• A faith based environment. Our motto here is: Faith, Family, Work and we live that priority order daily.
• Quarterly team service opportunities within the community. We like to give back!
• Click Rain supported opportunities for international missions work.
• Annual company trip, all expenses paid.
• A great family-centered environment.
• A comprehensive wellness program including gym membership discounts, health screenings,    flu shots
• An Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to help you through all of life’s changes.
• A free zoo membership for you/your family.
• Casual dress, free soda, basketball hoops in the office - if you don’t like fun, you won’t succeed here.
• Pro-bono and cause based work is a part of our DNA
• When the clock hits 5PM, you need to go home.

Our culture at Click Rain is very important to us and we’re looking for the next member of our team, who would enjoy participating in all of these fun things with us.

Benefits

Click Rain offers a comprehensive benefit package. Benefit eligibility is the 1st day of the month following employee’s start date.

• Health Insurance - Click Rain pays a portion of employee/family health insurance.
• Life Insurance - Click Rain will provide you with a life insurance policy.
• Dental Insurance
• Long Term Disability Insurance
• Vision Insurance
• Supplemental Insurance for any additional needs you may have
• A matching 401(k) program (eligible after 6 months of employment)
• Paid Time Off and Holiday Pay

Professional Development

Click Rain is interested in you! We want you to be the best version of yourself and would feel honored to be a part of your success as an individual. Every quarter, we sit down with our employees to complete our PDP process. Employees outline goals for themselves both personally and professionally. All employees also take a Strengths Finder test to help Click Rain determine employee strengths and how we can best leverage each person’s skill set for success.

Position Responsibilities and Requirements

This position will play an active role in managing all video production, assist in managing web development projects and have an appreciation for desk drumming. Additionally, this role will be required to manage video pre-production equipment handling, light video shooting and editing, coordinating with all internal teams, project budgets, 3rd party vendors and clients.

You must be highly organized, show great care in your communication, and can see the big picture. You will handle decisions like a ninja and will need to make effective judgement calls between details that are irrelevant and ones that are important. In addition, you will be required to involve the Click Rain video and web production teams to come to a consensus based off of relevant details and then accurately communicate to all internal and external stakeholders impacted by those decisions. You are able to do some travel for video shoots, load and unload equipment and perform light video shooting and editing. You’re able to prioritize tasks and you organize towards efficiency. You often find yourself building tools or processes which help you work more effectively.

Other objectives include:

• Assist director in creating milestones and a well-written scope of work for projects as well as assist in managing the production schedule for both video and web.
• Continually assess project needs and requirements.
• Coordinate with team members and clients on changes to project scope and adjustments needed.
• Manage documents, equipment inventory & rentals, legal compliance and tasks related to projects within our project management software. In short, you can multi-task well.
• Is able to perform basic post-production tasks such as simple video editing, rough cuts, transcript review, story editing and review videos for quality assurance.
• Work as a liaison between the client, account manager and production team members. Is able to set expectations for all stakeholders involved in each project.
• Must facilitate projects so they’re on time and under budget within a constantly changing environment. This includes responding to inquiries in a time sensitive manner.

Requirements

• A basic understanding of websites, digital marketing, online media, and general project management practice.
• Familiar with the Adobe Suite, including Photoshop, Premiere Pro and After Effects.
• Must be able to lift and carry a minimum of 50lbs, experience operating cameras and sound recording equipment.
• Two years of experience in non-linear editing and shooting video with DSLR cameras.
• Positive in nature and has a wonderful outlook in a deadline based environment.
• Loves to have fun and joke around with a great group of people! Has a great attitude towards internal and external teams. Can help lead others in finding alternative solutions to any challenge that arises.
• Able to translate complex ideas into easy to understand concepts and loves to help solve problems and/or puzzles with others.
• Has a proven track record of effective communication, listening and leadership.
• Outgoing, confident and self-motivated with strong sense of follow through and accountability.
• Self-starter with the ability to identify client needs, opportunities for growth and then address them independently. Is willing to independently seek answers to problems.
• This position is in Sioux Falls, SD. No remote employees will be considered.
• Prior project management experience in any field. Agile or any project management course work or education is a plus.

How to Apply

No virtual candidates, headhunters, telecommuting, and all that jazz. We need you in our Sioux Falls office. To apply for this position, email carissa [at] clickrain [dot] com with your resume and portfolio.

Don’t be too informal or too formal. Do personalize somewhere in between.

Your emails should not start with “Hey you” or “Dear Sir/Madam”. The key with email is that people expect it to be less formal than a letter. If you choose to use someone’s name, only use their first name—and make sure you don’t accidentally send them the wrong name!

Don’t hide the unsubscribe button. Do make it easy to unsubscribe.

This might sound backwards since you don’t want anyone to unsubscribe from your email, but if someone no longer wants to receive your emails, you want them to have an easy opportunity to remove themselves from the list. If the unsubscribe button is hard to find, they may mark your emails as spam—which you definitely don’t want.

Don’t send an email without a plan. Do set goals.

It can be so easy to send multiple emails a day when you get excited about a new special or announcement, but the key is to brainstorm, plan, and set goals. It’s all about quality over quantity.

Don’t purchase or rent lists. Do send emails to those who have requested it.

We all get a lot of emails during the day. How frustrating and confusing would it be to get an email from a company you’ve never heard of? Take the time to develop your subscriber lists to create a long-lasting and loyal email list. Again, focus on quality over quantity. The quantity will come with time.

Don’t only focus on sales. Do mix up your messages.

Yes, all marketing efforts are put in place to get people to convert (buy a product, download a guide, schedule a consultation), but most people don’t want to only receive sales-y messages from you.

This is where relevant content comes in. If they signed up to get a marketing tip each week, only send them a marketing tip each week. If they only want to learn about your spa, don’t send them an email that has no spa content whatsoever. If it’s the right audience, give them insight into the culture of your company, big news like company anniversaries, or grand openings of new locations. Build your reputation, a good one, but give them what they asked for.

Don’t have any grammatical errors. Do proof and test your email drafts.

Even if you are in charge of email marketing, test your email draft to see how it shows up in multiple devices and platforms. If anything is wrong, you can fix it before it goes out. Also have another set of eyes look over your email. If you’ve put a few hours into this email, you may not see the little errors that a fresh site of eyes could see.

Don’t only use open rates to define success. Do use email metrics and site analytics.

It can be really exciting to see a high open rate and view your campaign as a success. Take a look at the click-through rate. What links were clicked? Were any of your calls to action clicked? Look at your website analytics. Did any conversions occur from this email? Calculate the ROI from the cost of the campaign and revenue generated. All of these will define if your email was a success.

Don’t use too many different colors or font sizes. Do pick a few readable fonts and colors.

It can get fun and exciting to customize emails with lots of different colors, but the key to remember is that your colors, sizes, and fonts are meant to explain to users what is more important and what your key points are. You should have larger text as headers and smaller text beneath to give more detail. If there is too much variation, your subscribers will get confused.

Don’t have too many calls to action or none at all. Do have a call to action.

If you have one really important call to action and five smaller call to actions, what are the odds that they will click on the one that you really want? You also don’t want to send an email that has no call to action whatsoever. Otherwise they will just open and close your email with no reason to go any further.

Don’t send a non-mobile-optimized email or lead to a non-optimized page. Do optimize for mobile.

According to Litmus, nearly half of all emails are opened on a mobile device. Be sure that not only is your email optimized for mobile, but that when they click through to your website, your site is also optimized for their small screen.

If you follow these key steps, you are taking some great steps towards awesome email marketing campaigns.

Wondering where to start? This is the next post in a series about email marketing best practices. As this series continues, I’ll offer advice on planning your email marketing campaigns, from the best times to send your emails to building your email lists. See other posts in this series.

If you want to be sure to receive the next article, you can sign up for our newsletter list, or get in touch if you have a question you’d like us to cover.

Perhaps it’s time to consider sponsored content—done right.

What is sponsored content?

Sponsored content is (written, visual, audible) content that someone pays to place in a publication. It blends in, seeming at home among the publication’s articles. It’s often labeled “sponsored by” or something similar, and is produced by or in conjunction with the company that sponsors it.

This ad model isn’t new; magazines have used it for years. Remember advertorials? Sponsored content is similar, only it usually refers to content in the digital publishing space.

BuzzFeed—an entertainment news site—is famous for their sponsored content business model. Companies pay them to feature sponsored articles related to their brand. The company sponsoring the article controls the message, usually with some guidelines from the publisher.

(Source: BuzzFeed)

They’re not the only ones. You’ll find sponsored content in local newspapers and national publications around the world. Even highly regarded newspapers like the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times generate revenue from sponsored content.

Sponsored content’s relation to native advertising

Some people use the term sponsored content and native advertising interchangeably. They’re similar but not quite the same.

“Native advertising is an online advertising method in which the advertiser attempts to gain attention by providing content in the context of the user's experience. In short, advertisers try to disguise their ad so it looks like the content you are already consuming on a particular website or application.”

This sounds like sponsored content, right? There’s a subtle difference.

Sponsored content is one part of the larger native advertising umbrella. It’s the content that is consumed on a publisher’s site. Other types of native ads may also live on a news publisher’s site, but then link offsite to the sponsor’s blog or newsroom. This would be native advertising, but not sponsored content—even if it says “sponsored by”.

Example of a different form of native advertising. The sponsored excerpt blends in with the excerpts from other news articles. However, when you click on it, it brings you to the Explore Minnesota blog. (Source: Bring Me the News)

How much does sponsored content cost?

Publishers use different ad revenue models for sponsored content, from paying a lump sum for a number of content pieces to cost-per-click (or view).

This inconsistency can be challenging when budgeting for sponsored content. If you need answers, reach out to the specific site you want to place your content. If you want to gauge whether a publisher is charging a fair price, refer to MOZ’s genius fair-market price formula for a sponsored article (scroll halfway down the page to view it).

Why care about sponsored content?

Did you know that one of the most successful articles in the New York Times in 2014 was sponsored? Netflix sponsored the article “Women Inmates: Why the Male Model Doesn’t Work” to promote its original series Orange Is the New Black. According to Contently, it was one of the publication’s top 1,000 articles the year it debuted. It ranked alongside and even better than some pure journalistic content.

TheJournal.ie, an online news source in Ireland, shared a case study from a mental health native advertising campaign they ran, which included sponsored content. According to their findings, they not only increased campaign awareness, but they also increased how much it was being shared, both in-person and on social media. 30% of respondents said they discussed mental health with someone, while 13% mentioned sharing the article with others on social.

The business demand for the sponsored article space and other native advertising methods is expected to see a dramatic increase in the coming years. As more businesses compete for this space, we don’t want to see consumers get frustrated by irrelevant, deceptive, or poor content. Just like well-done traditional online ads can still be effective, so can your sponsored articles.

Here are 5 ways to tell if you have a good sponsored article.

1. It’s written for the audience.

Every publication has a unique audience, whether it appeals to the masses like USA Today or a niche group like Women’s Running. How you talk to the readers of each will be different.

For a moment, let’s pretend that your brand fits with a fictional online publication, Incredible Stuff. You’ve purchased space for a sponsored article, and now you need to submit content. Read the publication’s articles to get a feel for the type of content and tone. This is what the readers will expect to read and how they want to be talked to.

2. It tells a story.

Don’t ask for the sale. Don’t even hint that you want the sale. It’s tacky, and you don’t want your brand to come off that way. Put on your journalistic cap and focus on the facts.

Sponsored articles are not meant to sell, but rather to inform readers. This is an important distinction, and it’s often where marketers go wrong. The content you write should be unique and have inherent value—the reader should gain something simply by consuming it.

If you want to display your logo near the content, that’s fine. That’s not selling. In fact, making your logo apparent (and clickable) may increase the click-through rate to your site by 15% according to a Polar study. It also helps increase transparency, making it clear that it’s sponsored content.

3. It’s honest.

Make it obvious that your article is sponsored. If you don’t, your brand could pay the price. Think about how you feel when someone tricks you. Readers feel the same way when they think they’re reading editorial content but later find out it was paid for.

Contently conducted a study on the trustworthiness of sponsored content. Over 66% of people thought they’d been tricked by sponsored content at some point. The study also pointed out opportunities for sponsored content to shine. Almost 33% of people claimed they’d be just as apt to click on a sponsored article (as they would a non-sponsored one) if it looked interesting. This is where your brand may have an opportunity to shine: you just have to make stellar content. Period.

4. It’s well produced.

It takes a lot of expertise and resources to produce a good sponsored article. The content you write should be original. If you have an existing blog, reusing content that’s already written for your blog audience is probably not going to do you any favors. Feel free to draw inspiration taken from your blog, but then repurpose it for the sponsored article. You need to think about what value the publication’s readers are seeking, then provide that value. Readers can sense laziness, and they don’t reward it.

In addition to the cost of placing your article, factor in production. You will need:

1. A strong writer familiar with journalistic standards.
2. A designer to curate or create captivating images to accompany the article.
3. A project manager to collaborate with the publication.

If you’re not willing to invest, well, just remember the old saying, “you get what you give.”

5. It’s helping you reach a goal.

“I just saw competitor X write an article for Incredible Stuff magazine. We should, too.”

Why do you want to produce sponsored articles in the first place? If it’s for the reason above, don’t. Think about your company goals. Can a sponsored article help you reach one or many of them?

If your goal is to increase sales, think about your content as a long-range sales tool. Sponsored articles can nurture your audience. While sales may not be immediate or always get credited back to an article, as you build reader trust and provide value, readers could indeed convert to customers.

Perhaps you have a more immediate goal to increase awareness for a topic or build brand trust? Determine what your article needs to accomplish, now or in the future, to make spending your marketing dollars worth it.

How else can I reach my audience?

Sponsored content is just one tool in a large digital-marketing toolbox that can help you reach customers where they’re at. If you want to receive more how-to articles on everything digital, sign up for our quarterly newsletter.

“Google confirmed that search results pages on desktop will no longer show text ads in the right sidebar. Instead, as many as four text ads will display above the organic listings, and three text ads will show at the bottom of the page."

—Search Engine Land

Up until now, sidebar ads let marketers show their ads above the fold—even if they were not in the top ad positions of 1–3. Not any more. With the new changes, if you are outbid for an ad position of 1–3 (and sometimes 4), your ad will appear in the text ads at the bottom of the page, or even farther onto the second page of Google results. This effectively cuts the total number of text ads that can appear from as many as 11 to a maximum of seven, leaving marketers with less front-page real estate.

This is obviously not ideal, and there will be much more preference to be in the top 4 spots for the search term or phrase that you are targeting. It will also mean less reach and less visibility for brands as the competition increases, which may drive up the CPC (cost per click).

What You Can Do About It

But here at Click Rain, we like to provide solutions not just talk about problems. So here are 3 tips to help you be ready to respond to this change.

• Optimize your ads. Even more than ever, your ad needs to stand out from the rest. Remember, Google rewards ads that are clicked. So when you do have an ad in the 1-3 position, your copy needs to stand out from the rest.
• Be more specific. Due to the increase in competition, you may need to target even fewer keywords and phrases to hone in on the ones that drive the most conversions and revenue.
• Increase your budget. This one may seem less desired, but if you know that your search campaigns are driving profitable business, don’t stop. If it used to cost you $25 to make $50 and now it will cost you $30, you still are are making a profit.

Additionally, if you implement all 3 of these tips you may end having ads that perform better, rank higher, and cost less than your competitors. Google’s change may actually end up helping you more than hurting you.

Still have questions about the new changes? Get in touch.

When account coordinator Sara Weinreis discovered that our last company dip-off was held all the way back in 2014 (two whole years ago!), she rallied the troops, packages of cream cheese, and Dipping DevicesTM  to bring Dip-Off Day back to the office.

Last Friday, eleven dips made their way to the break room and the entire office spent the morning preparing to scoop and dunk their way to a dip-induced state of euphoria.

Not surprisingly, our creative team of developers, writers, strategists and account folks had a little fun naming their creations. Some of our favorites:

• B’s Bedazzled Beanut Butter Butterscotch Batter
• Hendo’s Hot & Skinny Dip
• Holy Guacamole!
• I’ve Bean to Heaven

Pre-Dip-Off Coverage

Jordan Loftis took us behind the scenes in the Click Rain break room to chat with contestants before kick-off...I mean...dip-off.

Our 2016 Winners & Recipes

Spicy: A tie between Sara and Jesse Brauning.

Sara Weinreis: “Start the Party”

16oz cream cheese, softened
1 pkg dry ranch dressing mix
2oz chopped black olives
3 jalapeno peppers, unseeded and chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
2/3 C. cheddar cheese
Directions: Mix and serve with your choice of crackers.

Jesse Brauning's "Spicy Little Devil"

This was a home-brewed recipe that would be difficult to replicate. But it did include mango, bacon, hot sauce, cheese, the zest of one lemon, and (of course) cream cheee.

Savory: Dawn Andel’s "Rainy Reuben”

2 cups corned beef, cooked
1 (16 ounce) jar Sauerkraut
¼ cup Thousand Island dressing
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
2 cups Swiss cheese

Directions: Mix together in crock pot on high for a few hours and then switch to low. Serve with crackers or rye bread.

Sweet: Paul Lexen’s "Sweet Spiceboat Dreamcheese" (by 1 vote!)

Robert Rothschild Pineapple & Habanero Sauce
Cream Cheese
Directions: Spread package of cream cheese on a glass plate, top with pineapple and habanero sauce.

“Since her arrival, Justine has brought a unique perspective to the content strategy discipline,” said Mark Henderson, director of creative services. “She has contributed many ideas that have helped shape and refine our workflow, and her passion for excellence is evident in all she does. This promotion is well-deserved, and we're all looking forward to seeing how she continues to grow in the future.”

In her time at Click Rain, she has worked on many large websites, such as First Bank & Trust, Redstone, Midco Business, and Custer Resorts.

She has also worked on internal initiatives, from creating an editorial process for the Click Rain blog to improving client content deliverables. In 2015, Justine was a finalist in the Click Rain innovation challenge where she and partner Amanda Oberg presented their research initiative to the company. 

“I want to work on weaving in more user research to the strategy we already do,” Justine said. “This will help us evaluate qualitative (a.k.a., tricky) metrics like satisfaction or engagement, which are hard to measure with quantitative data. At the same time, research can also help us identify content gaps and opportunities for our clients, making our strategies even more effective and innovative.”

One of Justine’s favorite things about working at Click Rain are the people she works alongside, both internally and externally.

“We truly are fortunate to have an outstanding team, and I think that brings us outstanding clients, who are passionate about their work,” Justine said. “I also appreciate the atmosphere for innovation. You can come up with ideas to improve things, and they actually get done. That's refreshing.”

Congrats, Justine! We are so happy to have you on our team.

Justine Quick Stats:

• Received second place in the 2015 Click Rain Innovation Challenge
• January 2015 Employee of the Month
• Six tins of tea on her desk.
• Hobbies: cross stitching, reading, trivia and cooking with her husband, Jackson.

First, let’s agree that not every pretty email has great content and not every email with phenomenal content visually catches a recipient’s attention. Content and design need to work together. Don’t think of them in isolation. With that in mind, here are 6 things to think about in your email campaigns.

1. What is my goal?
2. Could they use a reminder?
3. Will fun gifs and images show for my recipients?
4. What is going on right now that I can relate to?
5. I have a wonderfully designed print mailer. Should I sent that as my email?
6. Does this all need to be said in an email or can I link to my site?

1. What is my goal?

Before you do anything, decide what you want your readers to do. Why are you sending this email? Whether you want your recipient to read your blog post, shop for a product, or contact your sales team, this call to action needs to be extremely clear.

Next, make sure your goal is, indisputably, clear. If you want your recipients to call, it doesn’t make sense to include the phone number in the middle of a paragraph without any formatting. Call it out. If you want people to click something, make sure your linked text looks clickable (for example, a different color and underlined). Better yet, include a button with a short call to action like “Buy Now”, “Learn More”, “Check Availability”, and more.

Don’t come up with too many goals. If you want people to read your blog post, don’t include five other calls to action to view other products, otherwise they may not read the blog post. If each goal is truly important, you can separate them into separate emails. There are a few cases where it makes sense to have more call to actions. If you are presenting similar options, like calling out 2-3 hotel specials to check availability, your readers are only making a simple choice that shouldn’t overwhelm them.

Let’s look at an example. In this Shutterfly email we have a clear call to action: “pick a free gift.” The reader is invited to choose what free gift they want, but the choices are similar and the call is clear. Notice that the design underlines this through the vivid prominence of the call to action. Sometimes saying less in an email is definitely more.

2. Could they use a reminder? (And do you want to clean out your list?)

Reminders are great for emails as long as they are relevant and they don’t happen too often. There is a difference between reminding someone that their prescription expires soon or is ready to be picked up (They are already your customer and would expect to get this email.) and reminding your whole list that you are putting on an event this weekend. With the second reminder, limit your audience and only target people that live within a short radius of the event. If you target people outside of the event radius, you may only encourage them to unsubscribe.

This example from HubSpot is another great way to remind people of your presence and clean out your list. Since this recipient hadn’t opened HubSpot’s recent emails, HubSpot removed them from their email list and sent out a message telling them that they’ve been removed—instead of just telling them that they can unsubscribe whenever. This can build brand loyalty. If the user goes through the effort to re-subscribe, HubSpot will know that this is a user that wants to hear what they have to say, even though they hadn’t opened the last couple emails.

Notice that the design is a very basic letter format to focus on the limited and very clear call to action: re-subscribe now. At the same time, the pared-down messaging reinforces the content that the recipient will miss out on if they don’t take action now, as well as providing a personal touch with an employee signature.

3. Will fun gifs and images show for my recipients?

A gif is a file format that can be a static or animated image. You can find a gif to represent any moment of your life. If done right, these can make an email design really shine. “Animated gifs can breathe some much needed life into the imagery on your website,” said Paul Boag, a user experience consultant and head of Boagworks.,  “They grab the user’s attention and act as design delighters, making your site stand out from that of the competition.”

Campaign Monitor analyzed if animated gifs will show up on different devices. The report confirmed why gifs are a wonderful option: they will show up on all platforms except Outlook 2007 & 2010, which only display the first frame. If your animation contains any important information, be sure to feature it on the first frame to get around this issue in Outlook.

Let’s look at two good examples of animated gifs. The first is from a company called Pret, which has blended drinks as one of their products. If you click on the photo and open their email, you’ll notice that if you select any flavor, the cup will fill with that drink. The company would then be able to see what flavors are most often selected by email subscribers.

Tory Burch, a high-end women’s clothing and accessory company, has another good example. This gif is subtle, but it starts with an orange screen with their gold logo in the middle. This screen opens like doors to reveal their private sale. The email could’ve been made without the gif, but the gif gives it a higher level of elegance for a private sale, as well as the word choice for “Enter Now” compared to  “Learn more” or “Shop now”.

4. What is going on right now that I can relate to?

When you read this question, was the first thing you thought of related to world events? It doesn’t have to be that big. This example is from Chelsea’s Boutique, a downtown Sioux Falls clothing boutique, who sent this email a few weeks back when we were getting a ton of snow. A snow day sale would not be used unless it was snowing, and it really gets their customers to consider shopping online instead of venturing out in the snow to do any activity, shopping or otherwise.

5. I have a wonderfully designed print mailer. Should I send that as my email?

As beautiful as your print mailer may be, limit how much of your email is images with text overlays or just one long image. You can learn more about accessible email from me here, but the key is to have the fastest load time, the least amount of images that don’t load, and the least amount of pinching and zooming on a mobile device for your email subscribers.

6. Does this all need to be said in an email or can I link to my site?

If all of this information lives on your website, give your readers enough of a taste that they want to learn more, and then give them a convincing call to action to click through to your site. Any form of marketing is a bridge to get users to your site. If you can tell them everything they need to know in the email with no call to action, what reason do they have to go further?

Before you type everything into an email and press send, ask yourself these questions and always come back to “Am I telling them anything?”

Wondering where to start? In case you missed the first post, Email Marketing: What is it and Why Should I Use It?, and the second post, Email Marketing: The Importance of a Quality Subject Line, this is the next post in a series about email marketing best practices. As this series continues, I’ll offer advice on planning your email marketing campaigns, from the dos and don’ts to building your email lists. If you want to be sure to receive the next article, you can sign up for our newsletter list, or get in touch if you have a question you’d like us to cover.

Team members receiving new certifications or recertifications include:

• Peder Aadahl, AdWords Display, Video and Shopping
• Michaela Bernard, Google Shopping Advertising Certification
• Danielle Clauer, Google AdWords
• Lyndsey Kastein, Google Analytics
• Paige Matthiesen, Google Analytics
• Tanner Sifferath, Google 5pecialist

“Every employee at Click Rain is a marketer in some sense,” said Chris Prendergast, VP of online marketing. “The diversity of our certified team members shows that the full team is committed to helping meet our clients' online marketing goals in the best way possible.”

While the drive for continued education is an internal initiative, ultimately, the impact is most felt in the strategy we bring our clients.

“The exams give a baseline understanding of how the various platforms work, which helps integrate our efforts and bring a more well-rounded campaign strategy to our clients,” said Kate Kotzea, director of online marketing.

In Conversation

We asked our recently certified Click Rain-ers what these certifications mean to them and their clients. Here are the highlights.

What's something you learned in the process of preparing for the exams?

Paige Mattheisen: I kind of miss being in college. I'm a nerd in that I secretly get satisfaction out of studying for something. The gratification of seeing your completed (and hopefully passing) score after the exam is a rush!

How have you been able to use this knowledge in your everyday work?

Danielle Clauer: I use it every day when I create display ads for my clients. This new knowledge helps me challenge and expand upon the correct call to action, imagery, and verbiage for each display campaign that will enhance the Quality Score for our clients. Understanding AdWords helps me create ads that customers want to see.

"Understanding AdWords helps me create ads that customers want to see."

Lyndsey Kastein: Knowing if an ad or website is performing well definitely influences my decisions on my next design and also gives me insight on changing trends. It's also crucial for understanding audience demographics, which help me think more strategically about the best ways to reach them. I also enjoy learning about user behavior, so this gives me insight on how they're interacting with the ad or website and can help highlight areas that need improvement.

Why are these platforms important to what we do here at Click Rain?

Michaela Bernard: No matter what industry you work in, your customers are using Google to learn more about everything. If they want to learn more about your specific industry, why wouldn’t you want to be at the top of their search results? Knowing more about how Google works helps me to better strategize with clients about what mediums will be the best for them to advertise on, based on their goals and who they are trying to reach.

Any closing thoughts?

Tanner Sifferath: Google is constantly making changes to their advertising platforms. The certifications provide a great opportunity to continue our education and learn about new features that may help a client market smarter.

***

Congrats to our team members on their certifications!

Their 2015 hunting campaign was focused on creating awareness of the hunting Aberdeen and Brown County have to offer and to encourage hunters to register to win a hunting trip. We also encouraged booking or requesting information on hunting in the area.

Display ads from the Million Dollar Hunting Experience campaign.

A major part of the campaign was generating buzz on social platforms. Users submitted photos of their hunting dogs for a chance to win prizes and we shared their content on Instagram and Facebook to drive further engagement.

“The hunting campaign was a great collaboration between the Aberdeen Hotel Alliance, the CVB, and local businesses to really welcome hunters to the area,” said Kate Kotzea, director of online marketing at Click Rain. “The campaign let us showcase the fun, memories, and experiences hunters enjoy while in Brown County across social platforms.”

Facebook ads from the Million Dollar Hunting Experience campaign.

Overview of the Instagram account from the Million Dollar Hunting Experience campaign.

We also saw success on the Million Dollar Hunting Experience microsite. In just five months, almost 5,000 form submissions were made for the contest, with a 21.73% conversion rate.

Million Dollar Hunting Experience microsite.

The Rooster Rush Cacklin’ Community Award is given based on the following criteria:

• Advertising and Promotional Efforts
• Community Participation
• Efforts to Welcome Hunters
• Creativity

The award, now in its seventh year, was presented to members of the Aberdeen Hotel Alliance by Governor Dennis Daugaard.

“Aberdeen is excited to host such great hunters in Northeastern South Dakota every year and we look forward to creating a hunting experience like no other for those visiting Brown County,” said Sabrina Metz, Marketing, Sales and Events Specialist
at the Aberdeen Area Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. “The Million Dollar Hunting Experience contest really helped us engage with sportsmen and we look forward to continuing more events like this in the future.”

In his presentation, Governor Daugaard had very complimentary things to say about Aberdeen’s pheasant hunting company:

Each year this community strives to create better and more memorable promotions that are innovative and fun. This year was no exception. Larger-than-life round hay bale pheasants were strategically placed around the area and a giant pheasant was transported around town for several special appearances and live events. Stuffed pheasants were hidden around town and hunters were encouraged to find them. Those lucky enough to bag a stuffed bird were given cash certificates to spend at local businesses and we also added to a drawing for a larger grand prize. CVB staff and local businesses also got involved by providing gift bags, special menus and hunting information.

We were thrilled to be apart of Aberdeen’s campaign and congratulate them on their success!

Lynae brings several years of administrative work experience, with a unique focus. Her passion for music led her through a B.A. in music business at Anderson University. Before coming to Click Rain, Lynae experienced almost every aspect of the music business, including working for a record company, radio station, music festival, and box office. (You can still catch her as the volunteer Artist Relations Coordinator for LifeLight.) Her familiarity with managing complex schedules and needs, combined with her marketing know-how, made her a natural fit.

“I am most excited to have Lynae on the team for her warm and open personality,” said Carissa Schoffelman, accounting and employee relations. “She's passionate about people and likes to keep busy. Through her past experiences, she has proven her ability to multitask and juggle a variety of initiatives.”

It should come as no surprise that Lynae enjoys concerts outside of work. We’re also hoping she’ll have some good recommendations for the office Sonos.

Help us welcome Lynae to the team and be sure to say hello next time you stop in.