Personalization in Marketing: Why and How

by Jack Smith | Aug 16, 2021 | Blog Post, Digital Marketing, Marketing, Personalized Marketing

Personalized marketing provides visitors with an individualized experience. In turn, this creates more opportunities for brand growth and customer loyalty — and increases the chance that people will make a purchase.

Want to learn more about personalization in marketing? Here’s what you’ll want to know.

What are the benefits of personalization?

Creating an individualized experience can help your brand stand out in an oversaturated market. When customers feel that you care about them and not just their money, they’re more likely to take notice and engage.

How important is data for personalization efforts?

Data is critical for personalized marketing. Luckily, there are many ways to help you find out who your customers are and what they want.

You’ll need to get familiar with data analytics tools, use surveys and quizzes, put an A/B testing plan in place, and do thorough market research.

How are brands customizing their marketing campaigns?

Segmenting and personalizing email marketing is a common way that brands to start with customization.

Many companies also use more advanced techniques such as personalized abandon cart messages and promotional offers, custom product or service recommendations, and location-based recommendations.

Other Considerations

Putting data to work is always a wise idea, but personalization can also involve:

Quick and helpful customer support
A thoughtfully automated chatbot
Responsive social media management

Get Started With Personalization

Contact us today if you have any questions about personalization in marketing and how to make it work for you.

4 Shopify Best Practices to Implement

by Jack Smith | Jul 24, 2021 | blog, Blog Post, Digital Marketing, Digital Publishing, Marketing

Are you using Shopify? It’s one of the simplest and most popular e-commerce platforms available, and it has plenty of features to help you boost awareness and sales. But to take full advantage of Shopify, make sure you understand how to optimize your use of the platform.

Here’s what to know, including helpful tips you can put to work right away:

Let’s start with the basics…

Shopify is a subscription-based e-commerce platform that allows any business to set up a virtual store and sell their products online. Some of its key features include the ability to showcase products, manage inventory and facilitate payments — all while making stronger and more impactful connections with your customers.

And optimize with best practices.

Selling your products online gives you a bigger customer base, but it’s still up to you to grab people’s attention (and meet your revenue goals). Make sure you’re implementing a few best practices:

Copy: All of your products should be accompanied by descriptive, well-written copy. Keep it short but impactful, and always include a CTA.
Navigation: Break down bigger menus into smaller, more digestible sections so that your customers can easily see what’s available. And put an organized tagging system in place so shoppers can easily search and filter products.
Collections: Create curated collections to provide targeted recommendations and increase the scope of individual sales.
Design and Imagery: High-quality design and images make your products more attractive and let customers know what they’ll get.

Need help with your marketing? Get in touch anytime.

What is Omnichannel Marketing?

by Jack Smith | Jul 13, 2021 | blog, Blog Post, Digital Marketing, Digital Publishing, Marketing

Are you familiar with omnichannel marketing?

While it’s easy to get confused with multichannel marketing, omnichannel marketing is a distinct approach with its own best practices — and its own big benefits for your brand.

Here’s what to know, including the basics of what omnichannel marketing is and some simple tips on how you can start adapting it into your strategy.

What Is Omnichannel Marketing?
Omnichannel marketing is an integrated, sales-focused marketing strategy that aims to provide customers with a cohesive shopping experience across all platforms, places and devices.

At its core, omnichannel marketing is about putting the customer experience first. The goal is to ensure that regardless of how your customers like to shop — on their phone, through social media, in-store, etc. — the messaging and interactions they have will remain consistent.

Omnichannel Marketing vs. Multichannel Marketing
Both omnichannel and multichannel marketing are diverse strategies intended to capture an audience in various places and in various ways.

Where they differ is in intent: While multichannel marketing is focused on simply building a brand presence on as many platforms as possible, omnichannel marketing is about bringing cohesion to that practice in order to boost sales.

Make the Switch to an Omnichannel Approach
Creating an integrated sales experience isn’t just better for your customers — it’s better for you, too. Here are some tips to get you started:

Know your customers. Build well-researched customer personas to understand how and where your audience prefers to shop.
Work on segmentation. Different customers have different needs at different times. Segment them into groups (for example, new customers and existing customers in need of re-engagement) so you can offer an optimized experience.
Focus on cohesion. You want to make sure your customers have the same experience regardless of where they are. Double-check your story, your message and your branding are consistent from channel to channel.

Need more advice? Get in touch and we can help.

Marketing to Gen Z: A Quick Guide

by Jack Smith | Jun 21, 2021 | Blog Post, Digital Marketing, Digital Publishing, Marketing

Are you in touch with Gen Z?

The nation’s next big generation of spenders grew up in an era of connectivity and social influence, both in terms of how they relate to each other and how they relate to brands. To get their attention, you’re going to have to know what’s important to them. Here’s a quick explainer to get you started.

What is Gen Z?
Generation Z refers to young adults born in the years 1996 to 2015. And they’re about to surpass Millennials as the most populous generation on the planet.

How Gen Z Feels About…
As the most racially and ethnically diverse generation of Americans to date, it’s difficult to generalize about Gen Z’s opinions. What we do know though: Members of Gen Z have lived their whole lives online, and that’s affected how and where they’re spending their money — and their feelings about the market in general.

Brands: Authenticity is the name of the game when appealing to Gen Z, with 82% saying they trust companies more if they use real people in advertisements.
Capitalism: Only 20% of Gen Z has “very positive” views about capitalism, which is fewer than any preceding generation.
Social Media Marketing: Gen Z isn’t just completely tuned in to social media marketing they’re also redefining it. So while they’re happy to engage with brands, it’s increasingly on their own terms.

What It All Means
Gen Z has high digital expectations for brands. Looking ahead, you’ll need to invest in new platforms and the authenticity of your image.

This generation is spending big, but you have to earn it. If you need more guidance on how to do it, get in touch.

How to Write a Great Email Signature

by Jack Smith | Jun 7, 2021 | Blog Post, Digital Marketing, Digital Publishing, Email, Email Marketing, Marketing

How to Write a Great Email Signature

Is your email signature sending the right message?

While it might seem like a small detail, your email signature reflects on both you and your brand — and it’s important to get it right. Doing so lends more authority to your outreach, and it can also have a major effect on your email response rates.

Here’s what you need to know about acing your sign-off, including some essential do’s and don’ts.

Why Your Email Signature Matters
There are a number of benefits to hitting the sweet spot with your email signature:

It tells recipients exactly who you are.
It further establishes brand identity.
It provides recipients with necessary contact information.
It provides your email with more authority.

From cold prospecting emails to brand newsletters, including a well thought-out signature is key to contact recognition, as well as to creating emails that convert.

Email Signature Do’s and Don’ts
Take the guesswork out of a great signature by following these do’s and don’ts.

Do link to your website. This gives recipients an easy way to connect your name to your brand.
Don’t forget the basics. Even the fanciest of signatures still need to include your name, job title, and a way to get in touch. A headshot can be a great addition too.
Do include links to social. Give your recipients a fast way to follow up — or give you a follow — on your social media pages.
Don’t use emojis (in most cases). An emoji may come off a bit too unprofessional, especially in certain industries.

Design and Topography Ideas
You’ve got lots of options when it comes to design. Here are some great examples to get you inspired:

Do’s and Don’ts of SMS Marketing

by Jack Smith | Apr 20, 2021 | blog, Digital Marketing, Marketing, SMS Marketing, Text Marketing

Reach Your Customers With Text Messaging

Is your business making good use of SMS marketing?

Text messages can be a great tool for brands. Done right, they’re a fast and direct way to stay connected with your audience, share promotions and collect data on consumer preferences. Done wrong though, they can come off as overly pushy — or worse, even a little bit off-putting.

To help you find the balance, here are the do’s and don’ts of SMS marketing you need to know:

DO require opt-in and consent.
Just because customers give you their phone number doesn’t mean they’re providing consent for marketing texts. Require a direct opt-in so that your customers are more engaged (and happier to hear from you).

DON’T text just to text.
While SMS marketing is ideal for brand awareness, it’s not just for saying “hey” and checking in. There should be a reason behind every text you send, such as announcing a sale or sharing a discount code.

DO allow replies.
If your customer has a question or comment in response to your text, make sure there’s a method for responding. A marketing automation platform will help you do this and will ensure you can easily monitor incoming and outgoing messages.

DON’T overdo it.
Texting too often is pretty much a guaranteed way to get people to unsubscribe. Measure out your frequency and work on finding that sweet spot between texting too often and not enough. (Hint: Look at your engagement rates; if they’re going down, it might be due to your frequency one way or the other.)

Conclusion.
SMS marketing can look spammy and has to be done both carefully and legally. In all, it has come a long way over the past several years. The good news is that people are using their smartphones more than ever before. SMS is an efficient way to directly communicate with customers, once they op-in to your updates and special offers to increase sales. Netflix and Redbox do a great job using SMS marketing. Why not your business?

Need more SMS marketing advice? Get in touch and we can help.

Personalization in Marketing: Why and How

4 Shopify Best Practices to Implement

What is Omnichannel Marketing?

Are you familiar with omnichannel marketing?

Marketing to Gen Z: A Quick Guide

Are you in touch with Gen Z?

How to Write a Great Email Signature

How to Write a Great Email Signature

Do’s and Don’ts of SMS Marketing

Reach Your Customers With Text Messaging

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