New survey reveals email marketing top for ROI, but still much potential for improvement

Shocking news in the latest Econsultancy/Adestra Email Marketing Industry Census: 68% of respondents rated email's ROI as excellent or good (the top result). OK, not a shock. However, despite the continuing strong results from email, the report suggests there is still much potential for improvement. The related infographic is below, and one area definitely in need of more focus is mobile email. When I state the mobile email needs more focus, I don't just mean mobile email design, but mobile email as a whole. So what needs optimising? Ignoring measurement issues for the moment, around half of mails are recorded as opened on a mobile device. This is the obligatory stat to remind us that mobile is not the future, but the present (almost one billion smartphones were sold…

Plus a great Facebook UGC idea

I wrote previously about a useful tool that enables you to link up social conversations from Facebook and Twitter with a blog post that then turns your blog into the engagement hub pulling in comments made on the other platforms. As I explained before, our usual strategy is to post a nice meaty article on the blog and then create a link to it on Facebook. Now I'd rather have people on the blog than our Facebook Page any day (it's owned rather than earned media and means we stand a better chance of monetising the content too) but the majority of users really like Facebook as the conversation platform so inevitably that's where most of the comments surface. We also create a lot of content that tends to be "Facebook only". Some of the meme-type content, quick pictures and status updates just wouldn't sit properly…

Improved targeting of Company LinkedIn Company pages and posts

Importance: [rating=3] > Recommended link: LinkedIn announcement of new International features This week, LinkedIn have introduced two new features to allow companies to target their content better to LinkedIn members in different countries by improved geotargeting by country location and language preference. Given that 2/3 of LinkedIn members live outside of the US, and the network is available in 21 different languages, LinkedIn are following Facebook and Twitter (also announced this week), to allow members to connect social updates and ads with local audiences. For LinkedIn, this will be particularly useful for larger B2B brands who tailor content for different international markets. For full details of the options to tailor company updates, company names,  descriptions by country see this Help Page: For companies using LinkedIn for marketing purposes such as lead generation…

Which measures are best for evaluating CRM programmes?

There is certainly no shortage of things to measure in the world of customer relationship management. With modern CRM systems straddling multiple departments, disciplines and channels, it’s a number crunching nightmare. 'CRM technology can deliver benefit in lots of different ways,' explains Richard Boardman, founder of Mareeba Consulting. 'You might use it for lead management purposes to help you increase the number of leads you get and the percentage that you convert to end business. It can be used to help you manage your existing customers more effectively and sell more to them. It can be used to help you with your marketing communications or improving the quality and speed of fulfilment of your products and services or streamlining your support operation. It really can be used in lots and lots of different ways.' Indeed, it may even be used to do…

Examples and techniques for integrating video with your email marketing

It doesn’t take a scientist or even a marketing expert to know that most people check their emails every day. Your friends, your coworkers, your mom, your grandmother, her grandmother. Email is used by virtually everyone regardless of age or any other demographic you can think of.

Email marketing is critical to your brand’s success and is still the best way to engage your audience and keep customers coming back. According to eMarketer, one of the top benefits of email marketing is that it yields a wealth of data about who a company’s best customers are.

Marketers can target those people and offer incentives or discounts to encourage them to share with their friends and advocate on behalf of the brand. Add video to your email marketing campaigns and you have an inexpensive, visually appealing and adaptable marketing medium for…

Increase membership with SMS reminders

If you’re a Membership Manager, in any sector, you have the same goals – to recruit, retain and grow your membership. When it comes to membership marketing; you’re probably always looking for different ways to reach out to new people, remind members to renew as well as developing the relationships you have with your current members.Have you thought about using SMS?

Using SMS within the customer cycle of your membership marketing strategy

1. Recruit

In membership, as with any business, it is important to recruit new customers in order to grow and develop as a company. Contact prospective customers with a low-cost SMS campaign, with a 98% open rate it’s the perfect platform to make sure your message gets read.

2. Retain

Once your members are on board you need to keep them up to date with exciting content to remind them why they signed up and to ensure they stick with…

A guide to process, tools and examples for social media listening

What I’ve leant from social media listening Two recent reports highlight the fact the business are not taking social media listening seriously and it’s still in its infancy. A study by the Altimeter group showed that only 42% of businesses are using social media listening to learn from their customers, this was a study whose respondents’ main discipline was social media, personally I would have expected it to be higher. The second report from Amiando (a study of event marketers) showed that only 20% of marketers are listening in social for the benefit of the business. I know I’m a big social media advocate, but I’m shocked that businesses are not using listening not only to benefit social media activity but the overall business, I guess it’s not been 'sold' in to the…

Visual, real-time content must move up the agenda

I said something in a meeting this week, it’s pure opinion to be honest, but I think I can back it up and wanted to post about it this week:- “brands that can leverage real-time, visual content will find themselves market leaders.” Would you agree or disagree?

A move to visual content since 2012?

Ever since Pinterest and Instagram started to get traction with consumers (2012 I'd suggest?), we’ve seen pictures literally become a 'thousand words', and savvy marketers have been quick to get visual content to the front of their social media and search marketing agendas. I also remembered a great Altimeter report, again from 2012 that revealed a deep confidence that marketers saw the importance of visual content, social and mobile. We’d have to say that was well founded as it turned out?:

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3 big changes to your Twitter profile are now live

Importance: [rating=5]

Recommended link: Twitter blog post announcing Profile Changes

23rd April update. We first alerted about this change to Twitter profiles on 10th April, when the rollout was promised "over the next few weeks". Well, a fortnight later and the rollout appears complete since this banner prompting users to update their profile has now been reported at the top of many profiles including ours.

If you take a look at the requirements for imagery, they are:

Brand ident (on left) of 400px by 400 pxMain pic of 1500px by 500px

Background and examples of the new Twitter profile

Over the next few weeks, Twitter will be making a big change to the layout of each profile page. These will be available…

UK marketers rate social media advertising platforms in new DMA research

The DMA has created a new social media scorecard based on a survey it ran amongst UK Social Media marketers to rate the usage of social media platforms. The scorecard summarised in the infographic is split into 3 areas: campaign planning, execution and post campaign analysis. The Infographic shares the findings: For campaign planning, Youtube and Google+ are the least favourable for individual targeting, compared to LinkedIn and Facebook. For campaign execution, Google+ scored low as businesses are still not sure how to use it, whereas Facebook and Twitter are higher due to ease of use and available insights. For post analysis, it's interesting that Twitter ranked low as marketers have to use third party tools as Twitter is limited. Facebook and LinkedIn ranked top.

According to Lynsey…