Take These 5 Marketing Tactics With You Into 2017
Shelby Catalano
Brand Manager, Storytelling & Content | Strategist | UX Writer | Creative
Picture this: a rustic hunting lodge, my latest kill roasting over the fire...
If you know that reference, you probably got some immediate feel-good vibes and nostalgia. That feeling is what we strive to associate with a brand in our marketing efforts. It’s why companies spend millions on value prop billboards, radio ads with catchy jingles, and genius email taglines.
Fact: part of figuring out what works is to know what doesn’t. This is why marketers compare annual projections with real stats – we use data as our actionable compass.
Our mission? Being more personalized and effectual with every marketing initiative, all while having data to prove measurable ROI.
Easier said than done, though, for sure. In this post, I’m going to outline some of our most successful marketing tactics in 2016 to help you weed out what may and may not work for you next year.
#1: Email Automation is Where it’s at
Email has been shown to be 40 times more effective than Facebook and Twitter. Flat out, it’s one the most cost-effective tools marketers have to make a difference without blowing the budget. If you get nothing else from this post, know email automation is quickly becoming the new standard for qualifying leads, engaging prospects, and shortening the sales cycle in 2017.
“Over 75% of email revenue is generated by triggered campaigns, rather than one-size-fits-all campaigns. Automated email campaigns account for 21% of email marketing revenue.” -DMA
If you’re unsure of where to start in your marketing strategy, start with email. Why? It’s one of the most cost-effective resources you can use (assuming you have an existing database, and lots of contacts to market to).
With some initial heavy lifting, you can keep a close eye on your database’s lifecycle stages without sacrificing quality or extra time.
“Companies that excel at lead nurturing generate 50 percent more sales ready leads at 33 percent lower cost.” -Forrester Research
Understand your users’ conversion paths, and how you can refine automation to appeal to their needs and pain points. Here are a few ideas to get your brainstorming on:
? If a user downloads 2 offers, send an automated email letting them know about a third offer that furthers them down the funnel and makes sense toward their desired solution
? If a user subscribes to your blog, send them an automated thank you email for subscribing, and suggest some of your most popular blog posts for them to view at their convenience (you can use this to send “anniversary” emails for those who have been subscribed for 6 months or a year)
? If a user hasn’t engaged with your site in a while, send them a short and sweet email asking them to come back and re-engage, and listing a few new features/perhaps a coupon to return
Make your templates simple and easy-to-read, and, most importantly, have everything you do for automation designed with your personas in mind. From there, it’s a matter of monitoring what’s working, what’s not, and refining your strategy over time. Either way, this tactic gets an A+ from me, and one every marketer can continue to improve over time – especially in 2017.
#2: Personalization is a Must
“Emails with personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened.” -Experian
The importance of personalization cannot be ignored in any aspect of what we marketers do. How you reach out to your visitors, leads and customers can shape their impression of you and set the precedent for how they engage/interact back. Make sure you personalize enough so their experience is tailored to their known needs and behaviors. There are a few ways to accomplish personalization in your marketing efforts:
? Segment your contacts – You can do this based on lifecycle stage, demographics, browsing activity, location, and more
? Use personalization tokens – Use the contact’s first name in an email (if you have it), or consider what you can implement based on your knowledge about them to create a better user experience
? Utilize Smart Content – Have a new offer generate for your blog’s bottom CTAs based on what they’ve already downloaded, so the user always sees something different
? A/B test all content – Especially based on different devices
You can eliminate many uncertainties simply by testing. Don’t be afraid to test based on hypothesized user motivations – from sending emails to a group and changing the email subject line, CTA button, placement of a conversion point.
“Over the course of 20 months, [Obama’s digital team] the team executed about 500 A/B tests that increased donation conversions by 49% and sign-up conversions by 161%.” -Optimizely, from Obama for America’s Digital Fundraising Machine
Personalization and A/B testing go in a tasty sandwich together, and you can use this to acquire stats on what works and what doesn’t. Of course, don’t give your user the stalker vibe by showing them you know what car they drive, for instance; you may have them click away. At our 2016 Quarter 4 HubSpot User Group (HUG), we had Sarah Posnak, a Principal Partner Strategist at HubSpot, give a presentation on using personalization in marketing. Click here to get the Slides from this presentation and some great brain food on ramping this up in your business!
#3: Sales & Marketing Alignment: The Cat’s Meow
If your sales and marketing teams aren’t having regular conversations, you’ve got it all wrong. If marketing isn’t aligned to help sales, it could be disastrous for everyone.
Consider this: you’re making a pie, and all of the initial prep (marketing) involves mixing the wet and dry ingredients and creating the pie itself. The baking (sales), involves heating the oven to the specified temperature and baking for the right amount of time. If sales thinks you’re making a blueberry pie, that’s quite different than a key lime pie.
“Hot key lime pie is delicious!” – said no one ever. Although not a direct marketing/sales scenario, you can see why the two need to be on the same page, because both want the same thing: ROI and more money for the business. HubSpot calls this “smarketing,” and this collaboration proves marketing’s efficacy – all while shortening the sales cycle in the long-term. What’s not to love?
Companies with good smarketing practices in place generated 208% more revenue from marketing efforts.” -HubSpot
This is a trend for 2017 that’s essential to succeed. I can say this confidently because the data speaks for itself here. How many times are sales reps reaching out to unqualified leads, or people who aren’t a good fit for the company? It’s a blasphemous amount; 50% to be exact.
“By 2020, customers will manage 85% of their interaction with the enterprise without interacting with a human.” -TAS Group
Here are a few catchy lead-ins on how you can introduce the prospect of smarketing in your business:
? “Hey, so I heard having a sales and marketing meeting in one can impact revenue growth up to 3 times… let’s plot a course of action on how we can accomplish this”
? “We can close 67% more deals if we sync up sales and marketing. Would you like to hear what I have in mind for this starting in 2017?”
? “By fleshing out our buying process and funnel, we will be more likely to get chosen by our visitors”
Those are just some suggestions on how to get that conversation started. I get it – some sales teams are very antiquated and not willing to budge, but you can take incremental steps to get there. After all, data doesn’t lie. Let your voice be heard now and moving forward in 2017!
#4: Mobile Optimization
“53% of emails are opened on mobile devices.” -Campaign Monitor
If your site isn’t optimized for mobile or other devices, you are doing yourself a huge disservice. This isn’t just for email, either – Google is now penalizing websites that aren’t optimized for different devices, and it can impact your rankings.
Find out what percentage of users are opening your emails on mobile, and be sure to appeal to them! Chances are, those people are on-the-go, and checking emails in-between tasks. It all boils down to knowing your audience, and reaching out to them in a user-friendly way.
“57% of users say they won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed mobile site.”?-CMS Report
The data is in, and it’s plain and simple that a well-crafted user experience has better ROI. This is especially true for commerce sites, as many use social media in conjunction with their strategy.
I can’t tell you how many articles I’ve clicked from Facebook – mostly from my smartphone. Content circulation is powerful, and is continuing to thrive.
Businesses are spending the big bucks on digital ads; and you’re going to miss out if you’re not mobile optimized. Might I emphasize this is a necessity going into 2017 if you haven’t already done so. Not sure where to get started? Read more here about how you can tell whether your site is optimized for different devices or not.
#5: Video, Video, Video
Video is a pivotal marketing tool that’s becoming the norm.
“Video in an email leads to 200-300% increase in click-through rate.” -HubSpot
We have a video blog series by our very own specialist Alex who has outlined some great pointers on how you can get started – whether you’re on a budget or not. (Hint: it’s not as expensive as you may think.) Here are a few we think are super helpful for novices and experts alike:
? How You Can Create Awesome Business Videos With Your iPhone
? Video DIY: Create a Business Video Studio for Less Than $1,000
Using video is another trend to consider for 2017. Having visuals not only provides another level of clarity, but it also takes away some of the robotic elements involved with digitalization. The team here always strives to break the impersonal barrier and reach out to our prospects with a video while they’re in the sales process.
Of course, getting analytics from these videos so you can test what works and what doesn’t is also an essential part of video. You can get answers to where your viewers are located, where they drop off, and if they put in their email to continue watching (if you have a conversion point in your email).
“? of all online activity is spent watching video.” -HubSpot
Make sure you contribute to the conversation, rather than talking about something that isn’t going to resonate with your users. Here are a few tips:
? Keep your initial videos short to convey a single idea, much like a blog post
? Have the proper lighting so the quality isn’t compromised
? List out what your buyer personas are having pain points/problems with – use that as a beginning topic list to tackle in videos
? How-to videos for related topics with your product/service can help immensely, and are very shareable on social channels
? Placing videos on your thank you pages can help for reconversions on other offers (or in-video CTAs)
Make sure to remember your video is only as powerful as the content behind it.
Work with your team and craft a script that speaks directly to your personas and helps them solve a specific problem. This shows you’re being genuine and have an innate desire to help them, rather than sell to them.
There you Have it!
I hope this post helped you hone in on some tactics to tackle in 2017. It’s not easy to do all of this at once, but with the proper prioritization tools, I’m certain you can improve your marketing efforts and make a lasting (and maybe even magical) impact on your visitors, leads and customers.
If you’re interested in continuing the conversation, I encourage you to reach out to me on Twitter or comment below!
This article was originally posted on Bluleadz's blog on December 13, 2016. You can view it here.