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- 17 Mar
Most Purchases Are Made While Shopping Around, Not From Loyalty
- Mar 17, 2017
- Dan Hoff
- 0
- Brand Marketing, Conversion Strategies, Lead Generation, Loyalty Marketing
from MarketingCharts.com
Do consumers tend to make the same brand choices time after time. Or do mostly shop around with successive purchases? Recent research from McKinsey comes to a troubling conclusion. It seems that few purchases are loyalty-driven. And the myriad new ways for consumers to judge brands and comparison shop doesn’t seem poised to change that.
Ooops! Well, We May Need to Re-Think Our Approach Now
To arrive at this conclusion, McKinsey dug into its CDJ database, which it says covers more than 125,000 consumers shopping for more than 350 brands. After analyzing the data, it found that of 30 categories, just 3 were primarily loyalty-driven.
So, what does this mean for your brand? For more of the data and additional insights, read the full article at MarketingCharts.com
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- 16 Mar
YouTube Ads for Beginners: How to Launch & Optimize a YouTube Video Advertising Campaign
by Jami Oetting
You’ve spent months perfecting the script, storyboarding, finding the right talent, shooting, and editing. The end result? A blockbuster brand or product video.
Building it in the Hopes They Will Come is Not a Marketing Strategy
But, with all that time invested, you can’t stop at just embedding the video on a homepage. And sharing it on social media and hoping someone watches just isn’t enough. You need to be proactive about gaining the attention of prospects and those unfamiliar with your brand.
Running a series of YouTube ads is one way to make sure more of your target audience finds the video content you’ve produced. But where and how to start? Here is the YouTube Ads for Beginners: How to Launch & Optimize a YouTube Video Advertising Campaign to help you out at HubSpot.com
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- 15 Mar
Email Marketing Benchmarks: 4Q16 Average Open, Click, and Bounce Rates
- Mar 15, 2017
- Dan Hoff
- 0
- Digital Marketing, Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Marketing for Small Business
by Ayaz Nanji
So, how did email marketing perform last year? To answer that question, Experian asked their marketing clients, comparing 4Q15 and 3Q16 key metrics. What they found was that the volume of email sent by marketers in the fourth quarter of 2016 rose 14% compared with the fourth quarter of 2015.
Size Matters, . . . for Some but Not Others
Though email volume grew across the board, the size of the increase varied significantly by industry. For example, travel brands sent 29.6% more emails in 4Q16 than in 4Q15, on average, whereas business products/services firms sent only 2.7% more emails.
For more of the data and insights, read the full article at MarketingProfs.com
NOTE: A Free Registration pop up opens on this site. Registration is not required to read the article.
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- 14 Mar
How Account-Based Marketing and Selling via LinkedIn Can Drive Revenue
- Mar 14, 2017
- Dan Hoff
- 0
- Account Based Marketing, B2B Marketing, Conversion Strategies, LinkedIn, Social Media Marketing
Many social media and social selling experts say volume is the key. They claim that to succeed on social media platforms, including LinkedIn, is a numbers game. However, that type of shotgun approach may be better when you have a lower-cost offering and need as many leads as possible to get a return on your social media investment.
If You Aim at The Target, Chances Increase You’ll Hit it
But when your offering supposes a hefty investment on the part of the buyer this may not be the case. Especially when you have a complex sales process. That means that you’d better be sure you’re focusing on specific audiences and that you are being relevant. A targeted, account-based marketing approach is key in this case.
Here are some real-life examples of how an account-based marketing and selling approach on LinkedIn can drive not just reach and awareness but also demand and revenue, at MarketingProfs.com
NOTE: A Free Registration pop up opens on this site. Registration is not required to read the article.
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- 13 Mar
The Beginner’s Guide to Small Business Marketing Online
- Mar 13, 2017
- Dan Hoff
- 0
- Digital Marketing, Lead Generation, Marketing for Small Business, Online Marketing
According to Forbes, 80-90% of consumers research purchases online before buying. That means whether you’re launching a new business or already have one, having an strong online presence for your brand is extremely important.
Digital Marketing is Critical to Success
Today, digital marketing is no longer a luxury. It is now a must-have. And it is central for promoting your products or services and has become critical to your business’ overall success.
However if you’re a small business owner with little experience in online marketing, this whole “online marketing” marketing thing might sound like a foreign language. But, have no fear. In this post, you can learn how to build and optimize your marketing strategy using inbound marketing, setting you up to attract new clients and ultimately grow your business at HubSpot.com
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- 11 Mar
Q4 Email Performance, By Time of Day
- Mar 11, 2017
- Dan Hoff
- 0
- Conversion Strategies, Email Marketing, Lead Generation
from MarketingChats.com
The best time of day to send email during Q4 – at least when comparing transactions to volume – was between 4PM and 8PM. This was according to a new study [download available] from Experian Marketing Services. More specifically, mailings in this time frame resulted in 21.1% of transactions relative to 14.8% of volume.
That Was Then, This is Now
The results are interesting in light of the previous year’s data. Last year, it was the 12AM-4AM time frame that resulted in a disproportionately high share of transactions compared to send volume. This time around, that period was the least effective. It’s interesting to note that this early day-part seems to have become much more popular from one year to the next.
To see all of the data, more insights and to download the original report, read the full article at MarketingChats.com
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- 10 Mar
The Top Digital Channels for Generating B2B Leads
- Mar 10, 2017
- Dan Hoff
- 0
- Content Marketing, Email Marketing, Lead Generation, LinkedIn, Social Media Marketing
by Ayaz Nanji
B2B marketers say email, organic search, whitepapers, and webinars work. And, most say that LinkedIn is also in the mix as the most effective digital channels/tactics for generating leads. This was according to recent research from DemandWave.
So, Who Did They Ask?
The report was based on data from a survey conducted in November and December 2016. The sampling included 179 B2B marketers in the U.S. And, respondents to the survey worked for firms in a range of industries. The largest share in the study came from the software (39%) and business services (17%) verticals.
Surprisingly, the most applied digital channels currently used by B2B marketers are social media, and email. Now, to see all the top digital channels and best types of content for generating B2B leads are, read the full article at MarketingProfs.com
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- 09 Mar
7 Little-Known Lead Generation Ideas Revealed
- Mar 09, 2017
- Dan Hoff
- 0
- Generational Marketing, Lead Generation, Marketing to Millennials, Social Media
by Dan Stelter
What tactics, strategies, and techniques can you use to generate more leads for your business?
Sometimes Raw Emotions Like “Fear” Can Work
One suggestion comes from a recent study from Citizen Relations Canada. They found that 68% of Canadian millennials have bought because of a “fear of missing out” (FOMO) marketing approach. And, additionally they discovered that 45% couldn’t go longer than 12 hours without checking their favorite social media platforms.
So that means that FOMO is powerful indeed. In fact, so are urgency, scarcity, exclusivity, surprise, and social proof. But those are not the only ones. Here are 7 lesser known lead generation marketing ideas you may not know of at WordStream.com.
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- 08 Mar
Engagement Secret Sauce: Learn From Social Networks to Attract and Keep Audiences for Yourself
Social networks have become an uphill battle for marketers. They’re literally addictive to consumers, who now spend 40+ minutes on social media every day. But for marketers, who now face a sea of competing content and little to no unpaid reach, social networks are simply no longer the most effective way to reach those consumers. So a growing number of marketers are beginning to rethink social networks, and many are driving traffic to their own websites and mobile apps instead.
Bringing your audience home has huge advantages. Consumers who want to stay in touch with your brand are nearly three times more likely to visit your website than to engage with you on Facebook. And the more time a consumer spends on your properties—whether shopping, discovering, or researching products—translates into a longer, stronger relationship between that consumer and your brand, according to a study from Kantar Media. So how do you make your own properties as captivating as a social network? Here are four ways they do it, and how you can, too…
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- 07 Mar
What Consumers Expect of Local Businesses on Facebook
by Ayaz Nanji
Nearly three-quarters (73%) of US consumers say Facebook is the most important social media platform for local businesses to have a presence on, according to a recent report from G/O Digital.
The report was based on data from a survey of 1,000 social media users in the United States. Some 12% of respondents say Google+ is the most important social network for local businesses to have a presence on; Twitter is third (3%), followed by LinkedIn (2%), and Instagram (less than 1%).
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- 21 Oct
How to Track Your Tradeshow ROI
From renting floor space to designing and building your booth, the costs involved in exhibiting at a tradeshow can quickly add up. Even a small tradeshow can cost your business a five-figure sum, particularly if it’s located in another city.
Because tradeshows require such a significant investment, it’s essential to measure not just how much you spend on a tradeshow but also how much you earn as a result of the event. This is the ROI of your efforts but, measuring the ROI of your tradeshow marketing is slightly more complicated than tracking and measuring online marketing ROI. However, with the right strategy and tools, you can get a clear picture of how much profit your next event produces.
So, here is How to Track Your Tradeshow ROI
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- 09 May
How to Tweet on Twitter: 12 Templates to Get You Started
Not sure what to tweet to get your followers to engage with you? Whether you’re just getting started with Twitter or you’ve been using it for a while, but feel like you’re in a rut, it can be hard to come up with new ideas for what to publish. Sometimes, it can help to follow some tried-and-true tropes. Here are several Twitter “formulas” you can follow. Just make the following changes to each one:
- Fill in the “blanks” where the [BRACKETS] are.
- Edit the #hashtag with the actual hashtag you’d like to use (e.g. #marketingtips). Hashtags make it easy for people to find your tweets when they’re tracking that hashtag, so you can find more relevant followers.
- Replace @TwitterHandle with a person’s real Twitter handle (e.g. @HubSpot).
Note: Each audience is different, so you may find that some of these formulas work better than others to grow your following.
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- 08 May
Your Email Marketing Campaign Isn’t Attracting Millennials (for Good Reasons)
How do you guarantee a Millennial will mark your business email as spam? Include a subject line like this: “Why Hipsters Prefer [Your Brand.]” Why? For so many reasons.
Let’s look at how marketers are self-sabotaging when trying to attract this demographic. And if you’re making any of these mistakes, the solutions are all simple fixes.
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- 08 May
Customers Prefer Your Knowing Their Needs Over Your Knowing Their Names
by Giles House
We’ve all received direct mail marketing offers and emails from businesses that believe they’re on a first-name basis with us. Most of the time, the greeting might as well say, “Dear INSERT YOUR NAME HERE,” because it’s clear from the context that the company just purchased data from a third party and has no idea who we are or what we need.
Personalization—including use of a prospect’s name in a marketing pitch—is a well-established tactic used by millions of marketers… but does it work? Research suggests not. A study at Temple University’s Fox School of Business revealed that adding a prospect’s name to a greeting was more likely to be perceived as a turn-off than to create a warm lead. More than 95% of study participants reacted negatively to being greeted by name in an email.
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- 07 May
How People Phrase Online Searches
by Ayaz Nanji
Half of consumers search online using fragments (e.g., “swollen ankle”) and half use more fully formed phrases (e.g., “causes of swollen ankle during sleep”), according to a recent report from Blue Nile Research.
The report was based on data from a study of 183 online adults who were given three scenarios and asked to input the search query they felt would best result in the information needed. The three scenarios tested were: Coffee maker does not turn on; swollen ankle; and in the market for a new laptop. Exactly 50% of respondents used “fragment queries” (2-3 words) to search when given the three scenarios, and 50% used “full queries” (4+ words).
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- 07 May
How to Turn Webinars into Networking Events and Become an Authority in Your Niche
When we think of webinars, we picture hour-long presentations with mediocre audio and outdated PowerPoint templates. Their promise of teaching us something new keeps us tuned in longer than we’d like, and then we move on, forgetting it ever happened. But today, more than ever, we have the tools to re-imagine the webinar experience and create something more dynamic and productive for our audiences. For instance, we can enable them to use webinars as vehicles for networking and socializing.
Think about it, you have a group of people (your webinar attendees) who registered for an event that covers a very specific topic in your industry; clearly, they have something in common with each other. Shouldn’t you be helping them build their networks? Absolutely. Even though nothing beats going to seminars in person and rocking the networking events until the seams in your pockets rip from the growing stash of business cards, your online audience can come close to achieving similar results when you incorporate the following networking strategies into your webinars:
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- 06 May
9 Highly Reputable Resources for Compelling Marketing Stats
by Bill Faeth
If you’re in the business of content marketing, there is a 100% chance you need marketing statistics. Statistics lend authority and weight to your blogs, ebooks, and social media posts. Using accurate data in your original content is powerful way to communicate that you’ve done your research. However, not all statistics are worth citing. Your research could have a negative effect on your online reputation if you fail to verify the source, accuracy, or recency of the statistic.
Your organization’s reputation is built by the information you publish online. As content marketer Britt Brouse points out, it’s crucial to become something of a “data authority” in your niche. You need to know who’s publishing the most accurate and up-to-date information, so you can cite it accordingly. To help you get a leg up on creating content that will help you establish thought leadership, I’ve compiled a list of 9 of the most reputable and reliable resources for fresh marketing statistics. Use these sources for insight discovery, professional education, and adding some intellectual weight to your content marketing:
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- 05 May
How You Can Build an Email Marketing List as Quickly as Possible
According to a 2014 survey of 1,000 web-based businesses, email marketing has the highest ROI of any marketing channel. Surveyed companies attributed an average of 23% of total sales to this single channel, and these results are hardly isolated. Anywhere you look nowadays, you’ll see that email marketing is more profitable than ever.
The question then isn’t: “Should I build an email list?”, but rather: “How can I build my list as quickly as possible?” That’s the $1,000,000 question (literally), and we’ve analyzed the best in the business to bring you the ultimate guide to hacking your email subscription growth.
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- 04 May
10 Common Pitfalls of Product Launches and How to Avoid Them
by Neil Patel
You probably think about product launches the same way I do. They’re insanely exciting. Terrifying, yes, but exciting. Part of the reason for the terror is this: We’ve heard of the product launch horror stories. We don’t want it to happen to us. There are risks in running a business, and during product launch those risks seem especially high.
After having launched several products — some successful, and some not-so-much — I want to share with you what I’ve learned. In this article, I want to explain some of the organizational pitfalls that can compromise a product launch. If you can spot these pitfalls and avoid them, you’ll be well on your way to an amazing and successful product launch.
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- 30 Apr
Why The Customers Who Don’t Convert Are Immensely Important
I love Warby Parker, but I’ll never buy a pair because I have 20/20 vision. My boss reads the Buffer blog daily, but she’s never used the tool a day in her life. We’re brand fans, part of an enormous audience of advocates you may be missing out on.
While brand fans like us may not convert, we’re immensely important to your brand. It’s time to stop focusing all your attention on converting customers and start considering how to engage and retain your fans. So, here is Why The Customers Who Don’t Convert Are Immensely Important to you and your business.