<![CDATA[Speed Mentoring – “Dana’s 7 Rules for Success”]]></h1> <article> <h1>Speed Mentoring – “Dana’s 7 Rules for Success”</h1> <p>2013-05-14T14:17:59Z</p> <p>In preparation for an upcoming<a href="http://blog.uwgb.edu/hr/2013/05/current-speed-mentoring/"> ‘Speed Mentoring’ event with Current</a>, the Green Bay Young Professionals network, I’ve been asked to prepare a few ‘success tips’. Well, it’s actually difficult to narrow it down to just three, and so I’ve drawn on a couple of the commencement speeches I’ve given to assemble a few things that, at least in my perspective, have helped me along.</p> <p>There are a lot of smart folks out there with a lot of good advice to share, and every one of us has hard-won expertise that’s worth gleaning a little something from. Here are just a few of the rules that I try to live by, both in business and in my personal life.</p> <ol> <li><strong>Be confident.</strong> You have the skills to do whatever you want to. And if you don’t just yet, don’t tell anybody. They’ll never know. Self-belief is the most important thing.</li> <li><strong>Know thyself.</strong> The highest form of knowledge you can possess is a deep understanding of yourself, your motivations, your values and what you love doing. You’ll be much further ahead than those who’ve never practiced the art of introspection.</li> <li><strong>There are no bad decisions.</strong> Only decisions. Look for the lesson in every choice you make. A decision is never wrong, because we always gain something from it – whether we get what we thought we intended or learn a valuable lesson.</li> <li><strong>Become an autodidactic, or self-taught person.</strong> So what if you’re still learning, you should always be learning and battling ignorance – it’s one of the worst impediments to success. Read lots, talk to others, and LISTEN. In this age of information that we’re in, the pace at which we need to learn new things seems to increase every year, and you’re going to need to refresh your skills and change your mind many times over.</li> <li><strong>Figure out and then live your values.</strong> Always embrace the “why” behind what you do.</li> <li><strong>Build your personal brand.</strong> Brand of the self. Your values are the foundation of your brand. Think of the greatest organizations on the planet and then think of how you know of them. They have great brands. The same goes for great people.</li> <li><strong>Finally, live with gratitude.</strong> I believe that we’re all thankful that this day has arrived, but don’t let your sense of gratitude end there. Cultivate an “attitude of gratitude” as they say.</li> </ol> <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=5947s6bxtwY:TFDfx5G5vCM:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=5947s6bxtwY:TFDfx5G5vCM:F7zBnMyn0Lo"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=5947s6bxtwY:TFDfx5G5vCM:7Q72WNTAKBA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=5947s6bxtwY:TFDfx5G5vCM:qj6IDK7rITs"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=5947s6bxtwY:TFDfx5G5vCM:V_sGLiPBpWU"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=5947s6bxtwY:TFDfx5G5vCM:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Thought Leadership Speeds Up the Sales Cycle</h1> <p>2013-05-14T11:09:47Z</p> <p>Those of you that know me well know that I’m a big fan of data, academics and the rigor that goes with being able to prove a good hypothesis. So, this post that I’m about to do flies in the face of all that because, frankly, I don’t have much data here, but after talking this over with a client the other day (he acutally brought this up…) I’m convinced that there’s some validity to this, we just have to put some time into research (or find someone who’s done it) to prove this theory.</p> <p><strong>Where do we begin?</strong></p> <p>It all starts with the old rule about how many impressions or ‘touches’ it takes between a buyer and a seller before some cash is finally exchanged. There’s <a href="http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/778498.html">a lot of evidence to support that the number is around 5-7 exposures</a> before a releatively substantial amount of ‘brand recall’ is evident and then a few more touches before a purchase can even take place. In the old world of interruption marketing and advertising, this was acceptable and even planned for. All of these exposures, however, cost a great deal of money (typically) and could very well be out of reach for a vast number of firms, especially startup firms.</p> <p><strong>Anyone for shorter sales cycles?</strong></p> <p>As we progress through our story, let me share a bit about how this came up. We were in a thought leadership review session the other day and we were working on pinning down the value of thought leadership marketing to this particular firm. Suffice it to say, the value has been quite high and all things considered, things are going very well. However, being the ‘academic at heart’, I kept probing for more evidence of value. During the discussion, we recalled some work done by David Meerman Scott which stated that [thought leadership] content (blogs, whitepapers, seminars, what have you) does a <a href="http://www.marketingprofs.com/5/scottDM1.asp">great job of shortening the sales cycle</a> for an organization. By that rationale, we could also conclude that marketers employing thought leadership are able to shatter the “5-7 touches rule” by a pretty wide margin. While that’s not always the case, I speak from personal experience having won my fair share of business after minimal (one time) exposure of a prospective client to my own ‘thought leadership content’. That one instance kicked off a very short sales cycle and a checkmark in the win category for me.</p> <p><strong>Getting through the dip</strong></p> <p>What the heck does this all mean for you? Well, here’s how it breaks down. If you’re in the business of selling intangibles, touchy-feely clothing or industrial earth moving machines, there’s value in pursuing a thought leadership position in your industry, market or community – whatever is going to <a href="http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/04/the_big_dip_ten.html">make you ‘world class’ in the eyes of your intended audience </a>(as Seth Godin opined on in <a href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/the_dip/">The Dip</a>). Thought leaders do not have to be the biggest company in the eyes of their intended target market, but they are often perceived as the best, most helpful, most knowledgeable and possessing high integrity.</p> <p><strong>Think more, touch less</strong></p> <p>That heading could be the, well, nevermind. Thought leaders put more time and effort working ‘on the business’ and ‘on the problems’ that plague their target markets and sectors. They understand and the THINK of how they can help. Once they’re done thinking, the share. Recall that sharing is a two-way street. In involves listening and telling. Look ahead to that 5-part trade rag ad campaign you’re about to run that ask yourself “how could I get them to like me/listen to me after just one exposure to my idea (not my slick ad)”? I’ll give you a hint…ask your customers what they want. Chances are, your prospects are looking for the same stuff.</p> <p>In a thought leadership marketing webinar that I gave today, I talked a lot about how thought leaders have a sense of ‘confident curiousity’. This simply means that they’re comforatable with their approach but are willing to be wrong for the sake of ultimately getting it right and doing well by their customer. There’s simply no other agenda. In times like these, people trust sincerity and they trust those who even get it wrong in the name of trying to get it and make it right. That’s what your customers want, isn’t it? Think about it…</p> <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=iR9HH_VMxNk:aWl5rGGEGHM:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=iR9HH_VMxNk:aWl5rGGEGHM:F7zBnMyn0Lo"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=iR9HH_VMxNk:aWl5rGGEGHM:7Q72WNTAKBA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=iR9HH_VMxNk:aWl5rGGEGHM:qj6IDK7rITs"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=iR9HH_VMxNk:aWl5rGGEGHM:V_sGLiPBpWU"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=iR9HH_VMxNk:aWl5rGGEGHM:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Webinar Archive: Social Media ROI: Becoming a Social Media Measurement Organization</h1> <p>2013-05-03T17:04:58Z</p> <p>This archived webinar illustrates how to understand social media ROI on your terms, begin to build a closed-loop marketing system, understand the social media ecosystem and implement the six levels of marketing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). We will further take social media measurement and turn it on its ear by showing how the investments that your customers are making in your brand by engaging in social media are adding value for you each and every day.</p> <p><strong><a href="http://www.marketingsavant.com/webinars/2013/socialmediaroi.pdf">View the Social Media ROI Webinar Slide Deck</a></strong></p> <p>Following this webinar, you will be able to:</p> <ul> <li>Begin to close the loop on your marketing processes and understand the role of social media</li> <li>Develop a social media engagement measurement framework</li> <li>Introduce social media marketing ROI to your organization</li> <li>Understand the discussion between ROI and ROMI (return on marketing investment)</li> <li>Adapt your current marketing measurement system using the six levels of marketing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)</li> </ul> <p></p> <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=D2O8ON6dXx8:xgnoRAXtjx8:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=D2O8ON6dXx8:xgnoRAXtjx8:F7zBnMyn0Lo"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=D2O8ON6dXx8:xgnoRAXtjx8:7Q72WNTAKBA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=D2O8ON6dXx8:xgnoRAXtjx8:qj6IDK7rITs"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=D2O8ON6dXx8:xgnoRAXtjx8:V_sGLiPBpWU"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=D2O8ON6dXx8:xgnoRAXtjx8:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Social Media ROI Resources</h1> <p>2013-05-07T21:24:05Z</p> <p>When we put together a <a href="http://www.marketingsavant.com/resources/webinar-archive/">social media marketing webinar at MarketingSavant</a>, one of the things that we do a lot of is research. In fact, each webinar we do is the product of between 4 and 10 hours of research and content creation over a period of weeks in order to bring your the best content possible. I realize that many other firms probably do the very same thing with their webinars, but at the end of the day, it matters to us that you’ve got the best information possible.</p> <p>Our recent <a href="http://www.marketingsavant.com/2013/05/webinar-archive-social-media-roi-becoming-a-social-media-measurement-organization/">webinar on Social Media ROI</a> was particularly interesting due to the sheer amount of material out there on the topic. For those of you interested in learning more about social media ROI, I want to share a few of the the resources that influenced the production of our presentation.</p> <ul> <li>6 Key Metrics for a Social Media Measurement Dashboard (Search Engine Watch)<br /> <a href="http://msavant.us/10eSm1l">http://msavant.us/10eSm1l<br /> </a></li> <li>A Primer on Attribution & Social Media Marketing ROI (Argyle Social)<br /> <a href="http://argylesocial.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Attribution-and-Social-ROI-Argyle-Social.pdf">http://argylesocial.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Attribution-and-Social-ROI-Argyle-Social.pdf</a></li> <li>Increasing the ROI of Social Media Marketing (MIT Sloan Management Review)<br /> <a href="http://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/increasing-the-roi-of-social-media-marketing/">http://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/increasing-the-roi-of-social-media-marketing/</a></li> <li>Can you Measure the Value of Your Social Media Marketing? (MIT Sloan Management Review)<br /> <a href="http://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/can-you-measure-the-roi-of-your-social-media-marketing/">http://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/can-you-measure-the-roi-of-your-social-media-marketing/</a></li> <li>Easy Ways Retailers Can Measure ROI From (Likeable Media)<br /> <a href="http://media.wix.com/ugd/6731c7_96e799fd71ca625772f6fc990cbe2441.pdf">http://media.wix.com/ugd/6731c7_96e799fd71ca625772f6fc990cbe2441.pdf</a></li> <li>Olivier Blanchard Basics Of Social Media ROI (Oivier Blanchard)<br /> <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/thebrandbuilder/olivier-blanchard-basics-of-social-media-roi">http://www.slideshare.net/thebrandbuilder/olivier-blanchard-basics-of-social-media-roi</a></li> <li>ROI of Social Media in the Enterprise: A Benchmarking Survey (Oracle)<br /> <a href="http://www.oracle.com/us/products/applications/roi-of-social-media-1891054.pdf">http://www.oracle.com/us/products/applications/roi-of-social-media-1891054.pdf</a></li> <li>The Social Media ROI Cookbook: How Brands Measure the Revenue Impact of Social Media (Altimeter Group)<br /> <a href="http://msavant.us/10eSL3N">http://msavant.us/10eSL3N</a></li> <li>Social Media ROI Study (Hearsay Social and Mainstay Salire)<br /> <a href="https://info.hearsaysocial.com/Social_ROI_Report_PR.html">https://info.hearsaysocial.com/Social_ROI_Report_PR.html</a></li> <li>Measuring the real ROI of social media (IABC)<br /> <a href="http://lynchburg.iabc.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/CWJanFeb11_Measuring-the-Real-ROI-of-Social-Media.pdf">http://lynchburg.iabc.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/CWJanFeb11_Measuring-the-Real-ROI-of-Social-Media.pdf</a></li> <li>ROI of Social Media: Myths, truths and how to measure (Radian 6/Salesforce.com)<br /> <a href="http://socialcommercetoday.com/documents/Radian6_2012.pdf">http://socialcommercetoday.com/documents/Radian6_2012.pdf</a></li> <li>Demand Metric/AMA Dashboard<br /> <a href="http://www.demandmetric.com/content/social-media-metrics-dashboard">http://</a><a href="http://www.demandmetric.com/content/social-media-metrics-dashboard">www.demandmetric.com/content/social-media-metrics-dashboard</a></li> <li>Nillson Metrics Dashboard<br /> <a href="http://www.joakimnilsson.com/metrics-analytics/download-your-free-social-media-metrics-dashboard/">http://www.joakimnilsson.com/metrics-analytics/download-your-free-social-media-metrics-dashboard</a><a href="http://www.joakimnilsson.com/metrics-analytics/download-your-free-social-media-metrics-dashboard/">/</a></li> </ul> <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=sq8KfRLeJbQ:oqh5LaqX6wE:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=sq8KfRLeJbQ:oqh5LaqX6wE:F7zBnMyn0Lo"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=sq8KfRLeJbQ:oqh5LaqX6wE:7Q72WNTAKBA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=sq8KfRLeJbQ:oqh5LaqX6wE:qj6IDK7rITs"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=sq8KfRLeJbQ:oqh5LaqX6wE:V_sGLiPBpWU"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=sq8KfRLeJbQ:oqh5LaqX6wE:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>[WEBINAR] Social Media ROI: Becoming a Social Media Measurement Organization</h1> <p>2013-04-29T23:04:27Z</p> <h3><a style="font-size: 16px;" href="https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/293657290"></a></h3> <p>A common argument that organizations level against social media is the challenge in determining real, tangible return on their social media marketing investment. This charge is not unfounded as so many social media programs are started at the tactical level – leaving decision makers with little to go on but the intangibility of friends, followers and fans – hardly the pillars of accountability able to withstand a boardroom conversation.</p> <h3>Thursday May 2, 2013 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM CDT</h3> <a class='button' href='https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/293657290'>Register for the Webinar</a> <p>This webinar will illustrate how to understand social media ROI on your terms, begin to build a closed-loop marketing system, understand the social media ecosystem and implement the six levels of marketing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). We will further take social media measurement and turn it on its ear by showing how the investments that your customers are making in your brand by engaging in social media are adding value for you each and every day.</p> <p>Following this webinar, you will be able to:</p> <ul> <li>Begin to close the loop on your marketing processes and understand the role of social media</li> <li>Develop a social media engagement measurement framework</li> <li>Introduce social media marketing ROI to your organization</li> <li>Understand the discussion between ROI and ROMI (return on marketing investment)</li> <li>Adapt your current marketing measurement system using the six levels of marketing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)</li> </ul> <p>Join us for this webinar on social media ROI to learn more about how you too can build more accountability into your social media efforts and communicate the value of social media to your leadership more effectively.</p> <a class='button' href='https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/293657290'>Register for the Webinar</a> <p> </p> <p> </p> <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=gTnGEk0BxrQ:feFHg7L1QvY:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=gTnGEk0BxrQ:feFHg7L1QvY:F7zBnMyn0Lo"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=gTnGEk0BxrQ:feFHg7L1QvY:7Q72WNTAKBA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=gTnGEk0BxrQ:feFHg7L1QvY:qj6IDK7rITs"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=gTnGEk0BxrQ:feFHg7L1QvY:V_sGLiPBpWU"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=gTnGEk0BxrQ:feFHg7L1QvY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Thought Leadership Content: The Art of the Charticle</h1> <p>2013-04-29T23:00:49Z</p> <p>Normally when some travesty occurs in the world of content or journalism, it’s the bloggers that get the blame. In the case of one of my favorite forms of content, it’s actually the journalists who get the nod for instigating the content form currently known as the ‘charticle.’ Actually, it’s even more convoluted than that, as no one knows the true origin of the charticle but I’m thankful to them, whoever they are.</p> <p>One has to look no further than the pages of a USA Today to see just how the charticle has taken its rightful place as a journalistic vehicle for today’s time and attention-starved news consumers. A few minutes with quick visual coupled with scannable text and we know just about everything going on in the world. In fact, some <a href="http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/olympic-fuel-tip-4-cash-in-on-the-charticle-trend/">writing sites even advise would-be writers to skip the feature article and submit a quick-impact charticle</a> for consideration.</p> <h3>What is a Charticle?</h3> <p>Charticles - as defined by Omaha World-Herald Deputy Presentation Editor Josh Crutchmer - <a href="http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4608">are combinations of text, images and graphics that take the place of a full article</a>. They are often used by bloggers and journalists alike to express one big idea with a bit of narrative provided by the supporting text that follows or sets up the big visual or chart that’s usually the feature in the post. In many cases, the chart featured in the charticle could likely stand on its own, as in, the data is typically that compelling. Moreover, that’s also what makes it worth writing about. The charticle is singular in focus and offers a great opportunity for expressing a succinct thought leadership point of view on a relevant bit of data.</p> <blockquote><p>Bite-sized combinations of words, images and graphics called charticles are in vogue at a number of American newspapers. And they are not necessarily the enemy of compelling narrative.<br /> - <a href="http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4608">Dane Stickney, AJR</a></p></blockquote> <h3>What Do Charticles Look Like?</h3> <p>Charticles come in a few shapes and sizes, but most of them follow this format:</p> <p>Here’s <a href="http://www.crackunit.com/2008/02/17/what-is-a-charticle/">one that Google Images pops up</a> with when you do a quick search on charticles:<br /> <a href="http://www.marketingsavant.com/wp-content/uploads//charticle_growth_1.jpg"></a></p> <p>Here’s one <a href="http://www.ceo.com/news_and_insights/charticle-do-ceos-find-value-in-social-media/">that actually generated the idea</a> for this blog post:</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.marketingsavant.com/wp-content/uploads//2013-04-26_14-49-55.jpg"></a></p> <h3>Do Charticles Work?</h3> <blockquote><p>We’re really moving away from the model in which visualization or interactive storytelling is an afterthought, an illustration of the story, and toward a model in which this work is central to developing the story and enables us to tell the story in ways impossible for straight text reporting.<br /> - <a href="http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/top-stories/210693/new-ap-interactive-editor-multimedia-needs-to-be-central-to-developing-the-story-not-an-afterthought/">Associated Press’ interactive editor, Troy Thibodeaux</a></p></blockquote> <p>Actually, there is data suggesting that they do work and are more effective for conveying information that the audience will actually remember. The Poynter Institute has done several years of <a href="http://www.poynter.org/extra/Eyetrack/keys_03.html">research as part of their EyeTracking study and have found</a> that “earlier EyeTrack studies and other research that short text, especially with visual elements, is accessible and attractive to readers.”</p> <p>Moreover, Poynter found that the presence of a visual alongside a brief (short bit of text in a newspaper), in print, increased its likelihood of being seen by more than 34% above what we would expect, based on the number available to be seen. This parlays into research that we have on adding images to webpages on B2B sites. Visuals boost the impact of content.</p> <p>Readers like charticles, readers react to charticles and readers have a slightly higher recall rate of the material presented in charticles, especially because they take in the bulk of the story, unlike longer text articles where the ‘reading depth’ decreases substantially as the story gets longer.</p> <h3>Why Use Charticles for Thought Leadership Marketing Content?</h3> <p>Personally, I’m a huge fan of the charticle for thought leadership and content marketing for a few reasons:</p> <p><strong>1) For thought leadership, it’s a perfect opportuntiy for you to take a snapshot of information</strong> from a current issue in the industry and both hightlight it, and offer your unique point of view on the topic rapid fashion. Thusly, you leave your readers both informed about the information and impacted by your unique insights.</p> <p><strong>2) It meets the needs of our audience.</strong> One has only to look at the power of infographics to see that sharing visualized data is a powerful communication means. The rise of visual social media and one-page viewing on mobile devices makes the charticle a potentially ideal way to deliver one idea in one page.</p> <p><strong>3) They’re easy to produce easy to share.</strong> The burden on the author is minimal, as you’re only creating narrative to go along with a chart. Moreover, a charticle may likely be more shareable than, say, a full whitepaper on a topic. The reader believes that the sharer is considerate for sending just the essential information, likely one page, that’s depicted in the average charticle.</p> <h3>What Makes for a Good Charticle?</h3> <p><strong>1) Impart information, not tell a story</strong> – If you’re looking to persusade with prose, the charticle is not your vehicle. Charticles work well when the subject you are discussing or question you are answering is purely informational in nature.</p> <p><strong>2) It consolidates information</strong> – Even an infographic may be too much information for the average charticle. Most include a single major argument supported by several datapoints, but not several arguments supported by many datapoints. A great example is the charticle referenced above on CEOs and finding value in social media.</p> <p><strong>3) A storytelling graphic with on-point narrative</strong> – The value of the charticle is that is gets your thought leadership point-of-view across quickly and gets your reader on their way. Ideally, when the chart and the narrative work together, you’ve created a highly informative and shareable piece of content that they can glance at, pick what they want out of it, and get out.</p> <h3>When to Use a Charticle in Thought Leadership and Content Marketing</h3> <p><strong>1) One of the best applications for Charticles is to help ‘atomize’ content from a heavy content item</strong> like a whitepaper or research report. In fact, nearly every chart or visual in a whitepaper, e-book or reserach report should be considered for a charticle. A research report, like the recent CEO Information Consumption report mentioned above, can easily have 6-8 charticle opportunities that can both engage your readership while driving them toward conversion when they download the document.</p> <p><strong>2) Charticles also work well when you’re curating third-party data points</strong> into your site and overlaying your unique point of view on the topic. If there’s an interesting datapoint from a report in your industry that you want to expand on, the charticle is a great way to pull in that information while offering your audience your perspective on it.</p> <p>There are likely myriad other ways to use charticles. Please share your most interesting perspective in the comments!</p> <h3><em>Question: How can you leverage the natural behavior of online readers and incorporate the ‘charticle’ into your thoguht leadership content strategy?</em></h3> <p><strong>Learn more:</strong> Every thought leadership and content marketer should read <a href="http://www.poynter.org/extra/Eyetrack/index.html">Poynter’s EyeTracking study </a>on how people actually consumer news information. There are some evergreen concepts here that will work for you whether you’re blogging, writing a whitepaper or creating your next email marketing campaign.</p> <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=BaRDO-EW7i8:KWFZfmfU8qY:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=BaRDO-EW7i8:KWFZfmfU8qY:F7zBnMyn0Lo"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=BaRDO-EW7i8:KWFZfmfU8qY:7Q72WNTAKBA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=BaRDO-EW7i8:KWFZfmfU8qY:qj6IDK7rITs"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=BaRDO-EW7i8:KWFZfmfU8qY:V_sGLiPBpWU"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=BaRDO-EW7i8:KWFZfmfU8qY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Big Impact Social Media Marketing for Small Businesses – Location Based Tools</h1> <p>2013-04-29T23:00:42Z</p> <p>With a new found appreciation for buying local, small businesses have more opportunities now than ever to generate support for their business right in their own backyard. Consumers are inspired by compassion for the “little guy” during the challenging economic environment, and are happy to pass up the big box megastore in favor of a local vender. But it’s still your job as the marketer to make people aware that your business even exists.</p> <h2>Location Based Social Networks</h2> <p>Geolocation technology combined with an increase in smart phone usage makes marketing your business using location-based networks an extremely effective way to reach your local customer base. <a href="http://www.cellular-news.com/story/53791.php" target="_blank">Research</a> indicates that 32% of consumers use location-based apps more now than they did a year ago. On top of that, 58% of consumers with a smart phone say they use location-based applications regularly.</p> <h3>Check in on Facebook</h3> <p></p> <p>When you set up your Facebook page as a <em>local business or place</em>, your fans will be able to check in on Facebook whenever they visit your shop. This lets all of their friends on Facebook know that they’re at your business and check-ins show up in your fan-facing engagement metrics on your page. Meaning fans can see how many people have checked in at your business recently. Facebook’s check in feature is nice because it doesn’t require users to have a smart phone in order to check in. People can check in from your page before or after their visit.</p> <h3>Foursquare</h3> <p>Foursquare is a social network, created for the sole purpose of allowing customers to check in at your business and rewarding them with deals and discounts. Foursquare turns checking in to your favorite places of business into a fun game with points, badges and mayorships. Foursquare keeps track of the number of times a person checks in somewhere and it’s up to you as the business owner to keep them interested by rewarding them for their patronage. For example, you can reward new customers with the <em>Newbie badge,</em> or returning customers with the <em>Loyalty badge</em>. Customers can then use their phone to show the badge to a staff member and redeem their reward in the form of a discount at your store.</p> <h3>No Brick & Mortar Business? No Problem</h3> <p>Even companies without a physical location are getting creative and finding ways to make use of location-based platforms. If you’re interested in using Foursquare to reach out to customers of your virtual-based business, think of a business with a brick-and-mortar location that is complimentary to your company, but is not a direct competitor. Maybe they have a similar customer base but for different products or services. Reach out to them and offer to team up with them on Foursquare, so that you reward customers for checking in at your complimentary business.</p> <h2>Online Review Sites</h2> <p>According to <a href="http://econsultancy.com/us/blog/9765-consumers-now-pay-more-attention-to-online-reviews-than-word-of-mouth?utm_medium=feeds&utm_source=blog" target="_blank">Econsultancy</a>, 31% of consumers say they read online reviews before making a purchase. Additionally, a study by <a href="http://econsultancy.com/us/blog/9765-consumers-now-pay-more-attention-to-online-reviews-than-word-of-mouth?utm_medium=feeds&utm_source=blog" target="_blank">Reevoo</a> indicated that 50 or more reviews per product can mean a 4.6% increase in conversion rates. Data also suggests that a mix of positive and negative reviews helps to improve consumer trust. In fact, the presence of bad reviews actually improves the conversion rate by 67%. It makes perfect sense if you think about it. I know if I see review after review saying nothing but positive things about a product or service, I start to question the legitimacy of each review. Did actual customers write these or was this merely the work of friends and family members of the business owners?</p> <p>Here are a few really well-known review sites that you should consider establishing your business on:</p> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.yelp.com/" target="_blank">Yelp!</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.local.com/" target="_blank">Local.com</a></li> <li><a href="http://national.citysearch.com/guide/oshkosh-wi" target="_blank">City Search</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.bing.com/local/" target="_blank">Bing Local</a></li> </ul> <p></p> <h2>Coupon Apps</h2> <p></p> <p>As consumers continue to look for ways to survive the economic downturn, there has been a noticeable boom in online coupon and discount applications. These free mobile apps are great for the consumer as they offer value and savings toward their favorite products and services. But they’re also great for small local businesses, as they help you increase awareness and drive business to your company. As a local business owner or marketer, consider offering your own coupon through one of these apps to draw consumers into your store or place of business. Depending on the nature of your business, one of these apps might be better suited for you and your customers.</p> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.thecouponsapp.com/" target="_blank">The Coupons App</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.cellfire.com/" target="_blank">Cellfire App</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.pushpinsapp.com/" target="_blank">Pushpins</a></li> <li><a href="http://where.com/locations/9mudrqcv9efy/places" target="_blank">Where</a></li> </ul> <p style="text-align: left;">If you’re a small business trying to make a big impact in your local market, location-based social networks are a great way to do so, and they don’t require a huge marketing budget. Offer consumers some kind of incentive, and they’ll gladly spread the word about your business, either in the form of a check-in or a positive review.</p> <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=Z-dN5lA1BCw:oQDQXLte3z4:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=Z-dN5lA1BCw:oQDQXLte3z4:F7zBnMyn0Lo"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=Z-dN5lA1BCw:oQDQXLte3z4:7Q72WNTAKBA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=Z-dN5lA1BCw:oQDQXLte3z4:qj6IDK7rITs"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=Z-dN5lA1BCw:oQDQXLte3z4:V_sGLiPBpWU"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=Z-dN5lA1BCw:oQDQXLte3z4:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Simple (Offline!) Social Media Acts: Recognition + Reciprocation = Win Fans for Life</h1> <p>2013-04-29T23:00:33Z</p> <p>When’s the last time a person or an organization made a genuine, personal and most importantly, a lasting positive impact on you that you remember? Can you think of one? Do you have a tangible artifact from that interaction? (note, gift, trinket, etc.) I’m betting that there are very few interactions that most of us can point to that would meet those criteria, and that’s a missed opportunity for all of us, and our organizations.</p> <div id="attachment_7758" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 610px"><a href="http://www.marketingsavant.com/wp-content/uploads//NewImage1.png"></a><p class="wp-caption-text">http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterkaminski/661048/</p></div> <p> </p> <p>Looking around at my own desk, I have one such trinket, and that’s the old Channel 9 doll from Microsoft that I received from <a href="http://scobleizer.com/">Robert Scoble</a> back in the day when we were teaching the ‘blogging for marketers’ events for the American Marketing Association in 2004-2007. There are countless photos online of the Channel 9 dolls in places ranging from conference room tables to mountain tops. The point here is not that you need to create a mascot, but rather that simple things, given personally, can create an impact with your tribe.</p> <h4>The Lost Art of the Simple</h4> <p>Think about the most basic personal thing that you might receive from a brand. A note. More specifically, a thank you or apology note. When’s the last time you saw one? I bet you can’t remember. According to the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/03/postal-service-annual-survey-personal-letters_n_992432.html">U.S. Postal Service’s annual survey</a>, the average home only received a personal letter once every seven weeks in 2010, down from once every two weeks in 1987. Moreover, <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323530404578203970519252566.html">according to an article in the Wall Street Journal</a> last year, writing anything by hand is quite rare indeed.</p> <p>In a <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2163175/Could-forget-WRITE-The-typical-adult-scribbled-hand-weeks.html">British survey carried out in June</a>, it was discovered that the average time since an adult wrote anything at all by hand was <strong>41 days</strong>. One in three people surveyed said that they hadn’t written anything by hand for at least six months. Two out of three said that the last thing they wrote was for their eyes only—a hastily scribbled note, a shopping list or a reminder.</p> <h4>Simple Recognition is Remarkable, and Shareable</h4> <p>That’s not the case for <a href="http://strictlyautobiographical.com/2013/02/thank-you-pepperidge-farm/">Rob at Strictly Autobiographical</a>. Rob received a handwritten note and a box of Milano cookies from Pepperidge Farm after he wrote a bit on his blog about how much he loves the cookies. Not only did Rob feel an extraordinary sense of gratitude, the story was shared on his blog and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/StrictlyAutobiographical/posts/490634227639260">Facebook page</a>, as well as receiving some <a href="http://agbeat.com/social-media/pepperidge-farm-surprises-a-blogger-wins-a-fan-for-life/">media attention on the AG Beat site</a>. Not bad publicity for a simple act of recognizing a good customer.</p> <div id="attachment_7760" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 440px"><a href="http://www.marketingsavant.com/wp-content/uploads//pepperidge-farm.jpg"></a><p class="wp-caption-text">http://strictlyautobiographical.com/2013/02/thank-you-pepperidge-farm/</p></div> <p>The power of recognition has been widely explored and written about in the area of employee recognition. The Gallup organization has found that <a href="http://businessjournal.gallup.com/content/12157/power-praise-recognition.aspx">employees who receive regular recognition experience several benefits</a>.</p> <ul> <li>Increase their individual productivity</li> <li>Increase engagement among their colleagues</li> <li>Are more likely to stay with their organization</li> <li>Receive higher loyalty and satisfaction scores from customers</li> </ul> <p>But what about recognition of our customers? How does simple, personal recognition affect your customers? Well, as it turns out, it affects them in much the same way due to the simple psychology behind recognition: <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/11/26/165570502/give-and-take-how-the-rule-of-reciprocation-binds-us">the rule of reciprocation</a>.</p> <p>Robert Cialdini mentioned a classic case of an outstanding car salesman in his book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Business-Essentials/dp/006124189X"><em>Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion</em></a> (which, if you’ve not read that, it’s a fundamental text for marketers – devour it soon) who would send handwritten notes to his clients once a month with simple messages in them. He was the best selling sales person</p> <p>Let’s look at another example of a small gift or bit of recognition in foodservice. According to Cialdini:</p> <blockquote><p>If a server brings you a check and does not include a candy on the check tray, you will tip the server whatever it is that you feel the server deserves. “But if there’s a mint on the tray, tips go up 3.3 percent,” Cialdini says. Moreover, if they look you in the eye when they deliver the check, while giving the candy, the tips go up even more!</p></blockquote> <p>You see, your simple recognition doesn’t have to be expensive or elaborate, and it’s best when it simply becomes a habitual part of your process.</p> <h4>Look and Listen for Opportunities</h4> <p>The first step in putting the simple power of recognition to work in your organization is to look for opportunities to come up with your own simple act like the ones already mentioned.</p> <p>Secondly, you should also consider adding this into your online listening routine. Recognizing those who speak about you online with an offline gesture and further boost online sharing and positive word of mouth, as was the case with the Pepperidge Farm story.</p> <h4>Create Reactions</h4> <p>That’s your goal here. You’re here to inspire and create a reaction from your audience that gets them talking about you, sharing your good words and good deeds with their tribe, all while building your tribe.</p> <h3><em>Question: When is the last time you recognized a good customer with a personal note or something tangible? </em></h3> <p></p> <h3><em>Question 2: What can your organization start doing today to start the virtuous cycle of recognition and sharing?</em></h3> <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=4SsGjvmT9C0:d3J9XtGRQ_U:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=4SsGjvmT9C0:d3J9XtGRQ_U:F7zBnMyn0Lo"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=4SsGjvmT9C0:d3J9XtGRQ_U:7Q72WNTAKBA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=4SsGjvmT9C0:d3J9XtGRQ_U:qj6IDK7rITs"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=4SsGjvmT9C0:d3J9XtGRQ_U:V_sGLiPBpWU"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=4SsGjvmT9C0:d3J9XtGRQ_U:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>How the Top 100 Social Media Brands Succeed</h1> <p>2013-04-29T23:00:25Z</p> <p>What if you could tap into the collective intelligence of the top 100 brands on social media and understand what behaviors they exhibit that drive real results for them? Look no further than the <a href="http://www.brandwatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/SB100-20121.pdf">Headstream (UK agency) 2012 Social Brands 100 report</a>. It’s one of the most recent, relevant and useful reports that I’ve seen since the <a href="http://www.altimetergroup.com/2009/07/engagementdb.html">Altimeter/Wetpaint report from 2009</a> that sought to codify the behaviors that drove social media success.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.marketingsavant.com/wp-content/uploads//bigstock-the-concept-of-communication-o-30551735.jpg"></a></p> <h4>Top Social Brands Do These Three Things</h4> <p>What makes a top social brand function? Well, there are many factors, but specifically, there are three of them that the report highlighted as the deciding factors that separate the Rock Stars from the Groupies:</p> <p><strong>1. Win-Win Relationships</strong><br /> With the increase in transparency brought on by social media comes a requirement for brands to focus on equitable and fair value exchange with all stakeholders. Brands cannot simply communicate a better brand, they must strive to be one.</p> <p>This can result in brands prioritising the needs of their stakeholders ahead of their own immediate requirements. This typically manifests in sharing better, more reader-centered content and providing and extraordinary value of utility in the marketing messages they send.</p> <p><strong>2. Active Listening</strong><br /> This is the act of monitoring the social web to uncover relevant conversations, and then having the capability and resources to act on what is found in a timely manner. This can extend from community management, to business planning, and everything in between.</p> <p>Not only do top brands listen, but they respond, engage and learn from what their listening tells them!</p> <p><strong>3. Appropriate Social Behavior</strong><br /> This is a commitment to provide a consistent brand presence in social spaces that is compelling, true, authentic and transparent, and that acknowledges the etiquette of each particular community.</p> <p>This is where social media community managers really shine. They have the right “voice”, get to know the audience and deliver on the brand promise each and every day through their social engagement.</p> <h4>19 Observable Markers of the Top 100 Social Brands</h4> <p>According to Headstream and Brandwatch, there are 19 separate ‘observable markers’ across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, foursquare, Google+, brand owned forums, brand websites and brand blogs that, when measured and tabulated, make up the scoring mechanism for the top 100 social brands. Have a look at these metrics. Are you monitoring all of these in your social media dashboard?</p> <p><span style="font-size: 16px;"><a href="http://www.marketingsavant.com/wp-content/uploads//Screen-Shot-2013-04-22-at-4.59.37-PM.png"></a>Read the rest of the <a href="http://www.brandwatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/SB100-20121.pdf">Headstream 2012 Social Brands 100 report</a>.</span></p> <p> </p> <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=tBQIRJpjA_8:34lLmyS_JQk:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=tBQIRJpjA_8:34lLmyS_JQk:F7zBnMyn0Lo"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=tBQIRJpjA_8:34lLmyS_JQk:7Q72WNTAKBA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=tBQIRJpjA_8:34lLmyS_JQk:qj6IDK7rITs"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=tBQIRJpjA_8:34lLmyS_JQk:V_sGLiPBpWU"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=tBQIRJpjA_8:34lLmyS_JQk:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Do Your Subscribers Love You? 7 Strategies for Improving Email Engagement</h1> <p>2013-04-29T23:00:10Z</p> <p><a href="http://www.marketingsavant.com/wp-content/uploads//bigstock-Red-Heart-Shape-And-E-mail-12341939.jpg"></a>If you’re a marketer who is seeking greater business performance from your email marketing, you need to pay attention to <a href="http://dmaemailblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/EngagementDiscussionPaper.pdf">email engagement and mind the factors that make up the engagement scores</a> that the major email providers (Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, etc.) track today.</p> <p>Pull out your latest email tracking report. What are you measuring? Open rates? Click through, total clicks, bounces and so forth? While these are all important metrics, what we’re really looking for is a combination of factors that</p> <h3>Email Engagement Metrics</h3> <p>The ‘dirty little secret’ in the email marketing industry is that your email campaigns are less and less under your direct control every year. Sure, the deliverability of your email marketing campaigns is somewhat under your control, but the new tools that email providers have installed for email subscribers has given them more control than ever over what gets into their inbox in the first place.</p> <p>All that said, email deliverability has never been higher. Coming into Q4 of 2012, deliverability was at about 96% according to the <a href="http://www.epsilon.com/news-and-events/press-releases/2013/q4-2012-north-america-email-trend-results-triggered-message-volu">Epsilon <em>Q4 2012 Email Trends and Benchmark</em> report</a>. So you’ve got that going for you…</p> <p>The following diagram shows the stages of engagement in email marketing that need to be measured, <a href="http://dmaemailblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/EngagementDiscussionPaper.pdf">according to the DMA</a>.</p> <p><a href="http://www.marketingsavant.com/wp-content/uploads//Screen-Shot-2013-04-20-at-3.13.20-PM.png"></a></p> <p>So what metrics play into engagement? Let’s have a look at the most popular ones across email providers.</p> <p><strong>Open rate</strong> – Does your email get opened across their network or not? What gets emails opened? From and subject lines. If they know and trust you, and then you’ve cr<a href="http://michaelhyatt.com/headlines-attract-readers.html">eated a magnetic subject line that sucks the reader in</a>, you’re on your way.</p> <p><strong>Clickthrough rate</strong> – Yes, email subscribers know who gets the clicks and who doesn’t. If you’re not using effective calls to action to get people out of the email and to your site, now’s the time to test the design, language and offers in your email.</p> <p><strong>TINS (This is not Spam)</strong> – This is when someone actually pulls your email out of the SPAM folder and moves it back into the inbox. Trust me, it happens, and if you’re a recognized sender with must-read messaging, your subscribers are going to save you from the depths of SPAM hell more times that you might realize.</p> <p><strong>Email deletions</strong> – Does your email get saved, or deleted when your subscriber receives it?</p> <p><strong>Abuse complaints </strong>- The major web-based email tools make it almost too-easy for people to hit the SPAM button. Send to often, they hit the button. Send from an unrecognized sender, they hit the button. Have a cumbersome unsubscribe process, they hit the button.</p> <p><strong>Individual preferences </strong>- Not only is it more challenging to reach your list, it’s even more challenging at the level of the individual who can put you in a folder, filter or some other categorization that diminishes the impact of your email.</p> <p><strong>Who sent the email</strong> – If you receive a lot of messages from XYZ company, and you often open, don’t delete and don’t mark as SPAM, Gmail and others think that you likely enjoy receiving messages from XYZ company.</p> <p><strong>The terms and keywords in the email</strong> – Is marketing your thing and do you read every email about marketing? If so, email providers will let more of those into your inbox, and Gmail specifically may help those messages find their way to the top of the Priority Inbox.</p> <p><strong>Auto-learning</strong> – Finally, some of the factors that affect deliverability are out of the control of both you and your subscriber as the email platforms use auto-learning to predict SPAM and ensure that their users get only the email they want.</p> <p>If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed after reading that list, I don’t blame you. Look on the bright side, however, everyone has to play by the same rules here! Let’s look at a few strategies for securing your space in your subscriber’s inbox.</p> <p>Learn more: <a href="http://www.silverpop.com/blogs/email-marketing/new-changes-in-microsoft-hotmail-what-every-marketer-should-know.html">New Changes in Microsoft Hotmail: What Every Marketer Should Know</a></p> <p>Learn more: <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/16958936069330561/">[Infographic] Why Users Become Disengaged With Your Email</a></p> <h3>How to Improve Email Engagement</h3> <p><strong>1. Consistency </strong>- This isn’t a metric as much as it is a discipline. Every email marketer and marketing company will tell you that somewhere between<a href="http://www.emailstatcenter.com/Frequency.html"> 35.4% and 69% will unsubscribe</a> due to too many emails, but there’s little data to guide you on ideal frequency.</p> <p>Consistency is key, but the ideal combination of frequency and consistency will vary for each brand. How do you find out? Testing. Yes, testing. Want to know how to test? <a href="http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/30302/The-5-Step-Test-to-Determine-Optimal-Email-Frequency.aspx">Read this post by HubSpot</a> and follow the 5 steps listed to determine your ideal frequency and consistency metric.</p> <p><strong>2. Focus</strong> – When your subscribers know what to expect, they anticipate, dare I say “look forward to” receiving your wisdom and value in their inbox. If you’ve not updated (or created) your <a href="http://www.marketingsavant.com/2012/12/2013-social-media-content-calendar-spreadsheet-download/">editorial focus and calendar</a> for your newsletter this year (or ever), now is the time to take a hard look at what you’re sending and what your audience wants you to send.</p> <p>There’s <a href="http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/cnet-increases-engagement-cutting-newsletters">an interesting case on how CNET went from 30 newsletters in their portfolio down to 16</a> that you should peruse. While it may not directly apply to all of you, it’s worth a glance, as I know you’ll glean some insights.</p> <p><strong>3. Animated GIFs</strong> – I know, these seem so 1999, but recent research shows that animated GIFs in email marketing have a very positive impact on email performance and engagement. <a href="http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2013/9889/key-email-engagement-tactics-benchmarks-and-trends">As reported in MarketingProfs, animated gifs and cinemagraphs produce higher transaction-to-click rates</a>: 72% of email marketers who have used animated gifs or cinemagraphs have recorded higher transaction-to-click rates, compared with bulk emails to the same customers.</p> <p>Learn more: <a href="http://www.experian.com/blogs/marketing-forward/2012/10/15/creative-tips-and-examples-of-how-to-utilize-animation-in-your-email-marketing-messages/">Creative tips and examples of how to utilize animation in your email marketing messages</a></p> <p><strong>4. Triggered messages </strong>- Triggered emails, based on such things as Welcome, Cart Abandonment, Thank You, Special Dates, Purchase Anniversary, Category Views and so forth have increased dramatically in the past few years and are one of the keys to improved overall subscriber engagement.</p> <p>Using triggered messages is a proven strategy to maintain subscriber engagement, but it also requires marketers to understand much more about each individual consumer and create a strategy that takes a personalized approach.</p> <p>Learn more: <a href="http://c0180741.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/pdf/Ultimate_Email_Lifecycle_Marketing_Guide_-_Event_Triggered_Alerts.pdf">The Ultimate Lifecycle Email Marketing Guide: Event-Triggered Alerts</a></p> <p><strong>5. Optimize for sharing (beyond <a href="http://viget.com/advance/swyn-email-sharing-via-social-media">SWYN</a>)</strong> – Encouraging content sharing (and feature your first call to action) in the first 300 pixels of the email if you want to make an impact with those that are still using the email preview mode (many corporate users still do if they’re on Outlook).</p> <p>Think beyond share buttons, by understanding what drives people to share. It could be a great infographic, a useful video, data points or any form of great content asset that you’ve mentioned in your email. The smart folks at <a href="http://blog.eloqua.com/emailengagementstrategies/">Eloqua recommend that you</a> <em>“break up your email copy with artwork, boxed information and interactive calls-to-action, through a video or image.”</em></p> <p>Learn more: <a href="http://direct2time.timeinc.com/online/prop/instyle/images/Cheetahmail_Creative.pdf">Email Marketing Creative Best Practices and Techniques</a> (via Cheetamail)</p> <p><strong>6. Cleanse or re-engage your email list regularly</strong> – The best emailers regularly evaluate their subscribers on the list and engage either in email list cleansing or launch a <a href="http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/cnet-win-back-email-campaign">subscriber re-engagement campaign</a>. Both can have positive results, but the bottom line here is that we have the best subscribers on our list who are engaged and who actually want to hear from us.</p> <p><strong>7. Follow some of the smart advice below</strong> from the <a href="http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/excerpt/free-excerpt-email-marketing-benchmark-2013">MarketingSherpa 2013 Email Marketing Benchmark Survey</a>.</p> <p></p> <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=V3py4StN1HI:jCvSJrk2618:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=V3py4StN1HI:jCvSJrk2618:F7zBnMyn0Lo"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=V3py4StN1HI:jCvSJrk2618:7Q72WNTAKBA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=V3py4StN1HI:jCvSJrk2618:qj6IDK7rITs"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=V3py4StN1HI:jCvSJrk2618:V_sGLiPBpWU"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/marketingsavant?a=V3py4StN1HI:jCvSJrk2618:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> </main></body></html>