Secrets to Marketing Success guide to building your list

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Pamela McCormick
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1 internet marketing made easy Secrets to Marketing Success guide to building your list Learning to hold open the door for your customers. The case for pop-ups? OCTOBER

2 i Introduction As often as the gurus try to pronounce the death of marketing, studies show that connecting with your customers through is still one of the most powerful ways to reach your audience. According to a 2011 study by Pew Research, 92% of online adults use , and 61% check it on a daily basis. Old fashioned or not in today s tech-savvy age, is still a big part of most consumer s lives. But do consumers want from marketers? Oh yeah. Just check out the results of ExactTarget s 2012 Channel Preference Survey. A whopping 77% of U.S.-based online consumers indicated that was their channel of choice for receiving permission-based marketing messages. Direct mail came in second at 9%. Even more astounding was the survey s discovery that 66% of those consumers pulled out their wallets for a purchase as the direct result of an marketing message sent to their inbox. The verdict is in. marketing is still alive and kicking. Are you ready to build your list and generate more leads? We ve got some tips to get you started. Share this whitepaper: snapagency.com 2 OCTOBER 2012 SNAP AGENCY.COM

3 1 Offer whitepapers or exclusive content. Education-based marketing works. Your customers won t be interested in what you have to offer if they don t understand what it will do for them and how it could make their lives better. Whitepapers are one way to educate your customers and capture their addresses while you re at it. Give away your whitepaper for free, and require customers to provide their address in order to access the whitepaper. Educate your customers and capture their addresses while you re at it. 3 OCTOBER 2012 SNAP AGENCY.COM

4 2 Slap a QR code on your print media. Anything physical that ends up in a customer s hands is fair game for a QR code. Add a QR code to your brochures, handbooks, posters, and other print marketing materials. People with smartphones can scan the QR code to opt in to your list. Include a call to action and simple instructions for signing up, for example: Sign up for Snap Agency s Internet marketing newsletter. 1) Scan the QR code with your mobile device. 2) Enter your address. 3) Click submit. You can also sign up to receive s at SnapAgency. com. If you re a locationbased, brick-and-mortar business, you ve got all sorts of places you can use a QR code: menus, billboards, banners, window and door decals, flyers in the restroom, table tents, cash register signs, napkins, packaging, and receipts. Anything physical that ends up in a customer s hands is fair game for a QR code. Image Credit: Jeffrey Beall, Flickr However, you don t want to overwhelm your customers with QR codes on every napkin, paper cup, and table tent. Make a list of ideas for where you could use a QR code. Then pick just a few areas where you think QR codes would be the most effective. 4 OCTOBER 2012 SNAP AGENCY.COM

5 3 Include an signup option in every customer interaction. Your customers connect with you on a variety of channels: social media, , blogs, direct mail, etc. Use these touchpoints to build your marketing database. For example, include a link to subscribe to your list in the signature of every you send out. Include a signup form on your social media channels and on your blog. Use a QR code and signup instructions on direct mail and print materials. Use any touchpoint to build your marketing database. 5 OCTOBER 2012 SNAP AGENCY.COM

6 4 Add a Forward to friend button to your marketing campaigns. If you want more referrals, you need to ask for them. A Forward to friend button is essentially asking your customers for a digital referral. Sure, they can just hit the Forward button in their message inbox, but Forward to friend asks the customer to perform a specific action. Plus, it provides one more way for them to do it. 6 OCTOBER 2012 SNAP AGENCY.COM

7 5 Create a popup for signups on certain pages of your website. Controversial we know. Popups can be both incredibly annoying and incredibly effective. Do you risk driving away visitors, or do you take advantage of what works? There s more than one way to use popups. It doesn t have to be on every page, and you can limit how often a visitor sees the popup. For example, you can use the popup on your About Us page rather than the homepage (most visitors only visit the About Us page once), and you can set the parameters so that only new visitors see the popup. Always, always, always include a large X button that allows the user to get rid of the popup immediately. Don t make them search for a way out. If they re not going to sign up, they re not going to sign up. The point of a popup isn t to force signups. It s to get the visitor s attention and give them a chance to keep receiving valuable content from your business. Also, make sure the popup never shows up for visitors who have already opted into your website. We also recommend limiting the popup to once per visit. Running into a popup box on every page is the fastest way to drive away your visitors. 7 OCTOBER 2012 SNAP AGENCY.COM

8 6 Add a checkbox to your contact One of the easiest ways to build your list is to add the option to the contact forms on your website. Think about it people who contact you first (before you ever contact them) are the ones who already want to hear what you have to say and will be the most likely to buy what you re selling. Instead of pushing your message out and trying to get attention in a distracted world, you re inviting customers into your circle of influence who are already looking for what you have to offer. Forget about going out to get leads. Just learn to open the door wider to receive. Let your customers come to you. They re giving you their express permission to contact them through . What better way to build a community of loyal fans and brand advocates? Learn to open the door wider. 8 OCTOBER 2012 SNAP AGENCY.COM

9 a About Snap Agency Snap Agency is a marketing company based in Minneapolis-St. Paul that partners with small to medium sized businesses to increase sales and brand awareness through online marketing. Our services include Internet Marketing Strategy, Web Design and Development, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Paid Advertising (PPC), ecommerce, Social Media, Local Search Directory Listings, Marketing, and Analytics. Share this whitepaper: Snap is the Internet marketing services division of Probus OneTouch, a multi-year Inc company in Minneapolis. Through managing the digital marketing and social media needs of Probus s six online retail stores, Snap has developed best practices for using the Internet to drive revenue growth. We know how to turn clicks into dollars. Marketing Services: Do you want to generate more leads and sales through marketing? We d love to talk strategy with you. Give us a call at (763) or contact us by . Contact Us: snapagency.com Phone: (763) [email protected] Website: 9 OCTOBER 2012 SNAP AGENCY.COM

Secrets to Email Marketing Success 9 tips for measuring performance

internet made easy Secrets to Email Marketing Success 9 tips for measuring performance There s more to bouncing than what the rubber balls do. Conversion: it s not just for churches anymore. OCTOBER 2012