The DEFINITIVE. Marketing Guide. A White Paper Guide from TAILOR-MADE STRATEGIES THAT WORK FAST. Aggressive Growth Marketing 2017

Transcription

1 The DEFINITIVE Marketing Guide A White Paper Guide from TAILOR-MADE STRATEGIES THAT WORK FAST Aggressive Growth Marketing

2 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION MARKETING MISTAKES TO AVOID... 4 BUILDING A LARGE LIST... 6 MONETISING YOUR LISTS SUBJECT LINE DOS AND DON'TS IN SUMMARY... 17

3 INTRODUCTION Good marketing practices usually involve a variety of different communication tactics and campaigns. Now that businesses are embracing the power of the internet, is now emerging as one of the preferred communication tactics. When it comes to marketing, knowing the best approach to take can be difficult. Therefore, it is only wise for businesses to have an active campaign to share news and keep in touch with their targeted customers. Not only that, studies have shown that marketing still offers positive return on investment. With helpful hints and tips to help your marketing campaigns, this guide covers: 1. marketing mistakes to avoid Getting your marketing campaign right 2. Building an list How to build up a contact list 3. Monetising your lists Making money from your lists 4. subject line dos and don'ts Promoting best subject line practice The Definitive Marketing Guide 2017 Aggressive Growth Marketing 3

4 MARKETING MISTAKES TO AVOID Getting your marketing campaign right There are various options available with regards to online marketing. A good online marketing strategy will combine a variety of methods, such as social media marketing, content marketing, and marketing. To stop making serious marketing mistakes, here are some errors to avoid. No-Reply Are your s achieving a low open rate? If yes, your first step is to check your address! Sending from noreply@ or donotreply@ is likely to bring you a low open rate, as recipients prefer an address they can reply to. Personalisation and transparency go a long way in earning customer loyalty, so it is important to ensure your s include contact details such as phone numbers and links to your social media. Image Based s Only a small portion of people have their accounts set to turn on images automatically. This means that, if you send image-only based s, most of the people in your list will see an empty box.

5 Text-only s have a higher click through rate than picture s. If you do need to send images, repeat everything in simple text. Links If the goal of your is to get people to click through to your website, make sure the link included in your takes them directly to the landing page of the offer you re promoting; nobody wants to have to scroll their way through your site to find your promotion. Botched Subject Line Ensure that more than one person checks your s before delivery. But, before you get to this stage, it is important that you take the time to develop a subject line that really highlights your message, and engages your audience; try out Co-Schedule s Headline Analyzer for inspiration. No Mobile People don t just work from desktop or laptops anymore, so it s crucial that your s are mobile-optimised. This means that your text needs to be readable, the buttons, links and CTAs need to be clickable, and the layout needs to be mobile-friendly and responsive. Failing to do so is a way to lose customers fast. Key takeaway: As popular as social media is, still has a very strong ROI. But, it s essential that you get marketing right; so, if this is going to form part of your strategy, you MUST avoid the key errors and pitfalls. The Definitive Marketing Guide 2017 Aggressive Growth Marketing 5

6 BUILDING A LARGE LIST How to build up a contact list Are you interested in increased ways to grow your list? Nowadays, there are many available options for businesses to grow their list and stay connected with their customers. For example, there is social media, mobile texting, meetings, and . With so many options it may seem overwhelming and complicated to choose the most effective method. However, is one of the most effective marketing strategies and is an excellent way to keep in touch with customers and potential customers. If you re looking to start marketing, one of your first actions should be to build up an list, so you can reach out to people who are interested in what you re offering. Let s look at how you can do this, especially if you re starting from a brand-new website. sign-up form Placing a sign-up form on your website, preferably on the homepage, is key. Make sure it s easy to see, and shows what your customers will be signing up for. You can also offer a free e-book, or a discount code offer to entice people into joining your list. Or, you could offer a

7 link to a sample newsletter, so they know what to expect and have an incentive to join. Site registration If you need your customers to create an account with you, ensure that sign-up is part of this process. Ensure that your CTAs are clearly displayed, and if you re offering an incentive for creating an account, ensure it s relevant to your target audience. Direct mail or flyers Using direct postal mail is another easy way of gaining new customers; why not mail them an offer that can only be redeemed by going online and creating an account? (where they ll have to submit their address). Additionally, if you host live events as part of your business, you could provide sign-up forms for people to fill in to redeem a coupon or discount. Positioning this as you thank them for attending your event is a simple but effective way of collecting data and addresses to add to your list. Blog Sharing engaging and relevant content with people is a great way to build relationships and to get addresses. By offering the option at the bottom of your blog for people to sign up for new blog posts and content, you ll be able to build your list in no time. The Definitive Marketing Guide 2017 Aggressive Growth Marketing 7

8 Social Media Social media will always be key when it comes to digital marketing. With regards to growing your list, it s simple but effective! Use social media to encourage people to head to your website and either create an account, qualify for a discount or sign up for blog content. This way they ll have to enter an address first. Loyalty rewards By offering special rewards that require people to sign up to your business, incentivising customers to refer their friends or family or by offering freebies on their birthday, you should soon find your list beginning to grow with a base of loyal followers. Contest Hold online contests! For example, a giveaway, either on your site or on social media, and ensure that people who want to enter must sign up (ultimately providing you with their address). Publications Content is key, whether this is by guest blogging on larger websites or by doing interviews on podcasts or even local radio or TV. These are all opportunities for you to drive traffic back to your website, where people will be encouraged to sign up.

9 Similarly, you could work or partner with another entrepreneur in your field to run a joint webinar with them, and you could also potentially share lists. Quaraloo Use software like Quaraloo! You can use this survey tool to ask questions of visitors to your site, but you can also use it to encourage people to sign up for your list or newsletter. Key takeaway: There are a lot of tools available to help with different aspects of marketing. Some can help grow your list, while others can help with pop-ups. There are apps and plugins that can help collect addresses from visitors, whether through giveaways/contests or through landing pages or even Facebook. The Definitive Marketing Guide 2017 Aggressive Growth Marketing 9

10 MONETISING YOUR LISTS How to make money from your contacts lists Besides using marketing as a basic marketing tool, lists are another important aspect which have monetization potential. This is particularly important for those who do not have a product or service to promote, for example, bloggers. Whether you re marketing a product or not, there are a variety of ways to monetize your lists. Let s look at some: Affiliate If you re trying to promote a blog rather than a product, consider affiliate marketing. By reviewing a product of interest to your readers in your blog and then including this in a newsletter, you could find yourself earning commission. Premium content Building a solid readership for your blog and turning this into a premium site with exclusive content that your readers pay to receive is another way of using your lists to bring in extra money. Adverts Placing adverts on your blog which promote other websites or products that are of interest to your readers is another easy

11 way to monetize your blog and list. You will get paid each time someone clicks on an advert. Niche product Why not consider developing quality products or services specific to your niche? The better the quality, the more people will be likely to pay; marketing to your niche should be a priority! List renting/selling While you are likely to make some money by renting out or selling your subscriber list, it is not a wise idea because you will be giving your competitors the chance to target your audience with their own content or products. Commission-based offers Offering your subscribers an exclusive discount or coupon is an easy way to gain appreciation and loyalty, and better still, you ll get commission for every offer that s redeemed. Trading/sharing lists While it s not wise to trade or share your list with people within the same market as you, it can be beneficial to share with people in a similar niche; for example, a gaming blog s list can be beneficial to a comic book one, and vice versa. You ll both be expanding your target audiences, and should both then see the benefit. Smart links Keep s and newsletter succinct and smart. Only include The Definitive Marketing Guide 2017 Aggressive Growth Marketing 11

12 links to the pages that make you the most revenue; you don t want to overload your and lose potential customers. Autoresponders Most commonly used when vacation time comes around, autoresponders offer much more than this. They can be set to be sent out at any time, such as after a certain action; for example, you could set an autoresponder to out an offer for an online course when someone visits a related post. Social Using your to promote your social media is key, especially if you are on sites like YouTube or Instagram that have monetization options. Use your s to encourage visits to these sites. Abandoned carts If you have an online store, you have probably experienced abandoned shopping carts at some point. Re-targeting those abandoned carts via is crucial; sending out a friendly reminder, and perhaps providing an incentive such as a discount is a great way to get people to come back and complete their purchase. Key takeaway: marketing takes various forms, including social media, traditional advertising, and online advertising. It is also a vital asset for businesses to make money. While these are all key components to any marketing strategy, marketing is a huge area which holds real potential to bring in money, so once you ve started building up your lists, monetizing them is key.

13 SUBJECT LINE DOS AND DON'TS Promoting best subject line practice What tactics do you use to get customers to open your s? The real trick to campaigns is to get your recipients to open your s. This means, you need to make your s enticing enough that they will open them, by getting the subject line just right. Think about the vast amount of s customers receive daily from several businesses. Do you believe that they have the time to look at these s, much less to read them? They are busy! All they will do is quickly scan the subject lines to find those s that are of interest and ignore those that are not captivating. If your subject line is: too wordy, too lengthy, or too boring, customers will ignore your . Additionally, if your subject line is not mobile-optimised so that it can be easily accessed on a smartphone, it will be sent straight to the trash folder. The best subject lines incorporate elements such as: The Definitive Marketing Guide 2017 Aggressive Growth Marketing 13

14 1. Short and Spicy A quick glance at your subject line and the message should be clear! A long subject line will get cut off in the inbox. When writing your subject line, keep it short, spicy, and to the point. People who activate s via their mobile phones will not be able to read your complete subject line if it is too long. Therefore, to ensure readability, you should only use important words that will get your message across. Consider these two questions: 1. Is the word newsletter relevant in the subject line? Did you know that, according to a recent study, subject lines that include the word newsletter have less open rates? 2. Is an order number important in the subject line? You can simply write, Your order is being processed rather than, order # D is being processed. Remember that customers scan their quickly, so use simple and concise language to get their attention. 2. Compelling question Is your going to your customers spam folders? If yes, your subject lines are not compelling. Consider writing a compelling question for your subject line that is relevant to your readers.

15 For instance, if you are sending an about marketing strategy, you can compose a question like this: Do you know what your customers need? This will pique their curiosity and make them want to know the answer. Also, make sure that the question you asked in your subject line is answered in the content of your Personalised touch People love to know that they are involved. Personalise your subject line for each recipient. Address them by their first name; this will make them feel important and connected with you. It will also increase open and click through rates. If you prefer not to use their first name, a simple you or yours will still spark their interest, but don t go overboard with your personalisation! 4. Make it special Your readers should feel special every time they receive an from you. A 2015 study revealed that personalised subject lines that include names boosted open rates by 29.3% across all industries. Write subject lines that will make them feel as though they are part of your business and you value their input. Use phrases like: for you only exclusively yours The Definitive Marketing Guide 2017 Aggressive Growth Marketing 15

16 our gift to you private invite These phrases will work wonders in getting higher open rates. You can also share something special with them. This will increase their loyalty and conversion. 5. Tell In your subject line, tell your recipients what they will find inside your . For example, if they have downloaded an ebook from you and you are delivering it, let them know in your subject line instead of writing a simple thank you. Make sure that you deliver what your subject line promises, otherwise your recipients will not trust your future subject lines. 6. Create excitement Your subject line should initiate action; start them with action verbs. Action verbs will instill a sense of urgency and excitement and will make your subject line enticing and clickable. Key takeaway: You can have the best campaign, but if your subject lines are not up to scratch, then nobody will know. Subject lines that are concise, clear, and create a sense of excitement are most likely to see the best results.

17 IN SUMMARY Getting your marketing campaigns right is essential, and has the potential to be extremely rewarding. Whether you're promoting a product, selling a service, or writing a blog, this guide should help you with every step when it comes to getting started. Here are the key points to remember: Avoid using 'noreply@' addresses. Ensure links within your link to your promotion and not just your homepage. Use sign-up forms on your website to collect new addresses. Reward loyalty, and use promotions and discounts to entice new subscribers. Consider placing ads on your blog or site to help bring in commission. Always make sure your subject lines are short, sweet, and to the point. Where possible, personalise your subject lines and make your recipients feel special. We Innovate. You Escalate. Forward thinking marketing that will grow your business in 7 days We are called Aggressive Growth Marketing for a reason. Our team offers services that are designed to stimulate clear, measurable results within days. Kelly Bolton Founder and Director The Definitive +44 Marketing Guide Aggressive Growth Marketing 17