Are you looking for ways to improve your email marketing? We’ve done the research and have found three best practices to increase the effectiveness of your email marketing strategy. Let’s dive into it!
Subscribing Option
Confirm or double opt-in is a must. Double opt-in adds a step to the email subscription opt-in process where the customer is required to verify their email address. This method prevents fake sign-ups and ensures that you have someone’s permission to send them emails. In addition, you will be compliant with anti-spam regulations and general data protection regulation (GDPR) laws.
Personalization
There are many different ways you can personalize your email marketing efforts, and the most important one would be to send welcome emails. Welcome emails can be automated emails after a new subscriber joins your mailing list, introducing them to your business. According to Get Response, the average open rate for welcome emails is 86%, so be diligent with what information you offer them in the email. Another great way to personalize your emails is through email greetings, whether you use the subscriber's name or use a nickname that your business calls all of your customers (i.e. T.J. Maxx’s Maxxinista).
Brand Consistency
Customize your emails to make them consistent with your brand. First, create an email signature that lets your subscribers know who the email is from. Secondly, include your logo somewhere in the template of every email you send. This can be at the beginning or end of your email, just make sure it fits seamlessly with the format. Lastly, write compelling and concise subject lines that are cohesive with your brand voice. Write subject lines in a way that creates interest in your email and makes your subscribers want to open it!
Want to talk further about email marketing? Email he***@********oy.com.
Have you thought about starting a podcast for your business? Having a consistent podcast schedule with valuable content can increase your brand’s awareness and strengthen your relationship with your current audience. Here are a few ways to integrate your podcast into your overall marketing strategy, positively impacting your relationship with your customers and your bottom line.
Create Valuable and Relevant Content
Relevant and consistent podcasting attracts people who want valuable content that you share through podcast episodes. Create episodes regarding topics consistent with your brand. Express your expertise on products or services related to your business. This allows you to establish yourself as an industry leader, gaining trust from your listeners, and, ultimately, more customers. Podcasting also enables you to build an emotional connection with your audience and helps you learn more about what is truly important to them, their needs, and the challenges they face.
Share Your Podcast Through Other Marketing Channels
One of the easiest ways to integrate podcasting into your marketing strategy is to promote the podcast episodes through other means of communication, including social media posts and emails. Whether you’re adding a small blurb at the end of your emails mentioning the most recent podcast or sending an email solely about the podcast itself, doing so can generate new listeners from your existing audience. When a new podcast episode is available, posting to social media allows you to interact with your audience in a new way while curating new listeners. Having a podcast section on your website can funnel your website visitors to your podcast. The options are endless!
Repurpose Content
If you’re already writing blogs for your business, repurpose the content from the blog by creating a podcast episode on the same topic. Use tidbits of information you already shared with your audience in your podcast episodes to expand upon topics that relate to your business. Using content you’ve already created for podcasts (and vice versa) is a great way to reiterate your message to your audience.
Are you ready to start a podcast? If so, how will you integrate it into your marketing strategy? Let us know in the comments!
CEO of the Mattie Kelly Arts Foundation, Demetrius Fuller, joins us again on the Hello Frances Podcast this week to share MKAF updates. Shantelle and Demetrius discuss the importance of art in a community, the mental health benefits art can provide, the impact of art on culture, and so much more. Demetrius also shares what MKAF has in store for the community for the rest of 2022. If you are not a member yet, we give you another incentive to join during this episode! Learn more about MKAF at mkaf.org. Questions for us? Email he***@********oy.com.
You have great sales, and your customers are happy with your product/service, but they aren’t leaving online reviews. How do you ask them to spread the word about their positive experience? Here we share a few ways to approach this could-be-awkward conversation with confidence to enhance your company’s online reputation.
Fluid conversation
The best way to acquire customer reviews is to directly as for it. Did your customer tell you they love what you have to offer? Ask them to spread the word! Be open and honest about how a simple review will help your business. When your happy customers know how much an online review would mean to you, they are more likely to share their feedback on your digital platforms.
QR code
To make it as easy as possible, create a QR code where your customers can easily scan it and go directly to a webpage where they can leave their feedback. Doing this extra step to make the process as simple as possible for your clientele increases the likelihood of them sharing their feedback online.
Social Media
Another technique for gathering customer feedback is asking for reviews on your social media sites. Your followers are already fans of your business, so why not just ask? Many times, supporters don’t realize the importance of leaving a review or simply don’t think about it. Posting on social media about the significance a review holds for your organization encourages your loyal patrons to spend a few minutes sharing their experiences with others.
Incentives
Many organizations don’t like to give away products or services for free, but we encourage you to consider the return on investment to offer an incentive to those who leave reviews for your organization. Whether a review enters your clients into a giveaway or offers them a discount for a future purchase, incentives are often a great way to receive online reviews.
How do you ask for customer testimonials? What strategy has worked best for your organization? Let us know in the comments below!
Do you know your customers are happy with your products or services, but your online presence doesn’t showcase all of your loyal patrons' great experiences with your business? Our design and content coordinator Kayla Koger hosts this week's episode of the Hello Frances Podcast to share a few ways to increase your customer feedback through reviews on your online profiles, including Google, Facebook, Yelp, and more. In addition, Kayla discusses how to respond to reviews (both positive and negative). Listen in on wherever you get your podcasts!
If you’ve listened to our latest podcast episode with Todd Henry, you know he references many of his books, podcasts, and more throughout the episode. We rounded up all of his resources so you can learn even more from his expertise!
The Accidental Creative: How to Be Brilliant at a Moment’s Notice
Todd’s first book is designed to help you “develop practices that will make you prolific, brilliant, and healthy”. This book will teach you how to put your best foot forward in your work, especially when it matters most.
Die Empty: Unleash Your Best Work Every Day
This book compels you to examine how you approach your work and challenges you to tweak your current method in order to achieve your goals.
Louder than Words: Harness the Power of Your Authentic Voice
Todd defines this book as your “playbook for taking your work to the next level”. Louder than Words gives you practical steps to identify who you are, what you want, and a plan to get there.
Herding Tigers: Be the Leader That Creative People Need
Herding Tigers is designed for those that lead a team of creatives. It discusses both outcomes that employees will be proud of and a process that is beneficial for all involved. We shared our highlights from this book on a recent Hello Frances Podcast episode. Listen to our book review here. Since reading the book, we’ve been completing this workbook to put what we’ve learned into action!
The Motivation Code
In this book, Todd Henry helps you discover your core motivation and use this information to help you excel on your relationships, work and life.
The Accidental Creative
Since 2005, Todd has hosted The Accidental Creative Podcast where he explores how to grow in life and as a creative. He and his guests share insight for how to thrive in life and work.
Herding Tigers
In this podcast, Todd and his guests discuss what your team of creatives need from you as their leader and how you can help them reach their fullest potential.
3 Things
Todd’s weekly email newsletter is simply three things sent to your inbox every Sunday designed to make you think deeper or spark a new idea. If you could use this challenge, subscribe to his newsletter here.
After hearing our review podcast about his book Herding Tigers, author Todd Henry joins us on the Hello Frances Podcast this week. Todd is the founder and host of the Accidental Creative Podcast, an author, and an international speaker where he shares his expertise on creativity, productivity, and passion for work. Listen to the full episode to hear Todd’s insight on recognizing strengths in your employees, balancing stability and challenge, the difference between your work and your job, and the best advice he’s ever received. To learn more from Todd, follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Wearable technology is a great tool to add to your routine to help monitor, analyze, and ideally optimize aspects of your daily life. Tracking sleep, activity, fitness, and more can not only give us information about our habits, but it can also help us implement effective time management, movement, and rest, to name a few.
Here are a few examples of wearable technology that we use and love.
Apple Watch
Probably the most popular on our list is a Smart Watch, and in our case, an Apple Watch specifically. Although the watch is helpful in many ways, we think it's a great tool to help you focus. With an Apple Watch on your wrist, you can keep your phone more than an arm's length away and still see all of the notifications on your phone. Keeping your phone further away without missing out on essential notifications allows us to be more present in our work and life. An Apple Watch gives you a barrier between you and your device and eliminates the urge easily pick up your phone for mindless scrolling.
Oura Ring
Like the Apple Watch, the Oura Ring also tracks sleep and activity, but this device dives deeper. The Oura Ring analyzes REM, deep sleep, bedtime routine, active time, in-active time, etc. After computing all of this data, it shares a daily "readiness" score with you. According to the Oura website, the readiness score answers how much your body can take on. It monitors your sleep, activity, and body stress signals like body temperature and heart rate variability. Feel like you are having an off day? Instead of pushing through, maybe your body tells you that you need rest! The Oura Ring confirms when we are not putting our best self forward for the day and encourages us to take care of ourselves before we can successfully tackle that to-do list.
Oculus
The Oculus is a virtual reality headset that transports you from your current reality to virtually anywhere in the world! The Oculus can help you optimize in several ways with so many features. Put on the headset for a quick workout at home! Planning your next vacation? Put on the headset and walk around a few destinations on Google Earth to decide where you want to explore! Unwind and watch Netflix, connect with friends through video games, paint or sculpt. The options are endless!
Do you use wearable technology? Tell us which ones and what are your favorite features?
Do you have any wearable technology that you use to optimize your performance? Shantelle has been implementing new technologies into her routine to analyze and monitor important aspects of her daily life in hopes of optimization. Listen to this week’s episode of the Hello Frances Podcast to learn how Shantelle uses her Apple Watch, Oculus, and Oura Ring to track her daily functions, sleep, activity, fitness, and readiness. If you use wearable tech, let us know your favorite features!
Former podcast guest Marcia Hull is back again on the Hello Frances Podcast! This week Shantelle and Marcia share about the upcoming 10th Annual Destin Rotary Crawfish Bash. As the chairperson of this year’s event and with nearly 30 years of service to the Rotary Club, Marcia explains what you can experience at the Crawfish Bash. Listen to the full episode now and mark your calendar to join us for a family-friendly evening featuring live music, delicious food, and more, all while supporting great local nonprofits. Stay up-to-date on the Rotary Club of Destin’s events by following them on Facebook and purchase your Crawfish Bash ticket today before they sell out!
