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6 types of welcome emails – are you exploiting them?

Which type of welcome email is best for your business?

Welcome emails are key to establishing a dialogue with new email subscribers whether they are prospects who don’t know you, or customers who have already bought a product from you. A well-designed welcome email sequence will keep new subscribers engaged and facilitate selling to them in future.

If no initial welcome message is sent, the open rate can fall by 25% a few weeks after signing up. So clearly welcome emails are amongst the most important you send and design, so are critical for subscriber and customer retention. In fact welcome campaigns tend to have the highest open rates of any type of email campaign, which makes them even more important to get right.

Developing a Welcome email strategy

So, the arguments for putting time into well crafted welcome emails are clear, but where do you start? Given their importance we have created a new guides for Expert members which gives best practices and examples, so they can set up more effective welcome email campaigns.

Download Expert member resource – Email Welcome and Onboarding Guide

This new guide by Email consultant Jordie van Rijn gives you best practices and examples to help you define and develop Welcome Email sequences.

Access the Email Welcome and Onboarding Guide

In this post I will be showcasing the various types of welcome emails used by different types of businesses so readers can get some inspiration for the features of a successful welcome email that could work best for your business. I’ve split welcome emails into 6 general categories, each of which come with their own set of pros and cons.

1. “The thank you”

This type of email keeps it simple and sincere. It thanks subscribers for signing up and gives them a bit of detail about what they will be receiving in terms of emails. The advantages of this are establishing trust with your subscribers and making them feel valued. However it may be less effective in driving e-commerce traffic as some of the other forms of emails we will look at.

2. “The showcase”

This is a very common form of welcome email, where what the company offers the customer is showcased to the subscriber. This is good for engaging customers who will be happy to see the benefits of signing up, but make sure to keep it relevant. If you are scraping around to find enough good features that your subscribers can access and end up adding features that customers probably won’t be interested in, then I suggest you don’t opt for the “showcase” style of welcome email. Because it is so common, it may be less likely to grab attention that some other forms of welcome email, and sometimes a more minimalist style can be more effective when customers are becoming used to receiving large volumes of promotional emails. We like the way Karen Millen stylishly give their ‘wall of benefits’ as the psychologists call it.

3. “The offer”

Simple but effective, this type of welcome email gives new sign-ups a special offer to try to get them to buy the company's products while they have attention. People like to feel they are getting a good deal, so offering a special discount can be a really good way to increase click rate and conversion rate from your emails. Just make sure your offer is enticing and try not to have it formatted as an image. 60% of email clients block images by default, so if your offer is the centre piece of your welcome email but is blocked on most of the recipients devices, then you are not going to achieve the desired click rate.

4. “The hello”

It might not always say ‘hello’, but that is the focus of this type of welcome email. It is about acknowledging and engaging with the customer, and giving your email a human touch. The Virgin America email in particular is just about saying hi and introducing how they will be communicating. It is simple and doesn’t bombard the reader with loads of different calls to action. This isn’t the best form of email if click through and conversions straight away is your goal, but if long term retention and engagement of your customers is what you value, then it is a good option.

5. “The shopping cart”

Another fairly common form of welcome email, where the goal is clear; to get the customer to buy from you. If done right this can be the most effective way to convert leads into sales and deliver ROI. However because of the frequency of these forms of emails we receive every day, it is also likely to be ignored by a large percentage of recipients.

6. “The Video”

Video in email can be effective and engaging or nigh on useless because it is so frequently blocked by email-clients. This impressively minimalist email from Path is beautiful in its simplicity, and so likely to engage users. However, I would advise testing click rates with video emails on a smaller batch of your subscriber list before rolling out as the main welcome email campaign, because blocking by the email clients of your users could leave your lovingly crafted videos unwatched.

Welcome Emails can support the drive for long-term customer engagement

Customer engagement, retention or re-activation are all variations on a simple concept: getting existing customers to buy your products rather than searching for new customers.

Although ‘engagement’ can sometimes seem like a marketing buzzword, it makes cold, hard business sense. Attracting a new customer can cost as much as 15 times more than retaining an existing customer, and although the exact statistic varies between studies, it on average costs between 3 and 5 times more to find new customers than sell to existing ones according to the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

If you want a more in-depth resource to guide you through the creation of your automated email-communications strategy, check out our email sequence contact strategy template developed by Email marketing consultants Dave Chaffey and Tim Watson - it’s available to our Expert members and one of our most popular downloads.

from Blog – Smart Insights http://www.smartinsights.com/email-marketing/behavioural-email-marketing/types-of-welcome-emails/

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4 Key Factors to Consider before Setting up a Website for Your Business

Have you thought of these 4 elements for your business website?

The internet has precipitated sweeping changes across cultures and redefined how we socialize, communicate, learn and most importantly, how we do business. With the number of people accessing the internet on a daily basis ever increasing, the need for any business to have an online presence has never been greater. If you are in the process of setting up a website for your business, there are several factors that you should mull over. Here are a few to get you started.

Domain Name

Choosing a domain name may seem straightforward but it can be more complicated than you realize.  Millions of domain name have already been registered and there is every chance that the name of your choice name is on that list. If it’s taken, you may have to adjust it to avoid confusion and potential lawsuits. As you do this, always keep in mind that your domain is your business brand. Therefore, your brand should be reflected on the domain. As a rule of thumb, keep the name short to make it memorable. Avoid using hyphens. They can be counterproductive. If possible always use a .com top-level domain (TLD).

Web hosting

The secret to selecting the right web hosting package lies in understanding your specific hosting needs. Ask yourself, what do you want to achieve through it? For instance, if you are building an ecommerce website where you will accept card payment, store and process confidential customer data, you must host your website on a PCI compliant server. For a simple website, you may have to choose between shared hosting and a managed hosting like WordPress hosting. Once you have figured out the right hosting package, investigate host reliability. Your website is only as good as its host. Keep away from hosting providers who cannot guarantee uptime.

Web Security

Web security is critical, especially if you are to run an ecommerce business. Statistics show a clear pattern that financial gain is the primary driving force for most hacking activities. With hackers getting better with time, everyone is at risk. Most probably, it’s only a matter of when, and not if, an attempt is made on your site. Better cover your bases before that happens.

As a bare minimum, consider purchasing an SSL certificate. There are several types of SSL certificates in the market. In general, the nature of your business should dictate the level of encryption to install. For example, the extended validation (EV) SSL has the highest level of encryption and also verifies the identity of the owner. Also, consider putting up multiple layers of security. The more the number of walls hackers has to breach, the more futile their mission becomes.

Content

Digital content marketing has redefined advertizing and completely altered how businesses reach out to their customers. It has proved to be a potent tool to build a brand, build a customer base and generate leads. Therefore, any business that seeks to stand out in a crowded online space has to develop a content marketing strategy. It will be wise to think about, and even develop a content marketing strategy before your website is online. Do your research and plan to employ as many strategies as you can find out there. Building quality links is a good way of improving search engine rankings. However, avoid linking or mentioning competitors.

In summary, this is not an exhaustive list. There are other factors to consider that may be equally important. However, these four constitutes a solid foundation that must be laid right of the bat before anything is built on it.

Thanks to Steve Caddick for sharing their advice and opinions in this post.Steve Caddick is the owner of Web World Promotion. He has more than seven years’ experience in Web design and digital marketing. You can connect with Steve on LinkedIn.

from Blog – Smart Insights http://www.smartinsights.com/user-experience/website-design/4-key-factors-consider-setting-website-business/

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Facebook’s Gaining on TV Advertising Revenue

Chart of the Day: Facebook’s revenue per user increase 10 fold in 5 years

Facebook’s drive to monetize itself has seen the social media titan raise its revenue per user from $2 to $19 in just 5 years.

In this time Facebook has released many different advertising options for marketers to spend their budgets with. In the early days, we were using the advanced for the time demographic and ‘likes’ targeting options to serve ads via the news feed & the right-hand side area. But with the introduction more advertising features as well as adding Instagram to the mix, I can only see the gap between TV and Facebook becoming smaller and smaller.

Now there are a wide range of ad options for Facebook. Which are:

• Retargeting - art of advertising to people who have visited your website before
• Messages - Contacting your audience with short messages on Messenger
• Instagram - Using the Facebook advertising manager to promote your campaign on Instagram in both the feed and Instagram Stories
• Offers - Serving personalised offers to select groups
• Audience Network - Show your adverts to the same target audience on other mobile apps and websites.

And I’m sure we will see a lot more way for marketers to advertising with Facebook over the next 5 years. What that will look like we will have to wait and see.

• Source: Ampere Analysis
• Recommended resources: Facebook Retargeting Quick Win, Digital Media Cheatsheet and Social Media Toolkit

from Blog – Smart Insights http://www.smartinsights.com/social-media-marketing/facebook-marketing/facebooks-gaining-tv-advertising-revenue/

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Why white labeling agency services offers great opportunities for SMBs

White labeling can help SMEs/SMBs compete with the bigger players- here’s how.

The concept behind white label marketing is not entirely new.  There are many white label services that marketing companies use to make their lives easier.  The big benefit of white labeling is that it allows businesses an easy way to expand their service offerings to their clients without having to develop the product or service themselves.

Many businesses don’t want to waste time and internal resources in areas that can take years to become proficient in.  By offering white label services to your customers it can allow your company to specialize in your area of expertise and provide excellent customer service to your customer base in real time.

Some of the more widely used white label services relevant to agencies include:

• Search Engine Optimization
• Email Marketing
• Market Research
• Social Media Management
• Content Development
• Web Design
• E-Commerce Management
• Sales Support
• Pay-Per-Click Management
• Conversion Rate Optimization
• Reporting Dashboards
• Online Ad Development
• Reputation Management
• Customer Loyalty Programs

Over time white label services have expanded into many aspects of business that some business owners may not realize. White labeling services like these are now fairly common:

• Legal
• Payroll
• Accounting
• Human Resource Guidance
• Inventory Control
• Help Desk/Support

These are all white label services that are readily available in 2017.  Reachmail has compiled a list of all the white label services that exist today and created a useful resource that lists all the white label services that exist today. But just having a list of the services you can white label is not always reason enough to justify the move towards white labeling. Let’s further explore the benefits that come from white labeling.

1. White labeling your services saves time and money. You might like the idea of building out your own service offerings, but this can also take a lot of time and resources from your core business offerings. There is also no guarantee that your final product will be a hit with your audience. Investing in an existing and proven white label solution will save you not only time and money, but also human capital resources.
2. White labeling allows you the freedom to concentrate on what your business and employees are really good at. By investing in white label services, your business has the opportunity to focus on what you specialize in. Rather than spreading your employees and your internal resources too thin, you can focus on your core business and not in services that you have little to no experience in.
3. White labeling adds new revenue streams. This is one of the largest benefits of white labeling. White labeling can create new revenue streams by being able to offer more services to your customer base.  This can also be a great way to attract new customers to your business.
4. White labeling allows small businesses to compete with larger businesses. Traditionally small business can have difficultly competing with larger businesses within their industry. They simply don’t have the man power to be able to offer all the service offerings that larger companies can.  White labeling can level the playing field in this regard. 
5. White labeling allows you to tailor your brands service offerings to align with your customer needs. This allows greater control for how your company markets itself. Traditionally this could be a tough situation where you have to say no to a customer because you lack the time and resources to take on a new service offering. With white labeling you can easily add these services that your clients are searching for quickly and efficiently.

White labeling allows for better growth opportunities for your business without having to commit to lengthy investments of both time and capital.

Thanks to Matthew Zajechowski for sharing his advice and opinions in this post. Matt works for Digital Third Coast. You can follow him on Twitter or connect on Google+ .

from Blog – Smart Insights http://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-strategy/online-business-revenue-models/white-labeling-offers-great-opportunities-smbs/

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Point of Sale: Retail & Travel Weekly

In this week’s articles, we peer into the state of personalization across the retail industry, the most effective automated emails to drive e-commerce, a checklist for successfully leveraging SEO on PDPs, and more.

• Executives Are Stepping Up on Personalized Marketing [eMarketer]: Marketers are still trying to get personalization to a level in which consumers are satisfied with the results.
• The Most Effective Triggered Email Types for E-Commerce Brands [MarketingProfs]: Welcome and abandoned-cart emails are the most effective emails for triggering e-commerce sales.
• 2017 SEO Checklist for Product Detail Pages [Practical Ecommerce]: Making sure your PDPs contain all the information needed on them is an important first step to actually attracting users.
• Conversing for Commerce: How the Rise of Chatbots Will Improve Your Customer Experience [Adobe Digital Marketing Blog]: As artificial intelligence increases in sophistication, so does the opportunity for retailers to impact users’ customer experiences.
• What in the World Is Causing the Retail Meltdown of 2017? [The Atlantic]: Many retailers have been struggling despite the growing economy, low unemployment, and individuals having more discretionary income.

The post Point of Sale: Retail & Travel Weekly appeared first on Digital Marketing Blog by Adobe.

from Digital Marketing Blog by Adobe https://blogs.adobe.com/digitalmarketing/news-and-resources/point-sale-retail-travel-weekly-43/

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Stop Chasing Followers: 4 Ways to segment and vet effective influencers

Your influencers need to be able to effectvely represent your brand

Influencer marketing is more than a passing craze for brands. According to a recent eMarketer survey, 84 percent of marketers said they have an influencer campaign in the works that would launch within a year. When utilized correctly, influencers can help companies achieve immense returns without heavy startup investments.

For every dollar companies spend on influencer marketing, they see $6.50 in revenue, according to another recent poll conducted by Tomoson. That doesn’t mean brands can simply throw money at an influencer, sit back, and watch the profits pile up, though.

To execute a successful influencer marketing strategy, you have to understand how to identify effective influencers and make the most of their talents.

What Makes a Good Influencer?

When brands think about partnering with influencers, they usually think about macro influencers — big celebrities with millions of followers — not those micro influencers who have 10,000 to 90,000 people following their social media accounts. However, many of these smaller influencers are beloved among their niche audiences, which means they can deliver superior engagement and more meaningful conversations about a brand for a lower cost.

When brands overpay for mega influencers, they might reach a wider audience, but each person within that audience is less likely to engage with their posts. One study discovered that as an influencer’s follower count rises, his or her engagement rates actually decrease.

Authenticity is key when it comes to using an influencer to boost engagement. Aligning with an influencer who doesn’t match your brand’s persona is not only ineffective, but it’s also downright harmful — especially given that 43 percent of Millennials value authenticity over content, according to an article in Forbes. They want to trust companies or influencers before they will even consider looking at their products or content. Consumers today are so inundated with ads and sponsored content that they can easily filter out canned, insincere messaging.

Common Issues With Influencer Marketing

Don’t try to control the content itself. Instead, invest more time in selecting the right influencer; then, trust that person to make the right creative decisions.

Building trust with influencers doesn’t mean brands should overpay for partnerships, though. While brands used to pay massive fixed fees for influencer support, the payment landscape is shifting to a fairer exchange based on performance metrics such as clicks, orders, and sales. Managing influencers through an existing affiliate program on a revenue share or cost-per-action basis gives you the tools to manage a large group of partners and ensure they measure performance properly.

Sometimes, influencers fail to disclose when native posts are actually advertising. This happens frequently in influencer marketing because it’s challenging for brands to sufficiently monitor all their partnerships. Because sponsored content is governed by specific rules from the Federal Trade Commission, you must be vigilant in ensuring your paid promotional content is labeled appropriately.

Missteps by Lord & Taylor and Warner Bros. (wherein they did not disclose that they had paid influencers for promotional social posts) provide cautionary tales of the dangers of misleading consumers with influencer content.

How to Vet Effective Influencers

Using these strategies, you can identify and collaborate with influencers who are popular within their entertainment niches and capable of being productive partners:

1. Look for brand alignment.

An influencer’s subscriber volume is important, but alignment with your brand determines whether your content will be successful. Look for influencers with similar audience demographics, and decide whether their regular content is aligned with your brand’s messaging. Too many companies pick the most popular influencer who will work with them without understanding the nature of the influencer’s content or the nature of a brand partnership with existing content.

Does the influencer’s audience care about what you’re offering? In the best-case scenario, the influencer would already be covering topics relevant to your brand for an audience similar to your target market. By selecting influencers who regularly produce high-quality evergreen content, you can get more mileage from your branded campaigns, reach people who will convert, and get the most from your influencer investment.

What does proper alignment look like? Just ask Madewell, which leveraged its #totewell campaign by partnering with five rising fashion influencers to reach upward of 1 million targeted consumers.

2. Prioritize channel type.

Different social media platforms have different strengths and demographics. Identify your target audience, what action you want the audience to take, and what type of content would achieve that result. Then, partner with an influencer who drives the right message on the right channel. If you want to use visual content and reach Millennials, a photo on Instagram typically yields more engagement than the same photo posted on another platform.

Stitch Fix, for example, works with influencers who create content featuring the latest fashion trends and then shares that content on its Instagram account. This drives engagement from the influencers’ followers and steers traffic to the brand’s website and Instagram profile.

Different channels measure different metrics. Determine who you want to reach, what your message should be, the action you want consumers to take, and the metrics you want to collect before deciding which social media platform and influencer will best suit your needs.

3. Seek engagement over volume.

Seek out influencers whose audiences are engaged with their content. Likes, comments, and shares are good indicators that people are actively consuming the content and not just giving it a passing glance.

The tool below is useful for evaluating different types of influnecers and how they can benifit your brand.

If they’ve done previous influencer campaigns, try to figure out what their activity has been like and what the results were. This will help you understand what might happen with your own campaign. Also, be aware of the frequency of their posts — it’s a good idea to steer clear of influencers who share sponsored posts too frequently, as your brand’s messaging gets lost in their stream.

4. Reward partners for performance.

While brands used to pay upfront assuming results would follow, the landscape has changed.

Now, brands are looking to integrate individual influencers and influencer networks with the affiliate model to build scalable, measurable partnerships. The performance partnership model allows influencers to tap into your brand’s existing affiliate program, and it allows you to reward influencers when they’ve delivered on your marketing goals. By managing influencer marketing through an affiliate program, you can achieve better tracking and accountability while improving your bottom line.

For example, Stella & Dot, a boutique jewelry and accessory brand, recently ran a campaign to increase awareness of its brand and engagement with customers through a network of fashion influencers. By measuring results through its affiliate program, Stella & Dot was able to track results and reward influencers based on performance — all while ensuring the promotion remained aligned with its brand.

The outcome? In one week, Stella & Dot received 150 proposals from high-quality style and fashion influencers. After 16 related posts were made on blogs and Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, the brand saw 18,000 engagements in just seven weeks.

Influencer marketing is about more than follower counts — it’s about finding the right partner who can deliver the right message to the right people to execute an effective, brand-aligned strategy. Use these tips to get the most from your influencer marketing efforts and find out what your brand has to gain from building better performance-based partnerships.

Thanks to Laurie for sharing her advice and opinions in this post. Laurie Cutts is the director of marketing at Acceleration Partners, a performance marketing agency focused on online customer acquisition for the world’s largest brands.

from Blog – Smart Insights http://www.smartinsights.com/online-pr/influencer-marketing/stop-chasing-followers-4-ways-vet-effective-influencers/

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