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Improving Customer Communications with Video Calls

Header image for SharpSpring information on PROSAR website.

Although nothing beats meeting with people to fully communicate, understand each other, and form well-rounded impressions. Communicating via email and text is efficient and can be very effective once a relationship is established. Phone calls are much better at discussing complex issues and getting to know a person, while video calls provide the benefit of voice, facial expression, as well as shared screens and group presentations.

Communication has always been the key to marketing and sales. Now, and for the foreseeable future, video calls have never been more important. Here are some tips for making effective and professional use of video calls.

 

Making Good Video Calls

Since we’re all spending more time in virtual meetings, consider these tips for good video calls:

  • Look Professional: If it’s a business call, show respect for the other participants, your company and yourself — dress accordingly for your business and role. Video calls from home can be a little more relaxed, but you still want to be seen as competent and professional so hygiene, grooming and pants are strongly recommended.
  • Be Prepared: Keeping people’s attention can be more difficult online so don’t create downtime or lags searching for information or trying to remember what you wanted to say. Have all resources close at hand and ready, make notes beforehand and include your goals for the meeting to keep you on track content-wise and strategically.
  • Set the Scene: A cluttered or discordant background make it difficult to focus on you; it may also make it difficult to take you seriously. A plain background is your best backdrop. Good lighting is critical, but from the front not back. Avoid lights and windows behind you.
  • Watch the Time: The informal nature of a video call versus an in-person meeting can foster long, boring affairs. Be mindful of the time and what is being accomplished. Keep to the agenda schedule for your input and move others along if you are the chair.
  • Watch your Mouth: Video calls are often recorded, so think twice before you speak.
  • Take Notes: Just as you would in a regular meeting, take notes to remember key points and action items that involve you. Ensure your notes are in sync with the meeting minutes.

Making Good Video Calls with SharpSpring

SharpSpring has complemented its Sales Optimizer with in-application video calling. It makes it easy to connect with others on their laptop or desktop. Recipients don’t need to use SharpSpring and there is no software to download. Their browser will ask permission to use their laptop’s mic and speaker and that’s it… you’re face-to-face creating relationships and opportunities.

Getting connected for online meetings and meaningful conversations is simple. Reach out to leads in your SharpSpring CRM with the click of a button, invite anyone via email, even invite people to video calls already in progress. Easily contact team members by clicking Video Call in the top toolbar.

Animated gif showing how easy it is to create a video call from SharpSpring.

 

SharpSpring Video Call Features

A full complement of video call features will help you succeed online:

Table of SharpSpring video call features.

 

CTA graphic promoting free download of Marketing Automation Playbook PDF file.

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A Brief Overview to Marketing Automation

Marketing Automation blog article on prosar.com - person pointing at backlit icons

Marketing automation, or inbound marketing, started taking hold about a decade ago and brought about a paradigm shift in how companies approach their target markets. It leverages the power of digital tools and online communication, and consumers’ growing appetite for information. It respects consumers’ greater control over the selling-buying process. And, rather than the traditional broadcast methods of pushing your message out to a general audience, inbound strategy attracts a receptive audience, nurtures a trusting relationship, and secures a loyal client. Here’s a brief marketing automation overview to help put it in perspective for you.

What started quite simply with the notion of attract traffic, nurture interest, convert leads has become more comprehensive and complex. Dynamic-based content allows you to create customized emails, web pages and forms for targeted market segments (personas) and even individuals. Tracking, reporting and analytics now play an important role in testing, measuring and improving deployment of the tactics. And the tools used to manage the process have become more sophisticated and powerful.

This greater complexity speaks to the larger role that marketing automation now plays and great potential that comes with it. It underlines the importance of developing a strategy and detailed planning to ensure your budget and efforts are directly wisely.

The Marketing Automation Process

The basic premise behind marketing automation is much like dating — make yourself known and attractive to those who are looking for what you have to offer. Once you have their attention, you work at proving your value with information and insight via content on your website and downloads. A progression of content and engagement keeps your prospect interested until you successfully build the case that they should purchase form you.

The starting point is to create an informative and inviting online environment, and downloadable content, that serves as a resource for those seeking your service or product. (Content generation is an important component, read Does Your Content Go the Distance? for some helpful tips) When their online searches (often aided by AdWords, social media and email campaigns) bring them to your website, the wealth of strategically written and presented information, calls-to-action (CTAs), landing pages, forms and automated workflows lead them through your marketing funnel, and hopefully to a purchase. The process can take months with many visits, email campaigns, information downloads and even phone calls.

A bonus is that these same tactics are then used to nurture an ongoing relationship. The intention is not simply to make the initial sale, but to cultivate an ongoing loyal customer. The marketing and sales processes can more easily be aligned and integrated to work seamlessly together forming a continuum of customer care.

Tactics Used in Marketing Automation

The primary objective is to convince your prospects that they should choose your organization. Educating your target market helps them appreciate your knowledge and understanding of their needs. Tools, tips and tidbits of information, either as blog articles, whitepapers, branded information pieces, apps, etc. provide evidence to your knowledge and understanding.

Marketing automation tactics include developing strategic content, social media promotion, focused SEO, targeted paid advertising (AdWords and online banners), creation of engaging, customized landing pages and emails, special offers promoted by effective CTAs, scheduled phone calls, chats or online presentations, and a structured plan that integrates all components to work together in an automated workflow. Tracking and analysis enables measurement at several different stages so that tactics and campaigns can be measured and tweaked for ongoing improvement.

If some of these tasks and terms are new to you, download the Ultimate Guide to Marketing Automation Terminology. A comprehensive PDF that explains all the lexicon.

You don’t need to employ all these tactics, but like any campaign with many moving parts, they are complementary and often prove to be more effective when used together. Whatever tactics you chose to implement, they need to be coordinated properly and consistent.

Marketing automation is a process. It takes time to create the content and components, and typically requires several months of applied and integrated effort before you start to see results. Once you have the system working, ongoing effort, trial and tweaking is necessary for ongoing success. Marketing automation improves sales and customer satisfaction, but it’s not a magic formula for instant success.

The Evolution of Smart Marketing

Developing a personalized dialogue to strengthen and maintain a feedback loop, repeat purchases and referrals is smart. Marketing automation simply uses modern tools and best practices to do what good businesses have always done: work strategically to attract prospects, demonstrate your knowledge for your product/service, listen to and look after your consumers.

CTA graphic with link to download the Ultimate Guide to Marketing Automation Terminology PDF

 

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Choosing New Tech Solutions for Business Growth — 5 Things Not To Do

Illustration depicting an effective workplace. for business growth.

Whether you have been in the workforce for three years or 30, you’ve probably had to adapt and adopt new ways of doing things. Our digital work environment provides new solutions, platforms, apps and hacks at a dizzying pace. For some it is the only reality they know, for others, myself included, it has fostered paradigm shifts in how the office works.

When I first started my career in marketing, the internet and cell phones were not yet in public use. Staying in touch with clients required letters, telephone calls and in-person meetings. Client-centric service was a priority then, as it is now, albeit the expectations were lower. If a client reached out with a non-urgent issue, you typically had a day or two before they worried about a response. Technology has narrowed that grace period to minutes, however it has also provided much more expedient means to stay in contact with your clients.

Here are a few other examples of how technology has impacted sales and marketing:

  • Brand was just as important in those days, though it was typically referred to as reputation or image. Without the immediateness, pervasiveness and expansive reach of the internet and social media, your reputation was a more stable and manageable asset. Easier to manage, but much more limited in its effect — our digitally connected society has given an exponential boost to the effect of brand.
  • Prospecting has always been a factor of numbers. The saying was that the “more doors you knocked on the more sales you could make.” Now, door-knocking has been replaced by emails, tweets, blogs, websites and other online content. The intention being to attract and entice prospects interest via Google search results and strategically designed websites with automated workflows.
  • Referrals have always been a valuable means of growing your business, and the internet has ramped that up with many forms of online endorsement. Being “liked’ has become a major preoccupation for many companies.

As these examples illustrate, the objectives or destinations haven’t changed. As a guiding imperative the overall strategy remains consistent, although the tactics we use have transformed dramatically. Marketers today need to be adaptive and willing to adopt successful techniques.

Learning to work with a new project management platforms, client relationship management cloud apps, marketing automation solutions, etc. can be difficult for individuals and disruptive for organizations. Choosing the right solution makes for a smoother implementation and successful adoption much more likely. With the objective of successful integration and business growth, here are five things to be wary of when considering a new software solution:

  1. Don’t let the solutions dictate what you need

Before you start searching for solutions, consider what you need. Detail the problem or issue you are trying to solve. You may revise this outline as you start looking at potential solutions, but you should have a definite understanding of what you want solved before looking for the solution.

  1. Don’t ignore internal factors

In your basic outline of what you need, consider your processes, organizational structure and culture, staff that would be involved, etc. These will directly affect how successfully the new solution will be implemented, which directly affects your implementation cost and the effectiveness of your solution. Be careful to choose a solution that will work as harmoniously as possible with all factors.

  1. Don’t be fooled by the newest or coolest

We all like a shiny new toy, but look beyond the glitz to see how well it fits. If you find yourself thinking “that is so cool” rather than “that is so efficient/effective” you should consider your initial needs.

  1. There is no free lunch

That is to say, everything has a cost. If the solution doesn’t meet all of your needs, there is either an opportunity cost, or you’ll use more staff time completing the tasks, or you’ll need to invest in additional solutions. Measure all options comprehensively, including internal and external costs.

Similarly, don’t be misled by a free or basic version of a solution. Many solutions offer a discounted version, or freemium, to attract new clients. Consider what you truly need — now and in the near future. If the discounted version won’t meet your needs, then use the premium cost make your decision.

  1. Don’t focus on the cheapest

Much like the potentially beguiling free option, cheap solutions shouldn’t be seen with blinders on either. Consider all relevant costs beyond the direct expense. Often a solution is cheap because that is truly its value. It isn’t technically robust or reliable, it doesn’t sync or work well with other software you use, it provides limited support, etc.

If you have limited needs or a very tight budget, a cheaper solution may be the right fit. Just be sure to consider overall value, not simply cost.

Growing your organization and meeting your clients’ needs requires that you keep pace with innovation, and that you find effective and efficient ways to do so. Don’t let the myriad new solutions confuse you or deter you from your objective. Technology speeding along has dramatically changed our means of getting there; as you continue to shift gears with new and improved ways to brand, prospect and refer — embrace change, cautiously.

 

Click to download Email Best Practices Whitepaper

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I Have a Website, Why Do I Need Branding?

PROSAR blog image - the word brand shown on a sticker sheet.

This is a question asked by many small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) owners looking to grow their businesses. It’s a question we expect and we’re happy to discuss. Branding is an essential part of a marketing strategy, which is where it all should begin.

 

Branding Defined

What is my brand? is often the next question. Fair enough, many SME leaders are a little fuzzy on the specifics. Branding used to be defined as a name, symbol or design that identifies a product or a company and distinguishes it from others. However, branding has always been more than a logo or a catchy name. It transcends an impressive business card, updated website, and even a popular Facebook page. Branding is an expression of the value your organization delivers and the experience of dealing with you. It is the essence of your organization personified.

If that hasn’t completely clarified branding for you, the main take-away is that branding is the over-riding influence on everything your organization does. It should guide every touchpoint: it is the look ‘n’ feel of your ads and marketing collateral, the words and tone used in all communications, the way your staff deal with people in-person, over the phone and online, the atmosphere and feeling in your videos…

Branding incorporates science and art to convey the experiential — like a corporate deity it is omnipresent. So, it’s understandable that the concept is a little fuzzy for many, however it is important to take the time to clarify and structure your brand. Effective branding allows you to communicate that value in a unique way, integrated within everything you do.

 

What About My Mission Statement?

If branding is about expressing who you are and the value you provide, what about my mission statement… that we worked so hard on writing? Valid question, and good for you for having a mission statement.

Mission statements are important internal documents to guide decision-making and externally to inform the public as to your collective belief system and corporate raison d’être. Unfortunately, they often tend to be filled with unclear corporate-speak and declarations on how great a company is; neither of which is much good internally or externally. Focusing on simply communicating why your organization exists can help in writing a succinct and clear mission statement.

Both your mission statement and your brand are borne out of what you do and why you do it. Your mission statement is the down-to-earth description of what you do, and your brand is the face and implementation. It probably goes without saying that your branding strategy should reflect your mission statement, and your mission statement should reflect your branding. As such there are a subtle, yet pervasive, means of underlining your reason for being in business. (Check out How A Mission Statement Improves Your SEO)

 

How Does my Brand Affect my Website?

How does this relate to my website? One of the great things about having an effective brand is that it delivers a standard of messaging consistency. So, brand directs all collateral and communication, including your website. Brand covers visual and communicative tone that your entire organization can get behind. (In fact, effective brands are worn with pride by its employees, it has a rallying effect that keeps everyone singing the same song.)

Many companies approach a website as a technical project, when it is actually a communications and marketing project that involves technical ability. Equally important to the programming are the design and writing. A website, in all of its modern digital glory, provides several means to convey the essence of your organization: visual, aural and interaction strengthen your message. As such, it is an opportunity to fully introduce your organization, engage and nurture relationships.

There is an implied promise behind a brand that what you do as an organization will be consistent in quality, service delivery and in-keeping with your corporate ethics and beliefs. Today’s reality is that most people who interact with you will visit your website. It is therefore critical that your website effectively convey your brand and support a trusting relationship.

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5 Tips for User Friendly Content

Above view of business man working place. Cup of coffee, laptop, notebook and pen. Business, education or blogging concept.

In this drive for more, more, more content, it can be hard to ensure that all your content is accessible. Sometimes it’s important to take a step back and ask yourself: Is my content readable?

Not every member of your target audience is going to be internet-literate, and not everyone is able to easily navigate websites from disabilities. These members of your audience are just as important as those who understand the internet. Catering to them allows you to expand your market.

The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) also has content regulations in place, so taking a look at your content can be the start of compliance and is a part of upkeep on your website.

Here are five tips to make your content as accessible and readable as possible

 

1- Use Headings Extensively

Headings help break up long blocks of text, allowing people to more easily scan content. Having properly nested headings is critical for both readability and AODA. This means a single H1 is at the start of the page, followed by secondary headings being H2, and so on.

This also means not using headings for spacing. The only time H1 should show up on the page is at the beginning, and all subsequent headings should have text in them. Screen readers rely on headings to determine the content of the page, and they are a key component of compatibility.

Easily scanned content also allows busy professionals to know if the page will be valuable to them, making them more likely to either keep browsing the site regardless of if they find what they want on that page. If they don’t find what they need, they know finding other content on your website will be easy because it’s well organized.

 

2- Make sure titles are descriptive

Jargon happens in any industry. But, be careful that your menu headings and links leading to other sections of your site are in plain language.

There is nothing more confusing than looking at a website and having to decipher what basic menu headings mean. This leads to guessing at what sort of content might be beyond the link. It’s a problem for those who screen readers, too, because unclear headings make it much slower to navigate website; people who rely on them might give up — and your website to get penalized in its SEO ranking.

Go through your menu headings and make sure somebody with minimal knowledge of your industry or organization can make a reasonable guess at what’s behind the menu item.

 

3- Employ Lists

Bulleted lists are easier to skim, and can act as a mini table of contents for longer pages of content. They provide high points that can then act as hyperlinks down to headings should such jumps be advantageous. Even if they’re lower on the page, their indented nature makes them stand out, causing people to pay attention.

Accordion lists are also useful for keeping pages at a manageable scroll length. While people are less shy about scrolling than they used to be, there’s still something intimidating about a long scroll bar.

Both techniques allow people to see the most important information at once, giving people to read the sea of content around them.

 

4- Ensure Logical Groupings

This is a fancy way of saying grouping like with like, which is harder than it sounds.

This is especially important when you have content that can fit under multiple headings. Information about programs and services offered can fall under multiple headings. It’s important to make sure the pages are cross-linked.

Really look at your content from top to bottom and determine if people would assume all the information under the heading (including sub-pages) can be found under the top heading. If it feels obscure or unnatural consider breaking off the content to something more appropriately named.

 

5- Have a Site Map

Some people know exactly where they want to go. If you combine proper headings and good page names, a site map is an invaluable tool to help people know where to look. Placing it in the header or in an otherwise prominent position will give people a shortcut.

A site map is also required for AODA compliance, allowing people to navigate easily.

 

If you keep these five tips in mind, you’ll be well on your way to having users get the most out of your content. And the more users can get out of your content, the more likely they are to trust your business. As an extra bonus, you’ll be closer to AODA compliance.

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Top 3 Tips to get your LinkedIn profile ready for 2018

It’s that time of year again when people get picture ready for Christmas family portraits, work holiday celebrations and New Year’s Eve parties. You should also be getting online ready to ring in the new year and start off 2018 by putting your best foot forward on LinkedIn.

Social network family

In order to be social ready for all those new prospects and customers that you will be contacting in 2018, here are my top 3 tips to get your LinkedIn profile in tip top shape.

 

Put your best face forward!

Your profile picture is your first handshake, your first eye contact or smile, indeed your first impression online. LinkedIn reports that profiles with pictures get 21 times more views. Why is a view important? A profile view means someone found you interesting enough to click through to your profile and that is what you want. This next step is the equivalent of someone accepting your business card and taking the time to hear you out. To get this result, you’ll have to work on your headline which is tip #2.

But, back to the picture. If you do not have a picture, easy, get one taken or upload one to your profile. Make sure it is professional looking. After all, LinkedIn is a professional network, so post a picture of what you would look like if you were going to an event or a customer meeting. Avoid blurry or colored backgrounds and be alone in your picture. By this I mean, avoid cropping an existing picture and having someone else’s arm in your profile. If you haven’t updated your picture in a while, take a hard look and determine if you still look like yourself. You want to be authentic and not give a fake or biased impression from the start. If you need an update, then get a new picture taken and upload it to your profile. A profile picture should be updated every 5 years, at the minimum. If you would like to know more about all the small details that make a profile picture great, you can read more here from Pillar Research.

 

What you represent in one line!

Your headline is the one-liner that comes right below your profile picture and is always visible. Every time you post, engage with a post or share a link, your picture, name and headline will be what people see. Usually, you will see the title of a person or the company they work at appear in this one-liner but instead, use this opportunity to tell people what you are about and why they should contact you. I’ve seen a trend over the past few years of people calling themselves a guru or master of something, or stating their intention to help their customers and change their lives for the better. Remember to keep it simple! In one line, tell your future customer why you are the right partner for their business and what makes you so different from the competition. You can add your title, if relevant but simplify it to the important keywords. Finally, use action to explain your value proposition and make it clear why people should contact you. This headline should be captivating and interesting enough that people will want to click on your picture to get to your profile and learn more about your product or services.

 

Your pitch and a little about yourself!

Once you have made that first impression and got people to your LinkedIn profile, this is where you can give them your pitch. The summary is located right below your picture and headline, once people land on your profile. You will notice that only a few lines are visible and people can click to read more. You can edit this part by clicking on the small pencil in the top right corner of your profile, next to your picture and scrolling to the bottom of the editing window.

Very important to start with yourself. It is your LinkedIn profile after all and, even though we are going digital, people still buy from people. Start with 1-2 lines about yourself and what makes you passionate about what you do. Use the following questions to help you build your summary:

  • Why did you chose the industry you are in
  • What got your started
  • Why do you like what you do
  • What are you passionate about

Next, talk about your company, products and services. Make sure you include the right keywords for your industry and segment. Also, decompose your solution, are there other words that people would use to find your product or service? What are the business pains that your solution answers? Think in terms of what a customer would look for and include those keywords in your summary when talking about your offering.

Add a call to action at the end to tell your customers why they should contact you and how. The text in the summary is not hyperlinked, but you can write out your website or email, in order to make it easier for your customer to copy and paste in a new web window or email.

Finally, think of some media that you can add to complement your summary. Either a video, ebook, recent news clipping or your latest campaign can be uploaded to your summary to give some visual information to your prospect or customer.

Remember to take some time during the holidays to rest up and energized for the new year, update your profile and start off strong in 2018! The PROSAR team can help you achieve social success and reach your goals, just contact us here!

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Step 1: Personalise…

You have been choosing the right settings to target your ads to your chosen audience, you have been buying the right keywords to reach the right people when doing a search and you have been listening to your customers’ feedback on social media. So how does that all apply to your interactions on LinkedIn?

Cork, Ireland

Well, LinkedIn advertising will get people to your page or website to learn more about your company, but personalization will remain the key to your success with individuals. Indeed, although it might seem old school, LinkedIn is based on the power of one’s network and the relationships that you, as a member, can build and maintain. After all, people still buy from people! In order to understand how to better tailor your approach via a connection request, a message or an InMail, let’s take a look at the meaning behind the word:

 

Personalize

Person – nalize

Person – analyze

 

Priority #1: Person

Your priority should always be the person you wish to address. On LinkedIn, it could be a connection, a prospect, a longtime customer, a potential new provider, etc. Every opportunity is a good one to connect. In order to stand out, you need to personalize your approach based on what you know about the person in front of you (virtually) online. Make it about them! Take an interest in who they are: look at their profile, their social media activity, recent posts or articles that they shared, and see what you have in common, or how you might be able to help each other. Remember that the main focus of any communication should be your customer or potential new customer and what they are interested in or how your product or service can help them improve their business, their lifestyle, their way of working or doing something in particular. Think of questions that are relevant to them.

The idea is that you want to get them talking. You want to give them a reason to answer your message, pick up the phone when you call or engage in conversation when they meet with you, and that reason is that you took an interest in what they do.

To do so, keep this in mind when writing to them on LinkedIn:

  • The first few sentences of a message should be about your prospect: What did you find interesting in their profile? What recent article that they shared made you want to write to them? What makes them so interesting?
  • Next, you should be letting them know who you are and how you could be of value to them. Keep this short!
  • Tell them in a sentence or two, why are you reaching out to them, give your message a purpose.
  • Finally, give them a call to action, ask them a question or give them a possible time to talk and discuss. Most people will answer when asked a question.

 

Priority #2: Analyze

Now, in the word personalize, you see the basis of the word analyze. The idea is that once you get them talking, you need to listen to what they have to say. Ask questions, either in written form, or verbally if you are on the phone with them, and take an interest. The more that someone reveals to you, the better you will be able to personalize your offer to their needs. You may have only one product, or you may have an array of products, but you still need to provide a solution to a problem that your customer is experiencing. And this information does not tend to be offered up easily as it might show a sign of weakness or an opportunity for their competition. Hence, your objective is to build a relationship with your customer and inspire trust.

Be patient. You might need more than one conversation to be in a position to make an offer, you will also need to analyze their behavior to determine their willingness to move forward with you towards a purchase or an investment. This is where the relationship part kicks in. LinkedIn will help you find the right contacts and connect with them, but you will need to build the professional relationship and maintain it until your prospect is ready to buy. Keep in touch online by connecting with them, sharing content and staying top of mind until it is the right time for them to call you back!

 

Finally, make sure that your LinkedIn profile is up-to-date, pleasing and well branded for your prospects. Indeed, a prospect’s first action is typically to look you up online. We will discuss the LinkedIn profile further in upcoming posts, but in the meantime, if you need any help getting started, just reach out to your PROSAR Strategist today!

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So what about Twitter for business? Your Social Landscape, Part 2

Hanging Speech Bubbles

Last month we talked about your social landscape and how you could get started on social media, especially on LinkedIn. Moving on this month to another popular platform that has transitioned quite a bit in 2017, what about Twitter?

In 2016, Twitter made some very important decisions to battle user loss and try to revamp the platform’s image. With channels like Instagram and Facebook that are making video more accessible and popularizing the idea of stories, started by Snapchat, Twitter heard their users and decided to work on themselves. This said, a lot of minor but impactful changes arrived in 2017 and could be useful for your business. So how can you start your journey on Twitter?

Hanging Speech Bubbles

Why should you be on Twitter?

Like any other platform, it depends on your audience.

Is your audience active on Twitter?

Are you in a niche market that has a forum on Twitter?

Do you operate a business that can offer quick discounts? Or exclusive deals?

…

My main advice is to take a look online. Go on Twitter, search a few keywords that are related to your business and see what are the results. When I worked with PROSAR on the social media presence of a soybean company, we never thought that growers would be online, even less on Twitter but yet, to our surprise, they were strong users of the network and many growers were online, sharing their story. This media became an important one in our social media strategy.

Do not push it aside too quickly for the new and shiny networks that are popping up on the social landscape. Depending on your business, Twitter could be a good fit for you!

 

How can you use it for your business?

Twitter can be used in different ways. One main use is support. Twitter is associated to speed and quick accessibility. For many customers, if they are not able to reach the company that is causing them an issue, they will go on Twitter, expecting a quick response. If this is something that makes sense for your business, then it is a great way to offer immediate support and resolve a customer issue, while the rest of the social world bear witness to your great service.

You can also use the platform to have an online presence during events. Most events, tradeshows and conferences will be live tweeting the event. If you are at that same event, you could be participating in the conversation, creating mindshare and thought leadership by sharing captivating quotes from keynote speakers or cool things that you see at the event. With the right tags and hashtags, your tweets could get picked up by the event and distributed to the list of participants following the event, hence giving you a much greater reach and increasing brand visibility. It could also be a way for you to promote your booth during an event or your own conference, if you are hosting one. You can widely expand your reach and number of participants if you live tweet your event and people can attend remotely.

Finally, you can increase traffic to your website but promoting blog posts or other content already available.

 

What new features help you better serve your customers?

Video

Instagram has been a leader in making video cool and accessible after YouTube. Even LinkedIn recently added a video feature to their platform. So Twitter, is also joining the video party and making live streaming a part of their DNA. As a business, you could add video to your virtual event. You could have a talk with your customers about a topic in particular or you could stream the launch of a new product. Video is a strong asset and is more and more a part of our content, so if you haven’t started experimenting with video yet, now is the time.

 

More characters to share your message

This might seem small, but it is not easy to fit all you need to say in a 140 characters’ limit. After many years, Twitter has finally made this policy a little more flexible. Indeed, images and videos no longer count towards your 140 limit, which means that you can still enrich your tweet with dynamic content without losing any space to add your brand and work on your messaging. Same for replies, so coming back to the support idea from the beginning, you no longer have to add the person you are replying to in your tweet, which means you have more characters to actually support your customer and answer their questions. Having worked in social media and managed communities online, I can confirm that these minor changes make a major difference in your online interaction with your customers.

These first few steps will help you get familiar with the platform and decide if this is the right place for you and your business. Get in touch with PROSAR today to have your first Social Media Audit and an overview of your landscape! We can definitely help you get started!

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Email Sender Statistics Demystified

Stethoscope on laptop keyboard

If you’ve spent any time among marketing automation, especially emails, you’ll probably notice email sender statistics. And you’ll probably notice a lot of ambiguity for how you can change your sender statistics.

Stethoscope on laptop keyboard

The Basics

An email campaign report is made up of two primary components: email delivery statistics and engagement statistics. Both of these combine to create your overall email sender statistic.

 

Email delivery statistics are made up of hard bounces, soft bounces, marked as spam, and repressions.

A hard bounce is a failure to deliver. These will lower your sender status if you have too many. Try to keep these under 2%.

A soft bounce is a temporary failure to deliver. Two of these will not lower your sender status, but they become a hard bounce on the third failure, which will lower your sender status. Soft bounces are a warning the email might be invalid.

Marked as spam were emails delivered, but were flagged by the email provider as spam and placed in the junk folder.

A repression is an email that has been suppressed by the tool you’re using. Some software, such as SharpSpring, will automatically suppress emails that are “high risk”— those that have been bought and sold on lists heavily and are often blacklisted by spam watchdogs.

 

Engagement statistics are made up of deliveries, opens, and possibly internal clicks.

Deliveries are emails that were successfully delivered to the address.

Opens are emails that were opened by the client.

Internal clicks are when the person clicked on a link within the email.

You need low hard bounces, high engagement, and high volume in order to improve your sender status. Until you have sent multiple thousands of emails, you will be considered a low-quality sender for the safety of already-established high quality senders

 

Best Practices

You want to make sure your lists are clean before sending anything to them. Sites such as BriteVerify allow you to get detailed reports of how many emails will hard bounce or be repressed because the emails are associated with spam, and return you a clean list.

If the list has low percentages of bad emails, it’s safe to use.

When it comes to soft bounces, keeping an eye on emails that have soft bounced is critical. You can either manually check who has two bounces, or you can rely on an automatically-built list that remove emails from your lists after two soft bounces.

You also want to be making sure your subject lines are attention-grabbing and enticing to keep engagement up. Testing different subject line lengths, offers, keywords, and “sent from” addresses Having people open your emails helps establish you as a high quality sender.

Also segmenting your lists to those who primarily engage with your emails to send the majority of your communication to them, only doing infrequent mass mailings, helps keep your engagement statistics high.

All of this must be done over an extended period of time, with a large volume of emails. The amount of emails it takes to be considered a good sender fluctuates, but is multiple thousands of emails. Building up a reputation with a solid, reputable email provider is necessary to work your way up to proving yourself a good sender.