Since the release of iOS14 dramatically shifted the digital marketing landscape, advertisers on META have leaned into various tools to bridge the gap in consumer targeting: utilizing the Conversions API, leveraging first-party data, and in-platform engagement, to name a few. As we continue to trek closer to a cookie-less future with increasingly opaque website activity tracking, META is focusing on a different approach to target users: creative content.

Ad creative has always been crucial to a brand’s performance on Facebook and Instagram. In a digital landscape that competes for user attention, having engaging, visually appealing, and relevant content is essential to winning the ad auction. According to META’s internal reports, creative content can influence a user’s Estimated Action Rates (the likelihood of achieving the desired outcome) by +/-50%.

Now more than ever before, creative is crucial to a brand’s Paid Social strategy as a primary factor in META’s audience targeting algorithm, especially with the adoption of Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns. Specifically, different pieces of creative content are delivered to different audiences based on the concept, message, and format of the creative. Therefore, diversifying creative messaging across ads allows brands to reach broader and more unique audiences.

So, how do you diversify your creative content meaningfully while staying true to your brand voice? Start with Concept and Format.

Concept

Your product will fulfill different needs for different users. For example, one user might be looking for headphones at a great price to give as a gift, while another might want headphones suitable for an active, on-the-go lifestyle. Think about the various ways your product might appeal to different people. Consider both functional and emotional benefits. What barriers exist to purchase, and do these barriers differ for various consumers?

Format

People use Facebook and Instagram in diverse ways. To reach broad audiences across META’s platforms, you must diversify your ad formats as much as possible. Ask yourself: Are you only running ads on Facebook and Instagram feeds? Consider expanding into Stories and Reels. If you only use Single Image ads, try incorporating Video Ads and Collection ads.

Ultimately, in an era where data privacy laws are constantly changing and traditional targeting methods relying on user website activity become increasingly muddied, focusing on creative diversification is not just beneficial but essential. By strategically differentiating your creative content and intentionally testing new approaches, you can ensure your brand remains engaging and relevant to a growing diverse audience.

To learn more about optimizing your brand’s creative,
reach out to us at Foghorn Labs.

Should You Advertise On Amazon?

Selling on Amazon can help your business expand its reach and capture high-intent shoppers in today’s competitive market. The platform thrives on discovery, attracting millions of people actively seeking new products and brands that fit their needs. Beyond its vast selection, Amazon offers additional incentives like payment plans, subscriptions, and even “try before you buy” options.  This convenience is a major selling point – resulting in an estimated 53% of U.S. households that hold Prime memberships to unlock the perks of fast, free shipping and other benefits. Popular reports show why people shop on Amazon, whether they are a Prime member or not:

The Prime Time For Ads

Advertising your products with Amazon Ads makes strategic sense if you’re already selling products that uphold a strong organic ranking. Putting ad dollars behind your product line allows your business to tap into a goldmine of potential customers (estimated at over 200 million in the US alone). If your business is looking to expand into selling on Amazon but isn’t quite there yet, it’s recommended that you gain traction with organic listings before putting paid dollars toward ad campaigns.

If your business is ready to grow, a few key things need to be optimized within your Amazon account before you launch paid ads. One key driver of success is ensuring your product images, titles, and descriptions are strong and easy to decipher. Here is a list of common best practices to improve your product pages and boost customer engagement:

• Product Images: Include at least 4 high-quality images, with a few shots zooming in on essential features that set you apart from competitor products. It can also be beneficial to include a video in your listing to show examples of the product in use.
  
• Product Titles: Include your brand name, product name or model, type of product category you’re selling in, main feature callouts, size, color, and quantity. In some cases, it can be useful to integrate key search terms into your title as well.
• Product Descriptions: Use complete sentences instead of bullet points and your brand voice to describe a broad overview of your product and its use cases. Describe the main features and how these will make the consumer’s life easier or meet their needs.

Taking a look at your product page strength should be step number one when contemplating setting up Amazon Ads. This will ensure that your customers have a positive experience with your brand so you stand out against the competition and get the most out of your ad spend. 

Campaign Breakdown: A Targeted Approach

When brainstorming your Amazon Ads account setup, having clear goals will guide your campaign strategy and help you measure your brand’s success. Do you want to see a boost in sales, overall brand awareness, or customer acquisition and retention? Amazon Ads offers three main campaign types, each designed to achieve specific goals:

• Sponsored Products: Think conversion volume – This campaign type is specifically meant to drive conversions of your top-performing products. Promote products using broad automatic targeting, specific manual keyword targeting, target Amazon product categories, conquesting campaigns, and more.
• Sponsored Brands: Think brand awareness – Build your loyal customer base and feature your products alongside a captivating message, logo, and image or video. This is a great option for building brand recognition or promoting new product collections available on your Amazon Store.
• Sponsored Display: Think retargeting – Reach customers who have previously interacted with your products. Use this to remind customers about abandoned carts, product pages they have viewed, and promote other accessories to complement a past purchase. These display ads serve for placements both on and off the Amazon platform to expand your reach.

Setting Expectations

While Amazon Ads can be a powerful tool to accelerate your brand’s growth, it’s important to set realistic expectations. Building overall brand awareness and a loyal customer base takes time, especially for businesses new to the marketplace. By setting clear goals and expectations, you can navigate the world of Amazon Ads and turn Prime members into loyal consumers of your brand.

Summary

At Foghorn, staying ahead of the curve is crucial. That’s why we’re always on the lookout for valuable insights and innovative strategies to enhance our clients’ marketing efforts. One of the ways we stay informed and inspired is by tuning in to a variety of podcasts that cover a wide range of topics in the marketing world. From quick marketing tips to in-depth analyses of consumer behavior, these podcasts offer something for every marketer looking to up their game. So, without further ado, here’s what we’re listening to:

1.) Marketing School: Hosted by Neil Patel and Eric Siu, Marketing School offers quick, actionable marketing insights in bite-sized episodes, perfect for busy professionals. Focusing on topics like SEO, content marketing, and social media, this podcast keeps marketers informed and inspired in just a few minutes per episode.

2.) Hidden Brain: Hidden Brain, hosted by Shankar Vedantam, delves into the unseen patterns and forces that shape human behavior. Through storytelling and scientific research, each episode explores intriguing aspects of psychology and sociology, providing valuable insights that can be applied to marketing strategies and consumer behavior analysis.

3.) Marketing Over Coffee: Marketing Over Coffee, hosted by John Wall and Christopher Penn, serves up fresh marketing tips and trends every week. With a casual, conversational tone, the hosts discuss a wide range of marketing topics, from email marketing to analytics, providing practical advice and actionable takeaways for marketers of all levels.

4.) The Unofficial Shopify Podcast: For businesses utilizing the Shopify platform, The Unofficial Shopify Podcast, hosted by Kurt Elster, is a treasure trove of e-commerce knowledge. With episodes covering topics like conversion rate optimization, product photography, and customer acquisition strategies, this podcast offers valuable insights to help Shopify store owners grow their businesses effectively.

5.) The Digital Marketing Podcast: Hosted by Daniel Rowles and Ciaran Rogers, The Digital Marketing Podcast is a comprehensive resource for staying updated on the latest trends and techniques in digital marketing. With expert interviews, case studies, and practical advice on SEO, PPC, social media, and more, this podcast equips marketers with the knowledge and skills needed to navigate the ever-evolving digital landscape.

By tuning into these diverse podcasts, marketers can gain valuable insights, stay informed about industry trends, and discover innovative strategies to enhance their marketing efforts. Whether you’re looking for quick tips to boost your social media presence, intriguing insights into human behavior, or practical advice to grow your e-commerce store, there’s a podcast on this list for you!

The February 1st deadline for email sending domain authentication and security is rapidly approaching. This update is crucial for the delivery of your emails to customers, both now and in the future. To ensure your customer emails remain unblocked and your brand is protected from spoofing, we recommend following the steps outlined below.

Here’s a comprehensive guide to prepare your brand for the upcoming changes, especially if you’re using platforms like Klaviyo or MailChimp.

Step One: Update Your Hosting Platform. Begin by adding records (CNAME, TXT, etc.) to your hosting platform. You can do this through one of two methods outlined in this article.

Step Two: Verify Setup in Klaviyo. After updating your hosting platform, verify the setup in Klaviyo, which can be done through this portal link. Note that this step might take up to 48 hours.

Step Three: Warm Up Your Domain. A crucial step is to warm up your domain. This period is vital for maintaining high engagement and ensuring your emails steer clear of spam folders. For an effective warm-up strategy, refer to this guide. Quick tip: Create compelling and targeted content for your warm-up emails, using data from previous emails to guide your strategy.

Step Four: Set Up DMARC. DMARC is an additional mechanism for email authenticity, vital for preventing your emails from being blocked or spoofed. Follow these steps for setting up DMARC.

Given its importance, this process might need to take precedence over other marketing initiatives. This change is more than a technical update; it’s about ensuring the integrity and effectiveness of your communication with customers. By following these steps, you’ll not only comply with the new standards but also build your brand’s trust and reliability.

Reach out if you want to talk more about your brand’s digital marketing.

A term primarily utilized in the financial sector, compound interest is the process of earning interest not only on the initial investment but also on the accumulated interest from previous periods. The compounding effect accelerates the growth of your investment over time, leading to exponential returns. Albert Einstein is often quoted as saying that “compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world.”

Investing in the Long Game of SEO

Like the concept of compound interest in the world of finance, SEO investments can yield exponential gains over time for a brand’s online presence. SEO involves a gradual process of optimization that helps your website rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs), which leads to an increase in organic search visibility, website traffic, and ultimately, sales. 

SEO is not a get-rich-quick scheme. Beware of anyone saying they will guarantee first-page ranking on Google. It takes time and effort to see results and often you have to pivot strategies. But if you’re willing to put in the work, SEO can be a very rewarding investment.

Know that your competitors are investing in SEO. A study by The Business Research Company found that the global SEO market grew annually by 16.7% since 2015. Organic rankings have become a highly competitive space. Let’s explore how brands can benefit from an investment-based approach to SEO.

Initial Investment: Laying the Foundation

Just as you make an initial deposit to start earning compound interest, SEO requires an initial investment of time, effort, and resources. This involves: optimizing website content; creating fresh, trustworthy, and useful content; conducting keyword research; and improving site architecture for search engines to better understand and rank your pages.

Continuous Effort: Consistent Contributions

Like regular deposits into an investment account, ongoing efforts in SEO are crucial. Quality content creation, link building, and technical optimizations contribute to steady growth in organic traffic and search engine rankings. Over time, these efforts create a virtuous cycle where increased traffic leads to more visibility, attracting further visitors. Google values incremental website optimizations over time.

The Exponential Effect: Growth Multipliers

As your website gains authority and credibility, the SEO efforts compound, much like interest on your principal deposits. Higher rankings lead to increased organic traffic, which in turn attracts more backlinks, further boosting your site’s authority. This self-reinforcing cycle accelerates your online presence and establishes your brand as an industry leader.

Long-Term Payoff: Patience and Persistence

Just as compound interest takes time to manifest substantial gains, SEO success requires patience and persistence. The results may not be immediate, but the gradual accumulation of improvements can lead to a significant increase in organic search traffic, which is often the most valuable and sustainable traffic source.

Diversification and Adaptation: Navigating Changes

Both compound interest and SEO demand adaptability. Financial markets evolve, and so do search engine algorithms and user behavior. Staying updated with the latest SEO trends and algorithm changes ensures your website remains relevant and visible in the ever-changing digital landscape.

As compound interest generates exponential growth over time, SEO investments build upon one another, leading to increased organic visibility, website traffic, and greater business success. The key is to get started, invest consistently, and embrace the power of compounding.

Here are some tips for getting started with SEO:

• Do your research. There are a lot of different factors that affect SEO, so it’s important to understand the basics before you start investing.
• Hire a qualified SEO expert. If you don’t have the time or expertise to do SEO yourself, consider working with a professional.
• Be patient. SEO takes persistence and time to work. Don’t expect to see results overnight.
• Keep investing. The more consistently you invest in SEO, the better your results will be. 

Want to talk more about your brand’s SEO strategy?

Marketing automation is an essential tool for many obvious reasons. Chiefly being that once set up, it can continue to return on investment with little maintenance required. Automations, also known as flows or series, may include emails, SMS and even push notifications. They provide brands a way in which to fine-tune communications with their customers to bolster investment in the brand; be that fiscal and/or social.

All automations are set up in a series of events strung together by time and user actions. Actions may include subscribing to a newsletter, abandoning a cart, purchasing an item or even an anniversary. These actions start the flows, but can also be within flows as well in the form of conditional splits. So before we dive into the various types of flows, let’s cover the parts of a flow: timing, conditional split, dynamic content and tagging.

Timing

Timing is an aspect of an automation that designates when the next step in the flow takes place. As an example, when a user starts a cart and then leaves the site, an automation is triggered, but the flow would wait two hours until that first email is sent.

Conditional Split

One of the most powerful tools to arrive on the email marketing scene, the conditional split, divides customers within flows based on certain qualities. Conditional splits activate based on customer behavior, or customer profile attributes, and send customers on different paths within the automation. The result may be different emails, tagging or even whether or not they exit the flow. The key here, at least for emails, is to make the content unique and strategic to each split group. For example below, where we split based on if there was a purchase or not. The purchase group was already willing to make the purchase regardless of a deal, therefore the prospect group would likely receive an email with an incentive while the purchase group would not.

Dynamic Content

Dynamic content is anything from text to images that change based on the user. This content is unique to a user or a segment of users, thus adding a layer of personalization to your emails. The content could change based on name, gender, location, purchase behavior and a handful of other parameters.

Tagging

Tagging is a great way to segment your audiences based on their behavior, be that purchase behavior or general email interactivity. Depending on their actions, we can update existing tags or create new ones at specific trigger points in a flow. In the example below we are viewing the tail-end of a sunset series, where the customers who have not interacted with the emails are tagged as Unengaged. This tagging could then become the basis of a targeted segment for future marketing campaigns via email or even for paid media.

Email Automation Types

Standard Welcome Series

The welcome series is the very first touch-point with the customer. This flow is also the longest and most complex of those discussed within this blog post. It presents the opportunity to start the customer’s journey through your brand’s story, and how your brand stands out from competitors. It is a great place to further illustrate the benefits of being in the brand’s ecosystem; from products to social media. Throughout this flow the goal here is to slowly nurture a relationship and expand your product offerings to the customer in an organic manner.

At the beginning of the flow we generally place a conditional split to divide the customers right away between those who have made a purchase (subscribed via check-out) and those who have not (subscribed to email). We call these the Prospect Welcome Email and the Purchaser Welcome Email.

1a] The Prospect Welcome is used to introduce a user to the brand by providing a bit of back-story. Additionally, it seeks to validate why the brand is what the customer seeks and what they are to expect next. Oftentimes the prospect welcome email will include some incentive, which is what many customers have been trained to anticipate within e-commerce these days.

1b] The Purchaser Welcome, aka Thank You email, is used when users enter your mailing list via checkout. This email has many uses, one of its strongest being to nurture brand loyalty by thanking your customers for choosing your brand. These can be particularly effective when dynamic content is used to further personalize the email. Now that you’ve thanked the customer, it is time to make them feel more invested in the brand by asking for a product review. This is a great situation as it makes the customer feel appreciated and you can discover what works and what does not work for the product. Included in this email could be testimonials from other customers to help validate the product as well as a focus on getting involved on various social media channels.

2] Next up is the E-commerce email where you can position your products or services on a stage to highlight best-sellers, staff picks, under-sellers, deals and much more. Some brands have a large assortment of products and this can incite a sense of purchase paralysis. Alternatively, many shoppers have limited time to peruse what your brand offers. This is where the e-commerce email steps in to save the day. Also known as a cross-sell or up-sell, this email helps to package up your products into easily digestible collections and display them so that they are effortlessly viewed, and thus clickable for the customer. You may also want to mix into the copy the customer needs, and identify how your brand solves those needs.

3] Next there is the Re-engagement/Incentive email. This is a way to further cross-sell to previous customers who have not made a purchase or interacted with the brand in a set amount of time. An underlying message here is to express a term called future pacing where you use specific words to help a lead imagine themselves in a future where they are experiencing your product/service. Cite the benefits of right now, a few weeks/months from now or even years. Taking on a slightly more bold approach, you could also paint a picture of what things would be like without your product(s). Like many of these emails, a second option is possible where you send a reminder where you could showcase more testimonials from users or media outlets. In the place of an email an SMS message may be used as a simple reminder, perhaps even including an incentive.

4-5] The Sunset portion of the flow can be included within the Welcome series, or stand-alone as its own flow. It deploys as a way to clean up mailing lists and provide re-engagement to passive users. This is essentially the last chance for them to remain an email marketing user. We create sunset emails, of which there can be one to two in the flow, to eliminate customers who may not be engaging with the brand. These customers often skew your email metrics and potentially harm your email domain score. Note that the second part of this portion (email #5) could be an SMS message in place of an email.

Customer Anniversary

An anniversary email can come in two forms, both of which could be deployed: 1) birthday anniversary and 2) purchase anniversary. These flows act as re-engagements to remind/incentivize users in a fun way to interact with the brand. As it is an anniversary, the email is sent 365 days after the event takes place. Given the fact that birthdays are not readily known for the customer, the purchase anniversary flow is the more popular version used.

Browsing Abandon

Make online shopping easier and more organized via an abandoned browse email by saving what people were looking for on your site for them. This particular email automation deploys when a user has viewed products, but has yet to add those products to their cart. A close relative of the more well-known cart abandon flow, the strategy behind the two is very similar. These emails are one of the strongest methods of nurturing customers to take the final step towards a purchase. It reminds them of what they are interested in and then reinforces that affinity to make a purchase. Abandon emails are also great for showcasing similar products that the customer may not be aware of yet, but are in-line with what they are seeking. Another strategy is to add SMS into the automation as a reminder message to follow the email for those who have not added to their carts yet.

Cart Abandonment Series

People are busy, and thus distracted, that is why abandoned cart automations can be a game-changer for your brand. While welcome emails are the most-opened, abandon cart emails are, without-a-doubt, the most profitable. In this scenario when a customer adds products to their cart, but then leaves the site for whatever reason, an email is sent with the items they left in their cart. The intent here is to gently nudge them to complete their checkout process. Usually the initial email is followed by another email for those who did not complete their order. This is similar to the first email, but adds more urgency, and perhaps a little FOMO. SMS can be inserted into this flow in place of the second email or as a third reminder. There are other ways to not only aid the customer along to purchasing, but to increase the order value as well, learn more in our article How to Increase Your Cart Value.

Re-order / Replace / Upgrade Reminder

For brands selling products that customers purchase on a recurring basis a re-order automation may be a much-needed asset to your email portfolio. This flow alerts customers that they may be running short on a particular product, and therefore it’s high-time to order a replacement/refill. This is a great way to express to your customers that you’re there for them by sending a reminder based on the average replacement/re-purchase timeframe of a particular product. Going one step further you could recommend similar products or upgrades to potentially expand the customer’s purchase scope. As an example, suppose that your brand sells a body care product that typically lasts a customer three months. You could then automate a replenishment email to send every 10 weeks. If they did not re-purchase at the three-month mark you could even follow-up with a second “did you forget to re-order?” email. Then if the user purchases the same item, or an item in that category, they restart the flow and the cycle continues. Additionally, SMS can be inserted into this flow as a reminder message.

Purchase Frequency Series

This particular flow has a lot of potential for customer retention, as well as increased product exposure. It also has the potential to morph into a loyalty program, thus a one-two punch marketing-wise. In the loyalty program scenario the higher the buying power (higher value purchase or more consecutive purchases) the more perks become available, encouraging more product acquisition and brand engagement. In its most basic form this flow could play out as such:

1. If the customer has made one purchase they receive a product review email with product care or product set-up information included. By this logic this email could replace the Welcome Purchaser Email found in the Welcome Series.
2. At two-three purchases they receive a company suggestions/feedback email with product care advice.
3. Finally, with four or more purchases they would enter a VIP program, where users are segmented and receive special promo codes/gifts/perks. There are numerous other rewards program ideas, fortunately we have a blog post for that as well, read more here on that topic.

Back-in-Stock and Price Drop Alerts

Loyal customers rely on your brand, so it is up to you to keep them informed and make the interaction effortlessly seamless to keep them returning. A key way to do this is through back-in-stock alerts so that they do not miss out on replenished inventory. When a product is out of stock make sure to quickly post a notification sign-up form (example below) so that an automation can be triggered to notify the customer when the product is back in stock. Using SMS is also a great tactic to employ as a follow-up reminder/back-up method to alert your customers so that they do not miss out. Additionally, adding a price drop notification email into your automation portfolio is another way to keep your customers informed and appreciative of your brand. Similar to the Back in Stock email, a user would sign up to be notified when a product’s price fluctuates by a set dollar amount or percentage.

Profile Update

A great strategy to not only learn more from your customers but to further personalize your messaging is to create a multi-step form (landing page) asking for buying preferences, i.e. age, clothing by gender, how much customers would be willing to spend on a product, what products fit their interests most et al. In this scenario we send an email to users who have been highly engaged (via open and purchase data) and ask for their buying preferences. This may be followed/incentivized via promo codes.

A/B Testing

As always, test your emails to see what works best. Test frequently; from subject lines to images and colors to shapes. The more you test, the more refined and precise your marketing becomes. Additionally, understanding Best Practices as well as How to Analyze Email Data are two key factors in fully-harnessing the power of not only a/b testing but your overall email productivity.

Summary

Email marketing is an expansive, and ever-growing, landscape. As such, the boundaries of what you can do are constantly evolving. From more complex graphics such as GIFs to increasingly advanced dynamic content and conditional logic options, the future is an exciting place for this marketing channel. We hope that you find your niche and optimize email automations into what works best for your brand.

Foghorn Labs is here to help you along the way. Reach out to us if you are interested in having us become a part of your email and SMS marketing strategy.