7 tips for stepping up your business' Facebook event marketing

Chances are you’ve received Facebook event invites for concerts, parties or public gatherings. How often do you click accept to an event invite but have no idea what it is and have no intention of going? Or if you’re bombarded with events, maybe you’re someone who automatically hits “decline” whenever you get an invite. How often do you miss events that you’re actually interested in?

While the Events function has come a long way since it was debuted on Facebook back in 2005, then called “My Parties”, the interface and functionality still confuses users and often turns people away. 450 million people use Facebook’s event service, but even Facebook admits there’s room for improvement, as it’s been in “maintenance mode” for almost its entire existence.

Facebook recently released its end-of-year update to Events, which make it easier for people to find something that interests them and is in their area. The update is designed with a specific focus on helping users meet up with friends or colleagues, and even find people with similar interests.

What’s changed?

Many users are unsure if they can attend a business’ event, and worry that saying “No” would be harsh, “Yes” might be a lie, and “Maybe” might be misleading (or read as “No”). Facebook has eased this social struggle by rolling out a replacement for “Maybe” with “Interested,” which can be interpreted as a soft yes. Interested users can stay in the loop with updates and notifications from the event admin.

Other changes include:

• Related event cards now appear after a user clicks on an event, just as related news cards materialize after clicking on a news link.  


• Events plugin for websites, which auto-sync with the content that is in the event, and allows users browsing the website to see who is going to an event.

After the party or event ends, Facebook wants to add features to help you look back fondly on your experience. Lily Jolly, a product manager at Facebook focussing on events, said that Facebook “wanted to help bring those good feelings back more often” and implied that soon we can expect to see new features that will.

Perhaps most importantly, Facebook is tweaking its algorithm that determines if and when it will show you information about a public event that might be appealing to you. The algorithm considers your interests, previously attended events and location and weighs them against the event’s popularity, time and place.

According to Aditya Koolwal, a product manager at Facebook, “We have a good sense of how people look for things to do,” Facebook product manager Aditya Koolwal said. “The social signals we have, the friends who are interested in going, the friends you can potentially go with… so we’re going to try and take advantage of that as much as we possibly can as we roll out more discovery features.”

Take advantage of event marketing for your business

With the new features for the often overlooked Facebook Events comes new opportunity to market your business’ events, fundraisers, galas, parties and gatherings. Here’s how to make the most out of Events:

1. Keep your event updates rolling, even when all the admins have finished inviting everyone. Anyone who isn’t sure about attending (marked as interested) will receive updates. The more useful information you publish to the event, the better you are able to engage and include those who are on the fence.

2. Invite non-network friends with an email address. This isn’t a new update to events, but it is little known – You can invite friends who aren’t on Facebook just by inputting their email address. While their experience without an account is more limited, they can still RSVP and view updates.

3. Read and analyze receipts. Similarly to Messages, Events gives you the option to see who has received an invitation and seen updates from the event’s admins. Keep track to help inform you how to tweak your marketing strategies and language.

4. Include all location and timing information, so users can take advantage of the new feature to see nearby events. The more details that you include, the more accurately Facebook will be able to catalogue your event and suggest it to interested users.

5. Limit the length of your event name. Push notifications have a character limit. Be sure your title is able to communicate everything it needs to in the size of one single notification.

6. Use CTAs like ticket-purchasing buttons to shorten the funnel and make it easier for viewers to become event-going customers.

The above, from Facebook’s Developer Conference’s website, features their event plugin, which embeds the event page on their website.

7. Take advantage of the event plugin for your website. The event plugin updates in real time on your website as you make changes in Facebook, and people can subscribe directly from your site. Embedding the event on your site will help to increase the social value for your web viewers, and bring in traffic that might not have been connected to you on Facebook.

• For a look at other updates to Facebook Events, you can read about their added metrics from last year here. For information on how Brafton can help improve your social media marketing, take a look here.

Ben Silverman is Brafton’s Marketing Writer. His writing experience dates back to his time reviewing music for The UMass Daily Collegian at UMass Amherst. Ben joined Brafton with a background in marketing in the classical and jazz industries. When he’s not writing, he’s playing drums, guitar, or basketball.

7 tips for stepping up your business" Facebook event marketing

Facebook offers marketing tips for businesses

FRANKLIN – Facebook hosted a seminar for female small business owners Monday.

The Boost Your Business event is one of several sessions Facebook is hosting in cities across the United States in celebration of Women’s History Month.

The event featured a presentation from Facebook Community Engagement Coordinator Meghna Mahadevan, who showed the attendees advertising features and strategies. There was also a question-and- answer session with local entrepreneurs and marketers.

Make your business personal

Mahadevan pulled up a personal Facebook page and business Facebook page and said there shouldn’t be much difference between the two.

“The way you’re interacting with your customers should be human and authentic — the same way that you’re connecting with your friends and family,” she said.

She said advertisers should remember that ads on Facebook go between posts on a user’s timeline.

“This is a really personal, intimate space, so you want to make sure you’re really interacting with your audience,” Mahadevan said. “You want to make them respond, feel something, emote.”

Kim Leggett of City Farmhouse in Franklin said the natural tone of her advertising helped her gain customers.

“I tried not to make my content sound like ads. I just talked in my own voice,” she said.

Get attention quickly

Mahadevan said she recommended video and photo posts over text posts, and advertisers should remember how content is delivered on the site.

“You may not have noticed this, but they actually autoplay without sound,” Mahadevan said about Facebook videos. “That means that when you’re creating a video, you want to make sure that the first three to five seconds are captivating without any sound.”

“I’m a big believer in quality over quantity,” Julie Walton of Walton’s Jewelry said. “Take the time to take a really great photograph and keep it in your arsenal.”

Tailor ad content to audiences

Facebook tailors ads based on interests, demographics, behavior and location, Mahadevan said. Business owners can create custom audiences by uploading customer or mailing lists.

With custom audiences, users can expand their reach. Mahadevan said Facebook creates lookalike audiences based on the existing populations business owners already contact.

“You’re able to target a group with similar interests based on people you already know,” she said.

Take advantage of Facebook’s technology

Facebook Pixel is a code that tracks visitors to a business’ website.

“Every time someone new visits your website, the pixel fires and creates a list of people you can now connect with on Facebook,” Mahadevan said.

Business owners can track people who visited specific pages, people who only visited once or other options, and then tailor advertisements accordingly.

“You can optimize that delivery by targeting people who have already taken the action you wanted them to take,” Mahadevan said.

Ad Manager can be accessed on Facebook’s site and downloaded as a mobile application. It gives an overview of how ads are performing, with reports, breakdowns and an overall relevance score from one to 10.

“This is a great way to understand what’s really working,” Mahadevan said.

Another Facebook feature that can be used as an app is Page Insights, which tracks demographics of visitors to a page. Mahadevan said she recommends business owners use the tools Facebook provides to figure out which ads are most effective.

“It’s really important that you’re repeating your successes and learning from the things that didn’t work so well,” she said.

Facebook offers marketing tips for businesses

Post-holiday online marketing tips

December 21, 2015, 3:51 PM

By Patrizio Spagnoletto Chief marketing officer, SteelHouse

Prospect for new customers, and get back to the shoppers that visited your sites during the holiday season.

This year Cyber Monday did not disappoint with over $3 billion in sales, making it the biggest online shopping day of all time. And while retailers raked in the sales, digital advertisers gained valuable insight into consumer buying habits to aid in 2016 campaigns.

At SteelHouse, over 20,000 campaigns were launched representing over 1.3 billion impressions served on Cyber Monday alone. These campaigns (a mix of retargeting, social, mobile, and prospecting) had an average conversion rate of close to 18 percent, and mobile conversions more than doubled from last year’s Cyber Monday mobile campaigns. 

But before you know it, the holidays will come to a close as we ring in the New Year. However, that certainly doesn’t mean your advertising should come to a halt as well. With many retailers drastically scaling back their digital advertising campaigns at the start of January, it creates an opportunity for brands that didn’t blow their budget during the holiday shopping season. 

Typically, in January, win rates are 1.5 percent to 2 percent higher, so you can reach more consumers using less budget. And last year, conversion rates in January were only 5 percent lower than the previous December, when holiday shopping is at an all-time high. Additionally, many consumers received gift cards over the holidays and on average, these recipients will spend 20 percent more than their gift card value.

The first quarter is a great time to take advantage of a less crowded digital marketplace, build a loyal customer base, and capitalize on gift card purchases and returns. Instead of starting with retargeting again, start by refilling the conversion funnel start by using Prospecting campaigns to reach new customers. The most effective Prospecting campaigns combine a variety of tactics (Look-alike, 3^rd party data, demographic audiences, and contextual and vertical targeting) to reach new customers who are most likely to convert. Next, launch retargeting campaigns to reach those who visited your site in December or who put products in their cart in October, November, or December but have yet to make a purchase.

Knowing what types of campaigns to launch is only one piece of the puzzle—it’s also important to know where your consumers are, both physically and on which devices. Leveraging recent industry data, we compiled the top trends for sustaining digital success in 2016.

Mobile | More Time In App – Following in the footsteps of big brands like Amazon and eBay, more and more retailers will start to push users from optimized mobile sites to mobile apps. Offering a superior user experience, apps give brands more freedom to connect and engage users. And with more time in app, it will become more important for marketers to be able to retarget in app and across devices. 

Social | More Time on Smaller, Real-time Networks – With the big 3 social networks—Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn—becoming more and more saturated with content and ads, sites are looking to the more niche, real-time social platforms such as Periscope, Instagram and Snapchat. These platforms give brands new and unique ways to engage with their audience. Plus, the engagements for these newer sites tend to be more native to the networks themselves, and in turn, more appealing to brands and users alike.

Social | The Way We Buy & Consume – With many “buy” button additions in 2015, there was a huge shift in the way people spend their time on social.  With instant content growing in 2016, there will be even more changes, such as the ability to consume content and complete purchases all without leaving social.

While it’s great to have more opportunity to get content in front of potential customers, this new option creates a challenge for brands. With so much taking place off a brand’s site, at what point do they lose control of the message? 

Content | Focus on Building Relationships – Content will always be top of mind for anyone in marketing. It’s what we do with that content that will hopefully start to change, with less focus on quantity and more focus on the quality of interaction and how to use content to build relationships. Personalized content, in the form of everything from digital ads to emails to social videos, will eclipse a one-size-fits-all marketing mindset.   

The New Year is all about change, and nothing changes more quickly than the digital marketplace. While it’s important to adhere to the principles that have worked in the past, brands can’t remain complacent and ignore the changes around the corner.

Steelhouse provides digital marketing technology for retargeting, mobile targeting and customer acquisition.

Post-holiday online marketing tips

3 Sure-Fire Tips On Making Online Marketing Work for Your Business

In this new day and age where jobs are difficult to come by and competition is high, people are shifting from an employee mindset to an entrepreneurial one. Owning your own time, working at home, and creating your own direction and opportunity are only three of the numerous benefits of being an entrepreneur and owning a business. However, the journey is not uphill all the time.

There is no such thing as an overnight success in business. There are many challenges to overcome when you’re starting out, two of which are scaling your venture and turning a profit. One of the best ways to achieve these is through marketing. Specifically, online marketing.

“Online marketing plays a pivotal role especially now that we are becoming more connected to the internet,” says James Ryan Jonas, a University of the Philippines professor and mentor to student teams in various local and international competitions. One of the teams he mentored won the top prize in the 2013 Google Online Marketing Challenge (GOMC) besting 2,500 teams in the world. He continues his earlier statement with, “We need to reach our target market, and online marketing is one way to reach them cheaply and more effectively.”

Online marketing allows businesses to grow through the use of technology. In addition, web analytics, the measurement of web data, allows entities to conduct market research, and from there, gather market insights to be used for online marketing campaigns. If you have a business idea or are just starting out on your entrepreneurial journey, read and act on the tips below to utilize online marketing for your business:

1. Use on-demand information to create a strategy

On-demand information allows you to gather market insights for your marketing plan. Online metric tools such as Google Analytics provide businesses with this information. If you have 100 sales in a day, Google Analytics can show you that 50 sales came from Facebook, 30 from online publications, and the rest from blog links. This will give you numerical proof that the best way to increase sales is to focus on Facebook as your primary channel for marketing.

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2. Use content that is relevant, timely, and unique

Use the three together and your content will be a triple threat. Relevance provides value; timeliness strengthens your presence by following trends; and uniqueness creates a monopoly of information by becoming the go-to resource.

If you’re at a loss on how to meet the above criteria, below are specific examples on how to creating and specializing content:

• Relevance: If you’re creating a write-up for a restaurant, include the, address, numbers, menu prices of the restaurant and pictures of all your meals rather than describing how the meal was sans photographs and other information


• Timeliness: An example of this is providing livestreaming or live tweet updates of an anticipated sports game. Not everyone can watch the game in the arena or has premium cable, so these people will be looking for the above-mentioned.


• Uniqueness: if you are a travel writer, you can create a monopoly of information by targeting less-travelled destinations (e.g. write-up of an Antarctic cruise versus the more common Mediterranean cruise)

3. Align distribution channels with your brand

Online marketing is not only limited to Facebook as many people think so. There are online publications, blogs, content aggregator websites (e.g Reddit), visual-centric platforms (e.g. Pinterest), and mobile-platforms among others. In the realm of social media alone, there’s Facebook, Instragram, Twitter, and Linkedin to name a few.

“If you are targeting businessmen and professionals, Linkedin is more effective than Facebook,” says James Ryan Jonas in an interview with MoneyMax.ph. Align your marketing channels to fit your target market and the brand of your business.

Challenge accepted

Online marketing is both challenging and rewarding. Don’t get disheartened if your website doesn’t get one million views overnight. Numerous years ago, who would have thought that Facebook can be used for marketing your business? Today, it is one of the most effective tools for that. The three steps above, accompanied with dedication, discipline, and hustling, will help steer your business forward.

Author: Kyle Kam

Kyle Kam is a marketing geek from the Philippines. A dude that’s got dreams of building his own start-up, backed by his experience in Digital Marketing. When not working, he finds comfort in watching sneaker-related videos all day. Check him out on Twitter @undisputedkyle… View full profile ›

3 Sure-Fire Tips On Making Online Marketing Work for Your Business

Internet Marketing Tips and Tools To Help Small Businesses Grow Now

Although there are many ways to market your business to help you grow quickly, nothing is more effective than internet marketing. The reason is that it allows you to automate many of your marketing processes by using online tools and scripts. Marketing materials like emails, articles, and even videos can be scheduled to post when you need them to so that you are free to do other things. Borderless ecommerce techniques allow you to connect with your customers worldwide.

Before marketing your business on the internet, it is important to have a plan and create the assets you need to market. Assets are online properties where your business may be found. According to Priya Shah at Business2Community, the first, and a must have asset, is your website. A website is the home for your business online and the foundation for your internet marketing plan. The URL, or the domain name, is the “street address” for your business online.

Once your website is in place, there are certain internet marketing strategies that are an important part of your internet marketing plan. These strategies include search engine optimization of your website, creating business pages, and using specific industry portals for your business. Google, Facebook, and Twitter allow you to create a social marketing strategy to distribute your content and connect with your audience.

Google allows you to use several different internet marketing strategies to market your business. They include indexing your site in the search engines, building a business page to showcase your business, and advertising to help you drive traffic to your business quickly.

Facebook provides many of the same internet marketing opportunities since it offers fan pages and ads, and it is the top social marketing website online. Twitter allows for microblogging, which are short messages approximately 140 characters long, that allow you to communicate with and connect to your audience. Twitter also offers paid advertising opportunities for those who want to drive traffic quickly.

Internet marketing tools help automate many of your internet marketing strategies and complete marketing tasks quickly. According to Greg Nunan at Tech.co, there are many free tools that are essential to internet marketing success. These include tools to create digital documents, find ideas for content, make presentations and infographics, and spy on your competitors. Tools like autoresponders, although not generally free, allow small businesses to automate their email marketing campaigns and save time with menial tasks like subscribes and unsubscribes.

What are your favorite free internet marketing tools? Which internet marketing techniques do you use to market your business?

[Photo Credit 1 Stop Marketing Solutions]

Internet Marketing Tips and Tools To Help Small Businesses Grow Now

6 Tips To Holding A Successful Marketing Event

You’ve set the date. You’ve booked the venue. Now all you need is to get people to show up. Anxious? Maybe just a little? Well, don’t be. Marketers are scheduled to spend over 540 billion dollars worldwide on advertising this year, so your department should have a few dollars lying around to use for an event.

If you’re not certain how to begin marketing an event, here’s a list of effective event marketing tips. You don’t need a huge advertising budget or superstar endorsements to make it all come together. Use this list as your event marketing blueprint to kick start your event marketing campaign:

1. Start with an effective event page

The keystone of all your promotional efforts should be the event page or website. This should be a page or website dedicated solely to the event, or if you lack the time and means to do it yourself, use an EventBrite page. However you do it, make it compelling by incorporating at least some of these elements:

• A compelling description of the event.


• Speaker pictures and biographies.


• Event-themed videos.


• And a prominent “Register Now!” button.

2. Send pre-event emails

If you have a list, an email marketing blitz may be your ace channel. If you lack your own list, you should ask speakers, partners, or friends to list the event in their own emails. Regardless of where the list comes from, use these event email marketing guideposts:

• Make the subject line exciting and engaging. Be as specific as possible.


• Send during the weekend. People may feel less stressed and more open to spending a few hours at your event.


• Use a video thumbnail of the main attraction.


• Use social proof. If you have positive feedback from a previous similar event, make sure the review is included in the email.


• Send the email several times. Make sure you emphasize ‘early bird’ registration discounts.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

3. Utilize all social media channels

Tweets and blogs; Instagram and Snapchat; Vimeo and Facebook and LinkedIn. Make sure you have the top 15 social networking sites covered with an announcement. Digital media director Amy Jo Martin says, “Using just a few social media channels is like using a pea shooter to bring down an elephant; you need all the firepower you can get, and you only get that from using ALL the top social networking platforms!”

4. Have dependable vendors lined up in advance

“Oh, we can get balloons and snacks at the last minute.” These are the last words you’ll ever use before you take the rap for a failed marketing event. Always use an online party-planning directory such as mypartyplanner.com for everything you’ll need. Directories are an excellent source for ideas to liven up your event. They’ll help you compare prices for individual services and products in your area and empower you to have everything ready to go long before the first folding chair is set up.

5. Send a news release to media and industry websites

Start with hyper local media; they often let you post your own announcements just the way you want. Find these by searching Event Calendars in Google for your city and county. Don’t neglect industry and trade associations; most of them have newsletters — you just have to make sure to get your announcement in early enough so they can use it. Get a professional-looking press release to your local newspaper(s) and radio & TV stations. And don’t forget about local blogsites.

6. Build momentum just prior to and during the event

Have your hashtag up and running; make sure Instagram and Snapchat are busy getting the look and feel of excited attendees waiting in line and coming in. Hold a drawing right away,and get the results posted on every social media channel — with a teaser that another giveaway is coming up soon.

Always remember that face-to-face contact with customers and potential customers is still a priceless marketing tool. A marketing event is THE place for such interpersonal contact.

6 Tips To Holding A Successful Marketing Event

4 Ferocious Online Marketing Tips Learned From Jurassic World | Jorden Roper | LinkedIn

Here are my top 4 ferocious marketing tips from Jurassic World: … Email marketing is a great way to engage your prospects and build an audience that …

4 Ferocious Online Marketing Tips Learned From Jurassic World | Jorden Roper | LinkedIn

97 Facebook Marketing Tips for Authors

Authors need to market on their own, regardless of whether they are self or traditionally published. Facebook can be a free marketing tool to help you make a name for yourself and your books when used effectively. Inside, you will discover 97 marketing tips to help you master Facebook more effectively. The tips are geared towards all levels of users, introducing you to the basics and helping to improve what you already have going.

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97 Facebook Marketing Tips for Authors

Email Marketing Tips That Work Every Time

Email marketing lends itself to a lot of creative endeavours. If your goal is to make this successful, you are will need to think outside of the box in order to get things done. It’s with that in mind that you should consider these 11 tips that will make sure that things go your way. They are quick, easy to work with, and will provide great options down the line. Counting down from 11 to 1, here are some tips to use today.

11. Transparency in the Sender Option
Who is the email coming from? Make it clear, and don’t try to hide or change it often. This is the key to keeping your customer base from labelling you a spammer. Keep it transparent.

10. The Subject Line Shuffle
Test out several subject lines and measure how each one works. You’ll find a good methodology once you test out several options. Keep them short!

9. Keep the Tone Correct
The writing you do shouldn’t be too “corporate” in nature. Make it a bit more homely, and without going over the reader’s head. Keep the tone simple, and use it to your advantage. Remember, you’re not going to want to create a lavish style here.

8. Personalise Everything
Make sure that you keep things personalised, and outside of a “template” format. If you end up with a “template” that gets sent out often, you will end up with a problem overall. Personalise things so that the end user feels as though you’re communicating to them, and them alone.

7. Think about What the Reader Wants
The end user has given you permission to email them, but why? Think about that every time you send an email, or you’re going to end up with a lot of people unsubscribing to your messages. Think about how you can fulfil their wants and needs, and don’t just send out messages thoughtlessly.

6. Keep Things Brief
Do not send long winded messages through email. Email marketing doesn’t lend itself too well to this. Keep things to the point, and don’t waste the time of your readers. Furthermore, don’t send too many messages either.

5. Link Sparingly
If you have a call to action you want to have in place, don’t crowd it with other links. Your email list is not the main resource you need to work on for SEO. In fact, chances are your SEO doesn’t matter when it comes to email alone. Don’t overthink this, just link to your call to action once, and make it obvious as to what you’re doing.

4. Split Your List
When you have thousands of people on a list, and you want to send specific messages to certain members, then split it. Find a way to segment things so that you are not addressing every member at once. This will help keep things tidy, and the messages you want to communicate appropriate for the target audience you want to have in place.

3. Elastic Email Design
Make sure that your audience is not left out cold when they are using smartphones and tablets. Responsive design is here to stay, and your email matters. Make sure that your email design flows with the appropriate implementation, design, and elasticity.

2. Test Before You Send
Test your email, read it over, check for dead links, and more. Always test the email that you’re going to send out to the masses, and if you make a mistake, acknowledge it immediately. Never just send your first draft, it’s a mistake.

1. Send It to Friends
Perhaps the easiest thing to do when working with email marketing is to have a small testing ground. Have a few friends get your email and see whether or not there are issues. This is a form of testing that will help you avoid costly errors, that’s for sure.

To find out more about how I can help with your Email Marketing can contact me here or via LinkedIn and for further marketing tips sign-up to my monthly newsletter or simply email me at hello@kellylovesmarketing.com

If you enjoyed this post, it would be great if you’d help it spread by sharing it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or LinkedIn. Thank you!

Email Marketing Tips That Work Every Time

The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users

By now it’s clear that whether you’re promoting a business, a product, or yourself, social media is near the top of what determines your success or failure. And there are countless pundits, authors, and consultants eager to advise you.

But there’s no one quite like Guy Kawasaki, the legendary former chief evangelist for Apple and one of the pioneers of business blogging, tweeting, Facebooking, Tumbling, and much, much more. Now Guy has teamed up with Peg Fitzpatrick, who he says is the best social-media person he’s ever met, to offer The Art of Social Media—the one essential guide you need to get the most bang for your time, effort, and money.

With over one hundred practical tips, tricks, and insights, Guy and Peg present a bottom-up strategy to produce a focused, thorough, and compelling presence on the most popular social-media platforms. They guide you through steps to build your foundation, amass your digital assets, optimize your profile, attract more followers, and effectively integrate social media and blogging.

For beginners overwhelmed by too many choices as well as seasoned professionals eager to improve their game, The Art of Social Media is full of tactics that have been proven to work in the real world. Or as Guy puts it, “great stuff, no fluff.”

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The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users

3 Tips To Keep You In Line With New FTC Endorsement Rules

This just in: If you rely on endorsements in your marketing, you might be up for a few unexpected run-ins with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

New guidelines published on the FTC’s Q&A on Endorsement Guides clarify the right ways to use endorsements in social media, advertising, and marketing. Fortunately, with the updated guidelines, there should now be less confusion when navigating FTC rules. Unfortunately, specific new policies can easily turn into a coming crackdown if you aren’t careful with your marketing activities.

To keep you from toeing the line, let’s run through a quick checklist of 3 tips to ensure you’re handling your endorsements and contests correctly.

Tip #1: Display your contest rules clearly.

According to a recent report, contest forms are converting at a rate of 35%. With this ROI, marketers are turning to social media contests to engage customers.

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A recent study named YouTube as the top social media site to introduce a new company—offering a staggering 14% conversion rate. With this kind of influence, YouTube is a great platform for hosting a contest…as long as the rules are displayed front and center.

According to the FTC’s updated endorsement guides, all contest disclosures must be “clear and conspicuous.” This means contest rules should be placed close to the contest claims and should stand out from the background. If you’re running a video contest, rules should display for a sufficient amount of time or be super noticeable (think font and color). And all rules should be written in plain and clear language.

In 2014, the FTC flagged a Pinterest contest from Cole Haan on accusation of not clearly communicating the contest to participants. Entrants had to take a picture of their favorite place, posted with the tag #WanderingSole, in hopes of winning $1000.

Essentially, the FTC viewed the posts as unlabeled endorsements for the brand since there was no clear indication that they were part of contest. If you plan on running a social media campaign, make sure that your hashtag includes “contest” or “sweepstakes” in the interest of full disclosure.

#2: Be transparent about endorsements with social media personalities.

As with contests, endorsements on social media must be clear. If you’ve snagged a celebrity endorsement deal, make sure that deal is fully disclosed.

On TV, consumers realize that actors and athletes are being paid for their rave reviews in commercials. But on social media, it’s a bit different. It’s the responsibility of us marketers to make it clear when tweets, Facebook posts, and Instagram photos that praise a brand are the result of paid endorsement.

For example, imagine you’re running a Twitter contest with the reward being a personal training session with Jillian Michaels. If you want Jillian to tweet about her excitement to be a part of the contest, her tweet should also note that her excitement is an advertisement. Even if abbreviations are used, the endorsement should be clear to avoid violating FTC policy.

#3: Earn real Facebook likes from real people.

Last, but certainly not least, we need to consider how these new rules affect a particularly shadowy area of marketing: purchased Facebook “likes.” Many new brands buy a specific number of Facebook likes to give the appearance of activity, prestige, and reach on social media.

Of course, purchased likes are inherently invaluable. They aren’t backed by genuine, interested customers and, as such, are frowned upon in most areas.

The FTC doesn’t stop at just disapproval. The new regulations list purchased Facebook likes as fraudulent and in violation of endorsement policies. Both ends of the transaction—buyers and sellers—could soon find themselves having an unpleasant conversation with the FTC. Additionally, Facebook itself has announced a plan to purge its site of the fraud. The social media site is in the process of removing all fake accounts, which make up nearly 10 percent of Facebook’s total users.

Author: Chris Lucas

Chris Lucas is the vice president of business development at View full profile ›

3 Tips To Keep You In Line With New FTC Endorsement Rules

TrueShip Drops New Guide Covering 17 Ecommerce Marketing Tips & Tools You Need Now

SCOTTSDALE, AZ –(Marketwired – July 07, 2015) – TrueShip (http://www.TrueShip.com) has just released a brand new guide that reveals 17 ecommerce marketing tips and tools that you need now.

The expansive juggernaut that is the internet rakes in an estimated $1.5 million nearly every 30 seconds. In 2014, over $300bn was hauled in, setting a new annual record for US online sales. Experts are projecting that in 2015, sales will eclipse $345bn, marking the strongest year-over-year growth yet.

With millions of retailers competing in an increasingly crowded online space, a unique approach is necessary to break the mold and make one’s store stand out from the rest of the pack. As the leading provider of ecommerce shipping software, TrueShip routinely issues detailed guides that are designed to help its users earmark successes.

The newest guide by TrueShip delivers 17 ecommerce marketing tips and tools that everyone in this industry should be using, including:

-- Integrated FAQ pages that are self-learning.
-- Providing a multimedia shopping experience.
-- Utilizing multiple selling platforms.
-- Why email marketing is still very much alive. 
-- The importance of the live chat option.
-- Donating products to gain blogger coverage.
-- Making checkout as fast and as easy as possible.
-- Cross-promoting products. 
-- Cashing in on digital coupons.
-- Announcing sales and events to the press.
-- Price-matching to gain more conversions.
-- The benefits of integrated customer feedback models.
-- Long form content marketing and placement. 
-- Social engagement and referral tactics. 
-- Finding niche long tail keywords for content outreach.
-- Retargeting bounced users to improve conversions.
-- The value of a strong and automated returns policy. 
-- Illustrated infographic of must-know ecommerce facts. 

“A business is only as good as the tools that it can use to expand and generate revenue,” explained Michael Lazar, Director of Online Marketing at TrueShip. “In our new guide, we deliver 17 timeless ecommerce marketing tips and tools to help our users improve their conversion funnel.”

You can read TrueShip’s newest guide by visiting: http://www.trueship.com/blog/2015/07/07/17-ecommerce-marketing-tips-tools-you-need-now/#.VZx6YEYY3QI.

About TrueShip

#ShipSmarter — TrueShip is the original architect of multi-carrier ecommerce shipping software. ReadyShipper shipping software integrates into the most widely used shopping carts and online marketplaces. It is an easy-to-use order fulfillment solution designed to save e-retailers time and money.

Start a 14-day trial of ReadyShipper shipping software by visiting: http://www.TrueShip.com/products/ReadyShipper.

About ReadyReturns

#ReturnsHappen — ReadyReturns is a customer-facing, plug-and-play, self-service online product returns software solution. It integrates into virtually any website without any programming. ReadyReturns lets customers make returns from a website by filling out a simple form and printing the return shipping label. E-retailers set the rules of the returns, including things like return shipping and restocking fees.

Start a 30-day trial of ReadyReturns by visiting: http://www.TrueShip.com/products/ReadyReturns.

Embedded Video Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT61wv8wud8

Embedded Video Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY7ZCN_9myo

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Press Contact
Michael Lazar
Director of Online Marketing
Tel: (877) 818-7447
Email: support@trueship.com

TrueShip Drops New Guide Covering 17 Ecommerce Marketing Tips & Tools You Need Now

BLOG: Quick tips for small business marketing

AKRON — We all know that I love social media and think it’s a great tool for small business marketing. While it is an important piece to any small business’ marketing puzzle, I do encourage everyone to take a look at what else is out there as well. Going on social media may help you hit some target demographics, but how can you reach the rest?

Here are five quick tips for social media marketing:

• Personalized email: According to Entrepreneur magazine’s website, the Direct Marketing Association said for every dollar invested, email marketing generates a $40 return on investment (ROI).

“The problem is, while we used to get excited for the ‘You’ve got mail!’ chime, e-mail inboxes have become increasingly crowded. It’s it difficult to capture a customer’s attention.”

• Pay attention: A Business 2 Community article gave some simple, but great advice about small business marketing: Business owners should make it a routine to monitor what consumers are saying about them across the web, whether it’s a review, rating or social post.

Being active with any conversation online can only help you, as long as you respond in a positive manner. Additionally, part of the charm of a small business is that you can be more personable than bigger companies. Business owners responding can really resonate with your audience. You are showing that you are taking care of them.

• In-person networking: Small Business Trends advises business owners to get out there and see the people! Visit local events — and of course take photos so you can share them on social media later. Use your place in the community to your advantage to get your name out there. Sponsoring local events is also a great way to get the community acquainted with your business.

• Realize marketing IS important: This seems simple, but to some small business owners it’s not. As stated in The Huffington Post: “There’s a perception that marketing is nice, but unnecessary for a business. As long as you’re producing something of value (a product or a service), every other strategy your company uses must be superfluous.”

• Pens: I know this sounds a little off, but I firmly believe pens are a great way of getting your company name out there. Although the world is getting more technically advanced, there are still reasons why people need writing instruments. Pens are also the things people often forget to carry. The more “techy” alternative of this is a jump drive. Giving away simple things that everyone needs that has your company name, phone number and address can be a great way to promote your business. The best part is, since everyone needs pens and jump drives, you can use them at your business too. Employees need pens to write with at the shop. Why wouldn’t you use ones that promote your business?

It’s a constant reminder too. I’ll be honest, as a journalist, I always have a pen on me because you never know when you will come across a story. As an overachiever in preparation, I have at least five pens in my purse at any given time, just in case I lose one — or three — or one runs out of ink. I end up using a lot of hotel pens. Every time I stay somewhere, I end up using the pen in the room and take it with me. For months after I travel somewhere, I have those hotel pens. This can work for you as well as a service provider.

 

Here are some additional resources:

1. Personalizing Ads Can Boost Marketing for Small Businesses


2. 5 Digital Marketing Rules Every Small Business Needs to Know


3. Your Massive Guide to Small Business Marketing on a Budget 


4. What Small Businesses Must Know About Next-Generation Marketing


5. The Small Business Owner: A One-Man Band [Infographic]


6. Top Tech Tools To Help Your Small Business Grow

BLOG: Quick tips for small business marketing

5-Minute Email Tips: Sending Segmented Emails

Creating content, such as emails, is a great way to connect with a mass audience.

But there’s a lot more to it than simply writing an email and hitting send.

While you may have a dozen, hundreds or even thousands of subscribers, it’s important to remember that among that list exists a variety of individuals with different needs, motivations and experiences.

As a result, this means that, sadly, not every piece of content you create will be a perfect fit for everyone.

So how can you nurture your diverse audience with content that’s relevant to every individual?

By creating segmented emails.

Why You Should Send Segmented Emails

Segmented emails are messages you send to specific subscribers in your list. They can be based on where they are in the customer journey, demographics and more. Doing so gives you the chance to send specific content that is relevant to that unique group, encouraging them to take a certain action.

Here’s an example of a scenario of when you might use a segmented email:

Let’s say you owned a bakery, and you send out an email to your entire list with a link to an updated dessert menu. Instead of just letting the one email do all the work, you might want to send an email with a coupon off their purchase to those who clicked the link. This way, you’re making a strategic effort to influence those who have already expressed interest in your product.

Creating messages that meet the specific needs of your customers can be super powerful when providing a killer customer experience.

Ideas for Segments You Can Create Today

So what are some segments you can create for your list?

Almost anything, really. But it depends on the subscriber information you asked for in your sign up form and the data provided in your email analytics (city, opens, email provider, etc.).

Here at AWeber, we use segmenting in a number of scenarios. Here’s an example of a segmented email we sent to our subscribers who opened but didn’t click the call-to-action link to register for a webinar:

But the possibilities for sending segments goes beyond sending reminder emails for webinars.

Here are some other ideas for segments you can start sending today:

Geography/Location

Sending emails based on where your subscribers live can come in handy in a lot of situations.

If you own multiple stores in different locations, for example, you might want to send emails to subscribers who live closest to each location. You can send things like exclusive shop offers, upcoming events and even advice or news from local employees.

You can also send tailored emails that speak to events that might be going on locally, different seasons, holidays and more.

If you have customers from countries all around the world, that’s a good indicator of what language they speak, so you might want to send emails in their native languages, too.

Want to start sending emails based on geography?

There are two ways of discovering where your subscribers are located.

One way is by asking your subscribers where in your sign up form. Simply add a custom field that asks for information, such as city and state. This way, every time you get a new subscriber, you’ll also get their location.

If you’re an AWeber customer, you also can find your subscribers’ general location (city, state, country) in the Reports section of your account.

Click-Throughs

Sending emails based on subscriber behavior is a great way to assist each of your customers throughout the buyer journey. Why? Because those who clicked a link in an email might want to receive further information on that topic.

Let’s go back to the bakery example. Say you send out an email with a link to a recipe for apple turnovers. You might want to send an email with additional apple-related treats sold at your store (and maybe a coupon!) to a segment of your subscribers who clicked the link.

Pro Tip: If you find that a number of subscribers aren’t clicking on any of your content, it might be time to ask what kind of content interests them.

Custom Fields

Want to learn more about your unique customers that you just can’t find in any report list?

Consider adding a couple of custom fields to your sign up form to discover your audience’s interests. When you do, you’ll get more information that can help you create more relevant content for your subscribers.

Instead of just assuming what kind of delectable desserts your subscribers will love, for example, why not ask them for their favorite dessert when they’re signing up to your email list?

With that information, it’ll be easier to create content for your diverse audience and send broadcasts to groups of individuals with similar interests. Cookie of the Week emails, anyone?

Pro Tip: Tap into your subscribers’ interests by offering exclusive content just for them!

Open Rates

Not every email you send will have an open rate of 100 percent. And that’s okay.

But that doesn’t mean you have to sit back and let the numbers remain as they are. To encourage more engagement with your subscribers, consider sending an email to the segment of subscribers who did not open your first message – and be sure to tweak the subject line!

Pro Tip: Split test the subject lines of your emails to see which gets the most opens. Do your subscribers prefer shorter or longer subject lines? Do they love emojis? Test different variables to find out!

If you find that you have many inactive subscribers (those who haven’t opened an email or clicked a link in a long time), you might want to run a reactivation campaign.

Segment All the Emails!

Okay, so you don’t have to necessarily segment every single email you send to customers. But you should start looking into ways you can include it as part of your email marketing strategy.

Are you using segmenting in any of your emails? Tell us in the comments!

5-Minute Email Tips: Sending Segmented Emails

Tips for Marketing Your Home Business Online

So you’ve started your own home business. Congratulations! Becoming an entrepreneur is an exciting moment, whether you’re a stay at home parent looking to make a little extra money, a twenty-something just out of college with an idea that can’t be beat, or a retiree who is looking for a change after years of nine to five. Once you’ve hit post on your first website, or created your first online item promotion, how do you get the word out regarding your business?

SEO? Tell me more!

Whether you’re updating on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or a blog, optimizing your content for search engines, or SEO, is an important detail. You can only run your business with your friends and family for so long; at some point, you need to increase your exposure to those who know your business, but not your name. SEO changes rapidly, and websites are rewarded for different strategies as the big players in the search engine world (basically, as of this writing, Google), push for better, higher quality content. You can learn about SEO and manage this piece yourself, or you can choose to contract out to one of the many media companies that specialize in helping small businesses learn how to maximize their Internet visibility.

All About That Guest Post

The guest post has been the key to search engine rankings, then much less useful, and now is once again considered crucial, as long as you do it right. It used to be that you could write one blog post and get it placed on a dozen sites to see your search engine rankings sky rocket. That is no longer the case at all. If you want to see a CEO who is an expert at the guest post, search for Margarita Hakobyan. As the CEO and founder of Movers Corp, Hakobyan posts in a variety of places about many different topics. While not all of her posts are directly about her business, a link to her business is generally included in her profile. This means increases in thought leadership for her company, and increases in views to her company’s website as well.

Create a reasonable budget, and stick to it

For a brand new business, it can seem like the only solution to the marketing exposure problem is to throw a bunch of money into Facebook ads and other paid exposures. While that is a method that can garner you some new followers and customers, if your budget can support it, not everyone needs (or wants!) to start at that level. I suggest that businesses that have a low or nonexistent marketing budget start getting their names out into the world, and begin drawing in customers.

Tap into your location

In business, as in real estate, location, location, location is key. Although some businesses may choose to move from one location to another, at some point, based on a variety of factors, most businesses pick a location and stick with it, unless they experience unanticipated growth. Therefore, for an up and coming business, it’s important to tap into your location as you plan your marketing. Look around you community to see what already exists that you can build on.

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A home based soap maker, for example, could look for a local farmer’s market or craft fair where they could rent a table, while a home brewer might want to connect with locally owned pubs or restaurants to discuss offering seasonal brews. You can also look for events to sponsor or fund, such as a local carwash event at a high school or sports team.

For many businesses, choosing how to manage marketing can be one of the more complex business decisions that you make. Don’t rush your decisions, but do make them. Decide what you want to do, commit to your marketing plan, and take your business as high as you can.

What tips helped your business to succeed? Tell us in the comments.

Author: Robert Janis

Robert Janis holds a masters degree in Journalism and has written for daily newspapers; business, regional, trade, and specialty magazines; and websites. Sites where you can see his work include: http://www.kidela.com http://www.thefreelibrary.com/janis%2c+Robert-a192 http://www.examiner.com/x-5421-DC-Technology-Examiner http://www.washingtontimes.com/weblogs/redskins-fan-forum http://www.feedvisor.com… View full profile ›

Tips for Marketing Your Home Business Online

5 Tips For Increasing Your Promotional Emails' ROI

Despite the rising popularity of such communication channels as texting, social media, and even video conferencing, emails continue to be an important and effective way to reach other people, especially prospective customers for the products and services your Internet marketing business promotes.

But the format of emails requires you to work a little harder to gain somebody’s trust. It’s very easy for your prospects to either delete your email without opening it or ignore it altogether.

Today we are going to look at some techniques you can use within the body of your promotional emails to make them connect better with your customers so that it’s easier to get them to follow your call to action, whatever it may be.

Body of the Email

The body of your promotional emails needs to be as concise and to the point as possible. Remember, the average person gets dozens of emails in their inbox every day. If they open yours at all, they will probably junk it if it is packed with dense copy and long, drawn out sentences.

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Most people scan – rather than read – emails. So you want to use short sentences or even brief phrases or bullet points whenever possible. This makes it easier for your reader to capture the essence of your message as quickly as possible. 

Using Attachments and Links

The biggest selling point of email over most other communication methods – such as texting or instant messaging – is its ability to attach documents such as Word files, audio files, videos, slideshows and others.

These can be attached to the email using the “Attach Files” function. When the recipient gets the email, attachments will be listed both under the header and beneath the text copy when the email is opened by your reader. Clicking on either will open the attachment on a separate screen. 

Including Links within Email Content

Within the body of your email, you also can include links to web pages, addresses and other locations.

When the reader clicks on these links, they bring the reader to your intended destination.

A word of warning: It’s very important to double check to make sure your attachments and links work properly. Test them before sending out your emails to make sure they work. There is no faster way to lose a prospective customer than to forget an attachment or include a broken link.

Emoticons and Their Uses

Emoticons are those little smiley faces that can be inserted into the body of your email. Examples include  and :D.

Depending on your intended audience, emoticons can be either light-hearted and entertaining or unprofessional and distracting.

When you talk to somebody face-to-face, you can use gestures and body language to provide non-verbal meanings. Sometimes emoticons can be helpful substitutes for these non-verbal cues. 

Should You Use Emoticons?

A good rule of thumb is to avoid be cautions when using emoticons in business communications. In some cases, they can distract your reader from your central message.

Plus, they and can strain the operating system of older computers, causing them to run slower and potentially causing ill feelings towards the email’s sender.

If you’d like to learn more about email marketing, as well as a way to generate conversion-ready Internet marketing prospects each month.

This article was originally published here. 

Author: Troy Hollenbeck

Troy Hollenbeck is President/CEO of Evolve Journal a digital media company in St.Albert, Alberta,Canada. Hockey writer, blogger, author, former hockey player and marketing strategist. “Lives life with zest and authenticity to help others achieve their dreams and pursue passions”… View full profile ›

5 Tips For Increasing Your Promotional Emails" ROI

Online store Crave Home's content marketing tips

Jude Turner, owner of Crave Home.

When and how did you get started with your content marketing efforts in your business? What were the motivations?

For years I just concentrated on giving great customer service in-store and looking after the customers we currently had. But then I realised that if I wanted my business to grow I needed more of those customers, and that word of mouth was only going to go so far to do that.

At the time I didn’t have too much of an advertising budget – although I would put ads into the home magazines because I knew my customers and potential customers read them – but I did have a Facebook page that my customers were good at interacting with.

My business coach, Zac de Silva from Business Changing, suggested I put a bit of a focus on growing my Facebook page and other social media channels through using good content, so I’ve been doing that for the past six months.

So what are some of the different channels you’re using, and what kinds of content are you producing for them?

We use our Facebook page – which is currently sitting around 6000 ‘likes’ – Instagram and Pinterest, which is huge with our customers. We also have a newsletter. Our customers are generally pretty tech savvy and really interested in homewares, design, styling and the latest in home design trends, so they’re always scouring the web for new inspiration and hot new releases so they’re open to anything along those lines.

I also opened our online store www.cravehome.co.nz last year, and talking to my customers through these online channels is great because they can usually just click straight through to the product page and buy then and there if they’re interested. I also like the dialogue we get from them – customers ‘liking’ a post we put up, or asking how much or what colours they come in. It’s a bit like being a virtual personal shopper sometimes.

What kind of impact are you seeing from your efforts so far?

Our follower numbers on all three of those social media accounts have grown, but I think more importantly it’s just got the Crave Home name out there a bit more. Before we were quite well known to our Birkenhead locals or on the North Shore, but now we regularly have people coming over from across the bridge or ordering online from around New Zealand, just because they’ve got to know us through our social media posts and content marketing.

It’s really cool for me to see how many people click through to our online store from our newsletter – and then even cooler to see them make a purchase! For me, success with this is primarily about growing brand awareness and perception at the moment – I figure the sales will come; getting our name out there and having more people learn about us, what we sell and why we’re pretty great is my main measure of success at the moment. I think it’s a pretty good ROI.

What have you learned so far about what works and what doesn’t in terms of engaging your particular audience?

Giveaways work in ramping up the engagement on our Facebook posts! People love them and they most certainly drive engagement. Also, in the beginning I was wary of posting too much and thought I’d put people off if I just kept putting up product shots of what was new in store. But in fact we’ve found our followers really like to hear from us and to keep up with what’s new and cool. I’ve just improved a bit on how I do it by using more ‘styled’ images of our products.

I think this has particularly paid off on Instagram where account holders are all about images that look good. But I’ve also learnt that our followers like homeware-related posts – nothing to do with my store or the things we sell, but based around home design or celebration and gift ideas.

For example, in the lead up to Christmas we shared some cool present wrapping ideas, some festive food suggestions and ways to bring Christmas into your home using things like driftwood and decals. Those posts got tons of engagement, with likes and comments and people tagging their friends in. They’re always looking for inspiration and new trends.

What plans do you have in terms of evolving or improving your content marketing from here?

I just need to keep working at it and making it more regular. I know it works and it’s important, so I just have to find time each week to work on it. There’s quite a wide scope for my audience, as far as their common interests are concerned, so in the future I can see us doing more articles on topics of interest to our followers – things like how to style a shelf – as well as having guest bloggers, contributing more to magazines, running evening events with special design guests, and having our customers share their purchases at home, in-situ, with us. But my number one goal? It’s to get us featured on The Block!

- NZ Herald

Online store Crave Home"s content marketing tips

3 Collaboration Tips for Innovative Product Marketers

It’s great to be a product marketer. You’re at the center of your company: you have a direct lens into multiple teams, operations, and initiatives. You’re also your customers’ chief empathizer, and you have an arsenal of data to learn about their most pressing needs.

But at any given time, you’re probably walking a fine line between “lots of great detail” and “information overload.” The biggest challenge you’re likely facing is how to distill your wealth of knowledge into a cohesive set of resources for your team.

These three collaboration tips can help:

1. Rely On Content in Your Busiest Moments

If you find yourself having repetitive 1:1 conversations, consider creating content instead. Write a blog post, create a monthly newsletter, and find ways to limit the number of calls and meetings you’re having.

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You should think of yourself as a journalist, reporter, and blogger—when you put information on paper, so to speak, more people can read, digest, and respond to what you’re saying.

Think of how many hours you’ve spent having the same types of conversations. Spend a fraction of that time writing, and you’ll not only be more productive, you’ll reach more people—both inside and outside of your organization.

2. Build Systems to Eliminate Unnecessary Time Sinks

It’s amazing how much time the “little things” take. You could spend hours writing personalized emails, scheduling appointments to interview emails to customers, and digging deep into your blog analytics.

Think through your big time sinks and set up processes to make things simpler. Example ideas include using email marketing software to manage internal newsletters, creating a Slack channel that auto-populates data from your Google Analytics account, and using Formstack to source questions that come up from your team.

You can start improving processes by focusing on two key areas in your operations: (1) things you don’t like doing, and (2) things that are eating up too much time. This “needs assessment” will help you pinpoint exactly what to fix and what solutions to implement.

3. Create an IM Channel for “Ideastorming”

As a product marketer, you’re probably already working with formal collaboration tools. Empower your team to leverage these tools for stream-of-consciousness idea generation—a process that’s invaluable for creativity. Encourage team members to share random ideas that you can later formalize into specific topics. 99% of B2B marketers say a steady stream of ideas is central to their success as marketers. Don’t pass up the opportunity to collect them from your team.

This new communication channel will be invaluable for idea generation and information sharing.

Remember that your ultimate goal is to optimize human relationships. Explore ways to get people excited about sharing ideas, and build upon your learnings to truly bring out the best in your teammates.

The more focused you are, the more you’ll grow.

3 Collaboration Tips for Innovative Product Marketers

5 Simple Earth Day Tips for Making Greener Marketing Decisions

Going green is more than just a fad; it’s a big issue that a lot of people care about. In honor of Earth Day, here are some simple tips to help you incorporate environmentally responsible practices in your marketing initiatives.

Think Green, Even for Digital

Marketing is very digital these days which is great news for the environment. However, there are still ways to promote green practices in your digital marketing efforts. For example, when sending an email campaign, adding a line in the footer drawing attention to needless printing can make an impact. The commonly used phrase, “Please consider the environment prior to printing this e-mail,” is a simple way to encourage greener thinking and save some trees while also showing your customers you care.

Lead by Example

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According to a study from RetailMeNot.com, “a vast majority (89%) of the nation is willing to purchase at least one kind of product that has a positive impact on the environment.” If you have any green initiatives at your company, promote those to help your brand lead by example. Alternatively, if you’re looking for ways to create green initiatives, a great place to start is by ordering supplies from a local business vendor to reduce carbon emissions. Little things each of us do can collectively have a big impact.

Pick Eco-Friendly Giveaways

When choosing promotional products, select giveaways that support waste reduction. For example, instead of giving away bottled water with your company logo on it, choose a reusable mug or thermos. Instead of handing out traditional phone chargers, hand out solar-powered phone chargers. There are numerous eco-friendly choices.

Green Up at Events

Events and trade shows can be major culprits of paper waste. Simple things like creating online press kits instead of handing out paper marketing collateral could save wasted time, money and paper.

Click to view the full infographic

Use Recycled Paper

Sometimes printing paper is unavoidable. For those times where you have to print, use recycled paper and print on both sides.

This Earth Day, think about how your everyday choices as a marketer can help make a positive impact on our planet.

5 Simple Earth Day Tips for Making Greener Marketing Decisions

Five Email Marketing Tips to Power Your Marketing

According to McKinsey, email marketing is one of the most effective methods of customer acquisition. Here’s why: 91% of US consumers use email daily, 40% have more than one email account, and personal emails cut out the “noise” that’s popping up more often on social media feeds. I short, email marketing can be a personalize, direct line to a unique customer. So here are five ways to harness the power of email marketing for your business.

Design Custom Email Advertising

Print advertising is advantageous for brand recall. Customers see a print ad and, with advertising frequency, they’ll remember that brand when it’s time to buy. Email marketing is entirely different – it’s focused on action. Print is branding, email is action. So why are you using the same print creative designed for branding for your email advertising that’s designed for action? Email marketing lets customers click, buy, shop, sign up, register, share, like and donate instantly so create custom-made HTML emails that help you do just that! If you’re investing in designing strong print creative, then you should invest just as much into designing a custom-made email campaign.

Don’t Send Emails When No One’s Looking

You worked hard on coming up with a great original email (not a print ad) and an awesome call to action. Now, at 10 PM, you’re about to hit SEND. Wait, who’s checking their email at 10 PM? Some do, many don’t so why are you sending it now? Research when your customers check their emails, when they take action on your emails, and the days they prefer to receive emails about you. Here’s a clear example: don’t send an email out one hour before Shabbat but DO send an email out one hour after Shabbat, when everyone’s checking their phones & email.

Subject Lines Matter

Should we say “Free! Free! Free!” in the subject line or maybe “Special!!? Yes, your customers may be interested in that but they’ll never know about it… because your email went straight to spam.There are certain words, terms, numerics & symbols that may trigger spam filters in Gmail, Yahoo and AOL so you need to research what subject lines will help your email reach your intended destination – customer’s inboxes. Incorporate a sense of urgency as well without sounding too “spammy”. For example, massage the line such as “When You Buy One Pair of Tickets, You Get a Second Pair 100% Free!!!” into “Your Free Tickets”. See how different that line is? You got customers attention, they open the email to see if they won free tickets & they see how they can get free tickets. Don’t sell it all in the subject line; it’s meant to tease about the content of your email.

Don’t Do the Same Old, Same Old

Did you know that 41% of all emails are opened on mobile devices? Yet you’re still designing email campaigns for desktops. Mix it up! Still sending the same old content, same old deal, same old event? Mix it up! Send an email with different content, a unique event, a special sale. If customers know what you’re selling already, they have less incentive to open or click through your email. You should even consider selling less and informing more – 90% of consumers find unique content useful, which is why open and click through rates for newsletters, monthly bulletins, industry news and advice are higher than promotional emails.

Think Beyond the Click

Many people make the mistake of thinking it’s all about the click. The “click” isn’t a sale. The “click” is the first step in the decision-making process. The landing page after the click is more important. Think of the click as getting customers in the door; now you have show them a great in-store experience and valuable product line. Make your landing pages easy to navigate and focused on the sale. Customize your web landing pages to increase conversion rates. Pagemodo creates unique Facebook landing pages for your page that gets you the obviously intended Like but much, much more. Implement a 10-second pop-up on your website that can collect customer emails. Annoying? Maybe. Valuable? Definitely. Ensure your best products are right on the first page when customers click through your email, increasing chances of buying. When you think beyond the click, you’ll create a better experience at the best time – the time of purchase.

Email marketing is set to surpass $2.3 billion this year. It’s a smart investment when done right. So do it right with these seven tips.

Yitzie Hyman is the Director of Strategy at The Jewish Link of NJ and founder of Henry Isaacs Marketing, a marketing, design and digital ad agency specializing in Jewish & Kosher marketing. You can reach him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or online at www.henryisaacs.net.

By Yitzie Hyman

Five Email Marketing Tips to Power Your Marketing