13
Mar
Calls To Action: How To Create Successful Email Campaigns
Email marketing is an essential element in eCommerce marketing and but has never been called easy. And one of the most important parts of a successful email campaign is the ‘call to action’ – the message that drives readers to the response you want them to complete. Writing an effective ‘call to action’ is part skill, part science. That’s when we saw this extremely informative infographic from the guys at Litmus.com, we knew wanted to share.
There was so much much useful information, we wanted to break it down bit-by-bit.
Don’t be selfish. Motivate.
The infographic says it perfectly – “a really great CTA will balance your needs alongside the needs of the subscriber.” Your CTA should call your subscribers to fulfill your goal of the campaign ( make goals specific as possible) as well as give the subscriber a reason to preform the desired action. “Click to buy this bike” is too selfish and ultimately ineffective especially when compared to motivating CTAs like “Click to receive a 25% discount on this bike.
The infographic lists 10 important elements of a successful CTA.
1. People Like Buttons & 2. When it comes to language KISS
When it comes to form there are no wrongs and rights ( so test yourself), but traditionally in studies, CTA buttons do better than text links. Even more than web copy, Keep It (Even) Simple(r) Stupid. Your CTA should be plain, simple and obvious. Tell your subscribers EXACTLY what you want them to do. If you don’t your Call To Action because a Call To ? <- they know you want them to do something, they just can’t tell what, or why (not good).
3. Be engaging. Support your CTA
Like every type of marketing you do, be engaging. Be interesting and your readers will be interested (in your CTA). Its common sense, but it is also rare. It takes skill & time to make marketing material interesting, but it is worth it.
Also, all of your content should point back to your CTA both in design & context. Elaborate on your CTA, provide more detail to give your subscribers a fuller understand of your CTA and more of a reason to fulfill it. It’s also important to make sure that all elements are secondary in terms of design focus to your CTA.
More…
08
Feb
Stop Irritating Your Subscribers
Constant Contact found that users receive three permission-based emails a day. So what makes users open some and not others? Or worse than deleting your email, what makes users mark you as spam forever sending your emails to never never land?
The answer is pretty simple: Basic email etiquette, Quality over quantity, personal over pitch, and customer-centric messaging.
13
Jan
How To Make Your Email Marketing Share-Worthy
Email marketing is becoming more and more social. If you need proof just check out GetResonses’s infographic below!
Users sharing a store’s email is a merchant dream, but its not just going to happen out of the blue, users need a reason to share. Its important to make it easy and enticing for users to share information with friends, both on social networks and through email.
So what can you do to help your email marketing spread across the social universe?
1. Include social links to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ ETC
You should make social sharing convenient and simple as possible. Link to social networks within your emails and include icons to grab their attention
11
Jan
How Messaging and Design Affect Conversion Rates
Zippycart’s infographic shows how design and messaging affect consumer shopping behavior aka online conversions! The infographic shares some really interesting facts and figures and the data reveals some really useful tips for merchants:
SISS- Say It Simple Stupid.
- Make copy simple and to the point. People want to know the who/what/when/where quickly and easily. Simple copy is effective copy.
09
Jan
90% Of People Believe Brand Recommendations From Friends
Inbound marketing focuses on getting found by customers and not forcing them to look at you through advertisements (outbound marketing). Inbound marketing is permission marketing centered on relationships and natural SEO.
As an inbound marketing software, Hubspot is obviously all about ‘inbound-marketing’ but they have good reason to be. The impact word-of-mouth and customer reviews on online sales is immense! Just check out some of these facts:
PPC: Only 41% of people believe that ads ( Google Ads etc) are a good source of product information & 75% don’t accept ads as ‘truth’.
SEO: 61% of consumers use search engines to research products before a purchase
SOCIAL MEDIA: 90% of people believe brand recommendations from friends. Thats 20% more than those who believe general consumer opinion
CUSTOMER REVIEWS : Products with over 50 reviews create greater return, 65% more than products with fewer than 5.
20
Dec
Choosing Buyer Keywords
Customers search for products in different phases of the purchasing process. They be browsing, considering a purchase, comparison shopping or they could be ready to buy NOW!
Conversion Funnel
Unfortunately PPC doesn’t allow the “only show to purchase-ready searchers” option, so if you aren’t careful and strategic you can end up paying a lot for users without any purchase intent.
While you can’t know for certain a user’s position in the purchase process, you can choose keywords that are indicative of their placement. Consumers’ searches follow a pretty standard pattern as they move down the conversion funnel.
You have to find the keywords that accompany the purchase-ready stage or the buyer keywords.
For example:
- Betty’s looking for a laptop. She searches:” best laptops” or “laptop reviews”
Those keywords can be good, but for the most part users are just beginning their purchase journey. Lets say Betty went to those review sites and realized she she was probably more interested in a Macbook.
- Armed with more specific inquiries, Betty has further moved down the conversion funnel – she knows exactly what she wants and shes ready to buy. She searches: “Buy Macbooks” “Buy Macbooks Cheap” ”Macbooks under $100″ ”Budget Macbooks”
Without knowing Betty’s journey, you These keywords are indict
Matt Carter lists some great examples of buyer keywords on his blog.
- buy
- purchase
- review
- best
- cheap
- new
- bargain
- budget
- economical
- inexpensive
- low cost
- low priced
- reduced
- compare
- model numbers
- brand names
09
Dec
5 Questions To Ask Before You Send Your Newsletter
Lets face it customer acquisition is hard and most likely expensive. Of course new customers are important, but what your store really needs is sales – no matter the source. Reaching out to your existing customers is THE way to raising your bottom-line without upping your marketing budget. Some studies have even found that it costs 4 times as much to get a sale from a new customer as from an existing customer.
One way to connect with old customers is sending out a monthly newsletter. While it may seem like an 10-minute task, a successful newsletter takes time and thought. Many stores think they have this covered, but its important to review your content to make sure you are converting as many customers as possible. Ask yourself these five questions to better plan your newsletter.
How does my content fit into our overall marketing strategy?
The best marketing campaigns leverages multiple touch-points with a consistant message. Remind customers about promotions you’re running, newly added features, and exciting company news! Don’t assume they have already heard it. Think about it: Do you read every tweet in your stream? Check a fanpage everyday? Even open EVERY email? By share your marketing resources across different channels, you’ll reach more your customers!
Am I just taking about my company or am I offering engaging content to readers?
A lot of merchants are apt to create a newsletter solely focused on company news—but the best newsletters also include relevant and engaging content. If you have a blog, feature a post somewhere in the body of the newsletter. Include promotions and coupons. Feel free to work in some company news, but feature your most interesting content at the top of the newsletter.
Can I use shared content or should I focus solely on original content?
While you want your newsletter to include mostly original content, including a link to a relevant article from a renowned media outlet is another great way to boost readership. Consider adding Must Read Articles from your industry with a snippet preview. It conveys thought leadership and industry knowledge and your readers will appreciate that you saved them time trolling through every related article. Solid content, original or not, incentivizes customers to to keep reading your newsletters.
Am I being as concise as possible?
No one wants to waste time, so don’t waste your customers. If you can consolidate two paragraphs into two sentences, do it. You’re not going to win any points for being long-winded. Your newsletter should provide short descriptions and link to most of the featured content. You may only have a split second to grab a reader’s attention, so take advantage of that second!
Am I being strategic?
While knowing general facts about the best time of day for open rate is good information to have, your customers are unique and need to be treated as so. Services like MailChimp and My Emma help you blast out stylized emails and deliver analytics on your readers so you can tweak your newsletter to be more effective based on reader response.
21
Mar
Once, Twice, Three Times an Email
By Ross Kramer, CEO of Listrak
Shopping cart remarketing email campaigns work because they motivate customers to complete their abandoned sales. Our clients are converting an average of 20-35% through their campaigns, but we’ve seen even higher results with organizations that send a series of emails. For example, Movies Unlimited averages 44% conversion on its first message, while the second and third messages achieve 28% and 22% respectively. The extra messages require little additional effort or cost to deploy, but produce a significant amount of revenue. It’s all profit – money that would have been otherwise lost.
We get a lot of questions about the right number and timing of messages in a series. It depends on a number of factors – the length of your sales cycle, your customers shopping habits, etc. If you’re just getting started, though, you could try sending the first message within an hour of the abandonment, the second message 2 days later, and the third message 2 or 3 days after that. Be sure to watch your metrics closely and try different cadences to find what works best.
You might be wondering what to include in the three messages. You should always test to determine your messaging and offers, but, again, if you’re just getting started you could follow these guidelines:
- Message 1 – Images of the items left in the cart, the cost to complete the sale, and an easy way for the customer to complete the sale through a link to the online cart and a prominent phone number for your customer service reps. It’s also a good idea to include security icons so shoppers feel safe.
- Message 2 – An offer or special discount. Many online retailers are reluctant to use offers in their shopping cart remarketing campaigns; however clever discounting can actually increase your profitability, not diminish it. How? First, by using the offer in the second email instead of the first, you’re reducing the number of customers who receive the discount. And second, by putting some thought into it, you can increase your AOV. Movies Unlimited, which sells hard-to-find DVDs, offers $5 off a $25 purchase. One DVD costs less than $25, so to receive the discount; most customers purchase at least 2 DVDs, even though only one might have been left in the cart. It works – Movies Unlimited increased its average order value by 28% using this method!
- Message 3 – A statement reminding customers of the items in their carts along with a notification that the cart will expire soon. This scarcity clause will prompt many customers into action.
For more information, you can download our free whitepaper “Shopping Cart Abandonment Remarketing: Strategies and Next Practices from the IR500”, or contact me at rkramer@listrak.com or 717.627.4528.
About Ross Kramer
Ross is a co-founder and CEO of Listrak. He has nearly 15 years of executive leadership, successfully launching and directing three technology start-ups. Ross has led Listrak from concept to leading email marketing solutions provider serving online retailers, interactive agencies, and direct marketers. As CEO, Ross is responsible for charting Listrak’s strategic vision and direction. Ross is a thought-leader within the online marketing community, lending his expertise to conferences, seminars, and webcasts.