Email marketing is still effective. True, since the dawn of the internet, many new digital marketing channels have emerged, such as social media. However, research consistently shows that email marketing continues to deliver a strong return on investment.
This actually makes sense. Quite simply, many internet users have email addresses. Thus, email marketing campaigns give you the opportunity to reach a large audience.
That said, it’s also important to keep in mind that a marketing email can only boost your business if people actually read it. That’s why you need to keep these email marketing subject line tips in mind:
Email Marketing Subject Lines: Key Tips You Need to Know
Make it Personal
Sometimes writing a strong subject line is much simpler than you might realize. For instance, study after study indicates that people are more likely to open emails when the subject lines feature their names. Email marketing programs can help by automatically inserting the name of a recipient into the subject line of any email you send (when it makes sense to do so).
Front Load Important Words
Consider how your audience is likely to check their email inboxes. According to recent consumer studies and surveys, it’s becoming more and more common for people to check their emails on smartphones.
That’s an important point for the simple fact that when email subject lines are displayed on small smartphone screens, readers often won’t see as much text as they would if they were checking their emails on desktop computers. Thus, you need to make sure you’re including important words towards the front of your email marketing subject lines, as that is the only part of the subject line you can be confident your audience will see in their inbox.
Don’t Use Too Much Punctuation
Some new email marketers make the mistake of believing they can excite an audience by including a lot of punctuation in a subject line. An example would be “Winter SALE!! These deals are incredible!!!”
However, research from Mailchimp shows that you shouldn’t include more than three punctuation marks in a given email subject line (and even that many might be pushing it in various circumstances).
Why not? Because excessive punctuation makes an email look like spam.
Test
As with other types of marketing content, including social media ads and calls to action, you need to A/B test different email subject lines to get a better sense of which strategies do and do not work. Don’t merely assume you’ve written the strongest subject line you can. Test a different version of it with half your audience to confirm you’ve chosen the strongest option.
Give Them a Reason to Open Your Email
People are busy. Very few members of your audience will open an email simply because they received it. They need a clear reason to click on it. Your subject line has to tell them what they’ll find if they open the email. Additionally, it has to honestly and accurately represent the content. Surveys show people dislike it when email marketers use misleading subject lines.
Whether you’re marketing a small product of your own or handling marketing for a fast-growing startup, remember to apply these email marketing subject line tips. They’ll help you boost open rates, which will in turn lead to more conversions.
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Content marketing is effective for a very simple reason: people don’t want brands to merely tell them about their products and services. Instead, they want brands to provide them with valuable content (whether it’s entertaining, educational, or both). This allows them to develop a natural relationship with a brand that can result in them becoming loyal customers.
One popular way to offer valuable content is through a blog. This is also an affordable strategy.
However, having a blog doesn’t guarantee success. You need to write strong entries to attract a loyal readership. These blog content marketing tips will help.
Essential Blog Content Marketing Tips: How to Write Strong Entries
Make Them Scannable
The content of your blog entries isn’t the only element that will determine whether they attract readers. The way the content is formatted is also very important.
Research indicates that these days, it’s actually more common for people to browse the internet and consume online content via mobile devices than via desktop computers. Make sure you’ve accounted for this when formatting your blog entries.
If your blog entries have too many large chunks of text with no headers, bullet points, or similar formatting to orient a reader, they’ll be difficult to read on a small mobile device’s screen. Your paragraphs should be relatively short and you should use formatting elements to break entries up into different sections.
Know What You’re Offering
Again, content marketing delivers results because it provides leads with the value they crave. Keep this in mind when deciding what types of blog entries to write. You have to give your audience a practical reason to read your blog.
For example, maybe you’re marketing a line of compact and portable fitness products. If so, your audience consists of people looking for ways to work out in small spaces, such as hotel rooms and apartments. You might thus provide them with value by writing a blog entry on “10 Effective Bodyweight Exercises You Can do in Your Small Apartment.”
Use the Right Keywords
Your main goal is to write blogs that offer some value to your readers. That said, you still need to account for SEO basics.
Learn how to do keyword research. Including the right keywords in your blog entries will help you attract the types of readers looking for the content you’re offering.
Include Images
Don’t make the mistake of assuming your blog content should only include text. On the contrary, readers tend to respond more to blogs that also incorporate images and video when necessary. These visual elements shouldn’t be so abundant that they become distracting, but they should break up your text and make the overall entry more dynamic. Keep in mind that breaking up text with images is another way to make longer blog entries appear more organized for small mobile device screens.
As always, you also need to monitor your blog content marketing strategy to determine which entries yield the greatest results. These blogging tips for marketers will simply help you start planning your strategy.
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Strong marketing plays a crucial role in the success of virtually any business or product. However, you also have to consider your budget when planning marketing campaigns. You can’t spend so much on marketing that you don’t have funds for other essential business needs.
That’s why it’s a good idea to focus on ways to get free marketing. Although some of your marketing campaigns and tactics will require a financial investment, applying the following free marketing tips will help you minimize how much of your budget to need to set aside:
Free Marketing Tips to Optimize Your Budget
Get Customers to Create Content
A social media presence is essential for most businesses. If you’re not active on social media, you’re missing the opportunity to reach a potentially large audience.
Additionally, social media also gives you the chance to get free marketing in the form of user or customer generated content.
For instance, maybe you’re marketing an apparel line. On Instagram, you might run a contest in which your followers can post pictures of themselves wearing your shirts and mentioning your brand (perhaps along with a hashtag for the composition in their posts). The user who posts the strongest photo can earn a free product in return.
True, that means this marketing tactic won’t be completely free, but if many of your followers participate in the contest, their followers will learn about your brand. This could result in additional sales that essentially offset the cost of the free product you offer to the winner.
Submit Press Releases to Relevant Publications
Many people make the mistake of assuming they need to struggle to convince others to help them market their products. That’s not always the case. For instance, you should keep in mind that many journalists are eager for stories. Their job requires finding topics to cover.
That means there’s a good chance some reporters would be happy to write about your business if it’s relevant to their publication and readers. For example, if you’re marketing a restaurant, a reporter for a local paper or news site in the area may want to cover it.
Consider what types of publications may feature stories about your business. Once you have a list of options, find the contact info for their editors and submit press releases. There’s a chance some will want to share information about your business in a story.
Prioritize Content Marketing
Just as you need a social media presence, you also need a website if you want people to learn about your business in this day and age. It’s a good idea to feature a blog on your site offering information that your customers would find valuable.
An example would be someone who owns a graphic design business writing blog posts sharing graphic design tips for the types of clients they plan to work with. While this does involve investing some time into writing the blogs, it doesn’t necessarily require a financial investment if you handle the writing yourself.
The main point to keep in mind is that marketing a business doesn’t always need to require spending a huge portion of your budget. Free marketing tips like these clearly prove you can often reach many potential customers without spending a dime.
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Marketing a business successfully doesn’t merely involve applying basic tips. Although it is important to leverage practical strategies when developing marketing campaigns, it’s also important to remember that the proper mindset will help you vastly improve your marketing skills.
Are you struggling to spread the word about your business? If so, consider the following marketing mindset tips.
Marketing Mindset Tips You Need to Know
Don’t Just Focus on Getting Attention
Many budding marketers mistakenly believe their primary goal is simply to get the attention of potential customers. That’s not actually the case. You have to remember that leads often don’t make a purchase when they first learn about a brand. They need to encounter the brand multiple times before deciding to become paying customers.
That means your main goal isn’t necessarily to get someone’s attention. Instead, your goal is to keep their attention. This is a simple marketing mindset shift that will nevertheless lead to vast improvements in your campaigns.
Have an Opinion
It’s often the case that people who respond to brands and become loyal customers don’t do so merely because they like the products the business offers. Often, they also respond to the values the business represents.
Too many failing marketers believe they need to play it safe and not make any bold statements in their campaigns in order to avoid offending any potential customers. However, you may actually be better off taking a stand and deciding you want your business to embody certain core values.
Consider the example of Apple. In its early days, the company managed to attract a strong following of devoted customers because Steve Jobs cultivated a brand that stood in direct opposition to other companies and ideologies. Sure, this meant those who were already loyal to those other companies probably didn’t buy Apple products, but it also fired up Apple’s base in a way that directly resulted in more sales for the company.
Remember this when planning your marketing campaigns. There’s value in standing for something.
Offer Experiences
You absolutely shouldn’t judge yourself if you don’t have the ideal marketing mindset right now. You need to understand that marketing mindsets which were effective in the past simply might not be as applicable today.
For example, not too long ago, it made sense to think of marketing campaigns as a means of spreading a message about a brand. However, in today’s world, the way in which customers interact with brands has changed. Thanks to social media, smartphones, and a range of other innovations, it’s now more important for brands to deliver experiences to their customers via marketing campaigns.
For example, perhaps you’re marketing a line of kitchen tools. In the past you might have spread the word about the brand through a traditional commercial. Now, it makes more sense to share video recipes with customers, offering them an experience in the form of valuable content.
Make a point of applying these marketing mindset tips. You’ll simply be much more successful as a marketer if you think about marketing from the right perspective.
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The coronavirus pandemic has clearly had a disruptive effect (and definitely not the good kind) on a number of industries and fields. Marketing is no exception.
This isn’t meant to worry anyone. On the contrary, due to the sudden changes many businesses have had to adapt to, in the coming years, they’ll rely on marketers to help them promote their goods and services in unique ways for unique circumstances.
Their marketing strategies are more likely to be effective if they keep certain key points in mind. Whether you’re a marketer serving another company, or you’re simply marketing your own business, the following are crucial tips that will help you succeed as a marketer during the coronavirus pandemic.
4 Essential Marketing Tips During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Bring People Together Digitally
The current pandemic has already forced many people to stay in relative isolation to limit its spread. There’s a good chance this trend will continue to rise before it decreases.
Thus, people are going to look for opportunities to socialize with others in the digital realm. You can give them those opportunities as a marketer. For instance, thanks to the experiential marketing trend, many businesses and organizations now promote their services by organizing branded events for potential customers to attend.
That’s obviously not an option when your customers may be trying to avoid large crowds of people. However, thanks to online virtual event platforms, you can adjust your strategy by planning branded events customers can “attend” via their computers.
Adjust Your Budget
As the above point makes clear, you may need to make some changes to your overall marketing strategy due to the coronavirus pandemic. This will likely involve re-allocating your budget. With more of your customers in isolation, you may need to prioritize digital marketing channels over others.
Emphasize Valuable Content
Anyone who has already spent a few days or weeks in isolation due to the coronavirus pandemic knows being stuck indoors can start to get quite boring. People are coping with the sudden change in lifestyle by consuming large amounts of content they can access online.
Remember that when developing your content. While it’s always been important to provide your customers with valuable content, given the current situation, you need to consider what type of content you can offer that will specifically help people adapt to their circumstances. This might take the form of entertainment or practical advice, for example.
Be Genuine
Again, while marketers will still play an important role during the pandemic, it’s understandable if you’re feeling a little stressed and concerned right now. You’re not alone. Thus, while you certainly don’t want to spread negativity and fear, you can reflect on your own feelings when developing marketing content. Both you and your customers are going through the same global experience. Connect with them on a genuine level in your campaigns.
Of course, the essentials of marketing still apply. It’s still smart to monitor your channels and campaigns to determine which deliver the strongest return on investment. You still need to automate when possible to save time. Just remember that changing your strategy for the times is another way to ensure your marketing efforts remain successful in the age of the coronavirus.
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The coronavirus pandemic has dramatically affected how marketers operate. If your previous strategy involved marketing campaigns based on trends that are no longer appropriate for a world where consumers are staying indoors (such as experiential marketing), you may need to adjust your approach fast.
Consider how these coronavirus marketing tips can help you do so. They represent some of the more popular recent marketing trends that are ideal during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Coronavirus & Marketing: 5 Trends to Optimize Your New Strategy
User Generated Content
All marketers know they need to optimize their budgets. That’s why many have recently focused on developing user generated content.
This naturally involves encouraging customers to create content that represents your brand, sharing it on social media. The result is free advertising.
It’s also an ideal marketing approach during the coronavirus pandemic. With many of your customers staying indoors, there’s a good chance they’ll be spending even more time than usual on social media. Leverage this to your advantage.
For example, maybe you’re a marketer for a cosmetics brand. You could launch an Instagram contest asking followers to post selfies showing the unique looks they created with your products (while mentioning your brand and including a relevant hashtag, of course). Give some sort of prize to the winner, and enjoy all the free brand attention you’re getting as a result.
Webinars
This is a trend particularly worth considering if you’re a marketer for a B2B business. Odds are good your customers would appreciate attending a webinar in which you share valuable information about a relevant topic. Once again, because most of your customers will now be spending a lot of time inside, there’s perhaps never been a better time to take advantage of this content marketing trend.
Branded VR Content
This is the type of trend you might consider if you have a relatively strong budget and your target customers are tech-savvy. In recent years, many brands (ranging from the North Face to Coca-Cola) have made an emotional and dynamic connection with customers by developing branded VR content. You could do the same.
Perhaps you’re marketing a travel brand. Because your customers can’t actually go on major trips right now, many would likely appreciate the option to take VR “vacations” (essentially consisting of virtual video tours of popular destinations) during the coronavirus pandemic.
Video Content
Don’t overlook the basics! Video marketing has become a very significant trend in recent years, with numerous studies and surveys indicating consumers prefer video content. Again, now that they’re stuck at home and need content to consume, you should definitely consider how you can develop low-budget videos (since you probably can’t organize major shoots right now) that offer genuine value.
Nostalgia Marketing
Nostalgia marketing involves making an emotional connection with potential customers by developing content that reminds them of happy memories. Because many are stressed about the coronavirus pandemic, now is a good time to try and make them feel better.
Yes, suddenly transitioning to a new marketing strategy because of the current situation can seem overwhelming. However, it doesn’t have to be. These trends will help you develop marketing campaigns that work during the coronavirus pandemic.
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You may already know that video marketing has become an increasingly important trend in recent years. That’s simply because studies routinely indicate consumers engage with video content to a substantial degree.
The problem is, shooting video can be fairly difficult right now. The coronavirus pandemic is keeping a lot of people indoors. That means you may find it difficult (if not impossible or illegal) to plan major video shoots. Perhaps the only type of video content you can develop now involves shots of one or two people in a single generic location.
Don’t worry if this is the case. The following low-budget, indoor video marketing ideas will help you take advantage of this trend in the age of social distancing.
5 Types of Marketing Videos You Can Make During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Tutorials
This is a basic type of marketing video that nonetheless can provide your audience with genuine value. Depending on the nature of your product, customers may appreciate a video tutorial showing them how to use it.
Just make sure you’re creative with this. Don’t merely provide bland instructions. Make sure the information is both valuable and appealing. For example, if you’re a marketer for a brand of kitchen gadgets, you could shoot short cooking videos showing how to make different recipes with your products.
Sketches
Content needs to be valuable. However, not all “value” is educational. Your audience might also some entertainment (particularly when they’re stuck indoors). Thus, if you have comedic skills, you could shoot a short video sketch in a small space. For instance, if you were marketing a photo-taking app, you might create a character who uses the app to take selfies in an amusing way. This is a low-budget option that could definitely keep your audience entertained during a tough time.
Q & A
Through your various digital marketing channels (such as social media and email), encourage your customers to submit questions about your brand. On a regular basis, post videos in which you answer the best questions from the last few days or weeks.
Company Culture Videos
Brands often engage with potential customers by sharing videos that demonstrate their company culture. An example would be a behind-the-scenes look at the company office.
Of course, if you’re working from home now, you can’t show off your traditional office. However, you can modify your approach (and relate to customers going through the same struggles) with a video showing how your organization’s various employees are keeping the company culture alive while working remotely. This would of course involve asking employees to submit short videos of themselves working at home. With the right incentive, they may be willing to do so.
Listicle Videos
Take a look at popular YouTube channels such as WatchMojo. They often involve basic shots of a talking head sharing interesting or entertaining information. The only other shots are clips from other videos (such as relevant movies or news clips) that have been edited in. These are inexpensive to produce, and very easy to make if you have basic video editing skills.
These are all ideas to keep in mind as you adjust your video marketing strategy for the coronavirus pandemic. Remember, being stuck inside doesn’t mean you can’t create videos that will truly engage your customers. Now may in fact be the best time to take advantage of this marketing trend.
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Experiential marketing has become one of the most dominant marketing trends in recent years. It involves inviting potential customers to participate in branded experiences. For example, an apparel brand popular among young people might organize a branded event featuring musical performances from popular stars and fun activities they can post pictures about on social media.
Of course, now that the coronavirus pandemic has kept many of us indoors for a while, such an event is no longer an option for the time being. Luckily, you can still use these online and digital experiential marketing tips to leverage this powerful trend.
5 Online & Digital Experiential Marketing Ideas You Need to Know About
VR Experiences
Many brands have already used virtual reality to ensure their experiential marketing campaigns reach as many customers as possible. Those who can’t physically attend an event can still “attend” it through VR headsets. This is an option to consider now that many of your customers are stuck indoors.
Online Concerts
Concerts are popular ways for brands to reach potential customers through popular celebrities. While you can’t organize a traditional concert any time soon, depending on your budget, you may be able to arrange an online concert by organizing a studio session with a popular artist. Add to the experience by giving users the option to view the concert through video or VR.
Online Fashion Shows (or Similar Ideas)
If you’re marketing an apparel or a cosmetics brand, this idea gives you the opportunity to merge both experiential marketing and user generated content into one experimental campaign.
Consider the example of an apparel brand. Via Instagram, you could encourage users to shoot short “runway” videos of themselves showing off your outfits from the comfort of their own apartments. Ask them to share these via their own Instagram accounts. Once you collect the entries, you can announce a time when you will be posting the best entries (one after another) via your Instagram or other social media platform. You might also arrange a chat function so people could comment on the “event.” It’s a digital take on a fashion show that your customers can directly participate in.
Yes, if you’re not marketing apparel or cosmetics, you’ll have to modify this idea slightly, but you can probably think of a similar concept. For example, if you’re marketing a gaming, you could invite people to view an online tournament in which players face off against one another.
Online Meet-ups
Keep in mind that many platforms (such as Second Life) give marketers the option to organize virtual meet-ups with their customers. Consider the many ways you can use this simple option to offer your socialization-starved audience the chance to participate in fun online events with others.
AR Experiences
Like VR, augmented reality can allow marketers to bring dynamic real-world experiences directly into the homes of customers. For instance, you could use AR technology to make it appear as though an online concert was taking place in a customer’s home.
Remember these points going forward. The coronavirus pandemic may be keeping many of us inside, but that doesn’t mean you need to abandon your experiential marketing plans. Instead, you simply need to modify them.
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YouTube has become the largest video sharing website in the world. With thousands of videos uploaded every hour, there’s a mad rush for the number of views for these videos as well. For a video to become successful, it becomes essential that it is uploaded without any mistake.
Camera Quality
One of the common mistakes that new YouTubers make is using a low quality camera. YouTube is all about videos, so there’s no point in uploading a video which cannot be seen properly. A proper camera, good amount of light, proper editing, and good audio quality is a necessity for a video to gain more views on YouTube.
Inappropriate Channel Name
Many new YouTubers commit the mistake of not selecting an appropriate channel name, which makes them lose out on views on their videos. It is important to select an appropriate channel name. Your channel name should be catchy and different for your videos to get more and more views. Also, do not copy the channel name of some other video. Your channel name should be unique and stand out from the million others.
Not Rehearsing
Until and unless you are exceptionally good at making things up on the spot, don’t try doing it. Your viewers certainly don’t want to listen to your ‘uhhs’ and ‘umsss’ in the video. Rehearsing properly before recording is always advisable.
Not Linking to Social Media Websites
Link your videos to your social media websites. It helps your user find the videos and also connect to you easily. Also, one should be careful while using hash tags in a video, as a large proportion of the audience uses hash tags to see a particular video.
Not Commenting Back
As a new user, make it a point to reply to the viewers as much as you can. This creates a positive impression among users, as they feel connected and special. Do this for them, and they will return you the favor. Not replying to comments will simply make your viewers lose interest in your videos.
Ineffective Comments
Many a time, we see people commenting on videos, like ‘Nice video. Check out my video (and the link). This should be strictly avoided. Nothing annoys a YouTube user more than this. Instead, put some valuable comment on that video which will be appreciated, and people will like to know more about you.
Long Videos
A mistake committed by YouTube newbies. They upload a video which is too long for anyone’s attention span. If you upload a video that is too long, viewers will lose interest in it. But then, this does not mean that you make the video so short that viewers do not understand what the video was about.
Time Gap Between Videos
There should be a time gap between uploading your videos. The mistake that new YouTubers commit is that, if they do not get views on their upload, they either start uploading multiple videos, or do not upload any video at all. Instead of doing this, follow a regular time gap between your videos. But that doesn’t mean that your videos have a time gap of a month or so. A proper time gap should be followed while uploading your videos.
Not Asking to Subscribe and Comment
A very essential thing which new YouTubers need to do, is ask viewers to subscribe and comment at the end of all the videos. Many new YouTubers either forget to do this, or they simply don’t want to do it.
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