Research showing how Marketing Automation can support the lead-sales pipeline
Marketing automation has received a lot of attention over the past year. But you may still be sceptical, asking how can it actually grow my business’?
In this post, I want to dig into some of these benefits to explain precisely how marketing automation can help you grow your business.
In March 2014, Regalix conducted a study to identify the most common benefits of marketing automation, as told by marketers who had implemented the software.
1. Improve your lead nurturing
According to the Regalix study above, the number one benefit of marketing automation software is the ability to manage and nurture leads.
In every business, you will have a mixture of hot and cold leads. It’s common sense to have your sales team focus their efforts on the hottest leads, as they have the…
Practical tips to optimise your 'welcome emails'
First impressions count, and for new subscribers, the welcome emails you send out after they opt-in are typically their first interaction with your company. And if used correctly, welcome emails can greatly out-perform other promotional emails. In fact, welcome emails have 320% more revenue per email than other promotional emails, in addition to an 86% lift in unique open rate, a 196% lift in unique click rate, and a 336% lift in transaction emails.
As for how to use welcome emails correctly, I'd say you should start out by optimizing your subject line, the time you send it, who it’s 'from,' and the email copy can all increase the success of your welcome email. For example, using the word 'sale' in your subject line has been shown to increase open rates by 23.2%, while 'save' only increases open rates by 3.4%. 'News,'…
Examples showing how to increase reach and engagement with visually compelling content
Content shared on social media tends to be more visual due to high engagement levels and amplification when it includes photos, videos, memes and infographics. According to a Citrix Report and associated infographic, nearly two thirds of the posts on social media use visual content, since it ignites viewers’ imagination and enables brands to provide a positive experience, and social media users are more likely to micro and visual content.
7 Tips to creating visual content
Here are 7 tips you can use to create powerful visual content and instantly connect with your audience.
Tip 1: Personalize your message
Identify your audience, their problems, and showcase the special features and capabilities offered by your product or service.
Create visual content which cover specific themes for website personalisation, appealing to particular demographics/personas, key stakeholders and consider where they are in the sales…
Europe ahead of US in mobile engagement
Adobe have released new research comparing mobile engagement in different countries and across different sectors. We thought it could be useful for benchmarking your use of smartphone and tablet on your site and the engagement you're getting.
The research was released at this week's Adobe Summit for EMEA in London. It's from the Adobe Digital Index (ADI) and part of a new report which analyses website metrics such as stickiness, consumption, and conversion rates. It's a big study based on data from 100 billion visits to more than 3,000 Web sites in Europe (Belgium, France, Finland, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the UK) - comparison are given to the US too.
According to Tamara Gaffney, principal at the ADI:
"The big difference Gaffney noted between Europe and the US was in traffic coming from smartphones. In Europe, the Nordic countries were the leaders, with smartphone…
Key marketing tactics which come before your content marketing
Content marketing is the buzzword on everyones lips right now. For some, it's becoming an increasingly big part of the marketing mix. For others, particularly small businesses, it shouldn't necessarily be at the top of the list of priorities.
The theory of content marketing is an attractive one – produce interesting and engaging content which will be shared by your audience, and wait for the leads to roll in. Done well, it's a very effective channel, however, it takes time, effort and even the most brilliant pieces can be hit and miss in terms of uptake.
Sign up for Hubspot, Kapost, Marketo, or any one of the hundreds of content marketing platforms that are available, and you'll have all of the tools at your disposal for implementing content marketing.…
An infographic about infographics
We know that visual content increases sharing across social media platforms as Gary Lipkowitz explains in his article on 'Why infographics should still be part of your content marketing strategy. But do you know why our brain craves infographics or visuals on a more scientific basis?
The team at NeoMam Studios have designed this infographic about infographics which summarises why they are such an effective communications tool. Did you that...
"70% of our sensory receptors are in our eyes, it only takes one tenth of a second to understand visual content and that we 'recall 80% of what we see AND do'".
If you're looking for more practical guidance on creating effective infographics for marketing see this article by Dan Bosomworth of First 10 on A checklist of 10 best practices…
Our round-up of examples of who is using Twitter's Periscope video streaming so far
Since Twitter launched the Periscope app in March, we've been discussing its potential and early use in this discussion on our LinkedIn group. We're still working it out, so were interested to hear members' views on how it could be used and ask if it's going to be a fad, perhaps like Twitter Vine - was that a fad?, or a more significant marketing tool.
I think it's fair to say there are mixed views; scepticism that it's not professional video streaming and will lead to clips of tea making and mundane tasks through to marketing opportunities for professional video service companies to step-in and show how it should be done! Others are excited about the benefits of live streaming for behind the scene stories with fashion brands and…
Balancing the 4 ways to use LinkedIn for Business
A blurring of the lines is taking place - where once there was clarity, confusion now reigns; uncertainty has replaced certainty and as we sit in front of our online devices, we pause, concerned that our next press of the key may present us with a problem, a problem that sees us potentially offending the very people we want to do business with!
LinkedIn is evolving and unless you evolve with it, you may well end up damaging your brand reputation and your business will suffer.
Ok, this may present a slightly over the top view of the challenge I want to talk about, but please hear me out.
With more than 300 million people registered as members of LinkedIn, it's unsurprising that some will, on occasions, get the…
Examples showing why customer loyalty may be a self-fulfilling prophecy
We’re funny creatures, us apes. Take decision-making, for instance. Before we make a decision, such as buying an expensive item, we’re often beset by doubt and uncertainty. We might check out price comparison websites, ask friends and family for advice, or explore numerous models and variations of a product, all before committing to the purchase.
But once we have committed… once we have handed over our credit card details and gone through with the transaction… suddenly all that uncertainty drops away like water off a duck’s back. You can almost feel the relief as you wallow in the glow of your choice’s superiority, even though, in reality, the products that you left sitting on the shelf were probably just as capable as the item you selected.
It’s not just buying decisions that are affected in this way. …
Learning blog publishing best practices from the top 10 UK marketing blogs
Creating remarkable content is one of the core components of inbound marketing, and one of the best ways to generate a steady flow of fresh content is by publishing a business blog.
HubSpot research indicates companies that blog generate 55% more website visitors, 97% more inbound links, and have 434% more indexed pages than companies that don’t blog.
Whether you’ve only just decided to launch a blog for your business or you’ve been blogging for a while, this post will help prevent you from falling victim to some of the most common business blogging mistakes and teach you how to fix the blogging mistakes you might already be making.
1. Not having editorial/style guidelines
Mistake: Not having a documented style guide for all contributors to your blog. Your blog has a different look and feel for every writer, both internal and external to…
