Use personalization. Personalizing the content of your emails (depending on your segment from Chapter 3) will make it so much more relevant and valuable to them. Personalization goes beyond sticking your subscriber’s first name into the email. You need to tailor the actual content of the email to address their needs. For instance, an online retailer will find it much more valuable to read an email with the subject line, “How to build backlinks to your eCommerce store” than just a generic subject line, “How to build backlinks.”
Write great subject lines. David Ogilvy once said that 80 cents of your dollar should be spent on writing headlines. With emails, the subject line is just as important. If it doesn’t catch your attention, you won’t open it. So, spend the majority of your time writing and polishing your subject line. A great email subject line entices curiosity about the content of the email. It’s also personal, and highly relevant to the recipient. To learn more about how to write amazing subject lines, we have an entire blog post on the topic: 30 Successful Bloggers Share Their Best Converting Email Subject Line.
Targeting, viewability, brand safety and invalid traffic: Targeting, viewability, brand safety and invalid traffic all are aspects used by marketers to help advocate digital advertising. Cookies are a form of digital advertising, which are tracking tools within desktop devices; causing difficulty, with shortcomings including deletion by web browsers, the inability to sort between multiple users of a device, inaccurate estimates for unique visitors, overstating reach, understanding frequency, problems with ad servers, which cannot distinguish between when cookies have been deleted and when consumers have not previously been exposed to an ad. Due to the inaccuracies influenced by cookies, demographics in the target market are low and vary (Whiteside, 2016).[42] Another element, which is affected within digital marketing, is ‘viewabilty’ or whether the ad was actually seen by the consumer. Many ads are not seen by a consumer and may never reach the right demographic segment. Brand safety is another issue of whether or not the ad was produced in the context of being unethical or having offensive content. Recognizing fraud when an ad is exposed is another challenge marketers face. This relates to invalid traffic as premium sites are more effective at detecting fraudulent traffic, although non-premium sites are more so the problem (Whiteside, 2016).[42]
It is increasingly advantageous for companies to use social media platforms to connect with their customers and create these dialogues and discussions. The potential reach of social media is indicated by the fact that in 2015, each month the Facebook app had more than 126 million average unique users and YouTube had over 97 million average unique users.[27]
I think this is the trickiest part of email – it’s like a tangled web that you really have to think through in terms of timing, delivery and most importantly, content! I know with your Internet Marketing for Smart People list, you promote the series at the sign-up. If you’re offering a cookie (i.e. ebook) for sign-ups, does it muddy the water too much to talk about the series as well?
The most successful email marketeers work to grow their email marketing lists organically (as opposed to renting or buying email addresses). The Subscribe app inside your email blaster is a fantastic tool to help gain new subscribed contacts who want to be on your email marketing distribution list. Via the Subscribe app, visitors to your; website, social media or blog can be given the option automatically join your email marketing list.
Match the corresponding ad text. Great landing pages use the same keywords from the PPC ad text – the connection should be obvious and the continuity reassures visitors that they’re on the right path. Don’t send someone to a page about camping tents if your ad was about sleeping bags. And don’t send them to a generic page and make them search for the product they were looking for.
Here is where many websites make a mistake. The call to action often asks the prospect to take some action. However, visitors thought often asks, “Why should I subscribe?” or “What is there for me?” Rather than ask visitors to do something, offer them something. The call to action should be in the form of promise or value offer to the reader. Customize the submit button to attract the reader. For example, you can use “send me free tips” instead of submit, “Get instant access” instead of join or “give me access” instead of subscribe.
We’ll ask you just a few questions about what you do and where you work. The more we know about our visitors, the better and more relevant content we can provide for them. And, yes, knowing our audience better helps us find commercial partners too. Don't worry, we won't share your information with other parties, unless you give us permission to do so.
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Don’t have enough room to say all you need to say on your Facebook ad? Use a landing page to go in to more detail. Facebook ads can be used to direct users to a landing page that has additional information. This is where you need to be creative, enticing and maybe even a little witty. Don’t overwhelm but make sure you are writing copy that will convert your potential leads into customers. If you get them to the landing page, it’s just one more click until they convert.
Defang objections with an “even if” clause. If you can anticipate what might keep someone from believing your claim or assertion, undercut that opposition by acknowledging it. It’ll hint that you understand their fear, uncertainty, and doubt—and suggest that your solution takes those considerations into account. The formula is simple: “[Claim] even if [objection].” A very simple example is: “Be creative even if you’re not creative.” Here’s an “even if” clause in the wild:
Generally speaking, buttons will convert better than text-only links. For instance, if your call to action is ‘Click here to sign up’, try using a button with this text, rather than a simple text link. You will also want to play around with the color, size, wording and placement of your buttons: you will be amazed at what a little tweaking can do to your conversion rates!
The more contextually related your page headlines are to the calls-to-action people clicked on, the more likely those prospects are to make the connection that your landing page is for them. A great way to ensure your message match is strong is to write your ad CTA on a piece of paper and your landing page headline on another piece of paper underneath. Then look at your ad copy and turn the page. Does your paper click lead to a matched experience?
The most egregious example of terrible give-the-payoff copy is on buttons. Often we even forget to change the default text—“Submit”. (In case this has slipped by you before, go look up “submit” in the dictionary—and then think about whether it carries the kinds of connotations that make for the best relationships with customers.) The button is not the only place where marketers forget to emphasize what their prospects get, but it is the most obvious place. Below I’ve included some examples of typical button copy, with suggested improvements for improving their implied value by reframing them in terms of your prospect:
Creating effective landing pages isn’t a one-size-fits-all project. What works for one site might not work so well for another. Finding the most effective page design is a matter of trial and error in a lot of cases. It’s important to test the different versions of your landing page to find the one that works the best for your particular situation. Without doing so, you might be leaving a lot of potential conversions on the table.
