Email personalization continues to be a top email design trend. And with more marketers putting an emphasis on data quality, there are many opportunities for maximizing the impact of personalized messaging. Beyond incorporating first name variables into the subject line or body to boost engagement, brands can use personalization to serve the subscriber. If the data is accurate, timely, and serves a purpose, it’s likely to benefit the subscriber in ways that are advantageous for the brand. Here are a few examples from my inbox of ways brands used personalization […]

SEO can boost your marketing automation efforts in these three ways: Build leads and lists through qualified organic traffic Utilize existing organic data to optimize conversion points Use keyword research to send targeted content to specific lists Click on the links above to jump to that section. I recently discussed this topic at the And Then Some emfluence Conference 2018. Here is the video and SlideShare of my talk: How SEO Can Boost Your Marketing Automation Efforts from emfluence   But if you’re more into reading/scanning, the meat of the […]

You know the value in attending the emfluence And Then Some Conference. But how do you relay that effectively when asking for your company’s support in sending you? Getting time off and budget approval can be a real challenge sometimes, so here are three things you can share with the budget-boss in your life to help elicit a successful send-off: It’s designed to enhance your skillset. It presents an opportunity to connect with Kansas City’s brightest digital marketing minds and a variety of local, regional and national organizations. You’ll be […]

Let’s talk retention! So, you’ve put in all the groundwork to attract your “ideal” customer base – these are the customers who will get the most value from the product or service you’re selling. So now what? Retention efforts begin with activation and follow-up, ensuring these customers become active users and continue to do business with you. I’m going to share the 5 best email marketing strategies that will help you increase your retention rates and bring in more revenue:   Customer Retention Email Strategy #1: The Activation or Welcome […]

Summer is in full effect, which means it’s time to take a breather from those out-of-office replies and take a look at email marketing benchmarks for the first half of 2018.   If this is your first Email Marketing Benchmarks Report, this is our twice-yearly dive into the email marketing metrics compiled by the global users of the emfluence Marketing Platform. These email marketing benchmarks are designed to give you a starting point for comparing your own email marketing metrics. You’ll be able to scroll through comparison metrics based on industries, […]

In a previous blog post, I talked about how to build a social media strategy for ecommerce sales, however my main focus in that post was only on B2C brands. So today, I want to solely turn my attention to B2B ecommerce and why it is just as important for them to have a well thought out social media strategy to help drive brand awareness and increase their B2B ecommerce sales.   First, let’s start by saying that ecommerce is not limited to B2C. If you’re in B2B and you […]

For the past several years, Google has been pushing site security to webmasters. HTTPS has been an organic ranking signal since at least 2014. When browsing on an HTTP website, instead of HTTPS, a third-party can insert ads that aren’t on the original webpage, inject cryptocurrency mining software (here is a popular example of this recently), or redirect you to a different site in order to steal your username and password.   HTTP Not Secure Warning Starting July 24th, along with the launch of Google Chrome 68, Chrome will display […]

When you think about transactional messages you are probably thinking about the email receipt you get after a purchase or possibly a password reset email. But transactional messages really represent a much broader range of messaging. For marketers, there are a couple of great things about transactional messages. First, they are expected. Recipients often know they are coming and depend on them for important information. That means they often have a significantly higher open rate than marketing messages. Second, transactional messages take some of the chains off as they are […]

A Dirty Word? Let’s start with a bit of education on the topic. When I hear the word sweepstakes the first image is the memorable moment when an unknowing winner opens their front door to be greeted with a life-changing check. For those of you younger than me… you can google it.   Per Wikipedia, Sweepstakes are “a type of contest where a prize or prizes may be awarded to a winner or winners.” Who doesn’t want a prize, right?! Well when sweepstakes began, they started as a lottery related […]

Attracting the right kind of leads—you know, the ones that actually want to buy something from you—is one of the B2B marketer’s biggest challenges. You can pay for clicks or you can pay for impressions, and while both options have value, neither option guarantees you a high volume of truly interested, sales-ready leads.   Fortunately, getting those kinds of leads is exactly what pay per lead, or PPL, is designed for.   But first…   What Is Pay Per Lead Advertising? Unlike pay per click (PPC) or pay per impression […]

This story starts with t-shirts.   From our A/B Test t-shirts to our I Opted In to Get This Bag totes, emfluence has a long history of spinning digital marketing lingo into apparel. We like puns and we like marketing, and if we’re going to wear shirts anyway, why not have some fun with our brand? Turns out we’re not the only ones who like our shirts, and for years people have asked us: how can I get one of those shirts for myself?   So we did something a […]

Attention all e-commerce businesses…if you’re not running a bounce-back email campaign to your buyers, you’re missing out on some major additional revenue.   What is a bounce-back offer? Let’s first review…what exactly is a “bounce-back” offer? Think of something like this: We’re not talking email delivery failures here. Plain and simple, a bounce-back offer is created to entice the client to “bounce back,” or return and buy more from you in the future. Brick and mortar retailers invented the bounce-back with return offer mailers, and with good reason: the cost […]

Looking for ways to add visual content to your social messages and email campaigns? It’s easy to ❤ the personality emojis and gifs can bring to your brand, but they aren’t meant for everyone…or every situation.   Before you turn yourself into a marketing unicorn, read our tips on incorporating visual content into your messaging—without overwhelming your audience.   Here’s how:   🦄Understand Your Audience This is probably the #1 rule to remember when it comes to using visual content in your everyday marketing strategy. Understanding your audience should help […]

On May 25th, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will be officially in effect. The GDPR is designed to update the rules on personal data collection and retention and will significantly alter how all organizations can handle customer information. Check out Dave Cacioppo’s previous blog post covering the broader impact of GDPR for Marketers. This post is going to be focused on a more granular facet of the impact of GDPR – Google Analytics (in truth, all web analytics platforms).   What Does GDPR Mean for Google Analytics? […]

Making some big changes to your website? Change is good! But if you aren’t careful with site migration, it could be disastrous for your SEO presence. Here’s our site migration SEO checklist for changing domain names or moving to HTTPS: Ask Yourself: Why Are You Migrating Your Site? The two main reasons you may be migrating your site: A domain name change Moving from HTTP to HTTPS Both are long-term investments in the site’s future. A domain name change is typically sparked by a branding overhaul. Moving to HTTPS is […]

Summer vacation is almost here, but don’t swap your shoes for flipflops just yet. For marketers in higher education, this is the perfect time to map out your social media calendar for the academic year.   Social media is a key component of a good content marketing plan, and like any plan, you should start your social media calendar for the academic year with goals and KPIs. Here’s how:   Social Media Marketing Goals Content marketing is most successful when you understand what you hope to achieve. Setting goals (examples […]

I’ll be the first to admit that the amount of data available to marketers can be a little overwhelming. Consumers want their online experiences to be personalized, but if it’s too personalized, they get a little creeped out. How do we use the data that is readily available tastefully? And before that, how do we get started with sending personalized messaging to our customers? Here’s where a milestone email can come in handy.   What’s a Milestone Email? A milestone email is a type of behavior-based email you might send […]

With an increasing amount of attention and commitment to accessibility in recent years, you’ve probably given thought to optimizing your website for individuals with disabilities, but what about email accessibility? Natalie offers some considerations in a recent post on what you need to know about website ADA compliance, but it’s important to think beyond your website and consider how you can make all content you offer to your users online easily accessible. Among that list is your email content, which is an extension of your website user experience in many […]

If you’re reading this blog I’m sure that by now you’ve done some research and have heard the phrase, “Content is King.” Well, for most it’s a fact. For those to whom the phrase rings true, content marketing is a major component of ongoing digital marketing strategies. Establishing well-defined content marketing goals is the critical first step in developing a successful content strategy to drive business growth. But what makes it worthy of such a title? Creating unique, high-quality content that is engaging and useful adds value to your products […]

How to evaluate your email mistakes so that you can use that information to become a better email marketer. At some point, everyone sends a bad email, whether that’s an email with clunky design or mistakes or image issues, and some of these email mistakes can be embarrassing at the least. But look at the bright side: there’s good that can come from carefully examining email mistakes. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right? Same goes for making mistakes. By learning from the email marketing mistakes you make, you’re […]

On a scale of 1 to 5, how do your customers feel about your business?   That question is getting asked and answered about your business every day online. If you are not actively tuned in to this dialog, you are both putting your business at risk and missing a great opportunity to elevate your brand.   The Importance of User Reviews Online review sites started gaining traction around 2012 and since then, their growth has become exponential. Unlike a Net Promoter Score survey that you might hire an outside […]

Once upon a time, community banks and credit unions cornered the market on personalized communications and a neighbor-to-neighbor experience for their customers. But now, with the help of marketing automation platforms, big banks are poised to take back the customer experience. If community banks and credit unions hope to challenge those big banks, they’ll need a strong content strategy and an engine to deliver useful content to their customers. A great place to start is by building a user generated content guide for community banks or for your credit union. […]

When creating content, one of the biggest challenges we have is marketers is the balance between writing for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and writing for our customers. At least, that is the internal challenge we think exists. In reality, the challenge is not nearly as big as we think. Let’s look at how to create a content marketing SEO strategy.   In its most recently product SEO Starter Guide, Google has made it clear that “optimized content” is one of the most important ranking factors to consider. But what exactly […]

There’s nothing that makes us happier than hearing from happy emfluence Marketing Platform users, which is why we’re excited to share the Spring 2018 G2 Crowd Report results with you.   G2 Crowd is a business solution review platform with a robust (and busy) marketing automation platform category. Each quarter, G2 Crowd releases reports to help buyers understand how software users feel about business software solutions, like the emfluence Marketing Platform. Rankings in each report are based on the data provided by actual users, which are averaged for the category—in […]

Testing your website or software application can be time-consuming, but it can help ensure a smooth user experience for your visitors and backend users. We build testing phases into every project or feature rollout; but it’s helpful to repeat testing activities, even well after deployment, to identify vulnerabilities and breakdowns before they are reported to you by your users.   The Regression Testing Template There are many types of testing procedures for documenting and validating software functionality at every stage of its development. Perhaps one of the most under-utilized, but […]

Quality over quantity is usually a solid life motto to live by, and your newsletter email list shouldn’t be any different. If you want to grow newsletter subscriptions, start by placing emphasis on opt ins (i.e., people who signed up for your content). Quality users that have chosen to opt-in want to see your name in their inbox, look forward to receiving your content, and are typically your highest engaged customers that are likely to convert. However, getting opt-ins for that healthy list can sometimes seem more like a marathon […]

Images make any content more interesting and appealing by helping readers understand your content better. Plus, images add value to your SEO efforts by increasing user engagement and accessibility of your website. There are a number of important factors that can be optimized to help improve image SEO on your site.   Let’s walk through some of the best practices for optimizing images on your website to help you rank higher in organic search.   Improve Image SEO with Tools Since having images is crucial to image SEO, finding and […]