While each email marketing software provider is unique in one way or another, most email marketing software provides the same basic tools and functions.

The key is to choose the features that match your email marketing goals.

Analytical Features

Most email marketing software providers give you some way to monitor the performance of your campaign.

Each email sent provides useful data that can help you fine-tune your email list and target recipients more likely to be receptive to your message.

This data can be extremely valuable by serving as a learning tool that illustrates what works, what’s not working and where you need to place more effort.

Some of the useful data you can collect includes:

• Who received your email
• Which emails were opened
• What links were clicked inside your email message
• Who opted out
• Whether or not your email ended up in a spam folder or was labeled spam
• If your email was forwarded

Social Integration

The easiest way to link your marketing emails to your various social platforms is with a simple link within your email.

You can allow recipients to instantly post your email to their social platforms or pick and choose parts of your email, such as any photos or graphics you included, to visual platforms like Instagram and Pinterest.

According to a BlueHornet study, nearly 40 percent of consumers share emails via their social networks, so there is definitely something to be said for making your emails as socially sharable as possible.

A/B Testing

A/B testing is a method of testing your current design against changes you made to determine which version produces the best results.

The A/B testing concept can be used with various email components to determine what engages your customers the most.

In terms of email, you can achieve this goal by sending out multiple versions of the same basic email with different variations such as one subject line for one email and a different headline conveying the same basic concept in another email.

Not all email marketing software providers have an A/B testing feature, so do some shopping around if you want to test different email formats, subject lines and features.

Choose an Useful Email Platform

If your current email platform doesn’t offer testing options, consider finding one that does if you want the added peace of mind of knowing what’s working and what’s not before you go ahead and launch a full email marketing campaign.

GetResponse is an easy-to-use email marketing platform that can be used via desk top or accessed on mobile devices.

This email platform includes with built-in test tools you can use to send selected emails to a certain percentage of recipients to gauge the response you get.

The software actually determines which version is getting better results and automatically selects the better version to send to your remaining recipients.

Effective email marketing software even has the power to build brand identity and loyalty. It’s a wonderful way to keep email as a relevant marketing tool in today’s high-tech business world.

It’s also more cost-effective to make adjustments early in an email marketing campaign to boost your ROI.

The post Finding the Right Email Marketing Software appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

A successful influencer campaign starts with seeking out relevant influencers.

In terms of content marketing, these are people who weld the same power through various online platforms ranging from blogs to online review sites.

You want to build relationships with these discerning individuals in an effort to boost your brand and establish credibility among your target audience.

Solicit Content from Relevant Influencers 

Online influencers aren't as elusive as paparazzi-shy celebs. In fact, many influencers are more than willing to contribute a wide range of content to your site, write about you on their website or blog or simply pass on your eBook to their followers.

By turning to influencers, you get the benefit of:

• Free content from a reputable source with significant followers
• Building your brand by association with a trusted influencer 
• A steady stream of new visitors generated from your influencers' traffic stream

Identify Influencers Relevant to Your Target Audience

There are plenty of influencers out there. The key to successful influencer marketing, however, is finding influencers relevant to your target audience.

The research involved with this process can be as simple as searching on keywords and phrases your target audience is likely to be using to find you.

Google has a Blog Search feature you can use if you only want to find influential bloggers. You can also search on specific keywords on social sites such as LinkedIn and Twitter or use PR tools such as Cision and Vocus.

Prioritize Your Influencers

Once you identify relevant influencers, the next step is to prioritize your list of influencers.

Engage one or two of your influencers at a time to keep things manageable, especially if you're a smaller business with other tasks you need to perform on a daily basis outside of marketing efforts.

An easy way to rank influencers is to test the waters and engage each one in a small way. Make your decision based on how engaging they are with you and the results you see in terms of traffic.

Additional ways to rank your influencers include:

• Following them on Twitter or Facebook
• Re-tweeting some of their content that's relevant to your business or industry
• Leaving comments on their blogs

Introduce Yourself Establish a Professional Relationship

After a few weeks of testing the waters, you should have a good idea of which influencers jive with your business. Once you reach that point, send your selected influencers an email where you introduce yourself.

In a professional way, explain that you've been following them on Twitter or leaving comments on their blog. You'll also want to share a few of your collaborative ideas once you've identified topics relevant to both of you.

During your introduction, you should also:

• Include relevant stats such as how many visitors your site gets each month
• Offer incentives such as mentioning them in your newsletters or eBooks
• Delve into your stats and point out how you can broaden their audience

If anything, these examples should serve as an incentive to interact with followers and engage your target audience. The more personable you become, the more likely you are to form mutually beneficial relationships.

Finally, take time to build followers and become an influencer yourself.

The post Power Up Your Content with Influencer Marketing appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

If your online content isn’t generating a steady traffic flow, it could be lackluster headlines keeping people from taking a direct route to your site.

If the casual visitor can’t figure out what you’re trying to say, they’re certainly not going to take the time to figure it out.

With all the content found online, most people tend to skim until they find something of interest. This is why an effective headline is so important. Here are six tips for writing a descriptive, intriguing headline:

1. Keep It Short and Simple

An effective headline should never extend to two lines unless you’re using a headline and a subhead to further define your point. Keep it to around 8-10 words.

Convey one main point from the text that follows the headline. If the subsequent paragraph is discussing multiple topics, rework your paragraphs for the sake of organization.

2. Make Your Lists Even

When using a headline for each item on a list, the way this article is structured, a study published in The Guardian suggests even-numbered lists are more engaging.

While there’s no concrete proof that even lists will generate more leads, it does make for a visually appealing layout. Regardless of whether or not you subscribe to the even/odd thing, shorter lists tend to be easier for people to share with friends.

3. Ask an Intriguing Question

Most people have a natural curiosity, which is why headlines posing an intriguing question tend to be more effective. Just make sure you answer the question in the paragraph or video clip that follows the headline.

Question-based headlines tend to work best when you’re trying to convey how your product or service meets the needs of your intended audience by solving a common problem.

4. Use Negative Superlatives

Most consumers these days are pretty much immune to headlines that declare something is “the best” or some other generalized attribute.

According to Outbrain, negative superlatives tend to perform better than positive ones with questionable merit.

While there’s no reason given for this, it probably goes back to the curiosity factor of using words with a typical negative connotation actually used in a positive way.

Research by Startup Moon takes it a step further and reports better click through rates for headlines with “violent” words, as in “kill the cravings with our new diet” or “is an inefficient heating system bleeding you dry?”

5. Be Specific Whenever Possible

Be as specific as possible with your headline in terms of what you intend to present in your content, such as “five ways you can save money right now” or “how you can become a wiser investor in 30 minutes.”

These headlines perform better simply because you are letting the reader know either what they will gain from reading your content or how long it will take to achieve results from whatever it is you’re selling or offering.

For many consumers today, time is a precious commodity.

6. Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns like “you” tend to make your content more relevant by talking directly to your intended audience.

For instance, the headline “how homeowners can enjoy cost-effective roof repairs” becomes more personal when written as “how you can benefit from cost-effective roof repairs.”

In marketing terms, you want to establish a connection with your audience. Dry, formal content speaking in general terms isn’t going to accomplish that goal.

The post 6 Tips for Writing a Descriptive, Intriguing Headline appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Before you start hiring marketing consultants and trying to target a new customer base, take a moment to really look at your website features.

The bells and whistles you thought were cool when you first launched your site may be driving customers away or at least discouraging conversions.

Here are five annoying website features you probably want to avoid if you want to get more bang out of your website content:

1. Forced Registration 

People are more sensitive than ever about the information they give out online. If you “insist” on having an user register before they can freely browse your site, you’re more likely to drive them away.

You have plenty of opportunities to collect important user data from people who really want to be on your email mailing list, subscribe to your newsletter or fill out a voluntary request for additional information. There’s really no reason to make it mandatory.

2. Automatic Music or Video

If an user has no choice but to watch an introduction video or hear a soundtrack while browsing your site, don’t expect too many to return all that often. 

A lot of people access a website at work or via a mobile device in many places where it’s not appropriate to view a noisy website.

And it’s not all that pleasant for the unsuspecting visitor wearing headphones when they come across a combination of forced audio and video. There’s nothing wrong with including such elements on your site, just make it optional.

3. Too Many Ads

It’s understandable to want to generate as much ad revenue as possible to keep your site running while reducing your expenses as much as possible. Ads become a problem, however, when they overpower your site.

If a visitor to your site has to try and figure out what products you actually sell by sifting through a bunch of ads, they’re not going to stay around that long.

Weigh the pros and cons of each ad you agree to have placed on your site. Besides, you’ll generate more revenue just by having a site people actual want to visit.

4. Cluttered Layouts

According to Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, more than half of all Americans own a smartphone.

This means the cluttered layout that once seemed cool when most people viewed your website via a stationary PC is very difficult to decipher on a smaller screen.

Even if your content can be viewed, the page load time is going to be slower for sites with everything from scrolling text to a series of videos.

This doesn’t work well with short attention spans and itchy fingers ready to leave your site with a simple click or touch.

5. Self-moving Content

This refers to things like those self-expanding ads where a guy or gal walks across your screen and gets right into the pitch if you don’t hurry up and click the often hard-to-find “x” to close it.

As a general rule, you shouldn’t take away a visitor’s ability to make their own choices on your site, whether it be to navigate freely with the use of a mouse or keyboard or opt to not click on a video and just browse the text.

The post 5 Annoying Website Features to Avoid If You Want Conversions appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

There are plenty of well-designed websites out there with carefully written text full of industry references, alliteration, 10-letter words, and maybe even a few Shakespeare references thrown in for good measure.

While this may impress your high school English teacher, it's not going to make your online content all that comprehensible to the average browser more interested in getting to the point.

Switch from Passive Voice to Active Voice

It's easy to get into the habit of speaking in a passive voice, as in "your questions will be answered promptly," when putting together online content. The problem with the passive voice is that it sounds like something out of an instruction manual.

Granted, you can't always speak in the active voice, but there are times when it's more effective. For instance, "we'll answer your questions promptly," is a more engaging way of getting the same point across. The active voice tends to work best in places like:

• Your call-to-action tags
• Your "contact us" page
• In your "about us" section
• When responding to feedback

Save Your Extensive Vocabulary for Jeopardy

An extensive vocabulary full of big words and literary references isn't going to impress anyone reading your website, blog, or social media pages. You want to keep your content as easily digestible as possible.

A large vocabulary does, however, come in handy when it comes to knowing other ways of saying the same thing. For instance, instead of saying "we'll expedite delivery to minimize delays," get your point across faster by saying "we'll deliver your order as quickly as possible." When it comes to online content, it's not just about what you say, it's about how you say it. Some additional tips to consider:

• Avoid "corporatese" and other technical jargon
• Limit long sentences, especially run-on sentences
• Turn fairly lengthy lists into bullet point items 
• Eliminate repetitive phrases and filler content

Make Your Content Engaging and Conversational

Outside of Wikipedia articles, not too many consumers want to read content that sounds like it's from an encyclopedia. You want to create content that's more conversational, which translates into more engaging. How conversational you get with your text really depends on your target audience.

If you're interacting with other businesses, you can actually throw in a few industry terms here and there. If you're targeting your consumer, you want to keep it simple without insulting the intelligence of your intended audience. When creating conversational online content, keep these points in mind:

• Don't "dumb down" your text to the point where it's insulting
• Ask engaging questions and provide the answer within your text
• Use the word "you" when addressing your collective audience

You only have one chance to make a good first impression on your reader, especially one you want to turn into a customer. Take time to get to know who is most likely to be reading your online content and gauge your text accordingly.

Find a balance between evoking emotions and engaging the senses and getting your point across before your reader's click finger gets itchy. It's a challenge that can pay off big time once you achieve the right balance within your content.

The post How to Revitalize Lifeless Online Text appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

While you’re vowing to shed a few pounds, take care of odds and ends around the house and remain patient with your kids even when they’re driving you crazy, add striving for high quality content to your list of goals for this year.

By now, you know that content is king when it comes to marketing online — or offline for that matter — so let’s talk about boosting the quality of your content in 2014.

Determine Your Audience

Take some time to research who actually buys your products and services. Further define your target audience. If you’re going for the youth market, for instance, you probably want to punch up your content with short, easily digestible messages. Make sure your content is further adjusted to the online platform you’re using. What you post on Twitter won’t work for the homepage on your website.

Note: Don’t forget to check grammar and spelling since errors will detract from your content, especially if you want to entice someone to share your content with others.

Make It Compelling

High quality content should also be compelling. The last thing you want to do is to turn your reader off after only the first sentence. To avoid diving off into other subjects, use links for readers needing more of an explanation of a point that other readers may already understand. Make sure any external links you use as an additional information source are reputable. Your content can be made compelling by:

• Keeping paragraphs short
• Using eye-catching headlines for your subheads
• Incorporating high-quality images into your content
• Posing questions that you will answer within your content

Mix It Up

When it comes to online marketing, high quality content doesn’t just mean the quality of the writing. Mix up your content with videos, playlists, contests, slideshows, or whatever other way you can think of to present your content. By mixing up your media, your content becomes engaging across multiple formats.

Make Readers Ask for More

If your content is truly engaging, readers are going to want more. Aside from putting out new content on a regular basis, encourage interested readers to sign up for your newsletter or subscribe to your blog for access to “exclusive content.” By using this approach, you make your readers feel like they’re getting something special in return for being loyal.

Limit the Sales Pitch

Readers of online content tend to want value, not just a simple sales pitch. While you certainly want to drive more traffic to your site, you don’t want to annoy potential customers to the point where they purposely avoid you. It’s possible to pepper your content with keywords and phrases while still offering something of value to your audience. Accomplish this goal by:

• Educating your readers by offering quick tips
• Discussing relevant issues mentioned in your comments section
• Publishing content that boosts your brand without a pitch (tweeting “happy new year”)
• Adding a call-to-action or a link back to your website

Don’t repurpose the same content across all platforms. Save the more sales-heavy content for your homepage or main landing page. The rest of your content, from your blog to your social media posts, should be engaging and useful. Boost the overall quality of your content and you could be reaping the rewards throughout the new year.

The post Tips for Achieving High Quality Content in 2014 appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Here are five blogging tips for the new year:

1. Pick a Niche and Stay Within It

Pick a topic for your blog and stick with it. Start by finding a well-defined perspective. If you’re going to blog about food, for instance, find a unique angle such as making your own meals on a budget. Keep your blog organized and stay on topic. Archive older posts and delete comments that drift too far off subject.

2. Try Some New Blogging Tools

Do some experimenting in 2014 and try some blogging tools you haven’t used before. There’s no rule that says you have to stick with each tool you try. Here are some to consider:

• Digg Digg – With this plugin, you can add any combination of social sharing buttons to your blog without the need for a separate plugin for each of your social sites.
• InboxQ – This tool allows you to see what questions people are asking on various social sites based on certain keywords. You can then create topics based on the questions people are asking with those keywords. You’ll receive an update when people search on your selected keywords.
• Optin Skin – This plugin lets you add an option to opt-in to your email mailing list or other special offer at the bottom of each post. With a variety of templates available, you can customize it to the style of your blog.

3. Create Anticipation with Your Blogging Schedule

If you’ve been good about posting new content on a regular basis in 2013, you need to do a little more in 2014. In addition to being consistent with your posts, it doesn’t hurt to give a preview of what you’ll be blogging about in the coming weeks.

Write a general outline of what your topics will be for the next month and use that as the basis for your little sneak peaks to keep readers interested. You can also use blogging software to post content that you write in advance and set each post to go live on specific dates and times.

4. Streamline Your Style

Use the new year as an excuse to reevaluate the overall style of your blog. Are your titles clear and concise? Are your paragraphs too cluttered? What about your use of colors and images? Take a moment to look at your site as a typical visitor.

As long as you’re at it, check your page load speed. If you use too many bells and whistles, you may be slowing down your site to the point where your readers don’t come back as often.

5. Optimize Your Content for Readership, Not Search Engines

Google is sure to continue to tinker with its algorithms in 2014. One of the most recent changes is penalizing blogs that are over-optimized. You can still use certain keywords within your blog posts, just make sure you choose words you would naturally use.

Try writing your posts first and then choosing a few keywords from words you already used. You’ll probably end up having to tweak only a few words here and there.

The post 5 Stellar Blogging Tips for 2014 appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

What does this mean for small businesses? Right now, it means absolutely nothing since the Facebook-owned site is handpicking the companies it allows to advertise in an effort to focus on images by well-known brands and businesses that can afford to produce high-quality photos.

However, it’s not too early for any type of business to get ready for the possibilities of advertising on Instagram or take advantage of existing marketing opportunities available through the site.

What You Can Do to Get Ready Now

Like established social media giants Facebook and Twitter, it’s a safe bet to assume that Instagram will allow other businesses to advertise on the visual social network. The concern on the part of the powers that be at Instagram, apparently, is that advertisers will opt for stock photos and lower-quality images that distract from user-uploaded content.

Instagram is looking for businesses that already have a significant social presence. To get ready now, establish yourself up as a reliable source of post-worthy images.

Mix Original Photos Into Your Content

If you take a look at Pinterest, a visual-based site similar to Instagram, you’ll notice that original photos, even the clearly staged ones, generate more interest than recycled stock images. This doesn’t mean that you have to hire a professional photographer. Even a good cellphone camera can take decent pictures.

While you can usually get away with using some stock art, it’s a good idea to stick to original photos to attract more interest across your existing online marketing platforms.

Marketing with Instagram

Just because Instagram is picking and choosing the businesses that can advertise on the social site right now it doesn’t mean that you can’t use it for marketing purposes. There are already millions of active users on Instagram browsing photos and contributing their own photos and images. Effective marketing with Instagram should include:

• Creating a Profile – Since November 2012, web-based users have been able to create a profile. In terms of SEO, this is a good thing for marketing since it gives you some text to work with in addition to the brief captions you can add to images.

• Engaging Your Audience – Simply ask your followers from your other social platforms to upload photos or images related to a contest with a common hashtag. This is a way to invite participation and establish your brand name without hitting people with a sales pitch.

As with other visual-based sites, the marketing possibilities are nearly endless. You can easily post photos to promote an upcoming event or upload photos of happy customers at your place of business or using your products.

The more creative you are, the more interest you’re sure to generate. As long as your relevant areas of text are optimized for search engines, you’re likely to find interested browsers.

Even though you can’t advertise on Instagram unless you’re selected by the site, you can incorporate the social network into your online marketing efforts right now. Remember that people tend to want to share images more than plain text. The more ways you can visually get your message across, the more of an impact you’re likely to have on the very same consumers you want to attract.

The post Marketing Visually with Instagram and Maybe Advertising Soon? appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Keep in mind that when launching an eBook, you are essentially acting as your own publisher. You’ll be writing the content, or hiring someone to write effective content for you, and putting your content together as an eBook. There are plenty of eBook templates you can use to put your eBook together. Once you get passed the initial preparation phase, it’s time to launch your eBook.

Protect Your Content

Make it clear that you own your content to avoid someone, possibility a competitor, from using your content for their marketing purposes. You could either copyright your content or publish it via an attributions license, which permits people to copy and share your content as long as you are comfortable with how it’s being used.

Consider that an attributions license does makes it easier for people to share interesting parts of your content via social media and other online sources.

Note: If your content is copyrighted, clearly state this within your content. If you have specific rules for usage of your content, either mention this briefly at the bottom of the page or create a separate page disclosing your policy on sharing and reusing your eBook content.

Optimize Your eBook Metadata

While you can’t optimize your eBook content itself for search engines, you can optimize external factors such as the descriptions you use to promote it. The following types of metadata relating to your eBook should be optimized:

• Relevant tags
• Any websites, blogs or social posts referencing your eBook
• Meta description of your eBook
• File name used to upload your eBook

Let People Know About Your eBook

Once you have an eBook ready to go, you have to let people know it’s available. If you have an existing email marketing campaign, this is a perfect way to get the word out.

You could either include a link to your eBook or a link to subscribe to your blog or newsletter if you want this to be a condition for someone to get your eBook. Additional ways to get the word out about your eBook include:

• Mentioning it in as a new post in your blog
• Sending out a Tweet (grouped with a hashtag to take users to your related content)
• Placing a post on Facebook
• Creating a landing page to the specific page of your website that mentions your eBook

Now that people know about your eBook, the final step is to get people talking about it. Be active on your social networks. Rather than just posting messages and sending out tweets, actually interact with users by responding to comments in real time.

This kind of connection gets people talking and encourages more people to join the conversation. Consider guest posting on blogs related to your business or eBook topics.

Another option is to have a contest where the prize is a free copy of your eBook. The more creative you are, the better. With a little imagination and promotion, your eBook can be a highly effective marketing tool.

The post Tips for Launching Your Successful eBook appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Character building is directly related to your brand. If you take time to build character that interests your audience, you’re likely to see related results such as increased traffic and more conversions.

Stay Positive

Regardless of what your competitors are doing, you have a better shot at building character if you stay positive and rise above any negativity. Everything you do online related to your business doesn’t have to be about selling something.

You build online character by finding a way to put a positive spin on various issues related to your business. If, for instance, third quarter profits are down, you could post a statement about your expectations for a forth quarter rebound.

Staying positive could also include:

• Ignoring negative attacks by competitors
• Posting a funny or inspirational video and relating it to your business in some way
• Encouraging customers to support a local charity or community event
• Adopting a relevant social cause such as participating in Breast Cancer Awareness Month or supporting an anti-bullying campaign

Be Knowledgeable and Credible

One sure fire way to build character online is to be thought of as a source of information. This is directly related to reputation, but it also says something about your character if you take time to put out useful information without the clear expectation of getting leads or generating revenue in the process.

Being knowledgeable could include:

• Posting “how to” videos
• Answering customer questions left as comments or feedback
• Joining the discuss on related blogs

Letting Others Speak for You

Build character by letting others speak for you with real testimonials sprinkled throughout your various platforms, especially on your website. If you’re going to use testimonials, make sure you use the exact words of the customer, except for minor editing for readability.

There’s something genuine about other people extolling your virtues rather than tooting your own horn.

Using Your Influence

By using your influence to educate the public about certain issues within your industry or relevant social issues, you’re creating a positive brand association. At the same time, you’re boosting your character in a way that doesn’t come across as blatant marketing.

You may encourage others to pass information you provide on to friends or simply encourage others to do a good deed for someone else.

A classic example is from the movie Miracle on 34th Street when Macy’s Santa tells customers where to get the best deals, even if it’s not at Macy’s. The overriding purpose is for the greater good of the public, which in turn reflects your character.

There’s a lot of information out there for consumers to take in at once. This includes many marketing messages found just about everywhere online. What sets you apart from your competitors, other than obvious features such as price and the customer service you provide, is the character you establish.

Just as it takes time to build a solid reputation, it also takes time for customers to get an idea of what defines your brand. It’s an investment that’s often well worth it.

The post How to Build Character that Builds Your Business appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

It was discovered that the businesses went through an elaborate process of hiring a marketing firm that sought individuals with the ability to write multiple fake reviews from different IPs. Situations like this emphasize the importance of keeping your online reviews legit.

Seeking Positive Reviews

While writing false reviews, or paying somebody to do it for you, is a form of false advertising, there is nothing wrong with seeking positive online reviews. You can accomplish this goal by adding a link to your various online platforms back to a convenient feedback form on your main website.

You want to make it as easy as possible for satisfied customers to post feedback.

Having No Feedback Is Just As Bad

With more consumers using the Internet to look for businesses or find a product or service, having no online feedback is just as bad as having negative feedback. While this may explain the desperation to get a bunch of online reviews quickly, resorting to such tactics can do more harm than good.

It’s safe to assume that the 19 businesses that were caught buying reviews have some major damage control to do. The fact is that it takes time to build online reviews.

While you can accelerate the process by making it easier for users to give feedback, it’s best to give it time. Additional ways to encourage online feedback include:

• Placing feedback links in follow-up emails
• Adding a blurb politely requesting feedback to your website content
• Engaging your customers via social media
• Maintaining an active blog (an excellent source of feedback)

Don’t Freak Out Over Negative Reviews

If you do get negative reviews, don’t panic. Consider it constructive criticism. Of course, the anonymity of the Internet means that some people may exaggerate or make a big deal out of a small issue.

Even if a customer successfully resolved their issue, they may not go back and add an update to their original nasty review. There are legit services that can reduce the impact of negative reviews. In the grand scheme of things, a few negative online reviews here and there won’t do any significant harm to your business.

Err on the Side of Caution

To be fair, it’s quite possible that some of the 19 businesses facing substantial penalties for posting fake online reviews thought they were doing something perfectly legal. If a marketing firm makes blanket claims without disclaimers like “results not guaranteed,” take it as a sign that things may not be entirely ethical.

As a general rule, if a marketing tactic doesn’t feel right, it’s best to pass. It’s much easier to seek legit feedback than it is to fix a tarnished business reputation.

It’s possible that some customers may post multiple reviews on the same review site to boost your image. If a customer or well-meaning employee is posting a bunch of fluff reviews on your behalf, this could be a problem.

Make it a habit to periodically check your online reviews. Most review sites are willing to work with you to remove suspicious reviews. A solid reputation is your most valuable online asset.

The post Using Honest Customer Reviews to Boost Sales appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Not to be confused with a call-to-action line, a hook is what you do to attract someone to your business online. To put it simply, it’s what you’re known for or what someone thinks of when they think of your brand.

Your hook is expressed in everything you do related to your business. In terms of online marketing, your hook is only successful if people remember it and share it with others.

An Attention Grabbing Hook

The value of a hook in terms of online marketing is the ability to get someone’s attention. That may seem like a simple task, but it’s more challenging than ever to get a consumer’s attention online; and you have scant seconds to do it.

You have to discover your brand’s character trains or qualities that other people in your target audience will find appealing. Once you discover those traits, you then pepper your marketing with references to these traits.

For a local business, a hook might be personal attention to detail. To grab attention, your hook needs to:

• Make your brand or product more memorable
• Make your message more persuasive and clear
• Create a lasting impression to bring a consumer back or get them to spread the word

Express Unique Personality Traits

Your hook is something intangible you offer to your customers. It’s a reason for choosing to engage with your brand. Think of it as expressing your business-related personality traits.

It should be the basis of everything you do online. Yes, this means working your business traits into your SEO efforts. Your hook, in terms of your personality traits, may include:

• Being kind and generous
• Having a sense of humor about the need for your products or services
• An emphasis on integrity
• Fostering team work

If you want to emphasize being kind and generous, for example, you could mention your various charitable acts on your website or highlight certain community events you participate in on your social pages.

Expand Your Horizons

A hook isn’t just about what you do online. It could be a unique product promotion. It could be an event your business is sponsoring.

Use your full arsenal of online tools, including posting videos and sending out tweets, to associate what you do on behalf of your business with the traits you wish to emphasize.

Be Consistent

Regardless of what your hook ultimately becomes, you want to be consistent with it. The last thing you want to do is create confusion by sending mixed messages.

You can further ensure consistency by choosing keywords and phrases that reinforce your specific hook. Your selected keywords should include your desired personality traits.

This may include something like “trustworthy Miami coin dealer” or “cost-effective computer repairs.”

In this world of engagement driven by content, a hook is an absolute necessity. The key to success in online marketing is standing out among the competition for all the right reasons. Creating a distinctive and memorable image helps achieve this goal. Focus on the characteristics you want your business to be known for and your target audience is likely to be hooked.

The post How to Develop a Viral “Hook” for Your Brand appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

You may be shaking your head in disagreement as you read this, but it’s all a matter of perspective. You don’t just want content that’s going to get you leads and conversions, you want to cultivate a loyal audience with content of interest.

Changing your perspective on content could very well ease the burden of having to consistently create and share original content.

Welcome to the Possibilities of Content Curation

When you run a small business, you don’t always have time to seek out or produce your own high quality content while dealing with more pressing issues. Content curation refers to the act of gathering relevant content you think your customers will find useful.

In this case, the content doesn’t have to directly relate to products or services you actually offer. Instead, you want content that interests your customers. If, for example, you sell computer software, expand your field of topics beyond only the software you offer to include any interesting software.

Feeding a Hunger for Information

Regardless of how consumers connect to the Internet, the thing that drives most of them to go online is a hunger for information.

Before you hyperventilate, this content doesn’t have to come from you directly. Thanks to links and backlinks, you can easily place links to related content within your website, blog and social sites.

Throw in some keywords and phrases, and you’re satisfying a need for info while directing traffic to your site without the obligation of making a purchase.

Curation Tools

Gathering content for the purpose of providing information to your customers can be made a little bit easier with certain curation tools. Fortunately, many of these tools are either free or available for a reasonable price.

Curata

This awesome platform helps you easily find, organize, and share relevant content. The platform constantly scours the web to find the freshest and most relevant content. They say the platform even learns your preferences and starts suggesting the most relevant content for your business. Finally, it helps you share the content across your channels.

Check it out here.

Paper.li

This tool allows you to create a customizable newspaper that you can use as part of your email marketing efforts. You can opt to do this daily, weekly or monthly. Special features allow you to draw content from various relevant social platforms. An editor’s note feature allows you to leave personalized notes for your readers.

Check it out here.

Rebel Mouse

This curation tool allows you to organize and use content from your social media sources, with Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn being the main ones for business. Additional features include the ability to embed Rebel Mouse in your website. This comes in handy for SEO purposes. You can also use this tool to spread the word about events your business hosts or attends.

Check it out here.

Storify

This one allows you to collect relevant content from across the Web without the hassle of endless random searching. You then publish the content you find on the site’s platform, which is embedded within your site’s content. You can do all this with the free version. The paid version gives you privacy settings so you can use this tool internally without revealing confidential business information.

Check it out here.

With the right combination of curation tools, you can take advantage of existing content while adding some original content. As you become a valuable source of information, you increase your brand awareness and make yourself more appealing to potential customers.

The post Small Business Secret Weapon: Content Curation (with 4 Tools) appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

While a happy customer is likely to come back again and spread the word about your business, you have an uphill battle on your hands when trying to win back an annoyed customer.

Understanding the Impact of Annoying Content

According to a paper on annoying online content presented at the 22nd annual International World Wide Web Conference in Rio in early 2013, content publishers know how much money they make from annoying ads. What they don’t know, however, is what the actual price is for annoying consumers for the sake of getting those initial clicks.

Is It Really Worth It For Extra Clicks?

If you take the attitude that any attention is good, you run the risk of turning off consumers before you even get to make a serious sales pitch. When considering your online marketing design, consider these points:

1. You Could Waste Money by Going After Unproductive Leads

Annoying content can be a costly mistake when it comes to your advertising budget. Even if you generate leads, a lack of conversions isn’t going to be good for your bottom line. Smaller businesses can’t easily afford to absorb such losses.

2. Some Consumers Purposely Avoid Annoying Sites

When it come to annoying content, once is usually enough for a visitor. If somebody was annoyed when they first visited your site, they’re not likely to come back any time soon, if ever.

3. You Risk Doing Brand Damage

Annoyed visitors are likely to spread the word about your annoying content features. This does more than just take a few conversions away from you. It could tarnish your overall brand image, which can be devastating to smaller businesses.

Top Offenders: What Content Is Most Annoying?

The first step in addressing annoying content is to determine what exactly annoys consumers the most. There is no definitive answer, but there are certain annoyances that seem to rank high among consumer complaints.

Some of the top online content turn-offs include:

1. Unfriendly Mobile Content

With more consumers moving to mobile devices as their primary source of access to the Internet, things like small text and bright colors tend to be annoying.

2. Pop-Ups

Another common annoyance among online searchers is sites with automatic pop-ups. This can range from the offer to access online help to a scrolling pop-up that your visitors can’t get rid of until they stop and find the box to click to get rid of it.

3. Unable to Automatically Leave a Site

While it may seem like you’re doing a service by setting up your site so that a message comes up with one more pitch before a visitor can leave, this can be downright frustrating. This is especially true for casual visitors who have some interest, but aren’t ready to commit to a decision yet.

One way to remedy the situation is to take a critical look at your content from the perspective of a typical visitor. Take a closer look at what it is about your content that is annoying. Once you fix the problem, do some damage control by issuing a press release to announce your new website, blog or social page.

This way, you get some free publicity in the process. Another route to take is to announce the changes you made in your email newsletter or as a blog or social post.

The post Is Your Content Annoying? appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

The fall 2013 online marketing trends can be divided into two basic categories: design trends and technology-based trends.

The first one focuses on the look of the content you’re displaying and the other one focuses on the way your consumers access your online content. Granted, not every trend will be practical for you to use, but it doesn’t hurt to have an idea of which online marketing trends are coming around bend.

Design

Color Combinations

You don’t have to make it look like MS Paint exploded, but color combinations are hot this fall. In your emails, for instance, change from a single color or pattern to different colors for your headlines and different colors for your links. The idea is to make all the information you put into your posts, website text or emails as easy to identify as possible, even with a brief glance.

Bold, Bright Colors

Forget about pastels and neutrals. Instead, go with bold, rich colors in your emails and social page designs. This extends to your website design as well, at least on the homepage or main landing page.

Retro with a Modern Twist

While the Internet didn’t exist in the 1960s, the minimalist look of the decade replicated in Mad Men is appealing for many reasons. First of all, it makes use of blank space. Instead of adding a bunch of graphics and links and other clickable icons, simply stating that you can get “15 percent off everything today” in easy-to-read bold lettering at the bottom of your site can be just as effective.

Mobile-Sized Design

As more and more consumers access the Internet via mobile devices, designs specific to mobile devices are starting to show up in all online marketing content. This includes clickable product squares, larger text that can be read on smaller screens and bigger call-to-action buttons that can be easily tapped with a finger on tablets and smartphones.

Technology

Growth Hacking

The concept of growth hacking, also known as CRO (conversion rate optimization), is to test different business models. This includes product offerings and pricing scales. Growth hacking is especially appealing to small businesses since it allows certain factors to be tested on a small scale before investing in different online platforms and activities. Think of it as testing the waters before diving in.

Customer Satisfaction Mapping

This particular trend maps the life cycle of your customers. This includes taking a look at how effective your customer service really is for your consumer. The concept extends to looking at what post-sale support you offer and determining where there’s room for improvement.

Micro-targeting

Heading into 2014, it won’t be enough to just target consumers by location. Micro-targeting refers to hitting consumers by using sponsored updates and targeted ads on the social sites and websites they’re likely to be visiting. More businesses are expected to at least start testing ways to better target mobile customers this fall before refining their efforts to include targeting right down to what actions a customer is likely to take based on where they’re physically located at the moment and what they’re likely to be doing online.

The post Fall 2013 Online Marketing Trends appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

There isn’t as much risk since you only pay for results, whether it be clicks or conversions. Content is still king with this marketing approach since SEO efforts are needed to draw in your desired consumers. When properly implemented, affiliate marketing can be a cost-effective marketing strategy.

Here are eight reasons why affiliate marketing makes sense:

1. No Setup Fees

Unlike some other marketing strategies, there is no setup costs involved with affiliate marketing. All you need is software, which can be obtained for free, and an Internet-connected device to place your merchant’s products on your webpage or blog.

2. More Coverage, Less Hassle

With affiliate marketing, a merchant can advertise on multiple websites without the tedious process of negotiating various prices for each site. You get more coverage without the hassle associated with working out extensive agreements.

In fact, the more convenient you make your offer, the more a merchant is willing to work with you. It’s a win-win situation for everyone involved. If the products aren’t selling, it’s not a big loss of either party.

3. Not Limited to a Platform

Affiliate marketing isn’t restricted to websites only. You can promote a merchant’s products via your social sites and through your email marketing campaign. Depending on what the merchant sells, email marketing may be more effective at reaching your target audience. You can spread your marketing efforts across multiple platforms to see which one is most effective.

4. Opportunity for Lucrative Partnerships

If all goes well, a satisfied merchant is likely to give you more business. Merchants are always thinking of how to get affiliates that produce results to work more with them.  If a merchant owns other businesses, they may see how well you can promote other products for them. You have a prime opportunity to form lucrative partnerships that are mutually beneficial for both you and the merchant.

5. No Behind the Scenes Work

Unlike traditional marketing, you don’t have to worry about behind the scenes details such as shipping or dealing with customer service issues. The merchant takes care of all that. All you have to do is promote their products. Once you generate a lead or make a conversion for them, you’re done.

6. Easy to Track

One of the benefits of marketing online is the ability to easily track your efforts. There are many free stat measurement tools you can use to see how much traffic an affiliate is generating for you or how many leads you are generating for them. Not every affiliation is going to be successful, but at least you can track results in real time and make adjustments as necessary.

7. More Products without the Risk

When you’re running an online business, a major concern is finding enough products to offer your customers. With affiliate marketing, you team with a merchant to offer more products via your site without the risk of being left with unsold items.

8. Expansion into a Broader Market

With affiliate marketing, merchants have the opportunity to expand into new markets they might not otherwise reach through traditional marketing. This also eliminates the expense of launching a full campaign into a new or broader market.

The post Affiliate Marketing 101: 8 Reasons to Get Started appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

While instructional content can be highly effective, it can also be very boring. This is partly because the person performing the demonstration often knows the product inside out. He or she does not take the perspective of a new customer.

When created in a way that is fresh and engaging, how-to videos, articles, and slideshow presentations can be highly effective for marketing and establishing your brand as a go-to source for reliable information.

1. Be Specific

Instead of saying how wonderful your company is and how many uses your products and services have, keep it specific to one common consumer problem. Instead of offering tips on how to make your laundry cleaner, for instance, offer tips on how to get out stubborn stains. Specific content gives your how-to content more relevance.

2. Attention to Detail

While your main goal is to inform, it also matters how your content is presented. You want to clearly divide your presentation into sections with title pages or chapter headers.

It may not seem all that important to get the cosmetic details right, but it’s the attention to detail that convinces someone click your how-to video over the hundreds of others that come up in a search. Attention to detail should also include checking facts and making sure everything you present is accurate since mistakes can live forever in cyberspace.

3. Use Real People

If you’re going to use your how-to video to demonstrate your product, have real people participate in the demonstration or talk about your product. Just having fellow employees extoll the virtues of your product doesn’t have as much credibility as showing honest reactions from real people.

4. Use Keywords

Regardless of how your how-to content is presented, using keywords will help your target audience find you via an online search. Keywords can be used in your captions, title pages, or any brief descriptions you include.

On YouTube, for example, you have the opportunity to write a few sentences describing your content, so why not use some carefully selected keywords to draw people to your how-to content?

5. Keep It Short

Even if your how-to content is edited and presented well, lengthy presentations aren’t going to attract as many hits as shorter clips. Ideally, each part of your how-to content should be able to stand alone and provide some value to the consumer.

6. Spark Curiosity

If you are going to put out multiple how-to videos and presentations, create consumer interest by ending your content with a teaser about what you have in mind for your next how-to video. People like to have something to look forward to. This also helps build brand recognition and sparks a conversation within your intended audience.

Finally, be consistent. If you plan to produce a series of how-to videos, for instance, have a regular schedule. Use your other platforms such as social media and email to let customers know that a new video is coming or has been posted. If you have a lot of saved up how-to content, consider using it on your website or posting it on Facebook. The more accessible you make your how-to content, the more effective it will be.

The post 6 Ways to Get More from Your How-To Content appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Even in today’s social media-obsessed world, there are far too many benefits of a successful email marketing campaign not to at least give it another try before calling it a bust.

Use Obvious Links

The main purpose of your email marketing campaign is to direct traffic to your homepage or another specific product page of your website. You are not going to have many conversions if you don’t place links in a place that’s obvious.

One link at the very bottom of an email isn’t going to cut it, especially for readers who don’t feel like scrolling down to find it. Include at least one link per paragraph. Forget about being “cool” and make your links clearly look like links. Bring it home by using strong calls to action.

Limit Use of Images

Aside from that fact that some of your recipients will open their email at work where images can be an obvious red flag to prying eyes, there is another important reason to keep your use of images to a minimum. Unlike the days when AOL ruled, many of your recipients don’t see any images in their emails.

The space you “waste” on images can be used for more text or links. Well-coded HTML, on the other hand, can be effective. If you wish to include an infographic or anything else that is visually-dependent in your emails, simply link to a webpage where the image is hosted.

Make Unsubscribing Easy

A frustrated customer isn’t going to be a customer for long. If a recipient has a hard time trying to figure out how to unsubscribe from your email list, they’re going to send anything from you to the spam folder or stop dealing with you all together.

Key Point: Just because a customer doesn’t want to receive your emails that doesn’t mean that they won’t be receptive to your other marketing efforts.

Learn to Avoid the Spam Folder

One reason for the failure of your email marketing campaign could be because your intended audience isn’t even getting it. Ways to avoid being flagged as spam include never using all caps since that’s a dead giveaway that you’re trying to sell something; and nobody likes “cyber shouting” anyway. Space out your emails and get right to the point. Not too many people have the patience to skim through fluff to find out why you sent the email in the first place.

Maximize Your Code

Your emails are going to be viewed differently depending on the browser your recipient uses. Include both title text and alt text in all of your images. These are the messages you see when an image doesn’t load or when you hover over the image with your mouse. Your images should be linked to your homepage or desired webpage. Even if a recipient can’t view your image in an email, they can at least get to your website.

The post 5 Email Marketing Tactics You Need to Use appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

1. Embrace Negative Keywords

Avoid paying for unwanted traffic by using negative keywords effectively. When applying negative keywords, your ad will not show to users entering search queries that include a negative keyword that you have specified.

For example, if you are a new car dealership, you could list the word “used” as a negative keyword for your PPC campaigns. Consequently, if a users searches for “new and used cars”, your ad will not show.

Using negative keywords effectively can help filter out traffic that does not match your target market (keep the tire-kickers out so you don’t waste your money on them).

2. Geo-Based Keywords

In terms of online marketing, location can be everything. If you are targeting customers in Miami, you don’t want folks in San Diego clicking on your ads (wasted ad spend).

All major search engines have geo-location features that use IP addresses to present ads specific to a searcher’s location. You can narrow your focus by adding location to your keywords by using the full name of your state, the state abbreviation, or just the city name if it’s distinctive enough. To get more out of your location-based keywords, mix it up with different variations.

3. Spruce Up Your Calls-to-Action

When someone clicks your ad, you know that you you’ve at least piqued their interest. CTAs like “learn more” and “click for a free estimate” encourage a clicker to take action without feeling pressure to commit to a decision. There is an inherent fear of clicking if you don’t know where that click will lead.

Let searchers know exactly what they’re getting by using CTAs such as “click here for free shipping” or “get started with a free download” to make it clear what that click means.

4. Use Keyword Phrases

Searchers who know what they’re looking for tend to be specific with the terms they type in that search box. Somebody shopping for “coats” is likely to type in something like “red fall coats” in an effort to get more productive search results.

By using various keyword phrases throughout your content, you have a better shot at coming up in somebody’s search engine results page. By getting more specific, you also get away from overused keywords not likely to produce results.

5. Don’t Default to the Homepage as Your Landing Page

A homepage is not necessarily a landing page. Don’t automatically send searchers directly to a generic homepage if another page on your site is more specific. Choose the landing page that best matches your ad copy. In other words, your landing page should be a continuation of your ad copy with more details and additional CTAs.

Finally, take the time to test and analyze your PPC campaign before you commit a major chunk of your PPC marketing budget on it. You can test multiple ads simultaneously to compare and contrast your results. Test for one variable at a time to get more useful results. Consider factors such as the times when you get the most clicks and how many conversions you actually get.

The post 5 Tips for Better PPC Results appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

While this marketing strategy can be effective depending on how many conversions you get, it can also be expensive. Plus, it’s impractical since consumer behaviors have changed.

Thanks to technology, a consumer has many options for blocking unwanted messages. While megaphone marketing still has its place, magnet marketing is offering greater benefits to marketers in today’s online environment.

Giving Control to the Customer

The purpose of magnet marketing is to place your products or services in front of customers most likely to need them. This is accomplished through several techniques, including embedding cookies to track where a potential customer goes online with the purpose of placing ads on sites they are likely to visit. Magnet marketing also includes:

• Search engine optimization
• Content marketing
• Pay-per-click advertising
• Social media marketing
• Content Creation

By putting the customer in control, you are marketing to an audience more likely to respond to your marketing efforts. The biggest advantage of magnet marketing is getting more bang for your buck since you enjoy a lower cost-per-lead than companies opting for megaphone marketing tactics.

More Accountability for Revenue and Profits

One of the lingering problems with megaphone marketing is reigning in your budget. It’s easy to get caught up in the notion that the investment will be worth it in the long run. There are several problems with this approach. Aside from the unpredictability of making assumptions based on the concept of marketing to a large, undefined audience, subjective measures of ROI may give false impressions of success.

Accurately Measuring the Success of Your Marketing Efforts

There are plenty of options when it comes to measuring your marketing success on a more concrete level. If you are depending on broader marketing strategies, it wouldn’t hurt to obtain concrete stats to show details such as conversions and traffic to each online platform. Once you get effective analytics in place, you’ll know what to keep and and what to cut without the guesswork.

Narrowing Down Your Target Audience

The very nature of magnet marketing makes it necessary to know exactly who your target audience is and how you hope to reach those consumers. Once you know exactly who you are marketing to, your choice of marketing strategies should start to fall into place. If you are going after the teen market, for example, you may opt for ads on music download sites. If you are going for thrifty shoppers, you may opt for ads on coupon sites.

Adjusting Your Marketing Strategies

If your marketing strategies aren’t working with megaphone marketing techniques, you rarely have any option other than scrapping the entire campaign and starting over. If your magnet marketing efforts aren’t working, it’s much easier to make adjustments without ditching everything. It could be something as simple as placing your banner ads on different sites.

Megaphone marketing can be effective if you have a substantial budget or a one-note campaign where you want to convey one major idea. These days, marketing is mostly about getting results without killing your budget. If that’s your goal, magnet marketing is probably a better option for you.

The post Magnet vs Megaphone Marketing: What’s Your Strategy? appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Add Your Name to Your Contact Page

Customers tend to like to know who they are dealing with; or at least have a contact name they can reference when making initial contact with your business. On your contact page, it generally makes sense to include the following individuals:

• Business owner(s)
• Managers or project managers
• Other key people associated with your business (associates, contact person in HR, etc.)

This is where you would include names and phone numbers and/or email addresses associated with each name. This may also include presenting a list of your team members with a small photo and short blurb of info. If it is an extensive list, this can be relegated to another website page or placed on a sidebar on the homepage.

Create a Content-Rich LinkedIn Profile

Curious customers are likely to search for your LinkedIn profile or search your business in connection with your name or the individual they dealt with most of the time. You can accomplish this goal by simply adding your name and contact information into your LinkedIn profile. If a customer searches by your name, they will likely find your LinkedIn page. Your profile should include:

• Business name
• Name of business owner or CEO
• Brief intro for key figures

Register Your Domain Name

If you happen to be a business all by yourself, this should be a priority. As for a regular business name, there are times when it makes sense to register your domain name. Even if you have a unique business name, there is always the possibility that another business in a completely different field could use the same name.

By registering your domain name, you have the security of knowing that yours is the only business that will be associated with that domain. Think Donald Trump. He owns several businesses that have their own websites, yet he has created a strong personal brand too.

Build a Website with Your Domain Name

Once you register a domain name, you might as well use it. Create a website with your registered domain name. Create a link to your site on any other online platforms you are using for your business. If you are shifting from a URL you previously used for your website to your new site based on your domain name, send out a press release or at least place a post on your other platforms.

In Conclusion

When you create a personal brand, make sure you keep personal accounts private. The last thing you want is for customers to find embarrassing photos or ramblings online in your personal accounts that have nothing to do with your business. Keep all non-business accounts as private as possible. It takes time to establish a personal brand, but there are many rewards for successfully creating a brand based on your reputation and experience.

The post The Power of Personal Online Branding appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

When considering incorporating elements of visual content marketing for your blog, emails, website or social media platforms, there are six basic visual options to consider:

1. Infographics

Inforgraphics are meant to present information in a way that is both informative and easy to digest. This is a good way to present stats that would otherwise come across as dry within your content. Use short blurbs of information with graphics that illustrate your point. Infographics usually contain bar graphs, pie charts, arrows, and other eye-catching visuals.

2. Memes

Memes are humorous graphics that can quickly go viral. While this is a good thing, you still want to keep it relevant. It is not going to do your business any good if everybody is talking about a humorous graphic that has nothing at all to do with your business. Memes work best if you highlight one of your selling points in a way that attracts the attention of your target audience.

3. Graphs and Charts

Charts and graphs are another way to present information that would otherwise take up space in your text. If you are going to use graphs and charts, mix it up and use different colors to clearly drive your point home. Use simple headlines and labels to make it clear what point it is you are trying to convey since casual readers aren’t likely to read a tiny blurb of text at the bottom of your chart to see what you are trying to illustrate.

4. Video

Videos, especially “how-to” videos, are effective for demonstrating how your products can be used and what problems your products or services can solve. As a general rule, you want to keep videos down to under five minutes. The good thing about visual content is that it can often stand on its own when it is shared and re-posted by customers in other platforms.

5. Slides

Sometimes you want to get more detailed, but it is hard to do that in content that is supposed to be divided into short, digestible paragraphs for maximum effectiveness. One solution is to use slides to present some of your more detailed information in a way that is easily accessible yet entirely optional. This allows casual readers to skim your content and more invested readers to click the slideshow.

6. Photos

Photos can be easily posted by you or provided by your customers. On your blog, for instance, you can request photos to engage your followers. Something like “fun ways to use our product” usually generates plenty of photos you can post throughout your content or in a special section of your website or blog. Don’t forget to add captions to add some SEO appeal.

To effectively incorporate visual content into your marketing, determine what works best for the message you are trying to convey. It is easy to get carried away with visuals. Find the right balance so that your visual content enhances and not overshadows your overall content. Experiment and make adjustments as necessary until you get the desired results.

The post Visual Content Marketing: Six Options to Consider appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

This makes the testimonials that you do get even more valuable when it comes to all aspects of your marketing efforts. While glossy text by professional writers can be effective, real people describing their personal experiences still has a big impact when trying to attract new customers.

What a Testimonial Should Include

Testimonials can be effective as long as you make sure that each one you use includes certain basic elements. You do have the option of purchasing “testimonials” that are already written, but this isn’t really all that effective since you get generic writing that is clearly too polished to fool the discerning customer. Besides, using real testimonials projects an image of honesty and integrity. As a general rule, each testimonial you use should:

• Use real names – Never post an unattributed testimonial or you will lose any benefit of having a testimonial in the first place. As for names, some variations such as first initial and last name or first name and last initial can be acceptable.

• Don’t do too much editing – It is fine to edit for length with the testimonials you use. However, you generally want to leave the words exactly as they were written and only correct obvious spelling and grammar errors without changing the meaning of what is being said. Even if they are real, super perfect testimonials may come across as fake.

• Specific references to an experience – Just saying that your business is wonderful isn’t going to pack as much of a punch as a customer referencing a particular experience with your business. Generally, a date reference should at least include a month and date.

Constantly Collect Testimonials

Recycling the same handful of testimonials isn’t going to do wonders for your credibility. Would you opt for a business with testimonials from a few years ago or one with testimonials from just last month? Continuously seek testimonials.

Take a minute to look over what is being said, make some minor grammar and spelling corrections and post your testimonial. Politely ask for testimonials by sending out “thank you” emails to recent customers that include a request to leave feedback to your blog or website. Include a link to make it as convenient as possible to take a minute to write a testimonial.

Make the Most of It

Finally, make the most of the testimonials you get. Testimonials can be used across almost all of your marketing platforms. Go back and delete older testimonials now and then as you get newer ones. This makes your testimonials more relevant and effective. Regardless of all the high-tech marketing options out there today, there is still no greater marketing tool than a satisfied customer willing to share a positive experience with everyone in their own words.

The post How to Get More from Your Testimonials appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

How It Works

The cookie-based technology works by placing a piece of code on your site. This code drops an unobtrusive browser cookie whenever a visitor comes to your site. When that same visitor browses the Web, your ads strategically appear where they are browsing. Retargeting providers such as AdRoll, Google Remarketing, Bizo (for business-to-business re-targeting), and Retargeter can help you coordinate your retargeting efforts.

Why It Works

Retargeting is effective because you are targeting people already familiar with your brand. After all, they showed some interest – just not to the point of taking any action. Research shows that marketers can expect a higher ROI by retargeting customers rather than focusing on entirely new potential customers every time. Think of it as a first date that hasn’t said yes or no to a second date.

When to Use Retargeting

Retargeting tends to work best with your other content marketing strategies. You can get an increase in conversions with this technique, but you aren’t going to increase traffic to your site with retargeting alone. It’s best to use other marketing tools that are already working for you to drive traffic to your site and then incorporate retargeting to increase your conversions.

Types of Retargeting

Looking closer at retargeting, there are different methods for accomplishing the goal of converting curious website visitors. Site Retargeting is the method where you use cookies to track visitors to your site that browsed or added a few items to their cart without making a purchase. Additional methods of retargeting include:

Search Retargeting

This method involves targeting individuals via search engines. You use certain keywords and phrases relevant to your business. This method does, however, make the assumption of interest in your business based on guessing the searcher’s intent.

Email Retargeting

This type of retargeting focuses on the actions someone takes when receiving an email from you. You take a different approach based on whether someone actually opens your email, doesn’t even open it, or creates a link and forwards it to friends. While some unopened emails may have ended up in spam folders, your best bet marketing-wise is to focus on individuals who either open or forward your email.

Engagement Retargeting

This method focuses your retargeting efforts based on the actions taken by visitors to your site or blog. A visitor watching your videos, for instance, is likely to be more responsive to new videos you post via your social accounts or through YouTube. You can then create highly targeted – and usually more effective – display ads.

If you think about it, it actually makes sense to go after an audience that has already shown an initial interest in your business. Your goal is to remind people of the potential value you offer in meeting their needs – and make a conversion. Retargeting really has broad appeal since every business has “almost customers” who browse without taking any action. With a little effort, you can get these tire kicking fish to take the bait.

The post If at First You Don’t Convert, Retarget appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

1. Compelling Headlines

You have a few keywords in your headlines. Your headlines are short and to the point. Two for two. Now, for the biggie – are your blog headlines compelling, interesting or engaging? In other words, if you were reading your blog for the first time, would the headlines grab your attention? If not, punch things up – add some action words, ask a question that your content will answer.

2. Bridging the Gap

If you’ve been running your blog for some time now, you probably have lots of old content saved up. If you haven’t done so already, reference old posts in your new content when relevant with links back to the original post. This eliminates the need to repeat yourself to clarify a point and engages new readers to delve into your past posts.

3. Guiding Your Readers

Sidebars are great for guiding your readers to related posts. This is also a good way to index top posts – as in posts with the most comments or views. Include links within your sidebar to highlight certain posts. Use a sidebar to highlight interesting comments or run a blog contest and highlight the top winners. Feel free to get as creative as you want.

4. Going Social with Your Old Content

You need content for your social media platforms anyway, so why not make use of your old content? Buffer is a great site that allows you to easily accomplish this task. Just sign in with your desired social account and load some of your older posts. You can then schedule your posts so that it doesn’t appear that you’re randomly dumping content to all your social sites at once.

5. Inviting Guest Bloggers

A great way to boost your blog’s appeal is to have occasional guest bloggers contribute content. Doing an interview is another way to get a fresh perspective into your blog. Just make sure you proofread and edit as needed to make it easy to digest. If your guest blogger offers a lengthy post, break it up into multiple posts. You can also ask readers demonstrating knowledge related to your industry or field to contribute a few posts.

6. Mixing It Up

Where is it written that you have to use the same fonts and overall design for your blog until the end of time? Mix up your formats. Add infographics, video clips, or expand the scope of your blog. Even loyal followers can get bored.

7. Promoting Your Blog

Do a little experimenting and see what methods work best when it comes to promoting your blog. Some blogs work well with your social platforms, while others work best when incorporated into your regular email lists. It all depends on your topics and your core audience.

A blog is an ongoing effort. Just because you’ve found a formula that works doesn’t mean that you can’t make adjustments now and then. Your business has to adapt and change over time, the same is true of your blog.

The post 7 Ways to Make Your Successful Blog Better appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

This encompasses everything from selecting your target audience and maximizing your content for SEO to incorporating links and keeping your content relevant, fresh, and organized. Here are seven big blogging mistakes to avoid as a guide to helping you achieve these goals:

1. Talking to the Wrong Target Audience

It’s great to have an engaging blog with lots of followers. If, however, those followers have no interest in ever purchasing anything from you, you are targeting the wrong audience. Ways to fix this:

• Talk about topics related to your business or industry (avoid “shop talk” though)
• Offer useful tips and invite dialogs (set yourself up as a problem solver)
• Establish yourself as an expert in your field

2. Forgetting the Call-to-Action

A call-to-action isn’t just for your website. In the case of your blog, a call-to-action can be something like “What do you think?,” “Have you downloaded our latest eBook yet?,” or “Subscribe to our newsletter too.” You want to make it clear what you want your blog readers to do, even if it’s just to leave comments.

3. Lack of Fresh, Engaging Content

A blog is like a paper-trained puppy; you can leave it alone now and then without too much concern, but it still needs attention. Once you amass a nice group of loyal followers, you need to keep them engaged with fresh content. If you don’t have time to create content on a regular basis, you might consider buying blog posts and articles.

4. Business, Business, and More Business

Even if you’re avoiding shop talk, too much focus on your business isn’t a good thing. If you are not solving consumers’ problems, you are pretty much just running a glorified extension of your website. People don’t turn to blogs to find out how wonderful your products are, they want to know how products that you just happen to sell can solve problems they may have.

5. Lack of Attainable Goals

Have realistic goals for your blog. If you start your blog with short-term goals, you will be able to manage it easier as you attract more followers. If you are going to focus on content marketing, create an outline of your goals similar to what you do with your business for each quarter. Set S.M.A.R.T. goals, an acronym for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely goals that can help you develop a solid focus.

6. No Posting Schedule

Regardless of technology, people like schedules. If you just randomly post content when the mood strikes, you aren’t going to have many loyal followers coming back all that often. Blog platforms such as WordPress allow you to write in advance and set a post date. This allows you to store content and post it on a regular schedule.

7. SEO an Afterthought

SEO isn’t something you just take care of later by throwing in some keywords here and there. Learn the basics of SEO or hire a professional to take care of it for you. Well placed keywords and phrases can boost your blog traffic and place your blog higher in search engine rankings.

If you give your blog the attention it deserves, you can avoid making these 7 crucial mistakes. Have I missed any common mistakes that you can think of? Let us know in the comments below.

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Your feedback can easily become a messy jumble of random comments going all over the place as far as topics go – including comments that drift into completely separate and unrelated topics and sub-conversations.

This doesn’t make a good impression on new blog visitors, which just happens to be what you need to keep your blog thriving.

Set Feedback Controls

Most blog hosts allow you to set specific controls on your feedback comments. On WordPress, for example, you can allow visitors leaving feedback to post their own avatar or use a default avatar. You also have additional feedback settings to:

• Eliminate unacceptable language (helps in controlling objectionable language)
• Make visitors register in order to leave a comment (discourages off-subject or outright nasty comments without merit)
• Approve comments first (gives you a chance to make sure comments are relevant)
• Block posts that appear to be spam (also allows you to block abusive visitors)
• Receive an email alert when a new comment is posted (if you have a busy blog, this can become annoying, so gauge accordingly)
• Decide if comments can be allowed on new posts (use this for posts you really don’t want to receive feedback on such as a reminder of blog rules or a short response to recent feedback)

Note: There are plenty of feedback widgets that you can add to your blog to further encourage and manage your feedback.

Delete Older or Outdated Comments

Cool comments on your blog are great, but they won’t have the same impact if you just leave them sit there forever. Make a general rule that you delete comments after a certain length of time has passed. If you want to save some great comments that you really can’t part with, start an archive page and turn the comments you want to save into an archived post. Delete irrelevant comments and obvious spam that wasn’t stopped by your comments settings.

Establish a Response Policy

If you have an especially active blog, it may not be possible for you to respond to every comment. To avoid offending loyal blog visitors or subscribers, establish a clear response policy. You can include this with your blog rules or make it a quick post on your blog. You could, for instance, respond to similar comments collectively in a new blog post. What you don’t want to do is ignore blog comments all together.

Redirect Customer Issues Away from Your Blog

If a subscriber has an issue with your business, refer them to your website or invite them to engage in a discussion with you via your Facebook page. If it is a major issue, invite them to call your business directly or email you. You don’t want to get into a back and forth discussion over a serious customer service issue via your blog comments section.

If you are going to use some of your blog’s feedback comments elsewhere, make sure you copy comments as they appear. If you have to edit for grammar and spelling purposes, that’s fine. If you do paraphrase certain parts, use “[paraphrased words here]” to make it clear that you are inserting your own words. This adds integrity to your blog. Happy blogging!

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Simply having a Facebook page or sending out a few tweets isn’t enough. If you start with a solid plan, you just might discover that social media platforms can be a valuable marketing tool.

Focus On a Few Select Platforms

If you are new to social media marketing – or if you have tried it before with less than impressive results – start by focusing on a few platforms. This makes it easier to keep up with the demand for fresh content that drives all things social. Facebook and Twitter may seem like obvious choices, but not always. Consider the potential of various social platforms before you narrow down your selections.

• Facebook – With a billion-plus users worldwide, it’s hard to deny the power of Facebook in terms of the potential audience alone.
• Pinterest – A simple “pin-it” icon works wonders for allowing customers to share your product images or post images related to your product or service. A description is required so you still have potential SEO value.
• YouTube – In addition to being a great place to post “how-to” videos and other videos related to your business, YouTube is a very effective advertising platform.
• LinkedIn – Designed specifically for business, LinkedIn has made several noticeable upgrades recently that make an even more effective platform.
• Twitter – While still a popular platform, Twitter isn’t the most valuable marketing tool for business in terms of revenue generation. It is a good way to quickly engage your target audience though.
• MySpace – Once a haven for aspiring rockers, MySpace has reinvented itself as a go-to platform for businesses – and they did a pretty good job.
• Google+ – While not that great as a social network, Google+ is a must-have when it comes to its SEO potential and new business functions.
• Yelp – The popular online review directory presents excellent SEO opportunities; especially location-based SEO since you can add your business address to your listing.
• Digg – Digg is especially effective for your blogs and webpages. If you add social links too, you have real marketing potential.
• DeviantArt – While this platform is designed for users to share their art, DeviantArt works well for highly visual campaigns.

Have Solid Goals

Aimlessly diving into social media is a surefire setup for failure. Like any other marketing campaign, you have to have clear goals as to what you want to achieve. Do you want to generate buzz for a new product? Do you want to increase brand awareness? Do you to establish yourself as an expert in your field? Each of these goals involves a different approach to using social media. To paraphrase Shakespeare, a marketing campaign without focus is “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

Having a solid social media marketing plan is great, but it doesn’t mean anything if you don’t measure your results. There are plenty of metrics you can use to measure where your online traffic is coming from, including your social traffic. This gives you a chance to make adjustments and achieve your realistic marketing goals.

The post Creating an Effective Social Media Marketing Campaign appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

• The products or services you are offering
• Your website
• Content and appearance of your ad
• Your target audience

Outline Your Goals, Expectations, and Resources

An effective online advertising campaign starts with a basic written plan. This plan is an outline of your advertising strategies spanning the various online outlets you intend to use to reach your target audience(s).

• Goals – What do you want to achieve with your online advertising campaign? This includes your overall expectations and your short-term goals for each online platform.

• Market Definition – What is your target audience? While you may say “everybody,” realistically there are specific demographics and geographic locations you want to reach.

• Online Advertising Mediums – Where are you going to advertise online? Get specific with what sites or social platforms you intend to use.

• Sales Cycle – When do you want to reach your target audience with your message and for how long? This depends on your goals. Seasonal campaigns, for instance, have a very specific window. Increasing brand awareness, on the other hand, is a continuous goal.

• Budget – How much you can allocate for your online advertising campaigns? This includes a specific breakdown of what you are willing or able to spend on each online platform.

Sales and Marketing Goals

Before diving into an online marketing campaign, you should clearly define your sales and marketing goals. This includes your expected immediate results and long-term results. Your sales and marketing goals can be broken down further:

Sales Goals

• Immediate results to start building revenue and generating conversations
• Long-term results related to sales cycles
• Building productive relationships with your target audience
• Recurring revenue from new and returning customers plus referrals

Marketing Goals

• Branding
• Streamlined email list building
• SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
• Market awareness

Putting It all Together

An effective online advertising campaign doesn’t have to volumes of details facts and figures. In fact, you can put together an effective campaign in a concise 2-3 page report. You want to make sure that everybody responsible for executing your online advertising campaign is clearly on the same page. Go ahead and start sending out those emails and placing ads on carefully selected websites, social platforms, and blogs.

Measuring Results

Keep track of your click through rate (CTR) and understand what it really means. Just because people are clicking on your online ads doesn’t mean that they are actually making a purchase or using your services. Even a poorly developed ad can generate a significant amount of curiosity clicks rather than productive conversions. Tools like Google Analytics can help you see where your online traffic is coming from and how many conversions you are getting.

Take a look at where you are getting the desired results and where you are falling short. No effective online marketing campaign is set in stone. All the research in the world can’t accurately predict the way that consumers are going to react to your online advertising efforts. Stay focused and make adjustments as necessary.

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While this may sound like marketing basics, it’s easy to get so wrapped up in tweets and Facebook posts that you lose focus of what it takes to put together an effective email marketing campaign.

? Do

Use Software to Sort Out Your Email Lists

Most of the online email client software on the market is affordable and helps you put together more effective lists. Some software allows you to segment email lists. You could, for instance, have one list for customers who are subscribers and another for those yet to subscribe. Each of these groups is targeted very differently.

x Don’t

Slip into Sales Pitch Mode

Blatant sales pitches are like poison when it comes to emails. Most customers – not to mention email software designed to send obvious solicitations off to the spam folder – tend to be weary of anything that comes across as an obvious marketing ploy. Stay conversational and get to the point quickly.

? Do

Use an Email Template

You can find a simple email template online or you can have a professional template created for you. If you plan to rely on email marketing for a significant part of your marketing efforts, it’s a good idea to go with a customized template. Each email you send for business purposes should include:

• Your logo/business name
• Relevant links
• Selective use of graphics to keep page load time quick
• Basic intro message to make the purpose of the email clear

x Don’t

Use Misleading Language

Don’t use half-truths – “Free Shipping,” which is really only on orders of $25 or more – or outright dishonesty just to get attention. You’ll quickly lose customers and end up either blocked or in the spam folder.

? Do

Create Clear, Concise Headlines and Content

If a customer can’t quickly identify who an email is from, they aren’t likely to even open it. Save the clever headlines for your website or blog. Headlines should clearly say what you’re sending – “Newsletter: Last Week of April” – and the email content should get right to the point.

x Don’t

Use Generic Images

Generic images that you can grab from an online search don’t look professional. Either create your own images or hire someone to create professional graphics that you can use with various email marketing campaigns.

? Do

Measure Performance and Adjust Accordingly

Just sending out emails and hoping for the best isn’t going to work. Most email providers offer various email metrics you can use to determine the effectiveness of your email marketing campaign. This gives you a chance to make adjustments to better target your emails to receptive recipients. You want to measure the following stats:

• Click through rates
• Open/unread percentages
• Conversion rates

x Don’t

Forget to Include a Call-to-action

You are not going to get conversions if you don’t include an effective call-to-action. This should be either a phone number or a link back to your website. Make it clear what the desired next step is that you want your reader to take.

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Once you understand the basics of content marketing, the next step is to incorporate aspects of marketing with meaningful content. If the meaningful content part sounds a lot like something out of journalism basics, it’s not by accident.

Once considered taboo, it is not so unheard of anymore to blend aspects of traditional journalism techniques with marketing. Thanks in part to the increased prevalence of online marketing, there is more opportunity to become “an authority” through the content you distribute via your various online platforms.

Filling a Need for Content

Many traditional news outlets are on the hunt for content; whether it be opinion pieces or well-crafted marketing pieces that blend subtle hints of marketing with newsworthy content that offer valuable online content. To get in the right mindset, keep these additional points in mind:

• Offer something of value beyond why someone should use your products and services
• Focus on quality rather than just cranking out content as fast as you can
• Not all content has to relate specifically to your business
• Don’t have an obvious agenda (people will quickly lose interest)

Think Like a Journalist

While you may be an expert when it comes to marketing your business and the products or services you offer, you want to shift to journalist mode when it comes to your content. If you want to see productive results from your content marketing, you need to ditch the sales pitch and approach your content as if you were a journalist and focus on producing something of real value to your readers. Here are some ways to accomplish that goal:

• Become an Authority – Focus on trying to solve a problem. Be specific in terms of the problem or set of problems you are solving. Offer a clear set of solutions beyond simply turning to your business for help. You will soon notice that readers come back – and they just might eventually become customers.
• Who Are You As a Business? – People tend to like the story behind the story. Engage your readers on an emotional level by presenting details of how your business started. This may include the background of key people in your company and details of what you want to accomplish and what your core objectives are.
• Produce Consistent Content – The key to successful content is to be consistent. Your readers will only “stay tuned” for more for so long. Produce content on a regular schedule, since loyal readers tend to look for your new content once they get to know your schedule. Besides, regular content makes you look more professional.
• Build Credibility and Trust – Don’t use your content to bash your competitors. While you want to “direct” readers to using your products or services, you don’t want to trash your competitors in the process. Be honest about the information you present and cite outside sources by either mentioning your sources or linking to authoritative sites.

Closing Thoughts

Put yourself in the place of someone likely to be reading your content. Ask yourself “would I read this?” before placing or submitting online content. Don’t forget to check basic things like spelling, grammar, and any facts your present. You are not going to be seen as credible if your content is loaded with errors and inaccurate or outdated facts.

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