A blog about the art and science of marketing

• Apr 11, 2015
• Dan Hoff
• 0

by Neil Patel

It’s obvious that your social media presence and your in-person presence are two very different things. When you engage online, you can curate your posts, time your interactions, edit your photos, and create the experience that you want. And even though the online you and the offline you are different, there is still a lot of overlap. There are basic social skills and habits that you should carry into your social media efforts.

As social media occupies more of a prominent role in our personal interactions, it’s important that we accurately reflect who we are. More importantly, it’s important to remember that the web is social, and the way we interact online is the way that we will be perceived, judged, treated, and approached by others.

Here are 8 Offline Social Skills You Should Carry Into Your Social Media Efforts. Read the entire article on KISSmetrics.com

• Apr 08, 2015
• Dan Hoff
• 0

by Ayaz Nanji

Millennials B2B buyers want to interact directly with vendors’ representatives far more than Gen X or Baby Boomers buyers when researching products and services, according to a recent report from IBM.

The report was based on data from a survey of 704 people who influence or are responsible for B2B purchasing decisions of $10,000 or more for their company. Respondents came from 12 countries and 6 industries.

Read the full article at MarketingProfs.com

• Apr 08, 2015
• Dan Hoff
• 0

by Amanda Durepos

Does the following sound familiar? You’re struck with inspiration and you write what you think is killer landing page copy. All the essential elements are there: social proof, your unique value proposition, a detailed list of benefits, and a clear headline. You’ve also brushed up on your psychology to make your argument more persuasive, and you employ all the best-practices you know.

But then you check your analytics… and in spite of all your hard work, your conversion rate sucks. What gives? Here are Three Deceptively Simple but Powerful Tips for Writing Persuasive Landing Page Copy.

Read the full article at MarketingProfs.com

• Apr 07, 2015
• Dan Hoff
• 0

by Ayaz Nanji

Mobile clicks accounted for 40% of all marketing email clicks in the fourth quarter of 2014, a 10% year-over-year increase, according to a recent report from Yesmail.

The report was based on data from 4Q14 and 4Q13 marketing emails sent via Yesmail’s campaign management platform. The researchers examined year-over-year changes for key metrics such as click-to-open rate (CTO), desktop-to-mobile purchase ratio, average order value, and conversion rate. Average mobile CTO increased 20% between 4Q13 and 4Q14, and average desktop CTO increased 6%, the analysis found.

Read the full article at MarketingProfs

• Apr 07, 2015
• Dan Hoff
• 0

by Margot da Cunha

The image of a local mom and pop shop always brings a smile to my face. Seriously, who doesn’t love local storefronts? If you’re anything like me, you have each tiny store located in your hometown engraved into your brain. If one disappears, you’re shocked! “Chuck’s Cupcakes closed?! How could they do that?” we find our adult selves whining to our unfazed parents. Living in downtown Boston and commuting to work on foot, through one of the main shopping strips in the city, I tend to stay pretty up-to-date on new store openings. But not everyone has this benefit. Many people commute to work on freeways, without ever getting a glimpse of new store openings.

Of course, there are streets and locations in close proximity to my apartment where I never venture, so I’d never stumble across those businesses UNLESS I happen to find them online. Perhaps I read an article on Bostinno, one of Boston’s local news sites, or (the more likely scenario) I find the storefront on Google. This is one of the many reasons all local businesses need a strategy to appear in Google’s search results.

Read the full article at WordStream

• Apr 06, 2015
• Dan Hoff
• 0

by Len Shneyder

An email marketer should have one goal in mind: capturing readers’ attention so they respond to the email’s call to action. Many companies, however, instead send out massive amounts of impersonal, irrelevant emails that come across as spam and don’t engage recipients.

All too often, marketers cast a wide net and simply hope their customers will bite. That approach is not only annoying but also time-consuming, expensive, and potentially harmful to the brand. Personalization and relevance need to be at the core of every outbound message if it’s to succeed in today’s email-saturated world. With that in mind, I’ve highlighted 10 tips for companies that want to improve customer engagement with their email marketing campaigns.
 

Read the full article at MarketingProfs

• Apr 06, 2015
• Dan Hoff
• 0

by Tom Schwab

Most companies don’t think of themselves as ecommerce, but if you’re using your website to sell a product, you are in ecommerce! Adding the high-volume and fast sales cycle ecommerce business to any existing website can allow you to learn more about your customers, learn it faster, and make money as you do. Here’s a quick crash course in how to make the most of your ecommerce capabilities — from what you can sell to how to start selling, and how to set yourself up for ecommerce success.

Read the full article at HubSpot

• Apr 04, 2015
• Dan Hoff
• 0

by Neil Patel

There are times when it may seem like your social media is dying a slow and painful death. There’s zero interaction. Zero creativity. Zero inspiration. Zero anything. It’s like your social media has no reason for existing. What do you do?

First off, don’t bury it yet. Seeming death can happen with social media. What started as a frenzy of creativity and excitement can easily fizzle into a drudgery of disappointment. The shiny and new has turned into the sad and boring. Why does it happen? Why does social media go from excitement to ennui? Burnout. Disillusionment. Cluelessness. Misunderstanding. Lack of engagement is a big one. Regardless of the cause, there is a solution. Follow these steps, and your social media efforts will begin to revive.

Read the full article at KISSmetrics

• Apr 04, 2015
• Dan Hoff
• 0

by Mandy King

Social media is no longer a marketing afterthought for companies and organizations. Every major brand is present across the major social media platforms, and they are actively planning strategic campaigns around social activity. Companies from every industry have made the leap into social media, but healthcare has lagged behind. Why is this?

Part of it is a lack of understanding about what social media is and how it integrates with current healthcare marketing efforts. Part of it is a fear of how it affects patient privacy and compliance with regulations such as HIPAA. What many healthcare organizations don’t realize is that these obstacles are all easily overcome and shouldn’t stand in the way of building up social media strategies.

Read the full article at HubSpot

• Apr 03, 2015
• Dan Hoff
• 0

by Alex Dunner

Your leads are the driver of your business. To grow and to gain customers you need to have quality leads that are actively engaged in your organization’s offerings—leads that are a fit for organizations strategy.

While every organization has a unique approach to categorizing its leads, there are several myths associated with lead quality many organizations fall to. Lets take a look at 10 lead quality myths and debunk them using facts derived from industry data.

Read the full article at HubSpot

• Apr 03, 2015
• Dan Hoff
• 0

by Liesha Petrovich

You’ve spent time and money designing the perfect marketing campaign. You’ve designed a flawless strategy to drive customers to your awesome sales page and you know it will convert. You’ve thought of everything… Except your shopping cart process.

When you design a marketing campaign, you’re focused on selling a solution or understanding the motivation for buying a product. You’re thinking about what makes someone click on the “buy” button. But until the last “confirm order” is clicked, the sale is in jeopardy. Shopping cart abandonment can be as high as 75%! At any point in the checkout process, customers might get turned off; they’ll then simply click away from the site.  In short, your checkout process is just as important as your marketing strategy.

Read the full article at MarketingProfs