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By Thomas Griffin

Email marketing is one of the most crucial parts of promoting your business. Here are the metrics you need to track to improve your campaign’s ROI.

There are few things as necessary as your email marketing campaign. The success of your newsletter and other email-based promotional material can have a significant impact on the financial status and health of your company.

If you need to know what kind of impact your email marketing campaign has on your brand, consider the following stats from a case study by Delivra:

  • Email subscribers are three times as likely to share your content as those who discover your content on social media.
  • Automation in the email marketing field is causing a drastic increase in open rates. They report a 70.5% increase in open rates with automated emails.
  • A whopping 72% of people prefer to receive promotional content in their email inbox.

Now that we know why email marketing is important, it’s time to figure out which ROI (return on investment) metrics you need to track to make the most of your lead list.

Editor’s note: Looking for email marketing software for your business? Fill out the questionnaire below to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs.

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Feature Image Credit: Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock

By Thomas Griffin

Sourced from business.com

By Sonia Simone

” I don’t like your tone.”

By Sonia Simone

Sourced from copyblogger

By Paul Koulogeorge

One of the biggest struggles faced by marketers today is how to balance new media (digital and social) with traditional media (TV, radio, print). Marketers tend to pay attention to the “new shiny idea,” often taking action on new media campaigns. But one traditional medium that has bridged the gap between the two worlds is public relations.

Public relations (PR) is work that helps a business or individual cultivate a positive reputation with the public through various paid and earned communications. Twenty years ago, PR worked through traditional media and in-person engagement; whereas today, we now have digital, social and influencer marketing — even virtual reality — to consider.  Unlike TV, radio or print, PR has evolved and is as relevant, if not more relevant, today than it was 20 years ago.

Below are a few examples of how PR has evolved in the digital world.

Refined Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing has been a hot ticket for several years now. As consumers continue to look to social proof and opinion, influencer marketing has evolved.

I expect this year to be a big year for nano-influencers — those with a following of 1,000 to roughly 5,000, and who often have much higher engagement from their fan bases. Due to their smaller following, their recommendations and opinions are often perceived as more genuine and trustworthy.

Brands are using influencers and other engagement tools to connect with consumers on a more personal level. For instance, H&M used influencers and polling tools to target their millennial consumers, find out their preferences and collect feedback for the designs. 

While the world of influencer marketing operated much like the Wild West in previous years, I believe it is beginning to show us more savvy and refined programming than ever before.

Multichannel PR 

Reaching the public has evolved from standard print, online and TV placements to a multitude of avenues. As mentioned above, influencer marketing is key to being relatable to younger consumers, as is the emerging world of podcasts. Brands can play off the influencer posts and drive new followers to connect on their own social channels. The impression and traffic to one web article can be leveled up by connecting stories and sharing with different brands’ fans, whether it be through reposting business news on LinkedIn or sharing a perfect consumer-facing press placement in Instagram Stories with a swipe-up link.

Today, PR must be broadened to multiple channels to deepen and expand the reach to target consumers. The message simply cannot break through the clutter when only focused on one medium.

The millennial-driven company Bumble has done a great job at touching on all channels through its influencer partnerships, such as its partnership with The Chainsmokers for the Bumble Beats dating app, in which the band hosted a concert ticket giveaway at the first college road stop of the campaign, or thought leadership interviews centered around new workplace initiatives like “The Hive.”

Content Performance 

It takes more than a heartwarming story or innovative product launch to earn a story in 2019. Increasingly, reporters and publications are being asked to deliver metrics such as article views, clicks, social media shares and likes. Therefore, your brand must be able to offer more than a great story by showing a willingness to help amplify that story across a variety of networks.

This is something I think all PR teams should be offering in 2019 as part of the pitch for earned media. There are different audiences to reach on various social media platforms, in newsletters, etc., that should be utilized when important and noteworthy press is earned.

IHOP was able to show how sharing news and information across different platforms can increase the engagement of consumers. With the brand’s stunt, changing its name to IHOb last year, the company was able to garner stories published by a variety of outlets and on social media platforms, as the news was virally shared.

Virtual Media

As tech continuously upgrades and shares information through artificial intelligence, PR strategies will begin to include voice-searchable content. Many consumers are using a virtual assistant to provide everyday information, from the news to the weather outside. I believe earned and paid media will be transformed to be easily referenced by virtual assistants, reaching targeted audiences more efficiently.

Google Assistant already shares information from search results. Asking “OK, Google, what’s the latest news?” or “OK, Google, how do I get rid of a cough?” results in top answers read aloud to the user. The future of these results will become even more specific and useful as more data is collected, making ideal earned placements with detailed information increasingly important.

Modern Day Metrics 

PR and marketing results have historically been difficult to track in terms of return on investment. Common practice in PR used to be measuring ad value equivalency and potential impressions for an earned media placement. However, times have changed and the advancements in digital have given PR pros modern new tools for measuring success across a variety of attributes.

Metrics platforms are helping brands understand their positions by providing a variety of analytics at their fingertips. On a single dashboard, brands can now track things like their share of voice among competitors, true audience metrics and reader engagement with content to determine which avenues and messages are successfully converting.

The examples above show how public relations is still doing what it did a century ago by “cultivating a positive reputation,” but is now using 21st-century tools and techniques to deliver the message. The way I see it, PR has adapted with the times, unlike the rest of traditional marketing and is staying relevant by taking the best of the old and combining it with the best of the new.

Feature Image Credit: Getty

By Paul Koulogeorge

Vice President of Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations at The Goddard School.

Sourced from Forbes

By

Looking for ways to boost your credibility using social media? Wondering how to capitalize on positive company mentions?

In this article, you’ll discover how to incorporate social proof into your social media marketing.

Why Include Social Proof in Your Social Media Marketing?

The term social proof was coined by prominent psychologist and author Robert Cialdini. He described it as a psychological and social phenomenon that leads people (read: customers) to mimic the actions of others in a given situation because of an inherent need to conform.

In other words, when people are unsure of how to react or respond to a situation, they automatically look to others around them, under the assumption that these people—whether experts, celebrities, friends, or even other consumers—know more than they do and hence also know what should be done.

Social proof affects us in more ways than are immediately apparent. A testimonial from an expert you admire or trust on the landing page of a product is social proof. Similarly, chancing upon the logo of an industry giant on a tool or service that you may be exploring is also social proof.

Your tendency to prefer a product or a service that your friends have recommended or have tried out for themselves can also be attributed to the impact of social proof.

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Sourced from Social Media Examiner

By Entrepreneurs’ Organization

Want to spark the power of word of mouth? Echo what Zappos, Nike and Southwest Airlines do.

Stan Meytin, an Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) member in New York, is founder and CEO of True Film Production, a video production company that connects people to brands through meaningful storytelling. We asked Stan how differentiators help create loyal brand ambassadors. Here’s what he shared:

Great brands don’t chase customers, they invite a loyal following. Creating brand ambassadors isn’t just a niche marketing function–it’s an effective way to drive business growth. And it starts with creating your brand voice and the message it communicates.

There are many factors at play in creating raving fans and brand ambassadors who will market your product or service without you asking them. Here are four of these critical factors:

1. An extraordinary product

There are at least 45 brands of athletic shoes sold in the United States, but only a few are well-known to the mass market. What is it that Nike does to differentiate itself from the 44 other athletic shoe brands?

Adidas was the dominant player when Nike entered the US market. Adidas, however, was neither as nimble nor as connected to its customers. The founding team of Nike was on the ground, listening to its core audience―runners. Nike asked for feedback on the running experience and discovered something that the existing shoes on the market did not provide.

Most running shoes at the time had flat soles, making it a challenge for athletes to maintain grip and traction. Inspired by a waffle maker, the Nike team transformed the bottom of its sole, giving athletes an edge in running performance. Waffle-soles are something we take for granted today, but it was tremendously innovative and put the brand on the map when Nike first came out with the idea in 1974.

2. Human-centric customer service

Product innovations are not the only factor in brand differentiation. Many successful brands have functional, but relatively average products or services. What is above average, however, is the culture that these brands inspire. Southwest Airlines is a prime example.

The company puts “employees first, customers second and shareholders third.” Southwest’s counterintuitive model for applying its focus works.

They’ve created a culture that is inclusive and fun, where employees have freedom and take pride in their work. Their core values motivate employees to do their best, which trickles down to happy customers and translates into business success. In the words of Southwest Airlines spokesperson Brad Hawkins, “We hire rock stars, ask them to be themselves, and then support them in everything they do to take care of our customers.”

Some companies tackle customer service head-on and focus on that as a marketing strategy. Take Zappos, for example: They invest their money in understanding what clients are struggling with instead of spending it on ad campaigns to force the brand on customers.

Zappos tracks customer behavior in an effort to create an emotional connection and then delivers a service that exceeds expectations. This creates brand ambassadors through the ultimate customer experience of convenience and personalized service. The result? People rave about Zappos to everyone they know.

3. Memorable experiences

Every experience that a brand provides affects how it is perceived and received. I discovered this personally with Club Med. During a video shoot about their unique company culture, they converted me into a customer myself!

I got to know the employees personally and formed an emotional connection with the brand. I shared the experience afterward with people I know. That is the power of word of mouth. It turns happy customers into brand ambassadors.

4. Storytelling

Storytelling helps people understand how brands fit into their worldview. I recently listened to a 13-hour audiobook called Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins. David’s story begins as an abused child. His audiobook tells a tale of transformation from an overweight man with a dead-end job into a distinguished Navy SEAL. I was struck by the strength of his character, his diligence and his inspiring mission of being great.

The storytelling approach moved me so much that I have told at least 30 people about the audiobook. They’ve listened to it and shared it with others. We’ve become David’s brand ambassadors. Powerful storytelling creates an emotional state that is contagious and viral. It is the essence of good marketing.

These examples share a common element that goes beyond the concept of brand ambassadors. Aspiring to greatness inspires others. The impact is far-reaching. Mediocrity is a comfort zone and default-mode for many companies. They measure success only by sales, then wonder why everyone is talking about the competition.

It’s simple: Innovative companies don’t just sell to us. They foster inspiration within us. Once that happens, we can’t wait to share their story.

Feature Image Credit: Getty Images

By Entrepreneurs’ Organization

Sourced from Inc.

Sourced from Forbes

Social media allows businesses to share and connect with audiences based on interest, not geography. With daily refresh and a variety of audiences, social media is a platform that allows brands some flexibility in talking about more than just the nuts and bolts of their products or services; it’s a venue where businesses can humanize themselves—an increasingly important factor in marketing.

Just as individual users try to show off their best sides on social media, businesses have traits that show them off in the best fashion. So what are the most important traits brands should show off when marketing on social media? Below, experts from Forbes Agency Council share some of the characteristics they believe help brands stand out among the enormous social media crowd.

1. Authenticity And Personality

Brands should display their “authentic selves” through social media, which means conveying the personality and values of the brand. This can include posts that showcase a great company culture and the team behind the brand, customer success stories demonstrating the true value the customer experienced, and the broader impact and social good the brand is driving. – Elissa Liu, Influential Executive

2. Empathy

Individuals show off in an effort to elicit “peer envy.” Brands have to be mindful of the “push” instead of “pull” in their marketing. The best way for brands to show off is to show they care about their customers. If you are a marketing agency, show off your clients’ wins. If you are a hospitality company, highlight great vacationers. Also, think of your brand persona and show off your team. – Jennifer Barbee, Destination Innovate

Sourced from Forbes

AAI are delighted to welcome 3 international speakers to Ireland for #AAIToolkit in May.  It will take place between 3.15 p.m. and 5.00 p.m on Monday 20th May at Dentsu Aegis Offices on Haddington Road, Dublin 4.


To kick off Jamie Barnard, General Counsel – Global Marketing, Media and eCommerceUnilever (London) & Catherine Armitage, Director of Digital PolicyWorld Federation of Advertisers (Brussels) will talk about the meaning and relevancy of data ethics to advertisers, the global business case for awareness and corporate action needs from 2019 on-wards. Extensive time for questions from the audience is planned for this section of the seminar.

Next up, and also joining us from London, Lauren Walker Chief Data Officer, Dentsu Aegis Network EMEA will take a look at good data ethics in action throughout the data supply chain, illustrated by recent examples.

During this present day, digital focused, immediate impact and social sharing era, the WFA Data Ethics Board are actively championing moral consideration by brands.
Using ethical frameworks and overarching principles as a starting point, the topics of privacy, human dignity, non-discrimination, transparency, accountability, societal good and safety present urgent and ongoing challenges. Not only are these subject matters paramount for discussion in day to day work locally, but across global markets while addressing and recognising cultural norms in diverse markets for multi-nationals.

You can read more about each speaker at https://data_ethics.eventbrite.ie

Keep up to date and join the interaction 

Free to AAI Members – please register your attendance

€35 + booking fee for non-members
Book now  

Monday 20th May 3.15 p.m. – 5.00 p.m.
Data Ethics – Current and Future Actions for Advertisers

By 

Google is doing more to help companies connect, manage, secure and analyze ever-growing amounts of data.

At its Google Cloud conference in San Francisco, the company unveiled a raft of announcements, including new open-source integrations, more AI capabilities and product-development partnerships with large consulting firms like Accenture. Enhancements will assist large companies in areas such as data migration, analytics and cross-compatibility with competitors Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.

Among the offerings is a vertical-specific suite, Google Cloud for Retailers, that will help retailers tap analytics and AI to predict their future inventory needs, recommend products for their customers and assist those customers in locating items they want to buy.

Within that suite is Vision Product Search, which uses Cloud Vision technology. Someone can take a photo or screenshot of a pair of pants they fancy, for example, and the tool will return search results with similar items from the retailer’s inventory.

“We’re able to help if a user likes a specific product; it finds ones that are similar, either in function or in style,” said Andrew Moore, head of Google Cloud Artificial Intelligence. “We provide tools that make the experience on the retailer’s website more immersive and useful for the user.”

Ikea is among those using the product. “We’re working with Google Cloud to create a new mobile experience that enables customers, wherever they are, to take photos of home furnishing and household items and quickly find that product or similar in our online catalogue,” Susan Standiford, chief technology officer at IKEA Group, said in a Google blog post.

Google’s Recommendations AI powers the new Product Recommendations tool, which suggests complementary products as customers browse a retailer’s website. Meanwhile, Real Time Inventory Management and Analytics helps retailers boost the in-store experience so that customers don’t end up empty-handed, costing retailers the sale.

“We’re using sales data regionalized over years or months, depending on what we have, to make a much more accurate prediction of what stocks they should have, in which parts of the country and when, so they are more accurate and have less wastage,” Moore said.

Google has tapped its vast partner network to develop additional tools for retailers. For example, Accenture’s Hyper-Personalization product helps retailers transform data into business insights they can use to boost customer response rates and lifetime value. Google Cloud and Accenture teamed up last year to launch the Accenture Google Cloud Business Group.

Tableau can help retailers quickly collect and analyze their data, while Publicis Sapient assists retailers with addressing data silos to connect and take action on the data points along the customer journey.

That goal is in line with other Google product announcements that improve speed and simplify data migration to Google Cloud. Its BigQuery Data Transfer Service, for example, which can automatically ingest data from SaaS apps to BigQuery, the company’s cloud-scale data warehousing solution, expanded support to more than 100 enterprise apps, including Salesforce and Marketo.

By 

Sourced from adexchanger

By Suman Bhattacharyya

Amazon is now giving third-party sellers access to aggregate demographic information about customers, including age, income, gender and marital status.

It’s part of an effort from Amazon to give more information to sellers using its third-party seller platform, Seller Central. The company noted some of these moves in a news release Tuesday that highlighted newly launched Amazon Brand Analytics, including insight on popular search terms and comparable products; a promotional Fulfilled by Amazon monthly storage and removal fee waiver; personalized guidance on how to sell globally, and educational tools for sellers. Kiri Masters, CEO of Amazon agency Bobsled Marketing, said news of the move emerged on a LinkedIn post from a seller late last week; Amazon confirmed to Digiday that demographic analytics were made available to sellers in the U.S. last Thursday.

According to Amazon, Amazon Brand Analytics, including the customer demographics report, is available to “eligible brand owners” who are enrolled in Brand Registry. Currently, the feature is only available to sellers who own a brand or who serve as an agent, representative, or manufacturer of a brand.

For third-party sellers on Amazon, unlocking free customer demographics information addresses one of the biggest pain points of selling on Amazon’s marketplace: limited access to customer data. While brand analytics offer information about keyword searches, how popular keywords are, click and conversion share, information about who customers were was virtually nonexistent before, said Ryan Williams, director of finance for Rise Brewing. With limited customer data, it’s been challenging for many Amazon sellers to market to customers and would-be customers who peruse or buy items via Amazon.

The insights acquired from the demographics tool will have an impact on broader marketing strategies that go beyond Amazon, said Williams, who said he began accessing the feature on Tuesday.

“This really helps with your marketing strategy, not just on Amazon but outside of Amazon as well,” said Williams. “We’re constantly asked by investors who we should focus on, and beyond Google Analytics, those questions are not always easy to answer.”

For Brian Hemmert, chief marketing officer at Fat Snax, the added insights are a positive move from Amazon, but not enough to abandon growing Fat Snax’ own e-commerce site.

“It’s still crucial to have our own direct channels through our site,” he said.

Agencies working with Amazon, however, say the motivations behind the new analytics tool aren’t only to benefit smaller sellers. Amidst recent reports that Amazon wants to move some sellers away from the wholesale platform to Seller Central, agency executives say what’s at play is a strategy to promote Seller Central by giving third-party sellers access to data they would have to pay for if they used Vendor Central. Brands that sell through Vendor Central have to pay for demographic data as part of a subscription to Amazon Retail Analytics (ARA) Premium, which can reportedly cost as much as $30,o00 per year (ARA basic, which is free, offers reports on business metrics including sales and inventory levels). But according to the company, brand analytics are less relevant to the vendor model since Amazon is handling the listings.

“I don’t know if I would characterize it as a win — it’s an incentive for larger sellers to move to Seller Central,” said Fred Killingsworth, CEO of Amazon-specialized agency Hinge, who added that moving more sellers to Seller Central lets Amazon divert resources from seller relationships within Vendor Central. “Amazon is a tech platform; the vendor relationship requires a lot more humans to be involved in the process, given expectations Amazon is going to provide help.”

Meanwhile, additional analytics are a powerful tool to justify additional investments in Amazon’s advertising platform.

“With brand analytics, the new demographics that came out in the past few days are a case for more ad spend on Amazon,” said Masters.

By Suman Bhattacharyya

Sourced from DIGIDAY UK

By

The Guardian is promoting its daily news podcast, Today in Focus, with an unusual marketing campaign urging viewers not to read its ads.

A print and out of home (OOH) advertising push from the title and in-house creative agency group Oliver, saw ads reading ‘Don’t read this poster. Listen to it’ distributed from Monday (8 April).

The creative features text from Today in Focus episodes (one on climate change and another on Brexit) – all obscured by an unmissable call to action.

The ads are running in key spots on the London Underground, looking to drive podcast listens during the commute. The creative will also appear in print in The Guardian and on social media.

Kate Davies, head of brand and awareness at Guardian News and Media, said: “I am hugely proud of the concept behind this design, especially as it is one of the first times we have taken campaign creative for Today in Focus beyond our own Guardian channels. We know people often listen to podcasts when they are on the move, so this felt like a natural next step in reaching potential new listeners during their commute to work, while also providing an impactful design for use in print and on social”.

Sam Jacobs, creative director at Oliver said that the Tube was selected as the point of publicity for the campaign to “let tube commuters know that instead of staring at their social media or avoiding eye contact with the person opposite them they could listen in and discover the story behind the headlines”.

The podcast launched in 2018, led by presenter Anushka Asthana, who examines a major news story, drawing on the expertise of Guardian journalists and correspondents from around the world.

This comes after The Guardian announced its three-year pursuit of profitably had succeeded after turning around a deficit of £57m in 2016 to 2019 profit,

By

Sourced from The Drum