Crumbs from the Scone
In an article at MarketingProfs, Mack Collier explains why it pays to obsess about the traffic coming to your blog. Here are some of the key questions you should be asking:
Where do my readers come from? If you see a sudden spike in traffic, it’s worth finding out why this happened. “Was it one blog link?” asks Collier. “Or did one blog link to your blog, then three other blogs saw the first link and added a link on their sites? Or did a prominent Twitter user send a link to followers on Twitter?” When you have the answer, you’ll know where to step up your social-media efforts.
When do people visit my blog? Maybe you’ve noticed bloggers rarely post anything on Saturday or Sunday. “The reason is that most people read fewer blog posts on the weekend,” says Collier, “so bloggers have decided that it makes more sense to publish new posts during the week.” It makes sense to align your publication schedule with your traffic. If readers tend to visit first thing on Monday morning, for instance, don’t publish a new post on Tuesday afternoon when it’s likely to be ignored.
What catches their eye? Flag the posts that receive the most comments—this is an easy way to gauge your audience’s interest in various topics. “The information you gather will help you create posts that are interesting and valuable to your readers,” Mack Collier says, “and that will increase your blog’s traffic.”
Keeping tabs on how and when your readers arrive at your blog can improve its content—and keep them coming back for more.
Source: MarketingProfs.
Crumbs from the Scone
I
n a post at the Brains of Fire blog, Spike Jones tells the story of Pizzeria Delfina, a San Francisco establishment that chose not to ignore its one-star reviews at Yelp. Instead, the restaurant printed up employee T-shirts with gems like “This place sucks” and “The pizza was soooo greasy. I am assuming this was in part due to the pig fat.”
Is this restaurant crazy, or crazy like a fox? Feedback to the blog post is mixed, but includes thoughts from a Pizzeria Delfina regular. “I have to say,” she says, “knowing how good their pizza is, and knowing what their employees are like (pleasantly truculent), this t-shirt idea is brilliant. It reinforces the feeling that their REAL customers are special. It makes us (REAL customers) feel like we alone are capable of appreciating truly great pizza.”
Another commenter worries, though, that idea might inspire others to create fake reviews: “Now people will write negative reviews on Yelp in the hope they too can be featured on a t-shirt.”
Jones offers this Marketing Inspiration. “Embrace the fact that some people hate you,” he says. “It’s so great to know that not every one is drinking your Kool-Aid or sitting in your camp. It’s what makes the world go ’round. And by embracing the negative, it will make you better. It will show that you’re listening. And you’ll soon find out that the haters make the lovers love you even more.”
Crumbs from the Scone
Just because an email strategy works for one company—even one very like yours—that doesn’t mean it will automatically work for you. “This is due to different cultures and expectations,” says Debra Ellis in an article at MarketingProfs. “The only way you will know the best strategy for your organization is to test.” Sure, “test and test again” has gained cliché status in the industry, but that’s because testing works.
Here’s a sample from Ellis of an easy A/B test that can produce great data. With your next email, she advises, send your “A” group the original version of your message. For your “B” group, though, make only the following changes:
If you normally use a generic corporate address (eg, companyx@companyx.com), switch it to the name of an actual person whom most customers will recognize (eg, presidentx@companyx.com). Though you can create an inbox specifically for this test, many of Ellis’ clients channel replies to the individual sender’s actual account.
Open the message with a short, personal note from the sender that includes the customer’s name in the salutation and closes with the sender’s signature.
“Keep everything else the same,” Ellis says. What will this accomplish? It will help you “[c]ompare your open, click-through, and response rates” using simple personalization elements.
Being testy can be a good thing. “The best email strategy isn’t created,” says Ellis, “it evolves. Test something with every mailing.”
Source: MarketingProfs
Crumbs from the Scone
These days, companies are scrambling to stay competitive. Is there a silver bullet out there that can help? Something to get you through these tough times? According to Geoffrey Moore at TCG Advisors, it all comes down to focus.
Moore offers a guide for achieving a company-wide focus that can help clarify your goals, simplify your tasks and solidify your standing in this difficult marketplace. Among his tips:
Declare your company’s core. First, decide who you are. “We call the job of identifying a single focal point for your organization’s competitive success declaring core,” Geoffrey Moore explains. “Core, in this sense, is that which sets your company and its offerings apart from the competition. … It is the reason that customers and partners will choose you. It is your claim to fame.”
Separate the chaff from the grain. “When you declare core, certain projects immediately come to the fore,” he says. This is where you put your funding, your energy and your support. All other projects need to take a back seat for a while, Moore advises. “These must be resourced, but at the margin; you will pare back here.”
The result? By clearly telling clients who you are, you’ll encourage their business in uncertain times. “Think … Dell on supply and delivery chain systems, Nike on inspirational branding, Google on scalability,” Moore says.
Declare your story and stick to it. Define one clear purpose for all that you do; that focus could help see you through until the upturn.
Source: TCG Advisors.
Crumbs from the Scone
Empty aisles. Echoing footsteps. Silence where there used to be chatter. Real-world retail is clearly suffering. And now new research suggests that if bricks-and-mortar merchants want to survive, they should go virtual big-time. Flatland is calling.
According to the recent report, U.S. consumers are steadily moving online. Why? Well, a heap of them (94% of the study’s respondents) are comparing prices. And a solid number are looking for coupons (67%), while many are simply enjoying the virtual shopping experience (93%).
So, how might traditional retailers catch this wave? If you apply your years of retail prowess online, your results could surprise you. Here are a couple of examples:
- Sears recently unveiled a multichannel-services platform called “Shop Your Way,” designed to allow seamless shopping across all Sears channels, Retailer Daily reports. The Shop Your Way page offers a range of options: Shop online and pick it up at the store, shop by phone, get an online helper or sign up for Sear’s in-home service.
- JCPenney launched a virtual-runway feature on its e-commerce site that allows online shoppers to use “3-D” technology to try clothes on online, Retailer Daily says. Cool stuff.
Features like these help evoke the old-style store experience in brand-new ways online.
Make those retail charms virtual. Retailers can actually hold an advantage online—when they find new ways to make the virtual experience echo the store experience their customers have grown to love.
Source: Retailer Daily.
Crumbs from the Scone
The best email offer in the world won’t accomplish much if it never reaches your intended recipient. Beware: there are strong forces at work these days trying their best to block your messages! In a recent MarketingProfs article, Debra Ellis discusses three distinct deliverability hurdles faced by today’s email marketers. Meet the spaminators:
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that err on the side of caution when determining whether an email looks like spam or not. “[A]void all spam triggers,” she advises. “They include specific words and characters in the subject line, low text-to-graphic ratios, and repetition of target words within the body of the email.”
Junk Box Filters (JBFs) with settings that are likely left by recipients in a “suspicious” default mode; the most effective way to evade this snare is to get recipients to whitelist your email address. “If you want this … you have to ask for it, and provide quality content,” Ellis says.
Much-Needed Individuals (MNIs), aka your subscribers. “This is your toughest spaminator,” she admits. They can terminate you with a couple of clicks. “Your survival depends on your ability to entertain, engage, and enlighten.”
How can you heighten the chances that recipients will open your email, click through and—most importantly—close the sale? With good ol’ engagement. “If your emails are engaging,” says Ellis, “your customers will look forward to them and even pass them along to their friends.”
Be a hero: take steps to stop the spaminators. “A small investment in time can result in astronomical growth in loyalty, branding, and sales,” Ellis concludes.
Source: MarketingProfs
In an article at MarketingProfs, Mack Collier explains why it pays to obsess about the traffic coming to your blog. Here are some of the key questions you should be asking:
