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Own Your Content

When you think of “content creation”, you probably think of a buzzword that vaguely means blog posts, maybe social media, but generally involving hours and hours of writing for somebody “over there” because content creation is a marketing task that can be cut when budget needs to go elsewhere.

What if I told you that you already have content created, live, and waiting for ownership— even if you’ve never had a blog?

Every piece of information you have on the internet, from your location to your contact information to your company description, is content. Each word you have put on your website or social media profile is an opportunity to build rapport and brand yourself.

 

Everything is Content

The internet relies on content to exist. Web design is to facilitate users reading content. Searches are to find content. If you have information on the internet, you have content.

 

Does Anybody Own It?

This is a question to ask yourself seriously before you begin evaluating your content. While it can be tempting to dodge this question so as not to take responsibility for bad content, answering it— at least for future endeavours— is necessary to improve your online presence.

Responsible for content doesn’t necessarily mean you write it. What it does mean is you create a standard for all future content, keep tabs on what content you have, and prune any unnecessary or outdated content.

 

Managing It

Once you’ve taken or assigned responsibility for your web content, it’s important to keep checking up on both the state of your content, and any rules that are being passed about web content.

This means:

  • Regular content audits to see what you have online
  • Pruning irrelevant content once it becomes irrelevant
  • Reading up on legal requirements such as AODA
  • Making sure all new content meets those requirements

While this looks overwhelming, it doesn’t have to be all done at once (or even all the time). You can schedule content audits based on how often you refresh your content— a slowly changing site can have yearly reviews, with yearly pruning. Faster changing sites might need every six months, or quarterly. Unless you’re constantly adding new things to the website, it’s unlikely you’ll need more than that

Legal requirements for content aren’t published too often, and by updating your content creation processes you can ensure all future content is compliant. Not to mention, having regular content audits means you always know what you have, and don’t have to make content you don’t need anymore up to regulations.

 

Benefits

By owning your content, you can start to evaluate every aspect of your online presence for its effectiveness, and start to think of why people visit your site. Is your content something people want to look for? Does it answer their questions? Does it help them trust you?

Looking over your content means you start to be aware of where you stand. Once you know where you stand, it’s far easier to take next steps and improve.

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How to avoid the junk mail folder- 3 important tips when launching email marketing

It’s our morning routine – waking up to check our inboxes only to find a long series of email prompts of “SALES NOW!” or “SAVE for a limited time only.” I’m sure I’m not the only one who ignores these emails or relegates them to the junk folder. Heck, as a marketer myself I’ve probably sent a couple annoying sales pitch emails. To be fair, creating effective promotional emails that stand out from all the clutter is not as easy as it sounds.

So, when it comes to creating successful promotional emails that will actually be opened, read and acted upon, what’s the secret? Here are three important tips when launching email marketing.

 

Why do so many businesses use email marketing? Because it’s a great way to stay connected to your audience and nurture their interest. With automation software, email content can be personalized for  specific lead personas, creating a dynamic email with customized content based on your customer’s interests and where they are in the sales cycle. But, as great as automation is when it comes to emails, it won’t magically make clients open them. It’s up to you to use convincing language and good email tactics to drive that success.

 

  1. Keep email subject lines catchy and brief

To get your customers to actually open an email, you need to engage them with the first thing that catches their eye — the subject line. To create subject lines that stand out, consider the audience that’s receiving the email. Are you sending them a Follow-up email? Then make it sound like you’re carrying on the last conversation you had with them, try using their name or try putting a question in the subject line; these tactics engage and provide the promise that there is something worth reading in the body of the email.

As more and more people check their inboxes via their smartphone, it’s becoming all the more important that your subject line is not just catchy, but that it’s also brief, as few as 3- 4 words to ensure that it can fit on any screen.

To show that you are legit and to  their attention, we recommend that your subject lines:

  • Avoid long sentences
  • Keep all first text headers in black
  • Avoid CAPS and too many exclamation points!!!
  • avoid being all lower case

 

  1. There’s such a thing as TOO much email content

When it comes to upselling your business to people, believe me, I know that it’s easy to get carried away, but it’s important to remember: now that you’ve got your clients to open the email do not overwhelm them or bore themwith too much content.

Whether it’s a Thank you or a Follow up email, we recommend that you stick to three or four paragraphs. You can provide a more pleasing flow, and a more appealing email body, with a longer head in the middle of your email and shorter headlines at the start and end of the email.

Other important tips on email content:

  • If your email body is primarily text, use short paragraphs (approx. 50-130 words).
  • Use simple and clear language and try personalizing and making it sound conversational.
  • If you plan on using images to emphasize your message (e.g.  promotional banners), use multiple images instead of one big image. Spam readers tend to flag emails that use one big image.
  • Have one call to action button and personalize it with your company name, instead of “Download now!” say “Download PROSAR’s Email Whitepaper”.

 

  1. Timing is everything

Email frequency is always a concern for marketers; send too many and customers will probably choose to opt-out of your services. The key is to be there when your prospect feels they need you. That requires consistency, but optimum frequency varies depending on where they are in the sales cycle.

Obviously, email marketing should not involve indiscriminate sending (check out our Canadian Anti-Span Law Compliance blog if you’re worried about this), it’s about using automation software responsibly and effectively to engage your audience.

With automation you can set online touchpoints that trigger a previously prepared email. For example, if a customer visits a product page three times, an email can be sent out automatically, providing more details or benefits for that product, or notifying them when it is on sale, or even featuring recommendations for similar products. This type of dynamic email helps to ensure that your customers’ needs are being considered and that a sales opportunity is not lost.

Other tips on email frequency:

  • Prompt the audience on social media before you send out a new email campaign
  • Take advantage of time-off, like holidays, or downtime, like noon, to connect with your audience
  • Ask customers when they would like to hear from you, and how often

 

Email marketing is a communication and sales tactic that has been proven to convert leads.

Automation software, like SharpSpring, assist greatly in implementing, monitoring, measuring and fine-tuning your email strategy.  Whether you use software or not, heed these three tips and take advantage of the strengths of email marketing.

 

Photo credit: Busakorn Pongparnit / gettyimages