by Fronetics | Jun 22, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing
Email list segmentation is the one of the simplest and most critical practices to improving marketing email performance.
Marketing emails are an important part of lead nurturing: They can make or break whether a lead becomes a sale. So marketers spend a lot of time and money thinking about how to perfect their messages.
While many marketers focus on better design, higher frequency, or perfect timing as a means of increasing open rates and click-throughs. But, really, one of the best ways to improve the success of your email campaigns is through list segmentation.
And when I say success, metrics like click-through and open rates are part of that. But, there’s more. In fact, marketers have found a 760% increase in email revenue from segmented campaigns.
What is email list segmentation?
Email list segmentation simply means separating the contacts in your database based on certain criteria. For example, you can create separate lists for different buyer personas or for contacts in different industries or sectors.
The more specific you can get with your list segmentation, the more you can personalize the content of your emails — and the more relevant they will be to your recipients (which means they’ll be more likely to engage with them).
Other list segmentation ideas include:
- Demographics
- Company size
- Content downloaded from your website
- Geography
- Purchase history
- Content consumption (which blog posts they typically read)
- Interest level
- Purchase channel preference (online, via sales rep, etc.)
How does it work?
Most CRM or email platforms make list segmentation easy. But how you collect and determine criteria for segmentation is a little more complicated.
Collecting prospect information via forms on your website is one way. You can ask for name, email address, business name, interests, budget, demographic information, etc. Of course, the more fields on the form you require — or even allow for — the more prospects will turn away. It’s a delicate balance of encouraging form submissions while getting all the information you need.
Sales representatives can also enter information about leads as they communicate with them. Also, platforms like HubSpot collect information about contacts’ browsing history and content consumption that can be very helpful in determining what kinds of content they prefer or products they might be interested in.
Once you determine how you want to segment your email lists, it’s important to devise a different strategy for each list. What are your goals for each type of customer or prospect? Based on your existing data, how does that particular persona typically move down the sales funnel? How frequently should they be contacted? Answering these questions will help you build an email marketing strategy for each list that improves your chances of success with each.
What are the benefits?
Segmentation allows you to send the most pertinent content to the right people at the right time. And B2B buyers want and expect relevant content when making purchase decisions.
That sounds obvious, but I bet examples of companies violating this practice abound in your life. For instance, say you subscribe to the vegetarian plan of weekly meal-delivery service. Despite the fact that the company has a very valuable piece of information about your preferences (you’re a vegetarian), they send you a marketing email about upgrading to premium meats. Not only are you probably not interested in this offer — and are maybe even annoyed (or disgusted) by it — it leaves you with the feeling that the company doesn’t understand or value you as a customer.
It’s the same in B2B: 94% of B2B buyers say they chose a particular vendor because they demonstrated the strongest knowledge of the company and its needs. If your shipping business sends an e-commerce cookie company information about a special on shipping reefs and corals, you lose credibility in terms of how well you know and understand that customer.
But recall a time when you’ve browsed a company’s website and received an email shortly thereafter with FAQs about the exact products you were researching. Or, you have been in talks with several businesses about a major purchase, and just before making a decision, one sends you information helping you calculate ROI. That’s the kind of timely content delivery that can sway you in a particular direction.
Hyper-targeted marketing emails will give you the most success with your lead nurturing email campaigns. You’ll deliver the most relevant and pertinent information to the right people at the right time, encouraging them to move down the sales funnel and to make purchases.
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by Fronetics | Jun 6, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing
If you’re committing these content marketing don’ts, you could be turning off clients and prospects instead of attracting them.
As a marketer, your job is to attract customers and prospects — so the last thing you want to do is misfire and scare people away. Yet, only a third of content marketers rate their content marketing strategy as extremely or very effective. You want — and need — to be a voice that steers a company through our ever-changing times. But even with the best intentions, you might be approaching your customers with the wrong tone, and that can cost you.
We’ve got just the plan to make sure your content is in check with what customers want. Here is our list of content marketing don’ts — our top four offenders that scare away customers.
4 content marketing don’ts
1) Don’t be generic.
Understand your audience and what makes them click. Clients want to feel special and understood in a subtle way. If a message isn’t personable and personalized, you run the risk of running customers off and disengaging them.
Create content that is audience-focused, honing in on what your audience wants to read, not what you want to tell them. Do your research and position your content marketing strategy to focus on customer and prospect needs, not yours.
2) Don’t try to sell, sell, sell.
Trying to pass your sales pitch off as content will only hurt your content marketing efforts. Readers view content that isn’t sincere, informative, or authentic as disingenuous, and they’ll quickly turn away.
The same goes for content that’s filled with excessive keywords and multiple links meant to boost SEO results. Everything should be done in moderation so the customer — and search engines — aren’t turned off.
Don’t expect your content marketing strategy to result immediately in increased dollars. Building rapport takes time with an often-delayed payout.
3) Don’t sacrifice quality.
If your content is shoddy and low quality, your clients and prospects won’t bother with it. By and large, your customers value quality, consuming content that offers value and is relevant to their lines of business.
Rather than multiple low-quality postings, stellar content that stands out and teaches readers something will go a long way. And adding a variety of media (e.g., photos, videos, slides) to posts contributes to their value and boosts credibility. Including a well-done graphic or pulling out an especially relevant quote from an expert makes each piece of content pop.
4) Don’t go unplanned.
Ensure your content is relevant by documenting a strategy, following it, and adjusting it as needed. An editorial calendar is a great place to start. (See below for a free editorial calendar template!)
Brainstorm ideas for content with colleagues and clients. Document your goals and methods and create a plan for attaining them, giving your marketing plan organizational clarity. Consistency is king — haphazard content marketing won’t get you anywhere.
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by Fronetics | Jun 5, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing
Don’t risk ruining your open rates by committing these 5 email subject line crimes.
Email marketers, beware: If you’re tasked with writing compelling emails to capture online customers, the subject line — the headline of your message — is the first and main spot to grab the viewer’s attention. But, while a cleverly written subject can boost open rates and click-throughs, a poorly written one can have the opposite effect.
With this in mind, Grammarly and Movable Ink polled 1,100 readers to find out what inspired them to click open, and what they considered their biggest pet peeves when it comes to email subject lines. The results of the latter might surprise you.
Your email subject line can make or break your open rate, so don’t commit these subject line crimes.
5 common email subject line crimes
1) Spelling and grammatical errors
Proofread, proofread and proofread even more. The top reason 35% of people don’t open email is because of errors in the subject line.
Viewers who see an error in the headline assume that the rest of the email has misinformation, and they immediately disengage with its content. So whether you read the email subject line out loud (and even the rest of the email), ask someone else to read it before you hit send. Or use an online spelling/grammar program to check it for you. Just make sure you don’t have errors in the subject line.
2) Using all capital letters
It’s commonly cyber-accepted that anything typed in all capitals translates into being yelled at, and no one likes that. In fact, 24% of survey respondents said this was their biggest pet peeve when it comes to an email subject line.
Don’t mistakenly assume that hitting caps-lock for your email subject line will demand your reader’s attention — it actually does the opposite, and sends your email straight to the trash folder.
3) Excessive use of punctuation
When the email subject line is filled with exclamation points marks or other unnecessary punctuation, such as ellipses or too many commas, 17% of readers are most annoyed and deterred from looking at the message. You don’t want to be perceived as a spammer, by either the receiver’s filtering program or by the reader, so keep the extraneous punctuation to minimum.
4) Misused or broken personalization
Too often emails go out without proper formatting, or with generic placeholder fields left blank. For example, a reader who opens his or her inbox to a message with the subject line, “Hi, [name],” is sure to ditch the message — and lose any respect for the company who sent it. Make sure your email client and any dynamic content within is firing up correctly by sending a test message to yourself and a colleague.
5) Language that is too promotional
Some email subject lines use language that is over-the-top promotional, and readers don’t like it. Temper your language and don’t write subject lines that are too colloquial or filled with jargon.
What about using emojis in subject lines?
Increasingly, marketers are using emojis in subject lines. If used correctly, they may boost your open rate.
Some 56% of brands using emojis in their email subject lines report a higher unique open rate, according to data from Experian. Use of emojis can shorten your subject line, allowing an easy read on a mobile device. But, beware: Not all emojis are readable to every user, so choose wisely and always send a test first.
What bothers you most when it comes to an email subject line? Are there certain subject crimes that will prevent you from opening a marketing email?
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by Fronetics | Jun 1, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing, Strategy
Today’s B2B buyer’s journey involves more research, more internet searches, and more social media.
We’ve said it before: The B2B buying process has changed, and you need to adapt. The vast amount of information available on the internet has afforded buyers a level of self-sufficiency that renders traditional sales models moot. It drives the need for new strategies, like content marketing and social media marketing.
How can supply chain and logistics businesses adjust to the new way of doing things? The latest B2B Buyer’s Survey offers insight into how B2B buyers are finding vendors, engaging with them, and — ultimately — deciding to work with one. Some of the statistics are very telling and give vendors a good idea about where they need to invest their time and money in order to get buyers’ attention
10 stats about the B2B buyer’s journey
1) Length of buying process
The B2B buying process is becoming longer and more complex because the majority of buyers (82%) are using more sources to research and evaluate products and services, and they are spending more time in the research phase itself.
2) Web search is first
62% of B2B buyers say that a web search was one of the first three resources they use to learn about a solution.
3) Online eventually
In fact, in a different study, 94% of buyers reported using online research at some point in the purchasing process.
4) Searching for what?
71% of B2B researchers start with a generic search — rather than searching for a particular company.
5) How many searches?
B2B researchers do an average of 12 searches before engaging with a specific brand’s site.
6) Self-sufficiency on the sales path
Buyers are 57% of the way down the sales path by the time they engage with a brand’s website, meaning they have already spent a fair amount of time educating themselves with the enormous amount of information available to them on the internet.
7) Social media plays a role
And content isn’t limited to your website: A vibrant social media presence helps buyers conduct their research. In fact, more than half (53%) of B2B buyers report turning to social media to make buying decisions.
8) (More than ever)
What’s more, more than a third (34%) say they are spending more time this year than last using social media to research vendors and solutions.
9) LinkedIn is B2B’s network of choice
LinkedIn is reportedly the most impactful to the research process. 81% of respondents said it was very important or somewhat important.
10) But don’t discount video
And, believe it or not, video sites like YouTube and Vimeo are playing an increasingly important role in the B2B buyer’s journey, with 60% of respondents ranking them very important or somewhat important.
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by Fronetics | May 23, 2017 | Blog, Marketing, Social Media
If you’re a large company not using social media for all that it’s worth, you’re missing out on customers and business.
We know that the majority of businesses participate in social media — in fact, a dominant 88% of B2B marketers report using these platforms as part of their marketing programs. Large corporations, small businesses, and those in between are promoting their brands and engaging with customers online. Even companies within the logistics and supply chain industries are reaping the benefits of social media marketing.
The truth is, if your company is not participating in social media, you are at a disadvantage. Your customers, your employees, and your competitors are taking advantage of these technologies to conduct business in new, more efficient ways.
Content Marketing Institute’s new report on B2B enterprise companies (companies with over 1,000 employees) shows that large corporations are also jumping on the social media bandwagon. Here are some stats:
- 87% of B2B enterprise companies use LinkedIn
- 81% use Twitter
- 77% use YouTube
- 74% use Facebook
But when asked about the importance each of these channels to their organization’s content marketing success, 87% felt that email is still the most effective tool for distributing content.
What does that say to you? These enterprises are using social media for content distribution, but their heads aren’t in the social media game.
So, why should their social media efforts be turned up?
Let the numbers speak for themselves:
Businesses are using social media, so if your B2B enterprise company isn’t, you’re already behind the eight ball. Social media is a great way to distribute information to a vast audience in a quick, cost-effective manner.
Social media also allows you to get to know your audience in a more personal way. After a few weeks and months of committing to your content marketing strategy on social media platforms, you’ll know what your target audience likes and what they’re interested in. The more time and effort put into your social media campaign, the more refined and effective it will become.
And we can’t ignore that your competitors are already out there, happily exploring the online market share.
Social media platforms have already proven their worth and most companies, big and small, have embraced their value. If your enterprise company hasn’t, it’s time to get your foot in the game.
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