues Online Marketers Need to Know About
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Three Key Legal Issues Online Marketers Need to Know About
Editor’s Note: For any issues or questions regarding the law, please contact an attorney.
Marketing can be extremely beneficial for your business. It consolidates already-existing client relationships and builds new ones.
However, there are several key legal issues you need to be aware of before you start contacting customers or potential customers. The three main legal areas you need to consider are privacy and data collection, intellectual property issues, and rules and regulations of the FTC and other consumer protection bodies.
Let’s begin by looking at privacy and the online collection and storage of data.
1. Privacy and Data Collection
It may seem simplistic to point out that before you can send marketing emails or messages, you need to collect the contact information of your customers or potential customers. Yet, the actual process of collecting the information is far more complex than it seems, particularly if you’re trying to collect it in a legally compliant manner.
Laws and Your Privacy Policy
Most jurisdictions around the world have privacy legislation in place that requires you to notify people before you collect their personal information. This includes someone who is already a customer, although the UK has some slightly more permissive laws for people who have already purchased something from you.
In the US, there is no overarching privacy law that applies to the collection of data, but California has a piece of legislation that covers online privacy – the California Online Privacy Protection Act (OPPA). It requires that you need to disclose:
The kinds of information your website or online marketing tactics collect
How the information may be shared
The process your customers can follow to review and change the information you have about them
Your policy’s effective date and a description of any changes since then
If you have an online store or if you’re marketing to people online in the US, you’re quite likely to have customers or potential customers in California, so you should take care to comply with this law.
The easiest way to comply is to set up a Privacy Policy on your website and require your customers or website users to agree to it when you collect information from them.
To make sure your customer’s or user’s agreement will stand up legally, use a clickwrap method. A clickwrap method is where your customer or user has to click “I Agree” to your Privacy Policy in some way. This could be when they sign up to receive your marketing messages or when they make a purchase on your website. Here’s an example of what a clickwrap method looks like:
Source
In this example, the customer or user is required to tick the box to agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy of The Weather Channel before they can receive the newsletter.
Security and Cloud Storage
It’s also important to reassure your customers that once you’ve collected their information, you will keep it secure. Your users need to feel they can trust you. You can show them you are trustworthy by informing them about how you will protect and store their information.
Take a look at this example from Google that lists the protection mechanisms they have in place:
Source
One simple way to protect customer privacy when you collect information is to use security mechanisms such as SSL. SSL means that the connection between your website and the user’s browser is secure when data is transmitted. Ensure that any websites you use with your customers have SSL enabled.
Another potential security issue is the storage of customer data. A popular way for many online businesses and marketing companies to store data is to use cloud storage providers. To reassure your customers that you are keeping their data safe, always choose a reputable provider.
And, preferably, choose a reputable provider within your own jurisdiction. This is because some jurisdictions have legal requirements that data should either not be transferred out (or must be accessible even if it is stored overseas) or should be transferred only to jurisdictions with similar legal protections for the data in place. If you overlook this fact and store data with a cloud storage provider in another jurisdiction that has inadequate protections, you may be in breach of your local laws.
If you use a cloud storage provider, you need to ensure that your Privacy Policy and/or your website Terms of Use cover the situation in which a cloud storage provider has a privacy breach and your customer data is released. Here’s an example from Amazon of that type of clause:
Source
You can see that the clause limits Amazon’s liability and includes no liability for loss to any files. You want to ensure that you are not liable if a third party (the cloud storage provider) has a data leak. To maintain customer trust, use only reputable providers and be transparent about whom your customer data is stored with.
How to Comply
Set up a Privacy Policy on your website
Require your customers or website users to agree to it when you collect information from them
Once you’ve collected the data, keep it with a reputable cloud storage provider
Protect yourself from liability in the case of data loss
2. Intellectual Property Issues
The next legal issue to consider as a marketer is intellectual property. First, you want to protect your own intellectual property, such as trademarks and copyright. Second, you want to ensure that you don’t infringe on the intellectual property of others. Let’s take a look at the main types of intellectual property protection you may need.
Trademark
If you are sending out marketing emails or contacting people with flyers or advertisements, the first thing you will need to protect is your brand or logo.
Registering a trademark gives you the exclusive right to use a specific word or words, name, design, or logo in connection with specific goods or services. It is valid for 10 years and is renewable if certain requirements are met.
Before you register yours, check that you are not infringing on anyone else’s trademark and that your logo is not too similar to someone else’s. The easiest way to do this is to have your lawyer check whether your proposed mark is similar to any other marks. The lawyer will search an intellectual property register, namely the US Trademark Database. They may also search international registers or registers in other jurisdictions, depending on how broadly you plan to market using your mark.
You can search the US Trademark Database yourself, but an intellectual property lawyer will have a better idea of what you need to search for. Sometimes you need to search for the same trademark in multiple categories of goods; for example, a trademark that you want to register for marketing relating to a supermarket roadshow may come under categories relating to food, alcohol, other beverages, supermarkets and retail stores, marketing, and many more.
When you’re ready to file your trademark application online, in the US, you can use the Trademark Electronic Application System.
Copyright
If you use original marketing language on your website or text in emails, you may want to copyright that text. Copyright relates to authorship of original works, including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, architectural, and a broad range of other works.
If you work with any third parties who write your marketing copy or text for you, ensure that their work is checked for plagiarism. You don’t want to infringe on someone else’s copyrighted work when sending out your emails or newsletters.
Here’s an example from Ads Direct of what you might include in your Terms of Service to protect your intellectual property:
You can see that they list a number of different types of intellectual property (names, graphics, logos, etc.) and that they also claim they do not own any third-party names, trademarks, or service marks that may appear on their website. If you partner with any other organizations or use quality assurance marks on your marketing materials, this may also be worth covering in your clause.
How to Comply
Check that your proposed branding is not infringing on anyone else’s
Get your intellectual property registered
Hire a lawyer if you need help
Set out your intellectual property use expectations clearly in your Terms of Service
Rules and Regulations of the FTC and Other Consumer Protection Bodies
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has dominion over several key areas relevant to marketers: privacy, anti-spam legislation, and truth in advertising. We’ve already covered privacy above, so let’s take a look at some of the FTC’s rules on advertising and anti-spam practices.
3. Advertising
The FTC requires that advertisements and marketing messages must not mislead consumers or unfairly affect consumers’ behavior or decisions about the product or service. Unfair or deceptive advertising is prohibited, which means that any marketing must tell the truth and not leave out any relevant information that a consumer would be interested in.
Be careful with any comparative advertising or marketing. If you don’t compare products fairly and transparently, you may be breaching advertising standards. Check the wording of your marketing messages carefully and ensure that someone outside of your marketing team (such as someone from your legal team) has a quick look at what your message is saying. A fresh pair of eyes may notice claims that aren’t quite true or descriptions that overemphasize a product’s abilities.
Other regulators on the advertising front that you may need to keep in mind are the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council, which governs the National Advertising Review Board and the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU). If any of your marketing is targeted at children, ensure that you are fully aware of CARU’s guidelines.
Anti-Spam Law
The main anti-spam law in the US is called CAN-SPAM. The FTC enforces CAN-SPAM and has issued guidance on how to comply.
We’ve covered this previously. To recap, CAN-SPAM requires that you:
Don’t use false or misleading header information
Don’t use deceptive subject lines
Identify the message as an ad
Tell recipients where you’re located
Tell recipients how to opt out of receiving future email from you
Honor opt-out requests promptly
Monitor what others are doing on your behalf
The FTC also has a great guide that provides a checklist and guidelines to help you make your business “consumer friendly” overall for international ecommerce. Before you begin marketing your business, be sure that you’ve incorporated some consumer friendly business tips so that you don’t run into trouble further down the line.
If you get into trouble with the FTC or any other consumer protection body, be prompt and clear in your communication with them. Aim to work together toward a solution right away, as it may help you avoid prosecution.
How to Comply
Be aware of what regulations and laws the FTC and other regulators cover
Educate yourself on what you need to do to comply
If you get into hot water with any regulator, work with them to solve the problem
Conclusion
To comply with the law, the key things to remember are: get consent to send your marketing material; ensure that your customers are aware of and sign up to your Privacy Policy when you originally obtain their information; protect your intellectual property and don’t infringe on that of others; be honest and clear with all marketing messages; and allow your customers to opt out of your messages if they wish.
As a marketer, you may be wary of legal pitfalls, but by keeping the issues of privacy and data protection, intellectual property, and consumer protection laws and regulations in the forefront of your mind, you can ensure that you won’t run into any problems.
About the Author: Leah Hamilton is a qualified Solicitor and writer working at TermsFeed, where businesses can create their Privacy Policies and Terms and Conditions in minutes.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1VdsKPC via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://bit.ly/2VlA4nd
September 25, 2015 at 03:18AM
Editor’s Note: For any issues or questions regarding the law, please contact an attorney.
Marketing can be extremely beneficial for your business. It consolidates already-existing client relationships and builds new ones.
However, there are several key legal issues you need to be aware of before you start contacting customers or potential customers. The three main legal areas you need to consider are privacy and data collection, intellectual property issues, and rules and regulations of the FTC and other consumer protection bodies.
Let’s begin by looking at privacy and the online collection and storage of data.
1. Privacy and Data Collection
It may seem simplistic to point out that before you can send marketing emails or messages, you need to collect the contact information of your customers or potential customers. Yet, the actual process of collecting the information is far more complex than it seems, particularly if you’re trying to collect it in a legally compliant manner.
Laws and Your Privacy Policy
Most jurisdictions around the world have privacy legislation in place that requires you to notify people before you collect their personal information. This includes someone who is already a customer, although the UK has some slightly more permissive laws for people who have already purchased something from you.
In the US, there is no overarching privacy law that applies to the collection of data, but California has a piece of legislation that covers online privacy – the California Online Privacy Protection Act (OPPA). It requires that you need to disclose:
The kinds of information your website or online marketing tactics collect
How the information may be shared
The process your customers can follow to review and change the information you have about them
Your policy’s effective date and a description of any changes since then
If you have an online store or if you’re marketing to people online in the US, you’re quite likely to have customers or potential customers in California, so you should take care to comply with this law.
The easiest way to comply is to set up a Privacy Policy on your website and require your customers or website users to agree to it when you collect information from them.
To make sure your customer’s or user’s agreement will stand up legally, use a clickwrap method. A clickwrap method is where your customer or user has to click “I Agree” to your Privacy Policy in some way. This could be when they sign up to receive your marketing messages or when they make a purchase on your website. Here’s an example of what a clickwrap method looks like:
Source
In this example, the customer or user is required to tick the box to agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy of The Weather Channel before they can receive the newsletter.
Security and Cloud Storage
It’s also important to reassure your customers that once you’ve collected their information, you will keep it secure. Your users need to feel they can trust you. You can show them you are trustworthy by informing them about how you will protect and store their information.
Take a look at this example from Google that lists the protection mechanisms they have in place:
Source
One simple way to protect customer privacy when you collect information is to use security mechanisms such as SSL. SSL means that the connection between your website and the user’s browser is secure when data is transmitted. Ensure that any websites you use with your customers have SSL enabled.
Another potential security issue is the storage of customer data. A popular way for many online businesses and marketing companies to store data is to use cloud storage providers. To reassure your customers that you are keeping their data safe, always choose a reputable provider.
And, preferably, choose a reputable provider within your own jurisdiction. This is because some jurisdictions have legal requirements that data should either not be transferred out (or must be accessible even if it is stored overseas) or should be transferred only to jurisdictions with similar legal protections for the data in place. If you overlook this fact and store data with a cloud storage provider in another jurisdiction that has inadequate protections, you may be in breach of your local laws.
If you use a cloud storage provider, you need to ensure that your Privacy Policy and/or your website Terms of Use cover the situation in which a cloud storage provider has a privacy breach and your customer data is released. Here’s an example from Amazon of that type of clause:
Source
You can see that the clause limits Amazon’s liability and includes no liability for loss to any files. You want to ensure that you are not liable if a third party (the cloud storage provider) has a data leak. To maintain customer trust, use only reputable providers and be transparent about whom your customer data is stored with.
How to Comply
Set up a Privacy Policy on your website
Require your customers or website users to agree to it when you collect information from them
Once you’ve collected the data, keep it with a reputable cloud storage provider
Protect yourself from liability in the case of data loss
2. Intellectual Property Issues
The next legal issue to consider as a marketer is intellectual property. First, you want to protect your own intellectual property, such as trademarks and copyright. Second, you want to ensure that you don’t infringe on the intellectual property of others. Let’s take a look at the main types of intellectual property protection you may need.
Trademark
If you are sending out marketing emails or contacting people with flyers or advertisements, the first thing you will need to protect is your brand or logo.
Registering a trademark gives you the exclusive right to use a specific word or words, name, design, or logo in connection with specific goods or services. It is valid for 10 years and is renewable if certain requirements are met.
Before you register yours, check that you are not infringing on anyone else’s trademark and that your logo is not too similar to someone else’s. The easiest way to do this is to have your lawyer check whether your proposed mark is similar to any other marks. The lawyer will search an intellectual property register, namely the US Trademark Database. They may also search international registers or registers in other jurisdictions, depending on how broadly you plan to market using your mark.
You can search the US Trademark Database yourself, but an intellectual property lawyer will have a better idea of what you need to search for. Sometimes you need to search for the same trademark in multiple categories of goods; for example, a trademark that you want to register for marketing relating to a supermarket roadshow may come under categories relating to food, alcohol, other beverages, supermarkets and retail stores, marketing, and many more.
When you’re ready to file your trademark application online, in the US, you can use the Trademark Electronic Application System.
Copyright
If you use original marketing language on your website or text in emails, you may want to copyright that text. Copyright relates to authorship of original works, including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, architectural, and a broad range of other works.
If you work with any third parties who write your marketing copy or text for you, ensure that their work is checked for plagiarism. You don’t want to infringe on someone else’s copyrighted work when sending out your emails or newsletters.
Here’s an example from Ads Direct of what you might include in your Terms of Service to protect your intellectual property:
You can see that they list a number of different types of intellectual property (names, graphics, logos, etc.) and that they also claim they do not own any third-party names, trademarks, or service marks that may appear on their website. If you partner with any other organizations or use quality assurance marks on your marketing materials, this may also be worth covering in your clause.
How to Comply
Check that your proposed branding is not infringing on anyone else’s
Get your intellectual property registered
Hire a lawyer if you need help
Set out your intellectual property use expectations clearly in your Terms of Service
Rules and Regulations of the FTC and Other Consumer Protection Bodies
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has dominion over several key areas relevant to marketers: privacy, anti-spam legislation, and truth in advertising. We’ve already covered privacy above, so let’s take a look at some of the FTC’s rules on advertising and anti-spam practices.
3. Advertising
The FTC requires that advertisements and marketing messages must not mislead consumers or unfairly affect consumers’ behavior or decisions about the product or service. Unfair or deceptive advertising is prohibited, which means that any marketing must tell the truth and not leave out any relevant information that a consumer would be interested in.
Be careful with any comparative advertising or marketing. If you don’t compare products fairly and transparently, you may be breaching advertising standards. Check the wording of your marketing messages carefully and ensure that someone outside of your marketing team (such as someone from your legal team) has a quick look at what your message is saying. A fresh pair of eyes may notice claims that aren’t quite true or descriptions that overemphasize a product’s abilities.
Other regulators on the advertising front that you may need to keep in mind are the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council, which governs the National Advertising Review Board and the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU). If any of your marketing is targeted at children, ensure that you are fully aware of CARU’s guidelines.
Anti-Spam Law
The main anti-spam law in the US is called CAN-SPAM. The FTC enforces CAN-SPAM and has issued guidance on how to comply.
We’ve covered this previously. To recap, CAN-SPAM requires that you:
Don’t use false or misleading header information
Don’t use deceptive subject lines
Identify the message as an ad
Tell recipients where you’re located
Tell recipients how to opt out of receiving future email from you
Honor opt-out requests promptly
Monitor what others are doing on your behalf
The FTC also has a great guide that provides a checklist and guidelines to help you make your business “consumer friendly” overall for international ecommerce. Before you begin marketing your business, be sure that you’ve incorporated some consumer friendly business tips so that you don’t run into trouble further down the line.
If you get into trouble with the FTC or any other consumer protection body, be prompt and clear in your communication with them. Aim to work together toward a solution right away, as it may help you avoid prosecution.
How to Comply
Be aware of what regulations and laws the FTC and other regulators cover
Educate yourself on what you need to do to comply
If you get into hot water with any regulator, work with them to solve the problem
Conclusion
To comply with the law, the key things to remember are: get consent to send your marketing material; ensure that your customers are aware of and sign up to your Privacy Policy when you originally obtain their information; protect your intellectual property and don’t infringe on that of others; be honest and clear with all marketing messages; and allow your customers to opt out of your messages if they wish.
As a marketer, you may be wary of legal pitfalls, but by keeping the issues of privacy and data protection, intellectual property, and consumer protection laws and regulations in the forefront of your mind, you can ensure that you won’t run into any problems.
About the Author: Leah Hamilton is a qualified Solicitor and writer working at TermsFeed, where businesses can create their Privacy Policies and Terms and Conditions in minutes.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1VdsKPC via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://bit.ly/2VlA4nd
September 25, 2015 at 03:18AM
Added: Sep 02, 2015 Via IFTTT
Using Google Analytics for Advanced Visitor Insights
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Using Google Analytics for Advanced Visitor Insights
Knowing the sources of your website traffic – direct, organic, paid, social, referral – is very important. Generally speaking, reviewing traffic sources segmented by channel can help businesses determine if channel-specific marketing initiatives are paying off.
For example, is there a spike in website traffic after posting on social media? Is organic traffic steadily increasing after a successful SEO implementation? Maybe there has been a steady decline in organic traffic but overall site traffic is up. In this case, things look great from a top-level view, but there’s a problem. Valuable information like this won’t present itself if you’re looking only at website traffic as a whole.
However, as important as it is, knowing your traffic sources can reveal only so much. Whereas, understanding who your visitors are and what their intent is can be game-changing. In fact, I would say it’s crucial to the success of your company.
When you know who your visitors are and what their intent is, you can tailor your site content to reflect their interests. This will result in higher conversion rates and a better return on your marketing budget because you’ll be making better use of your website traffic.
If you’re anything like the average Google Analytics user, you can probably log in, click around a little bit, and leave with a general idea of what your traffic looks like. However, you’re just scratching the surface.
In this post, I’ll show you how to segment your traffic by age, gender, and interests and then begin monitoring the traffic of each segment independently. We’ll identify top conversion paths and figure out how to properly attribute conversions to originating traffic sources. Also, I’ll show you how to visualize visitor flow to spot potential website navigation issues and identify pages causing your visitors to drop out of your sales funnels.
1. Using Audience Data to Create Custom Visitor Segments
Many business owners have a target audience in mind when they create website content, messaging, and marketing collateral. In most cases, determining this audience is a gamble at best.
Google Analytics gives business owners a great opportunity to begin viewing website visitors as more than just page views by using actual website data to determine who the visitors are and what kind of content they are interested in.
The first step in getting to know your website visitors is to navigate to your Interests: Overview report (Audience > Interests > Overview).
In the above example, we can see that visitors to this website are interested in technology, television and movies, and photography. Our “In-Market Segments” report (most likely to purchase products or services in these categories) shows a high interest in employment, business and marketing services, and software.
Knowing this, we’re beginning to get a better idea of what a typical visitor to this website looks like. The next step is looking at Age and Gender data in the Demographics report (Audience > Demographics). Here’s the age overview:
Here’s the gender overview:
These two reports show us that 41% of the traffic to this site is between 25 and 34 years old. Almost 70% falls between 25 and 44. This audience also skews male by a ratio of 3:2.
Combining these reports, we know that the majority of our audience consists of males between 25-34 years old with an interest in technology. Armed with this information, we can begin making insightful decisions about our content marketing, conversion optimization, marketing channels, and more.
As a bonus tip, let’s look at how we can take this information and save a custom segment with this data to compare against other traffic in the future.
Let’s go back to the Audience Overview report (Audience > Overview) and click the “All Sessions” segment.
Now, let’s create a new segment and name it “Key Demographic.” We’ll include males, ages 25-34 with an Affinity for technology, and we’ll use “Business Services” for the “In-Market Segment.”
With this segment saved, we can quickly apply it to almost any report and compare how our key demographic is consuming content in comparison to any other segment. If, at some point, you find that your key demographic is not highly engaged and interacting more frequently than your general audience, it may be time to review your content and messaging strategy.
2. Examining Top Conversion Paths to Optimize Sales Funnels
Most business owners have an expectation that their audience will see an ad, visit their site, and make a purchase, all in a single sitting. Unfortunately, it doesn’t usually work like that. In reality, business owners need to create multiple touch points, often across multiple devices, before ultimately converting their customer. This is why understanding your top conversion paths is so important.
Understanding a visitor’s top conversion path not only helps businesses understand how their visitors are actually converting (as opposed to how they think they are converting), but also offers amazing insight into visitor behavior and the often complex route visitors take from first impression to final conversion.
To see a site’s top conversion paths in Google Analytics, go to the Top Conversion Paths section of the Conversions report (Conversions > Multi-Channel Funnels > Top Conversion Paths).
In this example, we can see that our top conversion paths are pretty basic – Organic search with a Direct return visit, two Direct visits, a Referral and Direct return, and so on. We also see a few outliers, such as two Paid searches and three Direct visits.
This is good information on the surface, but what value does this report add to a much broader marketing discussion? How does this report help shape future marketing initiatives?
This report becomes irreplaceable when each goal conversion being measured in your Google Analytics account has a monetary value assigned to it. By having a dollar value assigned to each goal conversion, business owners can use the report to see which conversion paths and which originating traffic sources are proving to be the most profitable paths.
Even non-transactional conversions can and should be assigned a perceived value. An example of assigning a value to a non-transactional conversion would be figuring out that for every 100 prospects who fill out a form, 1 of those prospects turns into a client that pays your business $500. In this case, a value of $5 should be assigned to each goal conversion ($500 / 100 forms = $5).
Once business owners learn from this report which paths are performing the best and which channel visitors are using to return to their site before converting, they have the opportunity to optimize their sales funnel. They can reduce friction and ease the visitor’s path to purchase, which will ultimately lead to higher conversion rates.
3. Using Attribution Modeling to Accurately Attribute Visitor Conversions
Now that we know how to examine our Top Conversion Paths report, it’s important to acknowledge that the data presented there has some discrepancies. Most businesses report on what is known as a “Last Click Attribution Model,” which means the conversion value is assigned to the channel responsible for the last click before conversion.
As a result, “top of the funnel” marketing initiatives (social, content marketing) are often underreported when it comes to tracking conversions. In many cases, the channel a visitor discovers your brand on is not the same channel they use to return to your site. Because of this, channels closer to the purchase (direct, organic) are attributed with the conversion.
This is where the Model Comparison Tool comes into play (Conversions > Attribution > Model Comparison). By looking at how conversion percentages change in a “first click” model versus “last click,” business owners can begin to value their traffic sources and marketing channels more accurately.
In this example, we can see that Organic search is losing 10% of its conversions in the last click model. Paid search (which has an obvious cost associated with it) is losing 4% of its conversions, which hurts the reported ROI of this marketing channel.
In fact, all traffic sources except for Direct are being greatly underreported. This can cause obvious concerns for marketing executives reporting on the success of their efforts. You can see why this tool becomes very important for marketers fighting for budget and justifying their marketing initiatives.
4. Reviewing Behavior Reports for Visitor Insights
Knowing the sources of your website traffic is one thing, but understanding the way visitors flow through your site and navigate your sales funnels can give you a much deeper understanding of what your visitors want to see and when they want to see it.
To begin looking at how visitors are interacting with your site, open the Behavior reports and click on Behavior Flow.
Don’t panic. If you’re looking at a time period with a decent amount of traffic, this report can look like a spider web of confusion. In reality, the information here can be easy to filter when you know what to look for.
The Behavior Flow report defaults to Landing Pages in the left-most column. By clicking on any landing page and selecting “view only this segment,” we can view the traffic that originated only on the selected landing page.
Once the report reloads, it should be much easier to understand. This report reads as a flow chart from left to right, reflecting the visitor’s flow through your website. Starting with your Segment (in this case, your landing page) in the left-most column, there are your Starting pages (which will match the Segment column since you started with a landing page), and then the visitor traffic sequence begins, starting with the First Interaction. Pages are sorted by total sessions from top to bottom per interaction.
By hovering over a page at each interaction, we can see more detailed information, including the URL of the page, the number of users who took the selected step, and the number of Drop offs. A Drop off is defined as the last interaction a visitor had before leaving your website. A Drop off is bad when it comes in the middle of a sales funnel.
So, what can we learn from the Behavior Flow report? While there are a lot of things you can take away from this report, the most important is the ability to visualize whether your website is causing visitors to do the things you want them to do, such as complete a sequential sales funnel, fill out a form, or complete a checkout. If visitors aren’t completing these steps, you can see exactly where you are losing traffic and then optimize your site content at these drop-off points to boost conversions.
Pretty cool, huh?
Knowing how to dig deeper into Google Analytics to gain a better understanding of your visitors and their intentions on your site can play a big role in the growth of your company. Having informative and accurate data can help your business make the difficult marketing and design decisions that will lead to higher engagement and conversion rates in the future.
About the Author: Dallas McLaughlin is a Digital Marketing Specialist at The James Agency, a full service advertising agency in Phoenix, Arizona. He blogs frequently at DallasMcLaughlin.com about Search Engine Optimization, Pay-Per-Click, and Social Media Marketing trends. If you have any questions, you can tweet him directly at @BossDJay.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1UmXjHw via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1PLrd1s
September 02, 2015 at 09:31PM
Knowing the sources of your website traffic – direct, organic, paid, social, referral – is very important. Generally speaking, reviewing traffic sources segmented by channel can help businesses determine if channel-specific marketing initiatives are paying off.
For example, is there a spike in website traffic after posting on social media? Is organic traffic steadily increasing after a successful SEO implementation? Maybe there has been a steady decline in organic traffic but overall site traffic is up. In this case, things look great from a top-level view, but there’s a problem. Valuable information like this won’t present itself if you’re looking only at website traffic as a whole.
However, as important as it is, knowing your traffic sources can reveal only so much. Whereas, understanding who your visitors are and what their intent is can be game-changing. In fact, I would say it’s crucial to the success of your company.
When you know who your visitors are and what their intent is, you can tailor your site content to reflect their interests. This will result in higher conversion rates and a better return on your marketing budget because you’ll be making better use of your website traffic.
If you’re anything like the average Google Analytics user, you can probably log in, click around a little bit, and leave with a general idea of what your traffic looks like. However, you’re just scratching the surface.
In this post, I’ll show you how to segment your traffic by age, gender, and interests and then begin monitoring the traffic of each segment independently. We’ll identify top conversion paths and figure out how to properly attribute conversions to originating traffic sources. Also, I’ll show you how to visualize visitor flow to spot potential website navigation issues and identify pages causing your visitors to drop out of your sales funnels.
1. Using Audience Data to Create Custom Visitor Segments
Many business owners have a target audience in mind when they create website content, messaging, and marketing collateral. In most cases, determining this audience is a gamble at best.
Google Analytics gives business owners a great opportunity to begin viewing website visitors as more than just page views by using actual website data to determine who the visitors are and what kind of content they are interested in.
The first step in getting to know your website visitors is to navigate to your Interests: Overview report (Audience > Interests > Overview).
In the above example, we can see that visitors to this website are interested in technology, television and movies, and photography. Our “In-Market Segments” report (most likely to purchase products or services in these categories) shows a high interest in employment, business and marketing services, and software.
Knowing this, we’re beginning to get a better idea of what a typical visitor to this website looks like. The next step is looking at Age and Gender data in the Demographics report (Audience > Demographics). Here’s the age overview:
Here’s the gender overview:
These two reports show us that 41% of the traffic to this site is between 25 and 34 years old. Almost 70% falls between 25 and 44. This audience also skews male by a ratio of 3:2.
Combining these reports, we know that the majority of our audience consists of males between 25-34 years old with an interest in technology. Armed with this information, we can begin making insightful decisions about our content marketing, conversion optimization, marketing channels, and more.
As a bonus tip, let’s look at how we can take this information and save a custom segment with this data to compare against other traffic in the future.
Let’s go back to the Audience Overview report (Audience > Overview) and click the “All Sessions” segment.
Now, let’s create a new segment and name it “Key Demographic.” We’ll include males, ages 25-34 with an Affinity for technology, and we’ll use “Business Services” for the “In-Market Segment.”
With this segment saved, we can quickly apply it to almost any report and compare how our key demographic is consuming content in comparison to any other segment. If, at some point, you find that your key demographic is not highly engaged and interacting more frequently than your general audience, it may be time to review your content and messaging strategy.
2. Examining Top Conversion Paths to Optimize Sales Funnels
Most business owners have an expectation that their audience will see an ad, visit their site, and make a purchase, all in a single sitting. Unfortunately, it doesn’t usually work like that. In reality, business owners need to create multiple touch points, often across multiple devices, before ultimately converting their customer. This is why understanding your top conversion paths is so important.
Understanding a visitor’s top conversion path not only helps businesses understand how their visitors are actually converting (as opposed to how they think they are converting), but also offers amazing insight into visitor behavior and the often complex route visitors take from first impression to final conversion.
To see a site’s top conversion paths in Google Analytics, go to the Top Conversion Paths section of the Conversions report (Conversions > Multi-Channel Funnels > Top Conversion Paths).
In this example, we can see that our top conversion paths are pretty basic – Organic search with a Direct return visit, two Direct visits, a Referral and Direct return, and so on. We also see a few outliers, such as two Paid searches and three Direct visits.
This is good information on the surface, but what value does this report add to a much broader marketing discussion? How does this report help shape future marketing initiatives?
This report becomes irreplaceable when each goal conversion being measured in your Google Analytics account has a monetary value assigned to it. By having a dollar value assigned to each goal conversion, business owners can use the report to see which conversion paths and which originating traffic sources are proving to be the most profitable paths.
Even non-transactional conversions can and should be assigned a perceived value. An example of assigning a value to a non-transactional conversion would be figuring out that for every 100 prospects who fill out a form, 1 of those prospects turns into a client that pays your business $500. In this case, a value of $5 should be assigned to each goal conversion ($500 / 100 forms = $5).
Once business owners learn from this report which paths are performing the best and which channel visitors are using to return to their site before converting, they have the opportunity to optimize their sales funnel. They can reduce friction and ease the visitor’s path to purchase, which will ultimately lead to higher conversion rates.
3. Using Attribution Modeling to Accurately Attribute Visitor Conversions
Now that we know how to examine our Top Conversion Paths report, it’s important to acknowledge that the data presented there has some discrepancies. Most businesses report on what is known as a “Last Click Attribution Model,” which means the conversion value is assigned to the channel responsible for the last click before conversion.
As a result, “top of the funnel” marketing initiatives (social, content marketing) are often underreported when it comes to tracking conversions. In many cases, the channel a visitor discovers your brand on is not the same channel they use to return to your site. Because of this, channels closer to the purchase (direct, organic) are attributed with the conversion.
This is where the Model Comparison Tool comes into play (Conversions > Attribution > Model Comparison). By looking at how conversion percentages change in a “first click” model versus “last click,” business owners can begin to value their traffic sources and marketing channels more accurately.
In this example, we can see that Organic search is losing 10% of its conversions in the last click model. Paid search (which has an obvious cost associated with it) is losing 4% of its conversions, which hurts the reported ROI of this marketing channel.
In fact, all traffic sources except for Direct are being greatly underreported. This can cause obvious concerns for marketing executives reporting on the success of their efforts. You can see why this tool becomes very important for marketers fighting for budget and justifying their marketing initiatives.
4. Reviewing Behavior Reports for Visitor Insights
Knowing the sources of your website traffic is one thing, but understanding the way visitors flow through your site and navigate your sales funnels can give you a much deeper understanding of what your visitors want to see and when they want to see it.
To begin looking at how visitors are interacting with your site, open the Behavior reports and click on Behavior Flow.
Don’t panic. If you’re looking at a time period with a decent amount of traffic, this report can look like a spider web of confusion. In reality, the information here can be easy to filter when you know what to look for.
The Behavior Flow report defaults to Landing Pages in the left-most column. By clicking on any landing page and selecting “view only this segment,” we can view the traffic that originated only on the selected landing page.
Once the report reloads, it should be much easier to understand. This report reads as a flow chart from left to right, reflecting the visitor’s flow through your website. Starting with your Segment (in this case, your landing page) in the left-most column, there are your Starting pages (which will match the Segment column since you started with a landing page), and then the visitor traffic sequence begins, starting with the First Interaction. Pages are sorted by total sessions from top to bottom per interaction.
By hovering over a page at each interaction, we can see more detailed information, including the URL of the page, the number of users who took the selected step, and the number of Drop offs. A Drop off is defined as the last interaction a visitor had before leaving your website. A Drop off is bad when it comes in the middle of a sales funnel.
So, what can we learn from the Behavior Flow report? While there are a lot of things you can take away from this report, the most important is the ability to visualize whether your website is causing visitors to do the things you want them to do, such as complete a sequential sales funnel, fill out a form, or complete a checkout. If visitors aren’t completing these steps, you can see exactly where you are losing traffic and then optimize your site content at these drop-off points to boost conversions.
Pretty cool, huh?
Knowing how to dig deeper into Google Analytics to gain a better understanding of your visitors and their intentions on your site can play a big role in the growth of your company. Having informative and accurate data can help your business make the difficult marketing and design decisions that will lead to higher engagement and conversion rates in the future.
About the Author: Dallas McLaughlin is a Digital Marketing Specialist at The James Agency, a full service advertising agency in Phoenix, Arizona. He blogs frequently at DallasMcLaughlin.com about Search Engine Optimization, Pay-Per-Click, and Social Media Marketing trends. If you have any questions, you can tweet him directly at @BossDJay.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1UmXjHw via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1PLrd1s
September 02, 2015 at 09:31PM
Added: Aug 07, 2015 Via IFTTT
Using Kissmetrics to Discover the Value of Your Freemium Offering
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Using Kissmetrics to Discover the Value of Your Freemium Offering
Ah, the freemium model. It has helped build companies like Dropbox, Spotify, and MailChimp. But can it work for you? Unfortunately, plenty of failed companies used the freemium model, too.
There are a few ways to determine the effectiveness of your freemium plan. For instance, you can track all your freemium customers in a spreadsheet to see which ones convert to paying customers. This will require a lot of work. Plus, it’s not automated, the spreadsheet can get pretty full, and it’s tough to get insights out of a big spreadsheet.
You can also use Kissmetrics. We have a suite of reports that will take all your data and show you various insights into whether freemium is working for your company. You’ll just need to set up the reports. That’s what this post is about. We’ll go through three of our reports that you can use to see if you should continue with your freemium plan or kill it off in favor of all-paid pricing plans.
Let’s begin.
Discovering If and When Customers Upgrade from Freemium
Obviously, companies cannot succeed if 100% of their customers are on the “free” plan. They need their free customers to grow out of the plan and/or refer others who will sign up for a paid plan.
But if you’re not tracking the data, how would you ever know if people upgrade from the free plan to one of your paid plans?
Using the Kissmetrics Cohort Report, you can see if and when your freemium customers move up and start paying you. You’ll also be able to see which marketing campaigns and customer segments upgrade the most.
In simple terms, a cohort is a group of people who share a similar experience. So people who signed up for a free plan and later upgraded to a paid plan would be in a cohort. The Kissmetrics Cohort Report will show you these people and how many of them upgraded. Here’s how it will look:
On the left side, we see the people who signed up for the freemium plan. The property (Social, Organic, Direct, etc.) tells us where the people came from. So, for example, if someone came from Twitter and signed up, they’d be put in the Social group. (The None category is for people who do not fit in any of the properties.)
The right side tells us what percentage of the people in each group later went on to upgrade to a paying plan. The darker the shade of blue, the higher the percentage. The higher the percentage, the better.
Here are some important takeaways from this data:
Some of the stronger channels are Organic, Direct, and Referral. Social acquires the most signups, but doesn’t convert at a higher percentage than the other groups. If this were your data, you’d know that you could put more focus and effort in getting signups from these channels. Direct would be a little difficult (these are people who have no referrer), but generally an increase in brand awareness means more direct visits.
Paid has brought 6 free signups, but none of them have converted to paying. We’ll have to see what we’re spending on this channel to know if it’s worth it. If it’s a reasonable cost, we should wait until we get more signups to see if Paid really is a bad channel for conversions.
Overall, a solid percentage of people upgrade to paying. To build a successful business, the money we receive from customers will have to exceed the amount it takes to acquire them. Free signups are generally low-cost, so if this were our data, it would look pretty good that we are able to acquire customers profitably.
You can also use the Kissmetrics Funnel Report to track the percentage of people who move from the “freemium signup” step to the “billed” step in your sales funnel. You just won’t be able to know when they convert, as you can with a cohort report. (A funnel report can be used for a number of other purposes, including finding where visitors drop off in the path to purchase, finding which A/B test variation led to more signups, etc.)
Click here to view a demo of the Cohort Report.
Knowing if Freemium Spreads
Many free plans have some virality engine built in. Users on the Dropbox free plan, for example, get more space if they refer people to Dropbox. If your free plan has something like this, you can use the same Cohort Report to tell you when people share your product with others. Just set your criteria to people who signed up for freemium and later referred their friends.
You can segment people by channel (as we did above) or by when they signed up or by whatever will deliver the best insights for you. As long as you’re tracking it, you can get the data.
Finding Out if Freemium Users Are Using Your Product
If freemium users aren’t using your product, it may be a sign of one of the following problems:
There is no product/market fit. You’re signing up people who aren’t interested in your product.
The capabilities of the freemium plan are too limited for any practical use.
Your product isn’t any good. In this case, the majority of your paid users won’t be using the product either.
We can track usage with a simple login retention cohort, or we can use the Kissmetrics People Search to get a list of people who have signed up for the free trial but have not used the product. We can then email these people and gather feedback.
The Kissmetrics People Search allows you to find people based on specific criteria. For example, you can find people who have logged in but not used a feature. Or you can find people who have signed up but not logged in, which is what we’ll be searching for. Here are the criteria:
As you can see, we’re looking for people who have signed up for the freemium plan but have not logged in. We want to see all the people who fit these criteria in the last 30 days.
We aren’t limited to looking at people who have not logged in. If we’re tracking it, we can view the people who have signed up but not used a feature or the people who have signed up but not upgraded.
Let’s click Search and get our data:
We’re viewing 10 of the 122 people who fit the criteria. We can export this data to a CSV file and then upload it to an email service provider such as MailChimp. Or we can email each person individually to get feedback.
If you’re tracking it, you can also use People Search to discover the users who have been using freemium but have not upgraded to a paying plan. You can email these people to learn more about their use cases, what’s working for them, and even target them for upgrades. As long as you’re tracking it, you can get the data and find the people.
Click here to view a demo of People Search.
Use Data to Discover if Freemium Is Working for You
When you offer a freemium plan, you reduce the barrier to entry for many people. Then, ideally, the freemium users upgrade to a paying plan or refer others who pay. But if none of the freemium users upgrade to a paying plan or refer others, your freemium plan may just be a burden on your business. Analytics tools like Kissmetrics (with its Cohort Report, Funnel Report, and People Search) can help you discover if freemium is working for your business.
If you’re using freemium on your product, you may want to sign up for Kissmetrics to see if it’s working for you. You can sign up for a free 14-day trial, or request a personal demo of Kissmetrics.
About the Author: Zach Bulygo (Twitter) is a Content Writer for Kissmetrics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1EelUkW via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1MfQ3IL
August 08, 2015 at 03:03AM
Ah, the freemium model. It has helped build companies like Dropbox, Spotify, and MailChimp. But can it work for you? Unfortunately, plenty of failed companies used the freemium model, too.
There are a few ways to determine the effectiveness of your freemium plan. For instance, you can track all your freemium customers in a spreadsheet to see which ones convert to paying customers. This will require a lot of work. Plus, it’s not automated, the spreadsheet can get pretty full, and it’s tough to get insights out of a big spreadsheet.
You can also use Kissmetrics. We have a suite of reports that will take all your data and show you various insights into whether freemium is working for your company. You’ll just need to set up the reports. That’s what this post is about. We’ll go through three of our reports that you can use to see if you should continue with your freemium plan or kill it off in favor of all-paid pricing plans.
Let’s begin.
Discovering If and When Customers Upgrade from Freemium
Obviously, companies cannot succeed if 100% of their customers are on the “free” plan. They need their free customers to grow out of the plan and/or refer others who will sign up for a paid plan.
But if you’re not tracking the data, how would you ever know if people upgrade from the free plan to one of your paid plans?
Using the Kissmetrics Cohort Report, you can see if and when your freemium customers move up and start paying you. You’ll also be able to see which marketing campaigns and customer segments upgrade the most.
In simple terms, a cohort is a group of people who share a similar experience. So people who signed up for a free plan and later upgraded to a paid plan would be in a cohort. The Kissmetrics Cohort Report will show you these people and how many of them upgraded. Here’s how it will look:
On the left side, we see the people who signed up for the freemium plan. The property (Social, Organic, Direct, etc.) tells us where the people came from. So, for example, if someone came from Twitter and signed up, they’d be put in the Social group. (The None category is for people who do not fit in any of the properties.)
The right side tells us what percentage of the people in each group later went on to upgrade to a paying plan. The darker the shade of blue, the higher the percentage. The higher the percentage, the better.
Here are some important takeaways from this data:
Some of the stronger channels are Organic, Direct, and Referral. Social acquires the most signups, but doesn’t convert at a higher percentage than the other groups. If this were your data, you’d know that you could put more focus and effort in getting signups from these channels. Direct would be a little difficult (these are people who have no referrer), but generally an increase in brand awareness means more direct visits.
Paid has brought 6 free signups, but none of them have converted to paying. We’ll have to see what we’re spending on this channel to know if it’s worth it. If it’s a reasonable cost, we should wait until we get more signups to see if Paid really is a bad channel for conversions.
Overall, a solid percentage of people upgrade to paying. To build a successful business, the money we receive from customers will have to exceed the amount it takes to acquire them. Free signups are generally low-cost, so if this were our data, it would look pretty good that we are able to acquire customers profitably.
You can also use the Kissmetrics Funnel Report to track the percentage of people who move from the “freemium signup” step to the “billed” step in your sales funnel. You just won’t be able to know when they convert, as you can with a cohort report. (A funnel report can be used for a number of other purposes, including finding where visitors drop off in the path to purchase, finding which A/B test variation led to more signups, etc.)
Click here to view a demo of the Cohort Report.
Knowing if Freemium Spreads
Many free plans have some virality engine built in. Users on the Dropbox free plan, for example, get more space if they refer people to Dropbox. If your free plan has something like this, you can use the same Cohort Report to tell you when people share your product with others. Just set your criteria to people who signed up for freemium and later referred their friends.
You can segment people by channel (as we did above) or by when they signed up or by whatever will deliver the best insights for you. As long as you’re tracking it, you can get the data.
Finding Out if Freemium Users Are Using Your Product
If freemium users aren’t using your product, it may be a sign of one of the following problems:
There is no product/market fit. You’re signing up people who aren’t interested in your product.
The capabilities of the freemium plan are too limited for any practical use.
Your product isn’t any good. In this case, the majority of your paid users won’t be using the product either.
We can track usage with a simple login retention cohort, or we can use the Kissmetrics People Search to get a list of people who have signed up for the free trial but have not used the product. We can then email these people and gather feedback.
The Kissmetrics People Search allows you to find people based on specific criteria. For example, you can find people who have logged in but not used a feature. Or you can find people who have signed up but not logged in, which is what we’ll be searching for. Here are the criteria:
As you can see, we’re looking for people who have signed up for the freemium plan but have not logged in. We want to see all the people who fit these criteria in the last 30 days.
We aren’t limited to looking at people who have not logged in. If we’re tracking it, we can view the people who have signed up but not used a feature or the people who have signed up but not upgraded.
Let’s click Search and get our data:
We’re viewing 10 of the 122 people who fit the criteria. We can export this data to a CSV file and then upload it to an email service provider such as MailChimp. Or we can email each person individually to get feedback.
If you’re tracking it, you can also use People Search to discover the users who have been using freemium but have not upgraded to a paying plan. You can email these people to learn more about their use cases, what’s working for them, and even target them for upgrades. As long as you’re tracking it, you can get the data and find the people.
Click here to view a demo of People Search.
Use Data to Discover if Freemium Is Working for You
When you offer a freemium plan, you reduce the barrier to entry for many people. Then, ideally, the freemium users upgrade to a paying plan or refer others who pay. But if none of the freemium users upgrade to a paying plan or refer others, your freemium plan may just be a burden on your business. Analytics tools like Kissmetrics (with its Cohort Report, Funnel Report, and People Search) can help you discover if freemium is working for your business.
If you’re using freemium on your product, you may want to sign up for Kissmetrics to see if it’s working for you. You can sign up for a free 14-day trial, or request a personal demo of Kissmetrics.
About the Author: Zach Bulygo (Twitter) is a Content Writer for Kissmetrics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1EelUkW via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1MfQ3IL
August 08, 2015 at 03:03AM
Added: Jul 12, 2015 Via Website
Visit the Settings section and configure your account
No Folder
no date
None
1 Medium
Added: Jul 12, 2015 Via Website
Watch our tutorial videos in the Help section at Toodledo.com
No Folder
Jul 12, 2015
None
3 Top
Added: Sep 29, 2015 Via IFTTT
We Want to Hear About Your Experience With Marketing Analytics Tools
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
We Want to Hear About Your Experience With Marketing Analytics Tools
As fellow analytics fans, we’d like to ask for your feedback in a short 15-question survey. Not surprisingly, it’s about analytics tools and what you as marketers need the most from your systems.
We promise this is not entirely self-serving. Not only will the results inform the topics we consider for upcoming blog posts, we’ll share the results with you as soon as they’re in. After all, what’s the point of insights if you don’t share them?
Participate in the survey here: http://ift.tt/1L2FVBt
And of course, sound off in the comments with any stream of consciousness thoughts on analytics tools, data exhaustion, how marketing budgets are determined, and so on.
About the Author: Maura Ginty is the VP of Marketing at Kissmetrics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1RepcMz via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1MEDN23
September 30, 2015 at 03:04AM
As fellow analytics fans, we’d like to ask for your feedback in a short 15-question survey. Not surprisingly, it’s about analytics tools and what you as marketers need the most from your systems.
We promise this is not entirely self-serving. Not only will the results inform the topics we consider for upcoming blog posts, we’ll share the results with you as soon as they’re in. After all, what’s the point of insights if you don’t share them?
Participate in the survey here: http://ift.tt/1L2FVBt
And of course, sound off in the comments with any stream of consciousness thoughts on analytics tools, data exhaustion, how marketing budgets are determined, and so on.
About the Author: Maura Ginty is the VP of Marketing at Kissmetrics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1RepcMz via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1MEDN23
September 30, 2015 at 03:04AM
Added: Apr 22, 2019 Via IFTTT
We Want to Hear About Your Experience With Marketing Analytics Tools
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
We Want to Hear About Your Experience With Marketing Analytics Tools
As fellow analytics fans, we’d like to ask for your feedback in a short 15-question survey. Not surprisingly, it’s about analytics tools and what you as marketers need the most from your systems.
We promise this is not entirely self-serving. Not only will the results inform the topics we consider for upcoming blog posts, we’ll share the results with you as soon as they’re in. After all, what’s the point of insights if you don’t share them?
Participate in the survey here: http://ift.tt/1L2FVBt
And of course, sound off in the comments with any stream of consciousness thoughts on analytics tools, data exhaustion, how marketing budgets are determined, and so on.
About the Author: Maura Ginty is the VP of Marketing at Kissmetrics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1RepcMz via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://bit.ly/2VigpV8
September 30, 2015 at 03:04AM
As fellow analytics fans, we’d like to ask for your feedback in a short 15-question survey. Not surprisingly, it’s about analytics tools and what you as marketers need the most from your systems.
We promise this is not entirely self-serving. Not only will the results inform the topics we consider for upcoming blog posts, we’ll share the results with you as soon as they’re in. After all, what’s the point of insights if you don’t share them?
Participate in the survey here: http://ift.tt/1L2FVBt
And of course, sound off in the comments with any stream of consciousness thoughts on analytics tools, data exhaustion, how marketing budgets are determined, and so on.
About the Author: Maura Ginty is the VP of Marketing at Kissmetrics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1RepcMz via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://bit.ly/2VigpV8
September 30, 2015 at 03:04AM
Added: Oct 01, 2015 Via IFTTT
What Marketers Need to Know About Cohorts
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
What Marketers Need to Know About Cohorts
The word “cohort” can be scary to those unfamiliar with the term. It may sound like something out of a medical journal or statistics class. But, I promise you, there’s nothing to be afraid of. And, if you’re a marketer, it’s pretty important to understand cohorts if you want to get into and benefit from marketing analytics.
So, what is a cohort? Wikipedia defines it as:
“A cohort is a group of subjects who have shared a particular event together during a particular time span (e.g., people born in Europe between 1918 and 1939; survivors of an air crash; truck drivers who smoked between age 30 and 40).”
Pretty simple, right?
And, if you’re one those left-brained people who love to analyze data, then cohorts are perfect for you.
Cohorts are frequently used in studies to compare groups of people. They’re useful because, in a cohort study, you track the cohorts over a period of time to see what kind of data each one brings.
To use one of the examples from above, you could study truck drivers who smoked between age 30 and 40 compared with those who didn’t smoke at all and/or those who smoked earlier or later in life. You would then look at various test results for each cohort and compare the data.
Now, we’re not going to be talking about truck drivers who smoked. Since we’re marketers, we’re going to run through how we can apply cohorts to optimize our marketing. We’ll also examine a couple of tools that offer cohort analysis.
How Can Marketers Use Cohorts?
There are literally hundreds of cohorts marketers can create. But, the question here is not how many they can create. It’s which cohorts will produce the most insightful data.
When thinking about which cohorts to track, ask yourself these questions:
Will the data I get from these cohorts produce insights that can change my marketing strategy?
Will I be able to clearly know what’s working and what’s not when it comes to marketing?
What targets do I need to hit this year? Will this cohort help me improve that metric?
Here are three cohorts marketers may find useful:
1. Signed Up / Purchased, Organized by Time
You’re a marketer, so it’s critical for you to deliver leads and signups to your sales team. Create a cohort that tracks people who visited your site and signed up. You’ll see when they first visited your site and how long it took them to sign up after their first visit. This can essentially tell you if your marketing campaigns lead people to take immediate action. Let’s break it down.
The new year begins, along with your new marketing campaign. You’ve spent the past 2 months planning it, designing it, and setting targets. Now it’s prime time, and you’re ready to see how it performs.
Your campaign runs from January – March. You get 100k visitors to your site, and your signup rate during this time remains at .5%. You start a new campaign in April.
Fast forward a few months, and you’re looking at a Cohort Report. You’re viewing the people who visited your site and signed up. For the people who visited your site sometime in the period January – March, you notice a slight increase in signups in the months following. You see that 1.0% of the people who visited your site in February came back in June and signed up. This means that the January – March campaign was more effective than initially thought.
As marketers, we often expect people to sign up right away. In our minds, we think they come to our site and either sign up or don’t. But the truth is, it’s not that binary. It’s not a yes or no at that very moment. Sometimes it’s a “wait and see.” People might visit our site, browse around, but then not sign up until later.
This is why it’s a useful cohort. Signups don’t always occur right away, and a cohort reporting tool can track signups over a long period of time.
2. Your Most Loyal Customers
Every marketer wants to acquire customers. But, as we know, not all customers are created equal. Some spend more than others, and some may require more “help” than others. There are also customers who sign up for your service and cancel a few months later (which doesn’t help your Cost to Acquire a Customer (CAC)). Most important, there are customers who sign up, stay engaged with your product, and tell their friends about it. You need to know who these customers are, where they came from, and how you can get more of them.
With a sophisticated Cohort Report, marketers can create a cohort of users who frequently login, and then they can segment (aka group) those users by the marketing channel they came from.
Here’s a way to think about it:
Your marketing challenge is finding loyal customers. You have no problem delivering signups, but 80% of them cancel their accounts after a few months. What about the other 20%? Where do they come from and how do you get more of them? This is where a Cohort Report can help you.
This is the Kissmetrics Cohort Report. It’s one of the best places to get this kind of data.
On the left, we see the marketing channel users came from. Move to the right, and you’ll see how well each channel performed. The darker the shade of blue, the higher the login retention.
With this information, we can see which channels are sending us the most valuable customers and then spend more money and energy on them and less on the ones that aren’t delivering.
3. Repurchase Rates
Every business needs loyal customers. That includes retail stores, SaaS companies, subscription-based companies, you name it. They need customers who come back and make purchases on a recurring basis. There’s no getting around it.
So how do you, as a marketer, find and acquire these loyal customers? Use a cohort. Here’s what you’ll want to do:
Find the people who have repurchased. This can be for any business, but let’s use e-commerce as an example. Then segment the purchases by product categories, marketing channels, or marketing campaigns. Here’s what you’ll learn:
Do certain product categories keep people coming back? Maybe people who purchased ties come back frequently and purchase other items. If so, it’s time to start promoting your tie collection more often.
Do any marketing channels have a tendency to bring loyal customers? For example, perhaps your AdWords campaigns are outperforming your Facebook ad campaign in bringing repeat purchases. If this is the case, you’ll want to spend more time and money on the AdWords campaigns.
You have dozens of marketing campaigns running. You have seasonal campaigns running four times a year and dozens of other campaigns running in between. With a Cohort Report, you’ll find out which ones drive purchases and repurchases.
The Value of Cohorts for Marketers
As you can see, there are many insights you can gather by grouping people together and tracking their behavior over time.
Each business and marketing challenge is unique. I’ve listed a few ways marketers can use cohorts to help optimize their marketing. But your challenges are unique, and only you will be able to create cohorts that garner valuable insight.
Where to Get This Data
There are two tools we’ll focus on that provide cohort reporting. The first is Google Analytics and the other is Kissmetrics. Let’s start by examining Google Analytics.
Google Analytics Cohort Analysis
Google Analytics has a feature called Cohort Analysis. Here it is:
You have four choices in setting up your cohort analysis:
Cohort Type
This is where you choose a cohort. Acquisition Date, for example, groups people based on when they first came to your site.
Cohort Size
Here you choose the time frame for each cohort. You can measure people on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
Metric
Here you choose what you’ll be measuring for each cohort. There are a variety of choices.
Date Range
You have a variety of date ranges you can choose from. This is determined by the size of your cohort. For example, if you choose a cohort size “by day” you’ll have the date range options of 7, 14, 21, and 30 days.
Underneath these options, the Cohort Analysis presents the data visualization. Users can see how well the cohort is performing over time.
The bottom part contains the raw numbers and the retention afterward. The darker the shade of blue, the higher the percentage (i.e., better retention).
The Cohort Analysis is still in its early stages. Some of the more advanced things you’ll want to do may be a little more difficult to set up in Google Analytics. It is, of course, free and does not inherently come with support. You can get support through a partner.
Kissmetrics Cohort Report
This report is one of the most customizable out there. You can track any event and property across a custom date range. Using this report, you’ll be able to measure how your marketing campaigns are performing and refine them based on the data. The report’s usefulness can also extend beyond the marketing department. Here are a couple of other departments that could use it:
Product Team
Track the features users keep coming back to. Which ones aren’t used as often? Why? Getting answers to these questions will help improve future product iterations and can help you find your product/market fit.
Know which features are used first by new users. Are new users gravitating toward one feature over another? What was their experience with this feature?
Understand the feature utilization that leads to payment. Is one cohort of users, who use a feature or area of your site more often during their free trial, more likely to pay for your product or cancel? Perhaps some features turn people off and they never return. Knowing this can make a huge difference.
Sales Team
Know the product plan that has the best retention. Your sales team should not knowingly be pushing product plans that have been shown to have higher churn.
Does viewing a certain element on a page lead to a signup? Maybe visitors who downloaded a white paper are more likely to sign up. If so, you can push people to download that white paper and even ask the marketing department to create more white papers.
Find which product features are used by each customer segment. For example, let’s say your sales team is trying to land a big account from a well-known SaaS company. To sell the account, your sales team needs to show them the features your other SaaS customers use. Think about it. You don’t want to show them features that none of your SaaS customers are using. You want to show them the features that their peers are getting value from.
Here’s a video demo of the Cohort Report:
If the video embed is not showing up, you can click here to view the video on the Wistia page.
Recap
We’ve gone through a lot. Here are the takeaways:
A cohort is a group of subjects who have shared a particular event together during a particular time span (e.g., people born in Europe between 1918 and 1939; survivors of an air crash; truck drivers who smoked between age 30 and 40). To put it another way, a cohort is a group of people who have a similar characteristic. Their behavior is then tracked over a period of time.
These cohorts can help marketers understand how groups of people compare against each other. If you have two groups with different behaviors, notice which one delivers the best results. Then refine your marketing with what you learn.
Sometimes signups don’t occur right away. A visitor may visit your site in January, bookmark it, and then return in June to sign up. The June marketing campaign may incorrectly be attributed with the signup even though it was actually the marketing campaign in January that brought the visitor. This is where the Cohort Report comes in handy.
One cohort that marketers commonly use is people who have signed up. Marketers can see how each marketing channel or campaign performs at delivering signups.
Many tools provide cohort data, but we focused on two of them – Google Analytics’s Cohort Analysis and Kissmetrics’s Cohort Report. Both have their upsides. If you’re looking to get more advanced analysis, definitely go with the Kissmetrics Cohort Report. The Cohort Analysis tool is still in its early stages.
The Cohort Report can be used by more than marketers. Nearly all departments in your company will be able to get useful data out of this report.
See How Cohorts Can Impact Your Marketing
Want to learn how the Cohort Report can help you optimize your marketing? Request a personal demo today!
About the Author: Zach Bulygo (Twitter) is a Content Writer for Kissmetrics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1N4I5mA via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1KOPqD2
October 01, 2015 at 09:21PM
The word “cohort” can be scary to those unfamiliar with the term. It may sound like something out of a medical journal or statistics class. But, I promise you, there’s nothing to be afraid of. And, if you’re a marketer, it’s pretty important to understand cohorts if you want to get into and benefit from marketing analytics.
So, what is a cohort? Wikipedia defines it as:
“A cohort is a group of subjects who have shared a particular event together during a particular time span (e.g., people born in Europe between 1918 and 1939; survivors of an air crash; truck drivers who smoked between age 30 and 40).”
Pretty simple, right?
And, if you’re one those left-brained people who love to analyze data, then cohorts are perfect for you.
Cohorts are frequently used in studies to compare groups of people. They’re useful because, in a cohort study, you track the cohorts over a period of time to see what kind of data each one brings.
To use one of the examples from above, you could study truck drivers who smoked between age 30 and 40 compared with those who didn’t smoke at all and/or those who smoked earlier or later in life. You would then look at various test results for each cohort and compare the data.
Now, we’re not going to be talking about truck drivers who smoked. Since we’re marketers, we’re going to run through how we can apply cohorts to optimize our marketing. We’ll also examine a couple of tools that offer cohort analysis.
How Can Marketers Use Cohorts?
There are literally hundreds of cohorts marketers can create. But, the question here is not how many they can create. It’s which cohorts will produce the most insightful data.
When thinking about which cohorts to track, ask yourself these questions:
Will the data I get from these cohorts produce insights that can change my marketing strategy?
Will I be able to clearly know what’s working and what’s not when it comes to marketing?
What targets do I need to hit this year? Will this cohort help me improve that metric?
Here are three cohorts marketers may find useful:
1. Signed Up / Purchased, Organized by Time
You’re a marketer, so it’s critical for you to deliver leads and signups to your sales team. Create a cohort that tracks people who visited your site and signed up. You’ll see when they first visited your site and how long it took them to sign up after their first visit. This can essentially tell you if your marketing campaigns lead people to take immediate action. Let’s break it down.
The new year begins, along with your new marketing campaign. You’ve spent the past 2 months planning it, designing it, and setting targets. Now it’s prime time, and you’re ready to see how it performs.
Your campaign runs from January – March. You get 100k visitors to your site, and your signup rate during this time remains at .5%. You start a new campaign in April.
Fast forward a few months, and you’re looking at a Cohort Report. You’re viewing the people who visited your site and signed up. For the people who visited your site sometime in the period January – March, you notice a slight increase in signups in the months following. You see that 1.0% of the people who visited your site in February came back in June and signed up. This means that the January – March campaign was more effective than initially thought.
As marketers, we often expect people to sign up right away. In our minds, we think they come to our site and either sign up or don’t. But the truth is, it’s not that binary. It’s not a yes or no at that very moment. Sometimes it’s a “wait and see.” People might visit our site, browse around, but then not sign up until later.
This is why it’s a useful cohort. Signups don’t always occur right away, and a cohort reporting tool can track signups over a long period of time.
2. Your Most Loyal Customers
Every marketer wants to acquire customers. But, as we know, not all customers are created equal. Some spend more than others, and some may require more “help” than others. There are also customers who sign up for your service and cancel a few months later (which doesn’t help your Cost to Acquire a Customer (CAC)). Most important, there are customers who sign up, stay engaged with your product, and tell their friends about it. You need to know who these customers are, where they came from, and how you can get more of them.
With a sophisticated Cohort Report, marketers can create a cohort of users who frequently login, and then they can segment (aka group) those users by the marketing channel they came from.
Here’s a way to think about it:
Your marketing challenge is finding loyal customers. You have no problem delivering signups, but 80% of them cancel their accounts after a few months. What about the other 20%? Where do they come from and how do you get more of them? This is where a Cohort Report can help you.
This is the Kissmetrics Cohort Report. It’s one of the best places to get this kind of data.
On the left, we see the marketing channel users came from. Move to the right, and you’ll see how well each channel performed. The darker the shade of blue, the higher the login retention.
With this information, we can see which channels are sending us the most valuable customers and then spend more money and energy on them and less on the ones that aren’t delivering.
3. Repurchase Rates
Every business needs loyal customers. That includes retail stores, SaaS companies, subscription-based companies, you name it. They need customers who come back and make purchases on a recurring basis. There’s no getting around it.
So how do you, as a marketer, find and acquire these loyal customers? Use a cohort. Here’s what you’ll want to do:
Find the people who have repurchased. This can be for any business, but let’s use e-commerce as an example. Then segment the purchases by product categories, marketing channels, or marketing campaigns. Here’s what you’ll learn:
Do certain product categories keep people coming back? Maybe people who purchased ties come back frequently and purchase other items. If so, it’s time to start promoting your tie collection more often.
Do any marketing channels have a tendency to bring loyal customers? For example, perhaps your AdWords campaigns are outperforming your Facebook ad campaign in bringing repeat purchases. If this is the case, you’ll want to spend more time and money on the AdWords campaigns.
You have dozens of marketing campaigns running. You have seasonal campaigns running four times a year and dozens of other campaigns running in between. With a Cohort Report, you’ll find out which ones drive purchases and repurchases.
The Value of Cohorts for Marketers
As you can see, there are many insights you can gather by grouping people together and tracking their behavior over time.
Each business and marketing challenge is unique. I’ve listed a few ways marketers can use cohorts to help optimize their marketing. But your challenges are unique, and only you will be able to create cohorts that garner valuable insight.
Where to Get This Data
There are two tools we’ll focus on that provide cohort reporting. The first is Google Analytics and the other is Kissmetrics. Let’s start by examining Google Analytics.
Google Analytics Cohort Analysis
Google Analytics has a feature called Cohort Analysis. Here it is:
You have four choices in setting up your cohort analysis:
Cohort Type
This is where you choose a cohort. Acquisition Date, for example, groups people based on when they first came to your site.
Cohort Size
Here you choose the time frame for each cohort. You can measure people on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
Metric
Here you choose what you’ll be measuring for each cohort. There are a variety of choices.
Date Range
You have a variety of date ranges you can choose from. This is determined by the size of your cohort. For example, if you choose a cohort size “by day” you’ll have the date range options of 7, 14, 21, and 30 days.
Underneath these options, the Cohort Analysis presents the data visualization. Users can see how well the cohort is performing over time.
The bottom part contains the raw numbers and the retention afterward. The darker the shade of blue, the higher the percentage (i.e., better retention).
The Cohort Analysis is still in its early stages. Some of the more advanced things you’ll want to do may be a little more difficult to set up in Google Analytics. It is, of course, free and does not inherently come with support. You can get support through a partner.
Kissmetrics Cohort Report
This report is one of the most customizable out there. You can track any event and property across a custom date range. Using this report, you’ll be able to measure how your marketing campaigns are performing and refine them based on the data. The report’s usefulness can also extend beyond the marketing department. Here are a couple of other departments that could use it:
Product Team
Track the features users keep coming back to. Which ones aren’t used as often? Why? Getting answers to these questions will help improve future product iterations and can help you find your product/market fit.
Know which features are used first by new users. Are new users gravitating toward one feature over another? What was their experience with this feature?
Understand the feature utilization that leads to payment. Is one cohort of users, who use a feature or area of your site more often during their free trial, more likely to pay for your product or cancel? Perhaps some features turn people off and they never return. Knowing this can make a huge difference.
Sales Team
Know the product plan that has the best retention. Your sales team should not knowingly be pushing product plans that have been shown to have higher churn.
Does viewing a certain element on a page lead to a signup? Maybe visitors who downloaded a white paper are more likely to sign up. If so, you can push people to download that white paper and even ask the marketing department to create more white papers.
Find which product features are used by each customer segment. For example, let’s say your sales team is trying to land a big account from a well-known SaaS company. To sell the account, your sales team needs to show them the features your other SaaS customers use. Think about it. You don’t want to show them features that none of your SaaS customers are using. You want to show them the features that their peers are getting value from.
Here’s a video demo of the Cohort Report:
If the video embed is not showing up, you can click here to view the video on the Wistia page.
Recap
We’ve gone through a lot. Here are the takeaways:
A cohort is a group of subjects who have shared a particular event together during a particular time span (e.g., people born in Europe between 1918 and 1939; survivors of an air crash; truck drivers who smoked between age 30 and 40). To put it another way, a cohort is a group of people who have a similar characteristic. Their behavior is then tracked over a period of time.
These cohorts can help marketers understand how groups of people compare against each other. If you have two groups with different behaviors, notice which one delivers the best results. Then refine your marketing with what you learn.
Sometimes signups don’t occur right away. A visitor may visit your site in January, bookmark it, and then return in June to sign up. The June marketing campaign may incorrectly be attributed with the signup even though it was actually the marketing campaign in January that brought the visitor. This is where the Cohort Report comes in handy.
One cohort that marketers commonly use is people who have signed up. Marketers can see how each marketing channel or campaign performs at delivering signups.
Many tools provide cohort data, but we focused on two of them – Google Analytics’s Cohort Analysis and Kissmetrics’s Cohort Report. Both have their upsides. If you’re looking to get more advanced analysis, definitely go with the Kissmetrics Cohort Report. The Cohort Analysis tool is still in its early stages.
The Cohort Report can be used by more than marketers. Nearly all departments in your company will be able to get useful data out of this report.
See How Cohorts Can Impact Your Marketing
Want to learn how the Cohort Report can help you optimize your marketing? Request a personal demo today!
About the Author: Zach Bulygo (Twitter) is a Content Writer for Kissmetrics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1N4I5mA via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1KOPqD2
October 01, 2015 at 09:21PM
Added: Apr 22, 2019 Via IFTTT
What Marketers Need to Know About Cohorts
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
What Marketers Need to Know About Cohorts
The word “cohort” can be scary to those unfamiliar with the term. It may sound like something out of a medical journal or statistics class. But, I promise you, there’s nothing to be afraid of. And, if you’re a marketer, it’s pretty important to understand cohorts if you want to get into and benefit from marketing analytics.
So, what is a cohort? Wikipedia defines it as:
“A cohort is a group of subjects who have shared a particular event together during a particular time span (e.g., people born in Europe between 1918 and 1939; survivors of an air crash; truck drivers who smoked between age 30 and 40).”
Pretty simple, right?
And, if you’re one those left-brained people who love to analyze data, then cohorts are perfect for you.
Cohorts are frequently used in studies to compare groups of people. They’re useful because, in a cohort study, you track the cohorts over a period of time to see what kind of data each one brings.
To use one of the examples from above, you could study truck drivers who smoked between age 30 and 40 compared with those who didn’t smoke at all and/or those who smoked earlier or later in life. You would then look at various test results for each cohort and compare the data.
Now, we’re not going to be talking about truck drivers who smoked. Since we’re marketers, we’re going to run through how we can apply cohorts to optimize our marketing. We’ll also examine a couple of tools that offer cohort analysis.
How Can Marketers Use Cohorts?
There are literally hundreds of cohorts marketers can create. But, the question here is not how many they can create. It’s which cohorts will produce the most insightful data.
When thinking about which cohorts to track, ask yourself these questions:
Will the data I get from these cohorts produce insights that can change my marketing strategy?
Will I be able to clearly know what’s working and what’s not when it comes to marketing?
What targets do I need to hit this year? Will this cohort help me improve that metric?
Here are three cohorts marketers may find useful:
1. Signed Up / Purchased, Organized by Time
You’re a marketer, so it’s critical for you to deliver leads and signups to your sales team. Create a cohort that tracks people who visited your site and signed up. You’ll see when they first visited your site and how long it took them to sign up after their first visit. This can essentially tell you if your marketing campaigns lead people to take immediate action. Let’s break it down.
The new year begins, along with your new marketing campaign. You’ve spent the past 2 months planning it, designing it, and setting targets. Now it’s prime time, and you’re ready to see how it performs.
Your campaign runs from January – March. You get 100k visitors to your site, and your signup rate during this time remains at .5%. You start a new campaign in April.
Fast forward a few months, and you’re looking at a Cohort Report. You’re viewing the people who visited your site and signed up. For the people who visited your site sometime in the period January – March, you notice a slight increase in signups in the months following. You see that 1.0% of the people who visited your site in February came back in June and signed up. This means that the January – March campaign was more effective than initially thought.
As marketers, we often expect people to sign up right away. In our minds, we think they come to our site and either sign up or don’t. But the truth is, it’s not that binary. It’s not a yes or no at that very moment. Sometimes it’s a “wait and see.” People might visit our site, browse around, but then not sign up until later.
This is why it’s a useful cohort. Signups don’t always occur right away, and a cohort reporting tool can track signups over a long period of time.
2. Your Most Loyal Customers
Every marketer wants to acquire customers. But, as we know, not all customers are created equal. Some spend more than others, and some may require more “help” than others. There are also customers who sign up for your service and cancel a few months later (which doesn’t help your Cost to Acquire a Customer (CAC)). Most important, there are customers who sign up, stay engaged with your product, and tell their friends about it. You need to know who these customers are, where they came from, and how you can get more of them.
With a sophisticated Cohort Report, marketers can create a cohort of users who frequently login, and then they can segment (aka group) those users by the marketing channel they came from.
Here’s a way to think about it:
Your marketing challenge is finding loyal customers. You have no problem delivering signups, but 80% of them cancel their accounts after a few months. What about the other 20%? Where do they come from and how do you get more of them? This is where a Cohort Report can help you.
This is the Kissmetrics Cohort Report. It’s one of the best places to get this kind of data.
On the left, we see the marketing channel users came from. Move to the right, and you’ll see how well each channel performed. The darker the shade of blue, the higher the login retention.
With this information, we can see which channels are sending us the most valuable customers and then spend more money and energy on them and less on the ones that aren’t delivering.
3. Repurchase Rates
Every business needs loyal customers. That includes retail stores, SaaS companies, subscription-based companies, you name it. They need customers who come back and make purchases on a recurring basis. There’s no getting around it.
So how do you, as a marketer, find and acquire these loyal customers? Use a cohort. Here’s what you’ll want to do:
Find the people who have repurchased. This can be for any business, but let’s use e-commerce as an example. Then segment the purchases by product categories, marketing channels, or marketing campaigns. Here’s what you’ll learn:
Do certain product categories keep people coming back? Maybe people who purchased ties come back frequently and purchase other items. If so, it’s time to start promoting your tie collection more often.
Do any marketing channels have a tendency to bring loyal customers? For example, perhaps your AdWords campaigns are outperforming your Facebook ad campaign in bringing repeat purchases. If this is the case, you’ll want to spend more time and money on the AdWords campaigns.
You have dozens of marketing campaigns running. You have seasonal campaigns running four times a year and dozens of other campaigns running in between. With a Cohort Report, you’ll find out which ones drive purchases and repurchases.
The Value of Cohorts for Marketers
As you can see, there are many insights you can gather by grouping people together and tracking their behavior over time.
Each business and marketing challenge is unique. I’ve listed a few ways marketers can use cohorts to help optimize their marketing. But your challenges are unique, and only you will be able to create cohorts that garner valuable insight.
Where to Get This Data
There are two tools we’ll focus on that provide cohort reporting. The first is Google Analytics and the other is Kissmetrics. Let’s start by examining Google Analytics.
Google Analytics Cohort Analysis
Google Analytics has a feature called Cohort Analysis. Here it is:
You have four choices in setting up your cohort analysis:
Cohort Type
This is where you choose a cohort. Acquisition Date, for example, groups people based on when they first came to your site.
Cohort Size
Here you choose the time frame for each cohort. You can measure people on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
Metric
Here you choose what you’ll be measuring for each cohort. There are a variety of choices.
Date Range
You have a variety of date ranges you can choose from. This is determined by the size of your cohort. For example, if you choose a cohort size “by day” you’ll have the date range options of 7, 14, 21, and 30 days.
Underneath these options, the Cohort Analysis presents the data visualization. Users can see how well the cohort is performing over time.
The bottom part contains the raw numbers and the retention afterward. The darker the shade of blue, the higher the percentage (i.e., better retention).
The Cohort Analysis is still in its early stages. Some of the more advanced things you’ll want to do may be a little more difficult to set up in Google Analytics. It is, of course, free and does not inherently come with support. You can get support through a partner.
Kissmetrics Cohort Report
This report is one of the most customizable out there. You can track any event and property across a custom date range. Using this report, you’ll be able to measure how your marketing campaigns are performing and refine them based on the data. The report’s usefulness can also extend beyond the marketing department. Here are a couple of other departments that could use it:
Product Team
Track the features users keep coming back to. Which ones aren’t used as often? Why? Getting answers to these questions will help improve future product iterations and can help you find your product/market fit.
Know which features are used first by new users. Are new users gravitating toward one feature over another? What was their experience with this feature?
Understand the feature utilization that leads to payment. Is one cohort of users, who use a feature or area of your site more often during their free trial, more likely to pay for your product or cancel? Perhaps some features turn people off and they never return. Knowing this can make a huge difference.
Sales Team
Know the product plan that has the best retention. Your sales team should not knowingly be pushing product plans that have been shown to have higher churn.
Does viewing a certain element on a page lead to a signup? Maybe visitors who downloaded a white paper are more likely to sign up. If so, you can push people to download that white paper and even ask the marketing department to create more white papers.
Find which product features are used by each customer segment. For example, let’s say your sales team is trying to land a big account from a well-known SaaS company. To sell the account, your sales team needs to show them the features your other SaaS customers use. Think about it. You don’t want to show them features that none of your SaaS customers are using. You want to show them the features that their peers are getting value from.
Here’s a video demo of the Cohort Report:
If the video embed is not showing up, you can click here to view the video on the Wistia page.
Recap
We’ve gone through a lot. Here are the takeaways:
A cohort is a group of subjects who have shared a particular event together during a particular time span (e.g., people born in Europe between 1918 and 1939; survivors of an air crash; truck drivers who smoked between age 30 and 40). To put it another way, a cohort is a group of people who have a similar characteristic. Their behavior is then tracked over a period of time.
These cohorts can help marketers understand how groups of people compare against each other. If you have two groups with different behaviors, notice which one delivers the best results. Then refine your marketing with what you learn.
Sometimes signups don’t occur right away. A visitor may visit your site in January, bookmark it, and then return in June to sign up. The June marketing campaign may incorrectly be attributed with the signup even though it was actually the marketing campaign in January that brought the visitor. This is where the Cohort Report comes in handy.
One cohort that marketers commonly use is people who have signed up. Marketers can see how each marketing channel or campaign performs at delivering signups.
Many tools provide cohort data, but we focused on two of them – Google Analytics’s Cohort Analysis and Kissmetrics’s Cohort Report. Both have their upsides. If you’re looking to get more advanced analysis, definitely go with the Kissmetrics Cohort Report. The Cohort Analysis tool is still in its early stages.
The Cohort Report can be used by more than marketers. Nearly all departments in your company will be able to get useful data out of this report.
See How Cohorts Can Impact Your Marketing
Want to learn how the Cohort Report can help you optimize your marketing? Request a personal demo today!
About the Author: Zach Bulygo (Twitter) is a Content Writer for Kissmetrics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1N4I5mA via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://bit.ly/2VcbRje
October 01, 2015 at 09:21PM
The word “cohort” can be scary to those unfamiliar with the term. It may sound like something out of a medical journal or statistics class. But, I promise you, there’s nothing to be afraid of. And, if you’re a marketer, it’s pretty important to understand cohorts if you want to get into and benefit from marketing analytics.
So, what is a cohort? Wikipedia defines it as:
“A cohort is a group of subjects who have shared a particular event together during a particular time span (e.g., people born in Europe between 1918 and 1939; survivors of an air crash; truck drivers who smoked between age 30 and 40).”
Pretty simple, right?
And, if you’re one those left-brained people who love to analyze data, then cohorts are perfect for you.
Cohorts are frequently used in studies to compare groups of people. They’re useful because, in a cohort study, you track the cohorts over a period of time to see what kind of data each one brings.
To use one of the examples from above, you could study truck drivers who smoked between age 30 and 40 compared with those who didn’t smoke at all and/or those who smoked earlier or later in life. You would then look at various test results for each cohort and compare the data.
Now, we’re not going to be talking about truck drivers who smoked. Since we’re marketers, we’re going to run through how we can apply cohorts to optimize our marketing. We’ll also examine a couple of tools that offer cohort analysis.
How Can Marketers Use Cohorts?
There are literally hundreds of cohorts marketers can create. But, the question here is not how many they can create. It’s which cohorts will produce the most insightful data.
When thinking about which cohorts to track, ask yourself these questions:
Will the data I get from these cohorts produce insights that can change my marketing strategy?
Will I be able to clearly know what’s working and what’s not when it comes to marketing?
What targets do I need to hit this year? Will this cohort help me improve that metric?
Here are three cohorts marketers may find useful:
1. Signed Up / Purchased, Organized by Time
You’re a marketer, so it’s critical for you to deliver leads and signups to your sales team. Create a cohort that tracks people who visited your site and signed up. You’ll see when they first visited your site and how long it took them to sign up after their first visit. This can essentially tell you if your marketing campaigns lead people to take immediate action. Let’s break it down.
The new year begins, along with your new marketing campaign. You’ve spent the past 2 months planning it, designing it, and setting targets. Now it’s prime time, and you’re ready to see how it performs.
Your campaign runs from January – March. You get 100k visitors to your site, and your signup rate during this time remains at .5%. You start a new campaign in April.
Fast forward a few months, and you’re looking at a Cohort Report. You’re viewing the people who visited your site and signed up. For the people who visited your site sometime in the period January – March, you notice a slight increase in signups in the months following. You see that 1.0% of the people who visited your site in February came back in June and signed up. This means that the January – March campaign was more effective than initially thought.
As marketers, we often expect people to sign up right away. In our minds, we think they come to our site and either sign up or don’t. But the truth is, it’s not that binary. It’s not a yes or no at that very moment. Sometimes it’s a “wait and see.” People might visit our site, browse around, but then not sign up until later.
This is why it’s a useful cohort. Signups don’t always occur right away, and a cohort reporting tool can track signups over a long period of time.
2. Your Most Loyal Customers
Every marketer wants to acquire customers. But, as we know, not all customers are created equal. Some spend more than others, and some may require more “help” than others. There are also customers who sign up for your service and cancel a few months later (which doesn’t help your Cost to Acquire a Customer (CAC)). Most important, there are customers who sign up, stay engaged with your product, and tell their friends about it. You need to know who these customers are, where they came from, and how you can get more of them.
With a sophisticated Cohort Report, marketers can create a cohort of users who frequently login, and then they can segment (aka group) those users by the marketing channel they came from.
Here’s a way to think about it:
Your marketing challenge is finding loyal customers. You have no problem delivering signups, but 80% of them cancel their accounts after a few months. What about the other 20%? Where do they come from and how do you get more of them? This is where a Cohort Report can help you.
This is the Kissmetrics Cohort Report. It’s one of the best places to get this kind of data.
On the left, we see the marketing channel users came from. Move to the right, and you’ll see how well each channel performed. The darker the shade of blue, the higher the login retention.
With this information, we can see which channels are sending us the most valuable customers and then spend more money and energy on them and less on the ones that aren’t delivering.
3. Repurchase Rates
Every business needs loyal customers. That includes retail stores, SaaS companies, subscription-based companies, you name it. They need customers who come back and make purchases on a recurring basis. There’s no getting around it.
So how do you, as a marketer, find and acquire these loyal customers? Use a cohort. Here’s what you’ll want to do:
Find the people who have repurchased. This can be for any business, but let’s use e-commerce as an example. Then segment the purchases by product categories, marketing channels, or marketing campaigns. Here’s what you’ll learn:
Do certain product categories keep people coming back? Maybe people who purchased ties come back frequently and purchase other items. If so, it’s time to start promoting your tie collection more often.
Do any marketing channels have a tendency to bring loyal customers? For example, perhaps your AdWords campaigns are outperforming your Facebook ad campaign in bringing repeat purchases. If this is the case, you’ll want to spend more time and money on the AdWords campaigns.
You have dozens of marketing campaigns running. You have seasonal campaigns running four times a year and dozens of other campaigns running in between. With a Cohort Report, you’ll find out which ones drive purchases and repurchases.
The Value of Cohorts for Marketers
As you can see, there are many insights you can gather by grouping people together and tracking their behavior over time.
Each business and marketing challenge is unique. I’ve listed a few ways marketers can use cohorts to help optimize their marketing. But your challenges are unique, and only you will be able to create cohorts that garner valuable insight.
Where to Get This Data
There are two tools we’ll focus on that provide cohort reporting. The first is Google Analytics and the other is Kissmetrics. Let’s start by examining Google Analytics.
Google Analytics Cohort Analysis
Google Analytics has a feature called Cohort Analysis. Here it is:
You have four choices in setting up your cohort analysis:
Cohort Type
This is where you choose a cohort. Acquisition Date, for example, groups people based on when they first came to your site.
Cohort Size
Here you choose the time frame for each cohort. You can measure people on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
Metric
Here you choose what you’ll be measuring for each cohort. There are a variety of choices.
Date Range
You have a variety of date ranges you can choose from. This is determined by the size of your cohort. For example, if you choose a cohort size “by day” you’ll have the date range options of 7, 14, 21, and 30 days.
Underneath these options, the Cohort Analysis presents the data visualization. Users can see how well the cohort is performing over time.
The bottom part contains the raw numbers and the retention afterward. The darker the shade of blue, the higher the percentage (i.e., better retention).
The Cohort Analysis is still in its early stages. Some of the more advanced things you’ll want to do may be a little more difficult to set up in Google Analytics. It is, of course, free and does not inherently come with support. You can get support through a partner.
Kissmetrics Cohort Report
This report is one of the most customizable out there. You can track any event and property across a custom date range. Using this report, you’ll be able to measure how your marketing campaigns are performing and refine them based on the data. The report’s usefulness can also extend beyond the marketing department. Here are a couple of other departments that could use it:
Product Team
Track the features users keep coming back to. Which ones aren’t used as often? Why? Getting answers to these questions will help improve future product iterations and can help you find your product/market fit.
Know which features are used first by new users. Are new users gravitating toward one feature over another? What was their experience with this feature?
Understand the feature utilization that leads to payment. Is one cohort of users, who use a feature or area of your site more often during their free trial, more likely to pay for your product or cancel? Perhaps some features turn people off and they never return. Knowing this can make a huge difference.
Sales Team
Know the product plan that has the best retention. Your sales team should not knowingly be pushing product plans that have been shown to have higher churn.
Does viewing a certain element on a page lead to a signup? Maybe visitors who downloaded a white paper are more likely to sign up. If so, you can push people to download that white paper and even ask the marketing department to create more white papers.
Find which product features are used by each customer segment. For example, let’s say your sales team is trying to land a big account from a well-known SaaS company. To sell the account, your sales team needs to show them the features your other SaaS customers use. Think about it. You don’t want to show them features that none of your SaaS customers are using. You want to show them the features that their peers are getting value from.
Here’s a video demo of the Cohort Report:
If the video embed is not showing up, you can click here to view the video on the Wistia page.
Recap
We’ve gone through a lot. Here are the takeaways:
A cohort is a group of subjects who have shared a particular event together during a particular time span (e.g., people born in Europe between 1918 and 1939; survivors of an air crash; truck drivers who smoked between age 30 and 40). To put it another way, a cohort is a group of people who have a similar characteristic. Their behavior is then tracked over a period of time.
These cohorts can help marketers understand how groups of people compare against each other. If you have two groups with different behaviors, notice which one delivers the best results. Then refine your marketing with what you learn.
Sometimes signups don’t occur right away. A visitor may visit your site in January, bookmark it, and then return in June to sign up. The June marketing campaign may incorrectly be attributed with the signup even though it was actually the marketing campaign in January that brought the visitor. This is where the Cohort Report comes in handy.
One cohort that marketers commonly use is people who have signed up. Marketers can see how each marketing channel or campaign performs at delivering signups.
Many tools provide cohort data, but we focused on two of them – Google Analytics’s Cohort Analysis and Kissmetrics’s Cohort Report. Both have their upsides. If you’re looking to get more advanced analysis, definitely go with the Kissmetrics Cohort Report. The Cohort Analysis tool is still in its early stages.
The Cohort Report can be used by more than marketers. Nearly all departments in your company will be able to get useful data out of this report.
See How Cohorts Can Impact Your Marketing
Want to learn how the Cohort Report can help you optimize your marketing? Request a personal demo today!
About the Author: Zach Bulygo (Twitter) is a Content Writer for Kissmetrics.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1N4I5mA via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://bit.ly/2VcbRje
October 01, 2015 at 09:21PM
Added: Sep 25, 2015 Via IFTTT
Why a Content Hub is Your All-Powerful Media Magnet
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Why a Content Hub is Your All-Powerful Media Magnet
Content marketers beware:
The battle you fight for attention is hard and getting harder.
Customers don’t know what content they’re looking for (or even that they’re looking for content). They simply want answers.
While a company blog is a smart content marketing play, it’s probably not enough.
Consistently creating and publishing great content can be insanely difficult.
What’s a content hub?
If you were to search the phrase “content hub” and begin scouring the results for its definition, you may get confused fast. The term gets thrown around quite a bit and is interpreted in various ways.
The definition for “content hub” we’re going to use (and the proven approach I’m going to tell you about) is:
A content hub is a destination where website visitors can find branded, curated, social media, user generated, or any type of content related to a topic.
You might think… Isn’t that a website? Or isn’t that a blog? It could be. However, a content hub is generally smaller than a website and bigger than a blog. The best ones—and I’ll show you examples—are microsites or branded resource centers published to help visitors find the information they seek in the form they prefer.
American Express is considered a pioneer of the content hub. Their hub, OPENforum, seven years running, is filled with advice from experts to help small business owners thrive. Readers submit questions and get answers from the forum’s experts.
6 benefits of content hubs
It’s awfully hard to create a sustainable business today if you’re not pulling people into your website. It’s your main medium—your connection center.
Is your website magnetic? A value-packed content hub is your best bet for creating a digital media magnet.
Let’s examine the benefits (as explained in a blog post and free ebook about content hubs from ScoopIt)
1. Authority
Online buyers put their trust in authorities. Consistently publishing trustworthy content is a proven route to building thought leadership and is amongst the most important benefits of hosting a stellar content hub.
2. Visibility and traffic
Succeeding with search, the largest source of traffic on the web, calls for having great content. Search engines index billions of pages and are very good at determining the quality of content on them. If you want traffic, you need your content hub to be a collection of attractive pages.
3. Engagement
Your website could be ultra-magnetic, but not all that successful. Great sites do more than generate traffic; they inspire engagement. Content hubs foster engagement (as in reading, sharing, signing-up, trying, buying, attending, and so on) more than sales pages ever could—or can.
4. Control
Social networks are ever-changing and the changes don’t always benefit members who rely on them for content distribution. Traffic on your content hub is far more meaningful because you control the experience. You tailor the experience. Your objectives come first.
5. Leads
Content hubs enable you to generate leads and sales. When visitors find value in the information you offer, they’ll invest more time there. You’ll create opportunities to “feed the funnel” with tactics such as lead capture, progressive
profiling, and contextual calls-to-action (CTAs).
6. Marketing insights
Your content hub will give your company detailed analytics reports. The metrics you’ll gather inform your content creation team as to what does and doesn’t excite readers. With more insights into what users deem valuable, you’ll become a more effective publisher.
House a more appealing media mix
Your hub can be 100% blog-based, but a diverse media mix—from a variety of sources—will raise the bar and appeal to a wider range of media consumers.
A content hub is a flexible forum where you can publish whatever you like (or more importantly, whatever your audience likes). The media mix may include video, audio, infographics, slides, articles, papers, or any digital media.
Your hub centralizes all that you publish to provide its visitors a more interactive and valuable experience.
Content may be:
Homegrown—Content produced by internal resources
Curated—Content from companies or media sources you deem to be credible and authoritative.
Social media—Content published on your hub and promoted via social media to drive traffic to your website.
User generated—Content created by customers and partners
Advertising—Offers from your company and sponsors
Content hubs look sharp
Content hubs often take a cue from websites like ultra-popular mega-hubs on the social web such as Pinterest and SlideShare. They’re presented “tile style” or magazine-like.
They’re highly graphic with a simple structural form, which makes them easy on the eyes and easy to skim. Content hubs usually present social media share stats at a glance, which tends to promote sharing.
RingCentral’s media team uses the ScoopIt platform to easily find business and media news to create a steady stream of content as part of its multifaceted and highly trafficked blog.
Create an effective content hub
Content Hubs Are Here: The Secret to a Long and Prosperous Life in Publishing, a recently published eBook from ScoopIt, reveals important details for creating a killer content hub. Here’s the short version.
Establish objectives and a mission statement
Get your marketing and sales leaders together to agree on the primary objective. Prioritize secondary objectives and document them.
Document a content marketing mission to clearly articulate:
Your approach to content creation
Whom the content is for
How the content will satisfy the need of those that consume it
Canva Design School, a great example of a content hub from both a small business and SaaS-based company, focuses on delivering an array of resources to help businesses master graphic design.
Create a publishing plan
Assess your prospects’ needs—The foundation of your editorial plan is to create content to deliver the answers to your prospects’ questions.
Examine the competition—Dive into the content your competition delivers to determine how you can do things better or differently.
Audit existing content—Closely review existing assets such as email, FAQs, presentations, webinars, RFPs, case studies, research, sales pages, and brochures. Look to find what might be revisited and turned into helpful articles, blog posts, infographics, videos, eBooks, podcasts, etc.
Tap search and social—Focus on things your target market does and says online. Try the following:
Research search activity with the free Google Keyword Planner tool.
Examine website data with Google Analytics.
Look at questions posed on Q&A sites, online forums and LinkedIn Groups.
Conduct hashtag searches on relevant social media.
Monitor conversations about your market on social networks and setup Google Alerts based on your important keywords.
Consider changes soon to affect your industry.
Hire the right talent—Consider hiring a content strategist to take the lead and a managing editor. Hiring freelancers is a practical strategy to fill voids, round out the team and maintain a steady publishing schedule.
With a content hub, a single person with editorial skills may be capable of writing, editing and curating content to manage all your needs.
Design an attractive hub—Your content hub should be user-friendly and smartly branded. Bring a graphic design professional onboard to give your content hub a branded look and feel and serve its audience well.
Create promotion plans—Make distribution and promotion part of your plan from the get-go considering paid, earned and owned channels.
Get the tools you need—To host a content hub, you’ll need a couple of tools:
Content management system (CMS)—A CMS platform makes creating, publishing, optimizing and maintaining web pages simple. WordPress is by far the most popular CMS.
A content hub manager—Scoop.it Content Director is the most affordable and simple platform I’ve discovered for delivering a turnkey approach for planning, sourcing, and distributing content.
Feeling like toast?
I should now confess (or disclose), I wrote the ScoopIt eBook I’ve mentioned a few times. In it I wrote a dedication to every content marketer who feels like toast.
See, every day thousands of companies join the content marketing parade and thousands more bail. Do you know why? They don’t have the resources to stay the course.
Like most, they understood if they consistently published the valuable content readers actually want to read, watch, listen to and look at, the content marketing dream would be realized. And like most, after awhile they’re toast. Burnt.
You don’t want to suffer the same fate.
Consider creating a content hub and populating it regularly not only with blog posts or homegrown content, but with curated, user generated, co-created and various types of media your prospects find relevant and useful.
Want to learn more about content hubs? Content Hubs Are Here features a detailed explanation of the ingredients of a killer content hub and 13 examples of the hottest content hubs on the web.
About the Author: Barry Feldman operates Feldman Creative and provides clients content marketing strategies that rock and creative that rolls. Barry has recently been named a Top 40 Digital Strategist by Online Marketing Institute and one of 25 Social Media Marketing Experts You Need to Know by LinkedIn. Visit Feldman Creative and his blog, The Point.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1gUCS1W via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1MuiL6o
September 25, 2015 at 09:19PM
Content marketers beware:
The battle you fight for attention is hard and getting harder.
Customers don’t know what content they’re looking for (or even that they’re looking for content). They simply want answers.
While a company blog is a smart content marketing play, it’s probably not enough.
Consistently creating and publishing great content can be insanely difficult.
What’s a content hub?
If you were to search the phrase “content hub” and begin scouring the results for its definition, you may get confused fast. The term gets thrown around quite a bit and is interpreted in various ways.
The definition for “content hub” we’re going to use (and the proven approach I’m going to tell you about) is:
A content hub is a destination where website visitors can find branded, curated, social media, user generated, or any type of content related to a topic.
You might think… Isn’t that a website? Or isn’t that a blog? It could be. However, a content hub is generally smaller than a website and bigger than a blog. The best ones—and I’ll show you examples—are microsites or branded resource centers published to help visitors find the information they seek in the form they prefer.
American Express is considered a pioneer of the content hub. Their hub, OPENforum, seven years running, is filled with advice from experts to help small business owners thrive. Readers submit questions and get answers from the forum’s experts.
6 benefits of content hubs
It’s awfully hard to create a sustainable business today if you’re not pulling people into your website. It’s your main medium—your connection center.
Is your website magnetic? A value-packed content hub is your best bet for creating a digital media magnet.
Let’s examine the benefits (as explained in a blog post and free ebook about content hubs from ScoopIt)
1. Authority
Online buyers put their trust in authorities. Consistently publishing trustworthy content is a proven route to building thought leadership and is amongst the most important benefits of hosting a stellar content hub.
2. Visibility and traffic
Succeeding with search, the largest source of traffic on the web, calls for having great content. Search engines index billions of pages and are very good at determining the quality of content on them. If you want traffic, you need your content hub to be a collection of attractive pages.
3. Engagement
Your website could be ultra-magnetic, but not all that successful. Great sites do more than generate traffic; they inspire engagement. Content hubs foster engagement (as in reading, sharing, signing-up, trying, buying, attending, and so on) more than sales pages ever could—or can.
4. Control
Social networks are ever-changing and the changes don’t always benefit members who rely on them for content distribution. Traffic on your content hub is far more meaningful because you control the experience. You tailor the experience. Your objectives come first.
5. Leads
Content hubs enable you to generate leads and sales. When visitors find value in the information you offer, they’ll invest more time there. You’ll create opportunities to “feed the funnel” with tactics such as lead capture, progressive
profiling, and contextual calls-to-action (CTAs).
6. Marketing insights
Your content hub will give your company detailed analytics reports. The metrics you’ll gather inform your content creation team as to what does and doesn’t excite readers. With more insights into what users deem valuable, you’ll become a more effective publisher.
House a more appealing media mix
Your hub can be 100% blog-based, but a diverse media mix—from a variety of sources—will raise the bar and appeal to a wider range of media consumers.
A content hub is a flexible forum where you can publish whatever you like (or more importantly, whatever your audience likes). The media mix may include video, audio, infographics, slides, articles, papers, or any digital media.
Your hub centralizes all that you publish to provide its visitors a more interactive and valuable experience.
Content may be:
Homegrown—Content produced by internal resources
Curated—Content from companies or media sources you deem to be credible and authoritative.
Social media—Content published on your hub and promoted via social media to drive traffic to your website.
User generated—Content created by customers and partners
Advertising—Offers from your company and sponsors
Content hubs look sharp
Content hubs often take a cue from websites like ultra-popular mega-hubs on the social web such as Pinterest and SlideShare. They’re presented “tile style” or magazine-like.
They’re highly graphic with a simple structural form, which makes them easy on the eyes and easy to skim. Content hubs usually present social media share stats at a glance, which tends to promote sharing.
RingCentral’s media team uses the ScoopIt platform to easily find business and media news to create a steady stream of content as part of its multifaceted and highly trafficked blog.
Create an effective content hub
Content Hubs Are Here: The Secret to a Long and Prosperous Life in Publishing, a recently published eBook from ScoopIt, reveals important details for creating a killer content hub. Here’s the short version.
Establish objectives and a mission statement
Get your marketing and sales leaders together to agree on the primary objective. Prioritize secondary objectives and document them.
Document a content marketing mission to clearly articulate:
Your approach to content creation
Whom the content is for
How the content will satisfy the need of those that consume it
Canva Design School, a great example of a content hub from both a small business and SaaS-based company, focuses on delivering an array of resources to help businesses master graphic design.
Create a publishing plan
Assess your prospects’ needs—The foundation of your editorial plan is to create content to deliver the answers to your prospects’ questions.
Examine the competition—Dive into the content your competition delivers to determine how you can do things better or differently.
Audit existing content—Closely review existing assets such as email, FAQs, presentations, webinars, RFPs, case studies, research, sales pages, and brochures. Look to find what might be revisited and turned into helpful articles, blog posts, infographics, videos, eBooks, podcasts, etc.
Tap search and social—Focus on things your target market does and says online. Try the following:
Research search activity with the free Google Keyword Planner tool.
Examine website data with Google Analytics.
Look at questions posed on Q&A sites, online forums and LinkedIn Groups.
Conduct hashtag searches on relevant social media.
Monitor conversations about your market on social networks and setup Google Alerts based on your important keywords.
Consider changes soon to affect your industry.
Hire the right talent—Consider hiring a content strategist to take the lead and a managing editor. Hiring freelancers is a practical strategy to fill voids, round out the team and maintain a steady publishing schedule.
With a content hub, a single person with editorial skills may be capable of writing, editing and curating content to manage all your needs.
Design an attractive hub—Your content hub should be user-friendly and smartly branded. Bring a graphic design professional onboard to give your content hub a branded look and feel and serve its audience well.
Create promotion plans—Make distribution and promotion part of your plan from the get-go considering paid, earned and owned channels.
Get the tools you need—To host a content hub, you’ll need a couple of tools:
Content management system (CMS)—A CMS platform makes creating, publishing, optimizing and maintaining web pages simple. WordPress is by far the most popular CMS.
A content hub manager—Scoop.it Content Director is the most affordable and simple platform I’ve discovered for delivering a turnkey approach for planning, sourcing, and distributing content.
Feeling like toast?
I should now confess (or disclose), I wrote the ScoopIt eBook I’ve mentioned a few times. In it I wrote a dedication to every content marketer who feels like toast.
See, every day thousands of companies join the content marketing parade and thousands more bail. Do you know why? They don’t have the resources to stay the course.
Like most, they understood if they consistently published the valuable content readers actually want to read, watch, listen to and look at, the content marketing dream would be realized. And like most, after awhile they’re toast. Burnt.
You don’t want to suffer the same fate.
Consider creating a content hub and populating it regularly not only with blog posts or homegrown content, but with curated, user generated, co-created and various types of media your prospects find relevant and useful.
Want to learn more about content hubs? Content Hubs Are Here features a detailed explanation of the ingredients of a killer content hub and 13 examples of the hottest content hubs on the web.
About the Author: Barry Feldman operates Feldman Creative and provides clients content marketing strategies that rock and creative that rolls. Barry has recently been named a Top 40 Digital Strategist by Online Marketing Institute and one of 25 Social Media Marketing Experts You Need to Know by LinkedIn. Visit Feldman Creative and his blog, The Point.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1gUCS1W via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1MuiL6o
September 25, 2015 at 09:19PM
Added: Apr 22, 2019 Via IFTTT
Why a Content Hub is Your All-Powerful Media Magnet
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Why a Content Hub is Your All-Powerful Media Magnet
Content marketers beware:
The battle you fight for attention is hard and getting harder.
Customers don’t know what content they’re looking for (or even that they’re looking for content). They simply want answers.
While a company blog is a smart content marketing play, it’s probably not enough.
Consistently creating and publishing great content can be insanely difficult.
What’s a content hub?
If you were to search the phrase “content hub” and begin scouring the results for its definition, you may get confused fast. The term gets thrown around quite a bit and is interpreted in various ways.
The definition for “content hub” we’re going to use (and the proven approach I’m going to tell you about) is:
A content hub is a destination where website visitors can find branded, curated, social media, user generated, or any type of content related to a topic.
You might think… Isn’t that a website? Or isn’t that a blog? It could be. However, a content hub is generally smaller than a website and bigger than a blog. The best ones—and I’ll show you examples—are microsites or branded resource centers published to help visitors find the information they seek in the form they prefer.
American Express is considered a pioneer of the content hub. Their hub, OPENforum, seven years running, is filled with advice from experts to help small business owners thrive. Readers submit questions and get answers from the forum’s experts.
6 benefits of content hubs
It’s awfully hard to create a sustainable business today if you’re not pulling people into your website. It’s your main medium—your connection center.
Is your website magnetic? A value-packed content hub is your best bet for creating a digital media magnet.
Let’s examine the benefits (as explained in a blog post and free ebook about content hubs from ScoopIt)
1. Authority
Online buyers put their trust in authorities. Consistently publishing trustworthy content is a proven route to building thought leadership and is amongst the most important benefits of hosting a stellar content hub.
2. Visibility and traffic
Succeeding with search, the largest source of traffic on the web, calls for having great content. Search engines index billions of pages and are very good at determining the quality of content on them. If you want traffic, you need your content hub to be a collection of attractive pages.
3. Engagement
Your website could be ultra-magnetic, but not all that successful. Great sites do more than generate traffic; they inspire engagement. Content hubs foster engagement (as in reading, sharing, signing-up, trying, buying, attending, and so on) more than sales pages ever could—or can.
4. Control
Social networks are ever-changing and the changes don’t always benefit members who rely on them for content distribution. Traffic on your content hub is far more meaningful because you control the experience. You tailor the experience. Your objectives come first.
5. Leads
Content hubs enable you to generate leads and sales. When visitors find value in the information you offer, they’ll invest more time there. You’ll create opportunities to “feed the funnel” with tactics such as lead capture, progressive
profiling, and contextual calls-to-action (CTAs).
6. Marketing insights
Your content hub will give your company detailed analytics reports. The metrics you’ll gather inform your content creation team as to what does and doesn’t excite readers. With more insights into what users deem valuable, you’ll become a more effective publisher.
House a more appealing media mix
Your hub can be 100% blog-based, but a diverse media mix—from a variety of sources—will raise the bar and appeal to a wider range of media consumers.
A content hub is a flexible forum where you can publish whatever you like (or more importantly, whatever your audience likes). The media mix may include video, audio, infographics, slides, articles, papers, or any digital media.
Your hub centralizes all that you publish to provide its visitors a more interactive and valuable experience.
Content may be:
Homegrown—Content produced by internal resources
Curated—Content from companies or media sources you deem to be credible and authoritative.
Social media—Content published on your hub and promoted via social media to drive traffic to your website.
User generated—Content created by customers and partners
Advertising—Offers from your company and sponsors
Content hubs look sharp
Content hubs often take a cue from websites like ultra-popular mega-hubs on the social web such as Pinterest and SlideShare. They’re presented “tile style” or magazine-like.
They’re highly graphic with a simple structural form, which makes them easy on the eyes and easy to skim. Content hubs usually present social media share stats at a glance, which tends to promote sharing.
RingCentral’s media team uses the ScoopIt platform to easily find business and media news to create a steady stream of content as part of its multifaceted and highly trafficked blog.
Create an effective content hub
Content Hubs Are Here: The Secret to a Long and Prosperous Life in Publishing, a recently published eBook from ScoopIt, reveals important details for creating a killer content hub. Here’s the short version.
Establish objectives and a mission statement
Get your marketing and sales leaders together to agree on the primary objective. Prioritize secondary objectives and document them.
Document a content marketing mission to clearly articulate:
Your approach to content creation
Whom the content is for
How the content will satisfy the need of those that consume it
Canva Design School, a great example of a content hub from both a small business and SaaS-based company, focuses on delivering an array of resources to help businesses master graphic design.
Create a publishing plan
Assess your prospects’ needs—The foundation of your editorial plan is to create content to deliver the answers to your prospects’ questions.
Examine the competition—Dive into the content your competition delivers to determine how you can do things better or differently.
Audit existing content—Closely review existing assets such as email, FAQs, presentations, webinars, RFPs, case studies, research, sales pages, and brochures. Look to find what might be revisited and turned into helpful articles, blog posts, infographics, videos, eBooks, podcasts, etc.
Tap search and social—Focus on things your target market does and says online. Try the following:
Research search activity with the free Google Keyword Planner tool.
Examine website data with Google Analytics.
Look at questions posed on Q&A sites, online forums and LinkedIn Groups.
Conduct hashtag searches on relevant social media.
Monitor conversations about your market on social networks and setup Google Alerts based on your important keywords.
Consider changes soon to affect your industry.
Hire the right talent—Consider hiring a content strategist to take the lead and a managing editor. Hiring freelancers is a practical strategy to fill voids, round out the team and maintain a steady publishing schedule.
With a content hub, a single person with editorial skills may be capable of writing, editing and curating content to manage all your needs.
Design an attractive hub—Your content hub should be user-friendly and smartly branded. Bring a graphic design professional onboard to give your content hub a branded look and feel and serve its audience well.
Create promotion plans—Make distribution and promotion part of your plan from the get-go considering paid, earned and owned channels.
Get the tools you need—To host a content hub, you’ll need a couple of tools:
Content management system (CMS)—A CMS platform makes creating, publishing, optimizing and maintaining web pages simple. WordPress is by far the most popular CMS.
A content hub manager—Scoop.it Content Director is the most affordable and simple platform I’ve discovered for delivering a turnkey approach for planning, sourcing, and distributing content.
Feeling like toast?
I should now confess (or disclose), I wrote the ScoopIt eBook I’ve mentioned a few times. In it I wrote a dedication to every content marketer who feels like toast.
See, every day thousands of companies join the content marketing parade and thousands more bail. Do you know why? They don’t have the resources to stay the course.
Like most, they understood if they consistently published the valuable content readers actually want to read, watch, listen to and look at, the content marketing dream would be realized. And like most, after awhile they’re toast. Burnt.
You don’t want to suffer the same fate.
Consider creating a content hub and populating it regularly not only with blog posts or homegrown content, but with curated, user generated, co-created and various types of media your prospects find relevant and useful.
Want to learn more about content hubs? Content Hubs Are Here features a detailed explanation of the ingredients of a killer content hub and 13 examples of the hottest content hubs on the web.
About the Author: Barry Feldman operates Feldman Creative and provides clients content marketing strategies that rock and creative that rolls. Barry has recently been named a Top 40 Digital Strategist by Online Marketing Institute and one of 25 Social Media Marketing Experts You Need to Know by LinkedIn. Visit Feldman Creative and his blog, The Point.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1gUCS1W via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://bit.ly/2KROYh3
September 25, 2015 at 09:19PM
Content marketers beware:
The battle you fight for attention is hard and getting harder.
Customers don’t know what content they’re looking for (or even that they’re looking for content). They simply want answers.
While a company blog is a smart content marketing play, it’s probably not enough.
Consistently creating and publishing great content can be insanely difficult.
What’s a content hub?
If you were to search the phrase “content hub” and begin scouring the results for its definition, you may get confused fast. The term gets thrown around quite a bit and is interpreted in various ways.
The definition for “content hub” we’re going to use (and the proven approach I’m going to tell you about) is:
A content hub is a destination where website visitors can find branded, curated, social media, user generated, or any type of content related to a topic.
You might think… Isn’t that a website? Or isn’t that a blog? It could be. However, a content hub is generally smaller than a website and bigger than a blog. The best ones—and I’ll show you examples—are microsites or branded resource centers published to help visitors find the information they seek in the form they prefer.
American Express is considered a pioneer of the content hub. Their hub, OPENforum, seven years running, is filled with advice from experts to help small business owners thrive. Readers submit questions and get answers from the forum’s experts.
6 benefits of content hubs
It’s awfully hard to create a sustainable business today if you’re not pulling people into your website. It’s your main medium—your connection center.
Is your website magnetic? A value-packed content hub is your best bet for creating a digital media magnet.
Let’s examine the benefits (as explained in a blog post and free ebook about content hubs from ScoopIt)
1. Authority
Online buyers put their trust in authorities. Consistently publishing trustworthy content is a proven route to building thought leadership and is amongst the most important benefits of hosting a stellar content hub.
2. Visibility and traffic
Succeeding with search, the largest source of traffic on the web, calls for having great content. Search engines index billions of pages and are very good at determining the quality of content on them. If you want traffic, you need your content hub to be a collection of attractive pages.
3. Engagement
Your website could be ultra-magnetic, but not all that successful. Great sites do more than generate traffic; they inspire engagement. Content hubs foster engagement (as in reading, sharing, signing-up, trying, buying, attending, and so on) more than sales pages ever could—or can.
4. Control
Social networks are ever-changing and the changes don’t always benefit members who rely on them for content distribution. Traffic on your content hub is far more meaningful because you control the experience. You tailor the experience. Your objectives come first.
5. Leads
Content hubs enable you to generate leads and sales. When visitors find value in the information you offer, they’ll invest more time there. You’ll create opportunities to “feed the funnel” with tactics such as lead capture, progressive
profiling, and contextual calls-to-action (CTAs).
6. Marketing insights
Your content hub will give your company detailed analytics reports. The metrics you’ll gather inform your content creation team as to what does and doesn’t excite readers. With more insights into what users deem valuable, you’ll become a more effective publisher.
House a more appealing media mix
Your hub can be 100% blog-based, but a diverse media mix—from a variety of sources—will raise the bar and appeal to a wider range of media consumers.
A content hub is a flexible forum where you can publish whatever you like (or more importantly, whatever your audience likes). The media mix may include video, audio, infographics, slides, articles, papers, or any digital media.
Your hub centralizes all that you publish to provide its visitors a more interactive and valuable experience.
Content may be:
Homegrown—Content produced by internal resources
Curated—Content from companies or media sources you deem to be credible and authoritative.
Social media—Content published on your hub and promoted via social media to drive traffic to your website.
User generated—Content created by customers and partners
Advertising—Offers from your company and sponsors
Content hubs look sharp
Content hubs often take a cue from websites like ultra-popular mega-hubs on the social web such as Pinterest and SlideShare. They’re presented “tile style” or magazine-like.
They’re highly graphic with a simple structural form, which makes them easy on the eyes and easy to skim. Content hubs usually present social media share stats at a glance, which tends to promote sharing.
RingCentral’s media team uses the ScoopIt platform to easily find business and media news to create a steady stream of content as part of its multifaceted and highly trafficked blog.
Create an effective content hub
Content Hubs Are Here: The Secret to a Long and Prosperous Life in Publishing, a recently published eBook from ScoopIt, reveals important details for creating a killer content hub. Here’s the short version.
Establish objectives and a mission statement
Get your marketing and sales leaders together to agree on the primary objective. Prioritize secondary objectives and document them.
Document a content marketing mission to clearly articulate:
Your approach to content creation
Whom the content is for
How the content will satisfy the need of those that consume it
Canva Design School, a great example of a content hub from both a small business and SaaS-based company, focuses on delivering an array of resources to help businesses master graphic design.
Create a publishing plan
Assess your prospects’ needs—The foundation of your editorial plan is to create content to deliver the answers to your prospects’ questions.
Examine the competition—Dive into the content your competition delivers to determine how you can do things better or differently.
Audit existing content—Closely review existing assets such as email, FAQs, presentations, webinars, RFPs, case studies, research, sales pages, and brochures. Look to find what might be revisited and turned into helpful articles, blog posts, infographics, videos, eBooks, podcasts, etc.
Tap search and social—Focus on things your target market does and says online. Try the following:
Research search activity with the free Google Keyword Planner tool.
Examine website data with Google Analytics.
Look at questions posed on Q&A sites, online forums and LinkedIn Groups.
Conduct hashtag searches on relevant social media.
Monitor conversations about your market on social networks and setup Google Alerts based on your important keywords.
Consider changes soon to affect your industry.
Hire the right talent—Consider hiring a content strategist to take the lead and a managing editor. Hiring freelancers is a practical strategy to fill voids, round out the team and maintain a steady publishing schedule.
With a content hub, a single person with editorial skills may be capable of writing, editing and curating content to manage all your needs.
Design an attractive hub—Your content hub should be user-friendly and smartly branded. Bring a graphic design professional onboard to give your content hub a branded look and feel and serve its audience well.
Create promotion plans—Make distribution and promotion part of your plan from the get-go considering paid, earned and owned channels.
Get the tools you need—To host a content hub, you’ll need a couple of tools:
Content management system (CMS)—A CMS platform makes creating, publishing, optimizing and maintaining web pages simple. WordPress is by far the most popular CMS.
A content hub manager—Scoop.it Content Director is the most affordable and simple platform I’ve discovered for delivering a turnkey approach for planning, sourcing, and distributing content.
Feeling like toast?
I should now confess (or disclose), I wrote the ScoopIt eBook I’ve mentioned a few times. In it I wrote a dedication to every content marketer who feels like toast.
See, every day thousands of companies join the content marketing parade and thousands more bail. Do you know why? They don’t have the resources to stay the course.
Like most, they understood if they consistently published the valuable content readers actually want to read, watch, listen to and look at, the content marketing dream would be realized. And like most, after awhile they’re toast. Burnt.
You don’t want to suffer the same fate.
Consider creating a content hub and populating it regularly not only with blog posts or homegrown content, but with curated, user generated, co-created and various types of media your prospects find relevant and useful.
Want to learn more about content hubs? Content Hubs Are Here features a detailed explanation of the ingredients of a killer content hub and 13 examples of the hottest content hubs on the web.
About the Author: Barry Feldman operates Feldman Creative and provides clients content marketing strategies that rock and creative that rolls. Barry has recently been named a Top 40 Digital Strategist by Online Marketing Institute and one of 25 Social Media Marketing Experts You Need to Know by LinkedIn. Visit Feldman Creative and his blog, The Point.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1gUCS1W via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://bit.ly/2KROYh3
September 25, 2015 at 09:19PM
Added: Aug 07, 2015 Via IFTTT
Why Analytics is Absolutely Necessary For Effective Customer Acquisition
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Why Analytics is Absolutely Necessary For Effective Customer Acquisition
A recent study conducted by Forrester Consulting revealed that 64 percent of marketers believe that they need better data for prospecting, and 67 percent agreed that customer acquisition is more challenging than retention.
Companies recognize that acquiring a new customer can cost thousands of dollars. Therefore, to optimize their marketing spend, businesses are searching for answers within analytics to drive their customer acquisition strategies.
Data helps teams create broader and deeper customer insights. We can now intentionally track a prospect’s purchase history, product usage patterns, and social media behavior.
Understanding your customers’ needs and desires, opens new doors to personalizing brand messaging and adjusting product strategy. Taking action with data-driven approaches leads to a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
To reach and influence your target audience, you must observe their behavior online and offline. Let’s learn how this data can enhance your marketing efforts.
Unlock the Value of Analytics
During the customer acquisition stage, we want to identify trends and patterns of behavior that indicate prospect responsiveness. Companies tend to focus on customer segmentation and campaign performance measurement. However, while employees strive to create “better campaigns” on the front end, various missteps occur on the back end.
Existing organizational policies can interfere with your customers’ digital experiences. We can’t work in silos anymore. Marketing teams must know and understand sales calls. Sales representatives should learn more about production costs.
The key is to get all departmental teams interested and actively seeking solutions in every function of the company. If not, your business runs the risk of gathering inaccurate or duplicate data that will poke holes in your customer analytics plans.
The typical customer acquisition goal is to extend our reach to more people. With a well-defined digital blueprint and no data supporting it, chaos can brew within your company. You must “develop a strong internal link between improved customer experience and data-driven customer insight.”
Pinpoint opportunities at the prospecting stage and extend analytics to unlikely business functions, such as sales training or project management. Then, your team can allocate resources in the areas that will have the most impact.
Signals of Intent
As marketers, our mission is to discover our consumer’s intent‐the reason why the individual will purchase a product or service now or in the future. In search marketing, we learn about the consumer’s’ intent through his or her keywords entered into the search engine.
“Search data, captured across ecommerce, pricing comparison and product review sites, is one of the strongest signals of intent and best sources for new customer acquisition.” Simply using demographic and site level data for acquisition won’t give you the results you desire.
For instance, how do you learn about a wife wanting to purchase a wallet for her husband for their upcoming anniversary? The best way is to monitor her intent data left on the Internet.
If you attempted to only use buyer personas, you probably wouldn’t target this woman who is searching for a men’s wallet.
Turn Data Into Action
Analytics offers companies the ability to leverage data to impact their bottom lines. By connecting data to action, organizations can understand consumer behavior, anticipate future events, and gain new insights to build valuable relationships.
Know your audience. I mean really know your consumers. At the end of the day, you need to be your customer’s best friend.
People use digital channels for a myriad of purposes. For example, research studies show that online customers seeking furniture possess these three characteristics:
35 percent are more likely to have a Pinterest account;
61 percent compare online prices with their smartphones; and
Two-thirds already have a particular brand in mind.
So, if eCommerce furniture stores are not pursuing social media channels, like Pinterest, they may be leaving money on the table.
Take action by creating a distinct customer profile and drawing up a personalized strategy. As discussed above, don’t be afraid to follow the search data to find unexpected buyers.
Test Multiple Strategies
Experiment with different techniques to learn specific go-to strategies. Engage prospects with different marketing messages to track response rates. Change the headline or placement of the call-to-action button to see which version produces the best results.
Reduce risks in your testing with diversification in your acquisition marketing. For instance, together “traditional direct marketing and social networking can deliver significantly higher levels of quality traffic for low overall cost.”
This combination lets customers take advantage of your product offerings and the opportunity share them with friends, resulting in more new customers at a reduced cost. Multiple approaches will aid your company in gaining new paying clients.
Tools You Should Use
Here’s a collection of tools that can lead you on the right path to analyzing and monitoring your data. Play around with a few to find out which ones work best for your team.
1. SEO
Identifying the keywords potential customers use to find your company is important. SEO tools help make your content easily searchable, in return more visible.
Google Keyword Planner
Moz’s SEO Tools
serpIQ
2. Email Marketing
Email marketing tools assist with managing your campaigns. Send, track, and monitor your email marketing in one central location.
MailChimp
Constant Contact
AWeber
3. Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
Your goal is to convert visitors into paying clients. With CRO tools, your team can learn the best messaging and design combination by analyzing A/B test results.
Unbounce
CrazyEgg
Optimizely
4. Analytics
Analytics tools track your data across multiple channels. Learn key insights on how your customers behave on your website.
Kissmetrics
Clicky
Mint
Case Studies
So, will analytics produce results for your business? Well, that depends on how your team effectively executes its plans. Here are a few companies benefiting from a little experimentation and data.
SmartWool
Apparel and sock company SmartWool needed a new, improved website to entice customers. After reorganizing their product category page, Blue Acorn designed new pages “emphasizing certain products rather than presenting them all on the same level.” The eCommerce agency also created a traditional category page design.
Source
With a simple test, Blue Acorn found that the traditional category page design brought in 17.1% more revenue per visitor. It’s a positive testimony of how CRO can help you figure out what your customers prefer.
Ghost
The team at Ghost wanted to improve their trial conversion rate. So, they experimented with their initial onboarding flow. The goal was to segment the onboarding experience that persuaded trial users to become paying Ghost(Pro) subscribers.
Source
After a few experiments, the team found that trial users “who added a custom theme to their blog converted at just over 10%.” The personalization gave users a custom space beyond the default settings.
Yesware
Source
Yesware grew its revenue by 1300% within one year. In a nutshell, their team took a person-to-person approach. Yesware simply asked folks if they were interested in trying a new app. Plus, by offering their app as a Chrome browser extension, the company got a boost from positive reviews.
Listen to this interview with Founder and CEO Matthew Bellows as he discusses how the company got their first 1,000 users.
Gain Customer Insights With Data
Apply analytics to ask questions and amp up your prospecting efforts. Integrating data in your customer acquisition strategy is critical to your brand’s long-term financial success.
Be effective. Use analytics.
About the Author: Shayla Price lives at the intersection of digital marketing, the law and social responsibility. She inspires a new breed of innovative attorneys at Hearsay Marketing. Connect with her on Twitter: @shaylaprice
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1PbfKIX via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1NfkmfQ
August 07, 2015 at 11:48PM
A recent study conducted by Forrester Consulting revealed that 64 percent of marketers believe that they need better data for prospecting, and 67 percent agreed that customer acquisition is more challenging than retention.
Companies recognize that acquiring a new customer can cost thousands of dollars. Therefore, to optimize their marketing spend, businesses are searching for answers within analytics to drive their customer acquisition strategies.
Data helps teams create broader and deeper customer insights. We can now intentionally track a prospect’s purchase history, product usage patterns, and social media behavior.
Understanding your customers’ needs and desires, opens new doors to personalizing brand messaging and adjusting product strategy. Taking action with data-driven approaches leads to a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
To reach and influence your target audience, you must observe their behavior online and offline. Let’s learn how this data can enhance your marketing efforts.
Unlock the Value of Analytics
During the customer acquisition stage, we want to identify trends and patterns of behavior that indicate prospect responsiveness. Companies tend to focus on customer segmentation and campaign performance measurement. However, while employees strive to create “better campaigns” on the front end, various missteps occur on the back end.
Existing organizational policies can interfere with your customers’ digital experiences. We can’t work in silos anymore. Marketing teams must know and understand sales calls. Sales representatives should learn more about production costs.
The key is to get all departmental teams interested and actively seeking solutions in every function of the company. If not, your business runs the risk of gathering inaccurate or duplicate data that will poke holes in your customer analytics plans.
The typical customer acquisition goal is to extend our reach to more people. With a well-defined digital blueprint and no data supporting it, chaos can brew within your company. You must “develop a strong internal link between improved customer experience and data-driven customer insight.”
Pinpoint opportunities at the prospecting stage and extend analytics to unlikely business functions, such as sales training or project management. Then, your team can allocate resources in the areas that will have the most impact.
Signals of Intent
As marketers, our mission is to discover our consumer’s intent‐the reason why the individual will purchase a product or service now or in the future. In search marketing, we learn about the consumer’s’ intent through his or her keywords entered into the search engine.
“Search data, captured across ecommerce, pricing comparison and product review sites, is one of the strongest signals of intent and best sources for new customer acquisition.” Simply using demographic and site level data for acquisition won’t give you the results you desire.
For instance, how do you learn about a wife wanting to purchase a wallet for her husband for their upcoming anniversary? The best way is to monitor her intent data left on the Internet.
If you attempted to only use buyer personas, you probably wouldn’t target this woman who is searching for a men’s wallet.
Turn Data Into Action
Analytics offers companies the ability to leverage data to impact their bottom lines. By connecting data to action, organizations can understand consumer behavior, anticipate future events, and gain new insights to build valuable relationships.
Know your audience. I mean really know your consumers. At the end of the day, you need to be your customer’s best friend.
People use digital channels for a myriad of purposes. For example, research studies show that online customers seeking furniture possess these three characteristics:
35 percent are more likely to have a Pinterest account;
61 percent compare online prices with their smartphones; and
Two-thirds already have a particular brand in mind.
So, if eCommerce furniture stores are not pursuing social media channels, like Pinterest, they may be leaving money on the table.
Take action by creating a distinct customer profile and drawing up a personalized strategy. As discussed above, don’t be afraid to follow the search data to find unexpected buyers.
Test Multiple Strategies
Experiment with different techniques to learn specific go-to strategies. Engage prospects with different marketing messages to track response rates. Change the headline or placement of the call-to-action button to see which version produces the best results.
Reduce risks in your testing with diversification in your acquisition marketing. For instance, together “traditional direct marketing and social networking can deliver significantly higher levels of quality traffic for low overall cost.”
This combination lets customers take advantage of your product offerings and the opportunity share them with friends, resulting in more new customers at a reduced cost. Multiple approaches will aid your company in gaining new paying clients.
Tools You Should Use
Here’s a collection of tools that can lead you on the right path to analyzing and monitoring your data. Play around with a few to find out which ones work best for your team.
1. SEO
Identifying the keywords potential customers use to find your company is important. SEO tools help make your content easily searchable, in return more visible.
Google Keyword Planner
Moz’s SEO Tools
serpIQ
2. Email Marketing
Email marketing tools assist with managing your campaigns. Send, track, and monitor your email marketing in one central location.
MailChimp
Constant Contact
AWeber
3. Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
Your goal is to convert visitors into paying clients. With CRO tools, your team can learn the best messaging and design combination by analyzing A/B test results.
Unbounce
CrazyEgg
Optimizely
4. Analytics
Analytics tools track your data across multiple channels. Learn key insights on how your customers behave on your website.
Kissmetrics
Clicky
Mint
Case Studies
So, will analytics produce results for your business? Well, that depends on how your team effectively executes its plans. Here are a few companies benefiting from a little experimentation and data.
SmartWool
Apparel and sock company SmartWool needed a new, improved website to entice customers. After reorganizing their product category page, Blue Acorn designed new pages “emphasizing certain products rather than presenting them all on the same level.” The eCommerce agency also created a traditional category page design.
Source
With a simple test, Blue Acorn found that the traditional category page design brought in 17.1% more revenue per visitor. It’s a positive testimony of how CRO can help you figure out what your customers prefer.
Ghost
The team at Ghost wanted to improve their trial conversion rate. So, they experimented with their initial onboarding flow. The goal was to segment the onboarding experience that persuaded trial users to become paying Ghost(Pro) subscribers.
Source
After a few experiments, the team found that trial users “who added a custom theme to their blog converted at just over 10%.” The personalization gave users a custom space beyond the default settings.
Yesware
Source
Yesware grew its revenue by 1300% within one year. In a nutshell, their team took a person-to-person approach. Yesware simply asked folks if they were interested in trying a new app. Plus, by offering their app as a Chrome browser extension, the company got a boost from positive reviews.
Listen to this interview with Founder and CEO Matthew Bellows as he discusses how the company got their first 1,000 users.
Gain Customer Insights With Data
Apply analytics to ask questions and amp up your prospecting efforts. Integrating data in your customer acquisition strategy is critical to your brand’s long-term financial success.
Be effective. Use analytics.
About the Author: Shayla Price lives at the intersection of digital marketing, the law and social responsibility. She inspires a new breed of innovative attorneys at Hearsay Marketing. Connect with her on Twitter: @shaylaprice
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1PbfKIX via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1NfkmfQ
August 07, 2015 at 11:48PM
Added: Jul 17, 2015 Via IFTTT
Work as a Software Developer for a San Francisco Startup in Glacier National Park
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Work as a Software Developer for a San Francisco Startup in Glacier National Park
Huh?
Yep! Welcome to Kissmetrics!
Our engineering department consists mainly of remote employees from all over North America. Wherever you roam, you may apply to be our next developer.
Sean Work – Working Remotely @ 34°22’42.23″N, 117°43’19.99″W
Do you have a family? Are you looking for a flexible schedule? Are you looking for a serious technical challenge? Well, we can accommodate all of that for you and more!
“I’d say what excites me the most about working here is that developers are independent and not micro-managed… we trust in people’s skills and let them work independently instead of keeping an eye over everything they do.”
– Percy Hanna, Front-End Engineer
What Does Kissmetrics Do?
Kissmetrics is a customer analytics solution for SaaS and Ecommerce businesses. We enable SaaS and Ecommerce businesses to generate business intelligence reports so they can quickly solve business problems and improve their web and mobile customer experiences. We allow online businesses to answer questions like these:
How many people left a checkout process yesterday? At what step? Who were they? Can we email them a coupon?
How many people who went through our A/B test variant are still customers six months later? Did that variant hurt our customer retention?
Can we watch customers navigate through our website in real-time? Can we see what products they put in their cart or plans they’re viewing in real-time?
Kissmetrics can answer all these questions and more.
What Skills Are Needed?
Have front-end experience but want to dive in to more back-end stuff? Awesome at back-end platforms but want to dabble with visualizations? Great!
We are looking for a wide range of candidates who can identify the best methods for a problem and quickly adapt.
We use a mix of many different technologies and while our environment changes, here are some of the current technologies we are using:
Git
PostgresSQL
MySQL
Key-Value Stores
Distributed systems
Ruby
Python
C++
JavaScript
Help us build solutions that make you and our customers happy. If you’re interested in data science, data visualization, API design, or any of the technologies you see here, give us a holler.
How Do I Apply?
Our team consists of friendly, easy to work with people who love to challenge the status quo. If that sounds like you, we would love to talk. Simply visit this link to get started!
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1J5biL5 via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1fb2xDc
July 17, 2015 at 11:03PM
Huh?
Yep! Welcome to Kissmetrics!
Our engineering department consists mainly of remote employees from all over North America. Wherever you roam, you may apply to be our next developer.
Sean Work – Working Remotely @ 34°22’42.23″N, 117°43’19.99″W
Do you have a family? Are you looking for a flexible schedule? Are you looking for a serious technical challenge? Well, we can accommodate all of that for you and more!
“I’d say what excites me the most about working here is that developers are independent and not micro-managed… we trust in people’s skills and let them work independently instead of keeping an eye over everything they do.”
– Percy Hanna, Front-End Engineer
What Does Kissmetrics Do?
Kissmetrics is a customer analytics solution for SaaS and Ecommerce businesses. We enable SaaS and Ecommerce businesses to generate business intelligence reports so they can quickly solve business problems and improve their web and mobile customer experiences. We allow online businesses to answer questions like these:
How many people left a checkout process yesterday? At what step? Who were they? Can we email them a coupon?
How many people who went through our A/B test variant are still customers six months later? Did that variant hurt our customer retention?
Can we watch customers navigate through our website in real-time? Can we see what products they put in their cart or plans they’re viewing in real-time?
Kissmetrics can answer all these questions and more.
What Skills Are Needed?
Have front-end experience but want to dive in to more back-end stuff? Awesome at back-end platforms but want to dabble with visualizations? Great!
We are looking for a wide range of candidates who can identify the best methods for a problem and quickly adapt.
We use a mix of many different technologies and while our environment changes, here are some of the current technologies we are using:
Git
PostgresSQL
MySQL
Key-Value Stores
Distributed systems
Ruby
Python
C++
JavaScript
Help us build solutions that make you and our customers happy. If you’re interested in data science, data visualization, API design, or any of the technologies you see here, give us a holler.
How Do I Apply?
Our team consists of friendly, easy to work with people who love to challenge the status quo. If that sounds like you, we would love to talk. Simply visit this link to get started!
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1J5biL5 via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1fb2xDc
July 17, 2015 at 11:03PM
Added: Sep 18, 2015 Via IFTTT
Write Your Copy For Mr Spock (And Other Offbeat Copywriting Tips)
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Write Your Copy For Mr Spock (And Other Offbeat Copywriting Tips)
“I have not thoroughly enjoyed serving with humans. I find their illogic and foolish emotions a constant irritant.”
On the face of it, the much beloved Mr Spock (originally portrayed by the late Leonard Nimoy in Star Trek: The Original Series) might not seem to have much to do with copywriting.
However, whether you’re a Trekkie or not, imagining that you’re writing your copy for Mr Spock can be a very helpful exercise.
The many emotions of our new best friend, Mr Spock (Image Source)
Spock’s character is defined by the logical, emotionally detached approach he takes towards things. Mr Spock doesn’t deal in jokes, flowery prose or puns, three things that are all too common in content that is supposed to be copywriting.
Here’s why I believe writing copy for Mr Spock is a recipe for success. If something is logical it is, by nature, persuasive:
“When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”
Persuasion – without being pushy or coming across as trying too hard – is one of the key desirables in sales content, and taking a completely logical “Spock-like” approach to a subject is one way to generate it effectively.
That’s the first big takeaway I want to highlight in this article but there are several other ways in which writing for Spock can help you to develop your copywriting, illustrated by some classic quotes from the man (or, umm, Vulcan) himself.
Moving Beyond “Copywriting 101”
The “so what?” test – which involves analysing your content by asking “so what?” after each paragraph, or even sentence, in order to ensure that everything you write has a clear point – and “sell benefits, not features” are two techniques often recommended to junior copywriters.
They’re both useful, but they don’t necessarily encourage writers to focus on creating content that’s designed to be directive. For example, lots of copy written by inexperienced writers asks questions:
“Have you ever experienced X? Why not come in and try Y today? We can help! “
Asking “so what?” doesn’t really work here, because “we can help” technically answers that question…just not in a very compelling way.
But you can be damn sure that if Spock read the above, he’d start thinking about all the reasons not to come in and try Y because that’s what the copy actually invites the reader to do.
Apply the Spock test to your copy by following the points you want to make through to their logical conclusion:
“If you’ve ever experienced X, [u]you know how disruptive it can be[/u]. We’ll help you get going with Y [u]so it never happens again[/u].”
That’s a very short, simple example, but hopefully you can see that the end result is a far more clear call to action than just asking questions or rambling about the product or service you’re writing about.
Don’t Act On Everything You Read
One of the greatest tools in any writer, marketer or businessperson’s arsenal is a hefty dose of scepticism. The amount of “X Is Dead” and “Y Is The Next Big Thing” articles I come across on a daily basis is staggering, but only a tiny percentage of them turn out to be correct.
Best practices are useful to keep up with, but they can also be damaging if you take them as gospel. This is because it’s impossible to convey ALL of the context associated with any research or findings when they are presented in a relatively easy to digest 1,000 word article. And, as Spock says:
“Insufficient facts always invite danger.”
At best, blindly following best practices can result in writing that’s derivative and rehashes work that’s already out there. At worst, it can result in discounting techniques or methods that might actually work very effectively in your niche.
Take this article, for example: writing for Mr Spock is a helpful exercise, but there will be times that you’ll need to evoke emotion with your copywriting. Emotions like fear and envy can be very powerful tools for conversion – sadly I don’t have the space to get into that much here – but you’d never try to evoke them in Mr Spock.
For that reason I’d recommend that you remain hesitant to act on any advice you read unless you’ve seen it have a positive impact, ideally on a piece of work you’ve been actively involved with, with your own two eyes.
Find A New Idol
The purpose of copywriting isn’t (just) to look nice and read well. Its primary function is to do something. Being well read is a definite advantage for copywriters, but writing prose in the way a novelist would is a huge no-no.
Copywriters would do well to aim for something similar (Image Source)
With the possible exception of straightforward, ‘honest’ authors like Hemingway and Kerouac, novel-style prose just doesn’t work as copywriting – this post on Copyblogger does a nice job of showing why lyrical or ‘fluffy’ writing doesn’t make for good copy.
But it can be hard to shake the style you’re used to from reading fiction, as that’s where a lot of writers draw their inspiration. Your new mission?
“To boldly go where no-one has gone before.”
Well, not no-one exactly. But it is time to break out of your comfort zone and expose yourself to a new breed of writers. In particular, figures in online marketing have all sorts of valuable things to say about sales copywriting.
Here are a few examples of individuals from whom I’ve learned a ton to get you started:
Neil Patel (of Kissmetrics, Crazy Egg etc.)
Peep Laja (of ConversionXL)
Lars Lofgren (of I Will Teach You To Be Rich)
Keep Thinking About Triangles
But not just any triangles. Specifically, the following triangle:
I mentally picture this before I begin any piece of work
How any piece of writing looks, functions etc. should always take into account those three things:
Medium – where/when/how the copy will appear
Product/Service – what it is you’re promoting
Customer – who you’re targeting with this particular campaign
For example, a banner ad promoting vacation rentals for people over 60 will look very different to one pushing the same location to a student crowd during Spring Break.
Likewise, a cold email about a new model of electric car won’t have much in common with a sales brochure distributed to a customer who indicates an interest in the subject.
It’s very easy to think, “Ok, I need to come up with some banner ads and content for a pamphlet. What can I cull from the website for that?” But it neglects the impact each of the three points of the triangle has on what the copy will look like.
Of course the content on the website will inform them to some degree but, any time one or more of the points on that triangle mentioned above changes, I’d recommend starting over with a blank piece of paper rather than trying to repurpose content.
If It Doesn’t Convert, It Sucks
“In critical moments, men sometimes see exactly what they wish to see.”
Even the best among us sometimes fail to see things that are right in front of our faces. When I was starting out as a copywriter, I was way too proud. When my copy didn’t work as expected, I would look for excuses:
“Yeah, I think it was partially the design’s fault.”
“We just emailed this list a few weeks ago, it was too soon to hit it again.”
“I’m not convinced the product is right for them anyway.”
I found that as soon as I became tough enough to start taking it on the chin, and owning up to it when my copywriting wasn’t right, my writing started failing a lot less often.
The reason for this is that, with that one mindset adjustment, I was suddenly much more open to learning from my mistakes than I had been previously. The earlier you can wrap your head around the concept that “if it doesn’t convert, it sucks”, the sooner you can start becoming a better copywriter.
A big part of that is figuring out what the copy is supposed to do before you start writing it:
Is this sales copy or is it informational?
What are our competitors doing? How can I use that to differentiate us?
What do I want the reader to do after they finish reading this?
However nice a piece of copy looks and however lovely it is to read, the purpose you set out before you start writing should be at the front of your mind the whole time you spend writing it.
Conclusion
A poignant quote for the Trekkies among us. Must not cry…
The biggest problem new copywriters, or business owners trying to write their own copy, face is they’re too preoccupied with themselves (“the one”): they’re so busy thinking about their business or their writing skills that they forget to focus on potential customers (“the many”).
The iconic Spock quote above, which I’m tempted to frame somewhere in my office, is a reminder that copywriting is first and foremost about the people that it’s being written for and not the person who’s writing it.
Once you have a clear, or as clear as you can get, picture of those people you can then start working on your copy. And, by keeping Spock and these other tips in mind, you’ve got a better chance of coming up with copy that’s:
Persuasive
Directive
Mindful of its audience
Purposeful
and, with a bit of luck, primed to convert.
Live long and prosper.
About the Author: Art Anthony is a freelance copywriter based in the UK. He’s worked on email marketing, CRO, blogging and web content for Fitocracy, Crazy Egg and, most recently, next gen live chat startup, Chatra. You can also find him on Twitter.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1W8zhNT via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1QmY50P
September 18, 2015 at 11:29PM
“I have not thoroughly enjoyed serving with humans. I find their illogic and foolish emotions a constant irritant.”
On the face of it, the much beloved Mr Spock (originally portrayed by the late Leonard Nimoy in Star Trek: The Original Series) might not seem to have much to do with copywriting.
However, whether you’re a Trekkie or not, imagining that you’re writing your copy for Mr Spock can be a very helpful exercise.
The many emotions of our new best friend, Mr Spock (Image Source)
Spock’s character is defined by the logical, emotionally detached approach he takes towards things. Mr Spock doesn’t deal in jokes, flowery prose or puns, three things that are all too common in content that is supposed to be copywriting.
Here’s why I believe writing copy for Mr Spock is a recipe for success. If something is logical it is, by nature, persuasive:
“When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”
Persuasion – without being pushy or coming across as trying too hard – is one of the key desirables in sales content, and taking a completely logical “Spock-like” approach to a subject is one way to generate it effectively.
That’s the first big takeaway I want to highlight in this article but there are several other ways in which writing for Spock can help you to develop your copywriting, illustrated by some classic quotes from the man (or, umm, Vulcan) himself.
Moving Beyond “Copywriting 101”
The “so what?” test – which involves analysing your content by asking “so what?” after each paragraph, or even sentence, in order to ensure that everything you write has a clear point – and “sell benefits, not features” are two techniques often recommended to junior copywriters.
They’re both useful, but they don’t necessarily encourage writers to focus on creating content that’s designed to be directive. For example, lots of copy written by inexperienced writers asks questions:
“Have you ever experienced X? Why not come in and try Y today? We can help! “
Asking “so what?” doesn’t really work here, because “we can help” technically answers that question…just not in a very compelling way.
But you can be damn sure that if Spock read the above, he’d start thinking about all the reasons not to come in and try Y because that’s what the copy actually invites the reader to do.
Apply the Spock test to your copy by following the points you want to make through to their logical conclusion:
“If you’ve ever experienced X, [u]you know how disruptive it can be[/u]. We’ll help you get going with Y [u]so it never happens again[/u].”
That’s a very short, simple example, but hopefully you can see that the end result is a far more clear call to action than just asking questions or rambling about the product or service you’re writing about.
Don’t Act On Everything You Read
One of the greatest tools in any writer, marketer or businessperson’s arsenal is a hefty dose of scepticism. The amount of “X Is Dead” and “Y Is The Next Big Thing” articles I come across on a daily basis is staggering, but only a tiny percentage of them turn out to be correct.
Best practices are useful to keep up with, but they can also be damaging if you take them as gospel. This is because it’s impossible to convey ALL of the context associated with any research or findings when they are presented in a relatively easy to digest 1,000 word article. And, as Spock says:
“Insufficient facts always invite danger.”
At best, blindly following best practices can result in writing that’s derivative and rehashes work that’s already out there. At worst, it can result in discounting techniques or methods that might actually work very effectively in your niche.
Take this article, for example: writing for Mr Spock is a helpful exercise, but there will be times that you’ll need to evoke emotion with your copywriting. Emotions like fear and envy can be very powerful tools for conversion – sadly I don’t have the space to get into that much here – but you’d never try to evoke them in Mr Spock.
For that reason I’d recommend that you remain hesitant to act on any advice you read unless you’ve seen it have a positive impact, ideally on a piece of work you’ve been actively involved with, with your own two eyes.
Find A New Idol
The purpose of copywriting isn’t (just) to look nice and read well. Its primary function is to do something. Being well read is a definite advantage for copywriters, but writing prose in the way a novelist would is a huge no-no.
Copywriters would do well to aim for something similar (Image Source)
With the possible exception of straightforward, ‘honest’ authors like Hemingway and Kerouac, novel-style prose just doesn’t work as copywriting – this post on Copyblogger does a nice job of showing why lyrical or ‘fluffy’ writing doesn’t make for good copy.
But it can be hard to shake the style you’re used to from reading fiction, as that’s where a lot of writers draw their inspiration. Your new mission?
“To boldly go where no-one has gone before.”
Well, not no-one exactly. But it is time to break out of your comfort zone and expose yourself to a new breed of writers. In particular, figures in online marketing have all sorts of valuable things to say about sales copywriting.
Here are a few examples of individuals from whom I’ve learned a ton to get you started:
Neil Patel (of Kissmetrics, Crazy Egg etc.)
Peep Laja (of ConversionXL)
Lars Lofgren (of I Will Teach You To Be Rich)
Keep Thinking About Triangles
But not just any triangles. Specifically, the following triangle:
I mentally picture this before I begin any piece of work
How any piece of writing looks, functions etc. should always take into account those three things:
Medium – where/when/how the copy will appear
Product/Service – what it is you’re promoting
Customer – who you’re targeting with this particular campaign
For example, a banner ad promoting vacation rentals for people over 60 will look very different to one pushing the same location to a student crowd during Spring Break.
Likewise, a cold email about a new model of electric car won’t have much in common with a sales brochure distributed to a customer who indicates an interest in the subject.
It’s very easy to think, “Ok, I need to come up with some banner ads and content for a pamphlet. What can I cull from the website for that?” But it neglects the impact each of the three points of the triangle has on what the copy will look like.
Of course the content on the website will inform them to some degree but, any time one or more of the points on that triangle mentioned above changes, I’d recommend starting over with a blank piece of paper rather than trying to repurpose content.
If It Doesn’t Convert, It Sucks
“In critical moments, men sometimes see exactly what they wish to see.”
Even the best among us sometimes fail to see things that are right in front of our faces. When I was starting out as a copywriter, I was way too proud. When my copy didn’t work as expected, I would look for excuses:
“Yeah, I think it was partially the design’s fault.”
“We just emailed this list a few weeks ago, it was too soon to hit it again.”
“I’m not convinced the product is right for them anyway.”
I found that as soon as I became tough enough to start taking it on the chin, and owning up to it when my copywriting wasn’t right, my writing started failing a lot less often.
The reason for this is that, with that one mindset adjustment, I was suddenly much more open to learning from my mistakes than I had been previously. The earlier you can wrap your head around the concept that “if it doesn’t convert, it sucks”, the sooner you can start becoming a better copywriter.
A big part of that is figuring out what the copy is supposed to do before you start writing it:
Is this sales copy or is it informational?
What are our competitors doing? How can I use that to differentiate us?
What do I want the reader to do after they finish reading this?
However nice a piece of copy looks and however lovely it is to read, the purpose you set out before you start writing should be at the front of your mind the whole time you spend writing it.
Conclusion
A poignant quote for the Trekkies among us. Must not cry…
The biggest problem new copywriters, or business owners trying to write their own copy, face is they’re too preoccupied with themselves (“the one”): they’re so busy thinking about their business or their writing skills that they forget to focus on potential customers (“the many”).
The iconic Spock quote above, which I’m tempted to frame somewhere in my office, is a reminder that copywriting is first and foremost about the people that it’s being written for and not the person who’s writing it.
Once you have a clear, or as clear as you can get, picture of those people you can then start working on your copy. And, by keeping Spock and these other tips in mind, you’ve got a better chance of coming up with copy that’s:
Persuasive
Directive
Mindful of its audience
Purposeful
and, with a bit of luck, primed to convert.
Live long and prosper.
About the Author: Art Anthony is a freelance copywriter based in the UK. He’s worked on email marketing, CRO, blogging and web content for Fitocracy, Crazy Egg and, most recently, next gen live chat startup, Chatra. You can also find him on Twitter.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1W8zhNT via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1QmY50P
September 18, 2015 at 11:29PM
Added: Aug 05, 2015 Via IFTTT
Writing an Effective Unique Value Proposition (Infographic)
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Writing an Effective Unique Value Proposition (Infographic)
A business has to create something that’s different from its competitors. The differentiation must be clear, and it should require very little explanation. It is very important to have this clear differentiation. If you’re creating a business that’s no different from the existing solutions on the market, you will likely fail.
The only exception to this rule may be in creating consumer goods. If you’re selling cars, a subjective experience or innate bias (e.g., a buyer’s parent prefers one manufacturer) may lead someone to choose a Ford over a Chevy. For shoes, the style may make a buyer choose Adidas over Vans.
One thing that can help you differentiate your business is an effective unique value proposition (UVP). Today’s infographic comes from Quick Sprout, and it provides tips on how to write an effective value proposition:
Courtesy of: Quick Sprout
For more resources on creating great value propositions, check out these links:
Webinar: How to Create Compelling Value Propositions That Turns Prospects into Customers
Your Website and the Importance of a Value Proposition
Are You Losing Business with the Wrong Value Proposition?
Writing Value Propositions That Work
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1HqFbzL via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1Mb2mWL
August 05, 2015 at 09:18PM
A business has to create something that’s different from its competitors. The differentiation must be clear, and it should require very little explanation. It is very important to have this clear differentiation. If you’re creating a business that’s no different from the existing solutions on the market, you will likely fail.
The only exception to this rule may be in creating consumer goods. If you’re selling cars, a subjective experience or innate bias (e.g., a buyer’s parent prefers one manufacturer) may lead someone to choose a Ford over a Chevy. For shoes, the style may make a buyer choose Adidas over Vans.
One thing that can help you differentiate your business is an effective unique value proposition (UVP). Today’s infographic comes from Quick Sprout, and it provides tips on how to write an effective value proposition:
Courtesy of: Quick Sprout
For more resources on creating great value propositions, check out these links:
Webinar: How to Create Compelling Value Propositions That Turns Prospects into Customers
Your Website and the Importance of a Value Proposition
Are You Losing Business with the Wrong Value Proposition?
Writing Value Propositions That Work
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1HqFbzL via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1Mb2mWL
August 05, 2015 at 09:18PM
Added: Sep 17, 2015 Via IFTTT
Your Website Is Way Too Confusing: Simplify Your Website With The KISS Rule
No Folder
no date
None
3 Top
Your Website Is Way Too Confusing: Simplify Your Website With The KISS Rule
It’s easy to make a confusing website. It’s hard to make a simple website.
The things that we create — websites, user interfaces, business plans, articles — are the product of our minds. How we think impacts how our product looks, feels, and functions.
When making a website, things can get dicey. So many different groups are providing their input, making requests, asking for changes, insisting on features, and making the whole thing pretty darn complicated.
By the time the website gets to the end user, the website a hopeless, confusing mess.
It’s time to change all of that. The KISS rule helps to stamp out confusion and turn your website into a simple, seamless, powerful, well-oiled machine. (Your users are going to love you.)
The Surprising Truth About Simple Websites
First off, let me whet your appetite for simplicity.
You’ve probably heard that smart people love simplicity.
Einstein, who discovered that E=mc2, was a major fan of simplicity. There is nothing simple about mass-energy equivalence or special relativity, but Einstein was able to express it in five characters.
What does Einstein have to do with your website?
It’s simple. You can distill the complexity of your website into something way more simple. Humans love simplicity. Our brains are wired to love simplicity.
Simplicity Makes People Happy
In one study, scientists asked subjects to pick up a two types of objects: easy-to-hold objects (simple), and hard-to-hold objects (complicated). The subjects were hooked up to electromyographic equipment to measure facial response to the objects. Scientists found that the easy-to-hold objects made people smile slightly. In other words, simple objects made people happy.
Simplicity Makes People Think Better
Another test discovered that simple fonts and print helped people reason more clearly. The more complicated or hard-to-read the font, the harder it was for subjects to process information and impaired reasoning skills. Another way of saying it is that simplicity makes people smarter.
Simplicity Makes People Spend Money
A final study should convince you. Yale researchers in partnership with Stanford and University of Michigan scholars, wanted to find out if people were more likely to spend money in response to complicated descriptions or simple ones. As you would assume, the simple options won. If consumers felt that an option was simple or easy, it made them more likely to spend their money.
Google’s research discovered that simple websites — those with low visual complexity and high prototypicality — were much more appealing than complicated websites. One of the most surprising findings of the study was that people can tell whether a website is simple or complicated in 50ms (just .05 of one second).
Maybe that’s why Google, the most-visited website on the planet, is also one of the simplest websites on the planet.
Yep, that’s it — the most popular website of all time:
The concept behind simple websites is cognitive fluency. Cognitive fluency is “a measure of how easy it is to think about something.”
As you’d guess, we like to think about things that are easy to think about. Our brains get tired easily. If there’s an easier way to think about something, we choose it.
Take a simple example: Stocks with easy-to-pronounce ticker symbols outperform those with hard-to-pronounce ones. BABY is going to perform better in the stock market than, say, JWXEV based on the name alone.
In the face of such evidence, why would you not make your website simpler?
Scientists can throw around terms like “cognitive fluency” and they can run complicated tests with electromyography. But me? I like to measure the stuff that matters to my business — dwell time, conversions, revenue.
Guess what. I’ve come to the same conclusions, with a sharper point. Simple websites convert better, too.
Let me say it as simply as possible: A simple website will make you more money. Period.
Here’s the Rule: KISS
KISS stands for “keep it simple, stupid.”
A less abrasive version is “keep it simple and straightforward.”
The idea has many iterations among engineers, developers, designers, architects, and programmers:
Simplicity is the most important consideration in a design.
It is more important for the interface to be simple than the implementation.
Don’t repeat yourself (DRY).
You aren’t gonna need it (YAGNI).
Do the simplest thing that could possibly work (DTSTTCPW).
I prefer KISS.
Keep it simple, stupid.
Here’s How to Apply the KISS Principle
None of this matters unless you actually implement it.
Redundant acronyms aside, here’s how to do simple.
1. No ads. None. Period.
Ads on your homepage are a major no-no. Unless you’re running a site whose primary purpose is ad revenue, then ditch the ads completely.
Ads inject tons of complexity into a website. Only use ads if your business is ads.
2. Reconsider the Sidebar
Do you really need a sidebar?
Brian Dean, conversion guru, used Crazy Egg to discover that a paltry 1.9% of his visitors clicked on his sidebar.
This was a problem. Why? Because that sidebar was his conversion goal — a social squeeze page.
I’ve wondered if the sidebar — a fixture of most blogs (even one of my blogs) — is actually a distraction.
3. Make Your Homepage a Place of Absolute Simplicity
The page that matters most is your homepage. Your homepage should set the tone for the rest of the website — simple, clear, and free of distraction.
Look at the website of designer Jonas Lindvall. It takes minimalism to the nth degree, and showcases an extremely subtle design (look for it).
The beauty of the website is its simplicity. The user knows what they should do next.
4. Use Your Above-the-Fold Real Estate For One Thing
An easy way to apply the principle of simplicity is to think of it like this: What is the one thing I want the user to do when they are on this page?
If you were to ask people in your website what they want users to do on the website, you’d get tons of different responses:
We want them to start a free trial.
We want them to read the blog.
We want them to enter their contact information so we can add them to the mailing list.
We want them to find out about our team.
We want them to click the “products” menu.
Clear the table and start fresh: What is the one thing that you want the user to do?
Find out, and then design the website around that one thing. You can still provide a menu, giving the user flexibility and option, but don’t force them to think hard. Give them simplicity, and they will be more likely to do what you want them to do:
I’ve tried to make my website, Neilpatel.com, very simple. There is a menu, but you have to scroll below the fold to see it.
5. Limit Your Menu to Seven Items
The short term memory can hold only seven items. To make your website as simple as possible, limit your menu to seven items or fewer.
Many websites try to give their users as many options as possible, but this only confuses them.
IBM, for example, has 11 menu items, plus a couple of other things I could click. That’s way too many.
Keep it simple, like this.
Four menu items. Much better.
6. Use Lots of White Space
White space, or negative space, is the area of your website that doesn’t have stuff — no menus, no text, no images, etc.
The space doesn’t need to be literally white. In fact, it can have subtle design, like in the image above. The clouds and horizon are red tinted, and they have texture. But it’s safe to call it negative space, because it’s not an area of the page that is competing for the user’s attention and action.
In the website image below, the white space would be the background image of the coffee beans. There is an image, but it’s not distracting. The website uses white space in order to create a sense of simplicity.
A site like the one below uses lots of negative space to focus attention on the central point of information.
White space is not wasted space. It’s valuable ingredient in creating a simple and elegant website.
7. Make The Structure Intuitive and Shallow
Site structure has a lot to do with simplicity, too. Make the navigation easy to understand for a user who knows nothing about your business.
Don’t require that a user click menu after menu. Give them all the information that they need in one or two clicks.
8. Avoid Drop Down Menus
Drop down menus seem like a good idea. They save on space. They allow you to add more information.
But many times, drop down menus can produce added complexity to a website. I would avoid them if possible.
The ecommerce website below has created massive dropdown menus that cover the entire page, a clear violation of the KISS rule.
If you must use dropdown menus, use them carefully and sparingly.
9. Reduce Choices
Hick’s Law states that the more choices a person has, the longer it takes them to make a decision.
Image Source
In other words, too many choices is a bad thing. Reduce the number of choices on your website, and you’ll improve your simplicity and conversions.
10. Use Minimal Color
Color is a good thing, but not too much of it. Some of the best websites designs keep it simple by using a single color or very limited colors.
11. Kill Stuff That’s Not Clicked On
If people aren’t clicking on certain parts of your site, get rid of those features. An easy way to tell what people are clicking on is by analyzing your site using a heatmap tool like Crazy Egg.
12. Use Lots of Images
Images are easy on the brain. Your brain can process images faster and easier.
The more images you add to a website design, the more enjoyable it is for people to look at.
Plus, it makes your website feel so much simpler and intuitive.
13. User Testing
Finally, test your website. Every target audience is going to respond differently to color, design, imagery, layout, and functionality. Test your website early and often, and make sure that you’re adapting to what users need and want.
Conclusion
We all want a website that “looks good.” But what makes a “good looking website?” It’s simplicity.
Simple websites work better, look better, feel better, act better, function better, respond better, appear better, and are better.
Follow the KISS rule, and you’ll make your website the kind of place that users want to spend time on.
How have you applied the KISS principle to your website?
About the Author: Neil Patel is a lifelong evangelist of Kissmetrics and blogs at Quick Sprout.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1izQKAE via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1MeELSB
September 17, 2015 at 11:26PM
It’s easy to make a confusing website. It’s hard to make a simple website.
The things that we create — websites, user interfaces, business plans, articles — are the product of our minds. How we think impacts how our product looks, feels, and functions.
When making a website, things can get dicey. So many different groups are providing their input, making requests, asking for changes, insisting on features, and making the whole thing pretty darn complicated.
By the time the website gets to the end user, the website a hopeless, confusing mess.
It’s time to change all of that. The KISS rule helps to stamp out confusion and turn your website into a simple, seamless, powerful, well-oiled machine. (Your users are going to love you.)
The Surprising Truth About Simple Websites
First off, let me whet your appetite for simplicity.
You’ve probably heard that smart people love simplicity.
Einstein, who discovered that E=mc2, was a major fan of simplicity. There is nothing simple about mass-energy equivalence or special relativity, but Einstein was able to express it in five characters.
What does Einstein have to do with your website?
It’s simple. You can distill the complexity of your website into something way more simple. Humans love simplicity. Our brains are wired to love simplicity.
Simplicity Makes People Happy
In one study, scientists asked subjects to pick up a two types of objects: easy-to-hold objects (simple), and hard-to-hold objects (complicated). The subjects were hooked up to electromyographic equipment to measure facial response to the objects. Scientists found that the easy-to-hold objects made people smile slightly. In other words, simple objects made people happy.
Simplicity Makes People Think Better
Another test discovered that simple fonts and print helped people reason more clearly. The more complicated or hard-to-read the font, the harder it was for subjects to process information and impaired reasoning skills. Another way of saying it is that simplicity makes people smarter.
Simplicity Makes People Spend Money
A final study should convince you. Yale researchers in partnership with Stanford and University of Michigan scholars, wanted to find out if people were more likely to spend money in response to complicated descriptions or simple ones. As you would assume, the simple options won. If consumers felt that an option was simple or easy, it made them more likely to spend their money.
Google’s research discovered that simple websites — those with low visual complexity and high prototypicality — were much more appealing than complicated websites. One of the most surprising findings of the study was that people can tell whether a website is simple or complicated in 50ms (just .05 of one second).
Maybe that’s why Google, the most-visited website on the planet, is also one of the simplest websites on the planet.
Yep, that’s it — the most popular website of all time:
The concept behind simple websites is cognitive fluency. Cognitive fluency is “a measure of how easy it is to think about something.”
As you’d guess, we like to think about things that are easy to think about. Our brains get tired easily. If there’s an easier way to think about something, we choose it.
Take a simple example: Stocks with easy-to-pronounce ticker symbols outperform those with hard-to-pronounce ones. BABY is going to perform better in the stock market than, say, JWXEV based on the name alone.
In the face of such evidence, why would you not make your website simpler?
Scientists can throw around terms like “cognitive fluency” and they can run complicated tests with electromyography. But me? I like to measure the stuff that matters to my business — dwell time, conversions, revenue.
Guess what. I’ve come to the same conclusions, with a sharper point. Simple websites convert better, too.
Let me say it as simply as possible: A simple website will make you more money. Period.
Here’s the Rule: KISS
KISS stands for “keep it simple, stupid.”
A less abrasive version is “keep it simple and straightforward.”
The idea has many iterations among engineers, developers, designers, architects, and programmers:
Simplicity is the most important consideration in a design.
It is more important for the interface to be simple than the implementation.
Don’t repeat yourself (DRY).
You aren’t gonna need it (YAGNI).
Do the simplest thing that could possibly work (DTSTTCPW).
I prefer KISS.
Keep it simple, stupid.
Here’s How to Apply the KISS Principle
None of this matters unless you actually implement it.
Redundant acronyms aside, here’s how to do simple.
1. No ads. None. Period.
Ads on your homepage are a major no-no. Unless you’re running a site whose primary purpose is ad revenue, then ditch the ads completely.
Ads inject tons of complexity into a website. Only use ads if your business is ads.
2. Reconsider the Sidebar
Do you really need a sidebar?
Brian Dean, conversion guru, used Crazy Egg to discover that a paltry 1.9% of his visitors clicked on his sidebar.
This was a problem. Why? Because that sidebar was his conversion goal — a social squeeze page.
I’ve wondered if the sidebar — a fixture of most blogs (even one of my blogs) — is actually a distraction.
3. Make Your Homepage a Place of Absolute Simplicity
The page that matters most is your homepage. Your homepage should set the tone for the rest of the website — simple, clear, and free of distraction.
Look at the website of designer Jonas Lindvall. It takes minimalism to the nth degree, and showcases an extremely subtle design (look for it).
The beauty of the website is its simplicity. The user knows what they should do next.
4. Use Your Above-the-Fold Real Estate For One Thing
An easy way to apply the principle of simplicity is to think of it like this: What is the one thing I want the user to do when they are on this page?
If you were to ask people in your website what they want users to do on the website, you’d get tons of different responses:
We want them to start a free trial.
We want them to read the blog.
We want them to enter their contact information so we can add them to the mailing list.
We want them to find out about our team.
We want them to click the “products” menu.
Clear the table and start fresh: What is the one thing that you want the user to do?
Find out, and then design the website around that one thing. You can still provide a menu, giving the user flexibility and option, but don’t force them to think hard. Give them simplicity, and they will be more likely to do what you want them to do:
I’ve tried to make my website, Neilpatel.com, very simple. There is a menu, but you have to scroll below the fold to see it.
5. Limit Your Menu to Seven Items
The short term memory can hold only seven items. To make your website as simple as possible, limit your menu to seven items or fewer.
Many websites try to give their users as many options as possible, but this only confuses them.
IBM, for example, has 11 menu items, plus a couple of other things I could click. That’s way too many.
Keep it simple, like this.
Four menu items. Much better.
6. Use Lots of White Space
White space, or negative space, is the area of your website that doesn’t have stuff — no menus, no text, no images, etc.
The space doesn’t need to be literally white. In fact, it can have subtle design, like in the image above. The clouds and horizon are red tinted, and they have texture. But it’s safe to call it negative space, because it’s not an area of the page that is competing for the user’s attention and action.
In the website image below, the white space would be the background image of the coffee beans. There is an image, but it’s not distracting. The website uses white space in order to create a sense of simplicity.
A site like the one below uses lots of negative space to focus attention on the central point of information.
White space is not wasted space. It’s valuable ingredient in creating a simple and elegant website.
7. Make The Structure Intuitive and Shallow
Site structure has a lot to do with simplicity, too. Make the navigation easy to understand for a user who knows nothing about your business.
Don’t require that a user click menu after menu. Give them all the information that they need in one or two clicks.
8. Avoid Drop Down Menus
Drop down menus seem like a good idea. They save on space. They allow you to add more information.
But many times, drop down menus can produce added complexity to a website. I would avoid them if possible.
The ecommerce website below has created massive dropdown menus that cover the entire page, a clear violation of the KISS rule.
If you must use dropdown menus, use them carefully and sparingly.
9. Reduce Choices
Hick’s Law states that the more choices a person has, the longer it takes them to make a decision.
Image Source
In other words, too many choices is a bad thing. Reduce the number of choices on your website, and you’ll improve your simplicity and conversions.
10. Use Minimal Color
Color is a good thing, but not too much of it. Some of the best websites designs keep it simple by using a single color or very limited colors.
11. Kill Stuff That’s Not Clicked On
If people aren’t clicking on certain parts of your site, get rid of those features. An easy way to tell what people are clicking on is by analyzing your site using a heatmap tool like Crazy Egg.
12. Use Lots of Images
Images are easy on the brain. Your brain can process images faster and easier.
The more images you add to a website design, the more enjoyable it is for people to look at.
Plus, it makes your website feel so much simpler and intuitive.
13. User Testing
Finally, test your website. Every target audience is going to respond differently to color, design, imagery, layout, and functionality. Test your website early and often, and make sure that you’re adapting to what users need and want.
Conclusion
We all want a website that “looks good.” But what makes a “good looking website?” It’s simplicity.
Simple websites work better, look better, feel better, act better, function better, respond better, appear better, and are better.
Follow the KISS rule, and you’ll make your website the kind of place that users want to spend time on.
How have you applied the KISS principle to your website?
About the Author: Neil Patel is a lifelong evangelist of Kissmetrics and blogs at Quick Sprout.
from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1izQKAE via http://ift.tt/1k9TeBg
Tags and categories: The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog
http://ift.tt/1MeELSB
September 17, 2015 at 11:26PM