reaching customers through social media & email marketing - mid am january 2013
DESCRIPTION
Reaching Customers Through Social Media & Email Marketing presentation delivered by Shane Fell of Top Floor Technologies at the 2013 Mid Am Horticultural Trade Show at Navy Pier in Chicago.TRANSCRIPT
Reaching Customers Through Social Media & Email MarketingMid America Horticultural Trade Show 2013
Welcome!
Overview
• Introduction
• Social Media Strategies
– Getting started with the primary social media venues
– Open discussion about your existing/future tactics
• Email Marketing
– Building and Managing Quality Lists
– Developing Effective Messages
– Measuring Campaign Results
Top Floor Technologies
• Website Design & Development
• Search Engine Marketing
• Social Media
• Email Marketing
• Web Analytics & Conversion Improvement
Maximizing Online Marketing Resultsfor Hundreds of Businesses Since 1999
Social MediaStrategies
Where to begin?
6
Communications in a Connected World
• Communications has changed from a monologue to a dialogue
• Consumers trust reviews more than corporate advertising – 91% say consumer reviews are the #1 aid to buying decisions.
• Social media facilitates word of mouth, which is the most powerful advertising medium
• More than 845 million active users globally• Over 50% of the United States population• Over 425 million mobile users
Potential Business Benefits
• Branding and Word of Mouth
• Customer Engagement and Loyalty
• Customer Feedback
• Targeted Advertising
Create Your Facebook Business
Page
facebook.com/business/
Build Loyalty with Customersand let them spread the word!
• Over 465 million accounts• While over 50% of Americans use
Facebook, about 15% use Twitter.
Starting Strategies
• Sign up and reserve an account in the name of your business
• Spend time searching on Twitter for:
– Products/services you offer
– Competitors
– Your own company
• Follow people and companies of interest
• Find potential clients, service providers, subject experts, and partners who come recommended
• Be found for business opportunities
• Post and distribute job listings
• Get introduced to other professionals through the people you know
Basic Strategies
• Reserve your business name
• Research competition
• Look up customers and connect with them
• Encourage customers and vendors to recommend/endorse you
• 250 million accounts• Actual use is lower than this
Basic Strategies
• Reserve your business name and setup your page
• Use keywords in your text
• Encourage people tofollow you and +1your page
Tools to HelpManage Your
Social Presence
Basic Strategies
• Sign up and claim your business name
• Create specials
• Offer incentives for repeat check-ins and “mayors”
Millions of reviews of local businesses posted by users.
Basic Strategies
• Set up your business on Yelp (free)
• Add information about your business
• Announce special promotions
• Encourage positive reviews from customers
Closing Social Media Suggestions
• Identify your goals and how you will measure results.
• If you are new to social media, begin by observing.
• Don’t forget Marketing 101.
• Social media is not a substitute for having an effective Website and search strategy.
What Social tactics have you engaged in?
Any success stories to share?
Email Marketing
Email Usage
210 billion emails sent per day
2 million emails sent every second
1.3 billion email users
516 million business email inboxes worldwide
Globally, mobile users have surpassed desktop users
Marketers Using Email
92% of all marketers employ some type of email marketing
65% of marketers planned to increase email marketing spending in 2012, while only 3% planned to decrease1
1MarketingSherpa 2012 Email Marketing Benchmark Report
Key Benefits
Highly targeted and immediate(dynamic, personalized content)
Measurable and Cost effective
Drive sales and up sell current clients
Build customer loyalty
The Results
66% of email marketers surveyed agreed that email is the most cost effective marketing tool at their company.1
Marketers said they enjoy an ROI two to three times greater with email than any other direct marketing.1
Email marketing delivered a $40.56 return for each $1 spent in 2011 (Direct Marketing Association).2
1Forrester Research, 2Direct Marketing Association
Building & Managing Quality Lists
Build Your List Organically
Existing Customers
Sales Leads
Trade Shows & Events
Sign Up Link in Email Signature
Social Media
Leverage Your Website Traffic with Sign Up Boxes on Your Website
Sign Up Form Examples
Tip: Keep sign up forms simple and offer meaningful value to your target audience. Let them know what to expect and when to expect it.
List Segmentation
Reach segments of your list with relevant messages
Segmentation of your list can yield an increase in open rates of approximately 14%
Possible segmentation methods
Demographics – gender, age, geography, company size, etc.
Behavior – email response, purchase history, browsing history, etc.
Customer Lifecycle – buyer vs. prospect, stage of customer journey,
products/services purchased, etc.
Purchasing Lists?
Not recommended … but if you must:
Make sure your landing pages are aligned to your list’s interests.
Don’t mention the fact that it’s a rented/purchased list.
Test results against your other lists.
Don’t sacrifice quantity for quality.
Instead of using large list collectors, consider specialty lists (from trade publications, associations, trade shows, etc.)
Source: B2B Magazine, E-Mail Marketer Insight
CANSPAM Compliance
Put your contact info in footer of emails.
Use a current email address.
Have consent to contact your list.
Offer immediate un-subscribe action.
When asked why recipients stopped subscribing to opt-in emails, more than half said the content was no longer relevant, and 40% said they were getting too many offers.
- Forrester Research
Developing Effective Messages
Attributes of Successful Messages
Timely and relevant to the reader
Not over-selling
Clear and compelling calls to action
Formatted to look good in multiple email clients
Effective landing pages
Topics to Consider
Upcoming events
Special promotions
Product reviews
Insider information
Free tips, expert advice
Information that will help your readers
Email Message Examples
Landing Pages
Clearly related to message content
Simple call to action
Less information is more
Mobile friendly
Subject Lines
Keep it simple
Don’t be overly flashy or pushy
Clearly and concisely describes the purpose/content of your email
Directly relates to expectations you set with subscribers during the opt-in process
Designing for Readability
Keep width to 600-650 pixels
Test for compatibility with various email clients
Consider responsive design for mobile devices
Leverage the preview pane
Responsive Design for Mobile
Responsive Design Tips
Source: Campaign Monitor
Single-column layouts that are no wider than 500 to 600 pixels work best on mobile devices.
Links and buttons should have a minimum target area of 44 × 44 pixels.
Keep your message concise, and place important design elements in the upper section of the message.
Source: Campaign Monitor
Run Design and Spam
Testing
Measuring Campaign Results
Basic Metrics to Track
How many people you sent the email to
How many opened it, how many times
How many unsubscribed
How many forwarded the email
What links they clicked
What they did after clicking a link
Overall U.S. Industry Averages
Email Open Rate – 19.9%
Email Click Through Rate – 5.4%
Remember, the best benchmark is your own results. Analyze your results and pursue continual improvement.
Source: 2012 Silverpop Email Marketing Metrics Benchmark Study
Getting Started
Hundreds of Vendors
Good list of vendors at http://www.marketingprofs.com/bg/
Important Closing Considerations
Running a campaign takes more than just having a platform. Ensure that you are managing your list well and developing great messages.
Don’t forget marketing 101 – understand your target market and plan your campaigns with them in mind.
Integrate your email marketing with other efforts.
What Email tactics have you engaged in?
Any success stories to share?
