You don’t need a large budget or a dedicated team to succeed at digital marketing. The following are the most crucial things that every business should be doing online right now.

If you need to prioritize your digital marketing, these are the 3 most crucial things to focus on.

 

1: Email Marketing.

 

Collecting emails from your customers and potential customers and staying in touch is essential.

Email has the highest ROI of any marketing medium. Return on investment is 122% or 4X higher than that of other marketing formats, including social media, direct mail, and paid search.

Several years ago, with the advent of social media, SMS, and other messaging medium, some experts predicted that email was dead. This is not the case.  Email is huge and growing.

86% of professionals say email is their preferred form of communication for business, and 89% of marketers say email is their primary source of lead generation.

People like email, and it brings in leads. That means your business needs email marketing.

How can you use email as part of your marketing plan?

 

Start collecting emails.

 

In 2017, for every $1 spent on email, the average business earned $44.

Any marketer will tell you, the money is in the list. The subscriber list, that is.

 

"But Lindsey, I've tried to build a mailing list, and no one signs up. What do I do?"

 

You are in luck. Today I'm here to tell you how to dramatically increase the subscribers on your mailing list. It isn't a trick. It requires work and some investment on your part. But you can do it. And remember, for every $1 invested, you could earn $44. Isn't worth a try?

 

Let's jump right in. 

Ways to build a better mailing list:

 

1. Include an opt-in in your email signature.

 

If you’re like me, you’re constantly receiving and sending emails for work. After your correspondence is complete, don’t let them forget about you. Keep reminding them of you, and your business, by encouraging them to join your mailing list in your email signature.

 

 

In my example above, I have several links, but the email sign up link is the only "call to action" where I am telling the reader to take an action.

To really emphasize your call to action, include it as a "PS" or post script, since research suggests that people skim emails and are more likely to focus on the PS than the body content or the signature. See my example below:

 

 

 

Take Action:

Add a link in your email signature to your newsletter sign up form, either is part of your signature or as a post script. (Don’t have a sign up form? Create one now or ask us to create a dedicated landing page to get more sign ups!)

 

Instead of using boring terms like “Sign up for XXX newsletter”, make it fun, personalized, interesting, or enticing. “You don’t want to miss exclusive deals!” “Keep us coming to your inbox, join our mailing list!”

 

If you want to entice them, offer something in exchange for the click…

 

2. Offer something for free.

 

You’ve probably seen this type of offer hundreds of times: Download this free guide! Sign up for this webinar! But businesses use it because it works.

We tend to guard our personal information carefully and we’re not just going to give it our to anyone. Like a date at the bar, you’ve got to lure them in with a free drink. Except in this case, you need something digital to offer.

 

What kind of things can you offer in exchange for their valuable information? Webinars (like the example below), ebooks, and articles are all popular offerings. But if you don’t have the time or inclination for that kind of media, consider taking a popular blog article and offering that. 

 

Take Action

 

On your website or blog, set up the offer in an obvious spot (at the top of the page). Tell them exactly what FREE item they will receive for entering their information.

Then in the “Thank you” message that pops up after, insert the link to the content or to download the content if you’re offering something digital. You can use services like Print Friendly to turn any one of your blog articles into a PDF for them to download. 

 

Want to really leverage the power of a free offer? Try a dedicated landing page.

 

3. Use a dedicated landing page.

A sign up form on your website or blog is great, but if you’re really serious about growing your subscriber list, a dedicated landing page will give you the best results. This is a simple (or long form, depending on what is the best fit for your offer) page that is created with the sole purpose of selling the conversion.

 

 

 

Take Action:

Create a landing page using one of the many DIY services out there, or get help from a professional (like our MarketingWebsite, which includes a conversion-focused landing page, lead capture, contact manager, and marketing automation).

Partnered with a great ad campaign, a landing page can grow your audience exponentially in a short period of time.

 

4. Use social media.

 

Depending on the social sites you use for business, they can help drive traffic to your newsletter sign up or free offer.

 

On Facebook:

Call to Action Button: Use the call to action button Facebook provides on your page to encourage people to “sign up”. Rather than just directing them to shop on your website, remember a subscriber has long-time value rather than the value of a single sale (unless you collect emails during the sales process, but that is a discussion for another day.)

Pinned Post: Pin a post that promotes your newsletter or your free offer (we call it a lead magnet) at the top of your page. This will guarantee that visitors will see it, and will increase the amount of engagement on that post, which will cause Facebook to boost it for even more views.

Use an Ad: This will work best for a free offer. Create an ad for the post and send traffic to your form.

 

 

 

5. Pay attention to the sign up form design.

 

“The details are not the details. The details are the design.” This quote by Charles Eames perfectly explains how important even the smallest detail can be in gaining conversions (in our case, email sign ups). 

 

Color:

A whopping 85% of shoppers say color is the primary reason they buy a certain product. 

 

You probably know people associate different colors with different emotions: red = urgency, green = relaxation, blue = trust.

However, choosing the right color for your action button and overall form isn’t that simple.

 

Take Action:

How do you know what color is right?

v Pick a color for your button that stands out. It should have a good contrast to the rest of your page.

v Use a color that will send the right message to your audience and for your type of industry. For example, if you’re selling organic baby food, a red button might imply “stop” or “caution” rather than urgency. A blue button to encourage trust might be a better choice.

v Be consistent with call-to-action colors across your website.

v Test different colors. If your service allows you to adjust the color of the button (for our MarketingWebsite landing page customers, we will make those changes for you), be sure to try different colors to see if one works better. Sometimes that is the best way to know.

 

Button Text:

The text on your button is just as important as color. They key here is to personalize it. “Submit” or “Join” are the worst things you can use.

 

 

Take Action:

Create button text that speaks to your audience. Make sure it is about them. Instead of using “Sign up” consider something like “Yes, I want more info like this”.

v Make it personal

v Use power words, like the 7 most persuasive words.

 

6. Build trust through familiarity.

 

With so many websites and products available online, it is difficult to know whom to trust.

You can help your visitors trust your business by including things like testimonials or favorable reviews from customers, logos of clients, ratings or awards. For example, an author will often include literary awards they’ve won or the fact that they are on a bestseller list to gain the trust of visitors.

 

Take Action:

Find at last one favorable review, post on social media, or happy client. Put that within view of your form so visitors will feel better sharing their information with you.

 7. Remove Distractions

We’re all in a hurry when we get online. We expect things to load quickly, to be easy to navigate, simple to read, and we’re unlikely to waste time on something that is confusing.

 Keep your form simple. Don’t ask for information don’t you absolutely need (do you really need their phone number?)

I just clicked out of a sign up for a webinar that sounded interesting because they were asking me for more information than I wanted to give. I’d gladly have given them my name and email and the fake phone number I use on sign up forms, but the rest… nope, not worth it to fill out the company I work for, the city I am in, and so on. I just didn’t want to take the time.

 Make that moment of impulse as painless as possible. Take a look at this landing page by Peter Henneke, who claims it converts almost 60% of the time, which is amazing: 

 

 

Also, take note of all the trust content used on this page, like "as seen on" and quotes by notable marketers.

 

Take Action:

v Remove any unnecessary fields from your sign up form.

v Remove unnecessary images, ads, or text from the website page around your sign up form.

v Be sure the sign up is the only call to action on the page to maximize conversions.

 

8. Use a blog

 

Blogging is an obvious way to gain more traffic to your website, which could mean more sign ups for your newsletter.

Not sure if blogging if for you? Find out the secrets to content marketing success. If you or someone in your business runs a blog for your company, you can include your newsletter sign up in several ways:

 

Pop Ups

While pop ups became a huge no-no several years ago, they’ve now come back in style. A nice designed pop up form can have a great conversion rate, as long as the visitor can easily click out of it if they don’t care to enter their information and view the content they want.

 

Another great tool is the exit pop up. This only pops up when a visitor is going to leave the page, and can entice them to leave their information behind.

 

 

Comments

If you enable commenting on your blog, most blog programs allow you to require an email before leaving a comment. You can then choose to add them to your mailing list (just be sure they have the option to unsubscribe). 

 

Bio 

Just like in your email signature, include an email opt in in your bio encouraging people to sign up. Then instead of visiting your page once to read your blog, they will get your content in their inbox, which is way more powerful. An additional benefit of a sign up in your bio means every time you guest post on other blogs, you'll have access to a whole new audience.

 

Sidebar 

A blog sidebar can include a lot of things to keep readers on your website longer, and make them more likely to sign up for your mailing list. Find out what things to include in a great blog sidebar, and start making the most of your blog.

 

9. Add customers to your mailing list.

This should be a no-brainer. If they’ve bought from you, they already like what they see. Keep them coming back for more by sending them regular offers, updates, and other email communications.

 

Now that you’ve started collecting leads, what should you do next?

 

Start emailing.

 

Set up autoresponders.

Autoresponders are emails that are triggered by a specific action by a user. Welcome emails, order confirmations, and drip emails are all kinds of autoresponders.

Autoresponders have the highest open rate of any kind of email.  A few tips to create the best autoresponders:

Personalize them. If you are collecting data like first names, be sure to insert those into your autoresponders to increase your open rates.

Send from an individual, not a brand. While this might not make sense for all companies, if at all possible, have the email “send from” address be a personal address. People are more likely to open an email from an individual than from a brand.

Send exclusive content.

Send regular, exclusive content to your mailing list. Coupons, promotions, or any information you’ve promised when they signed up.

I like to send weekly digital marketing tips to my subscriber list, and I think they appreciate it, too.

Anything to keep your business top-of-mind and build your brand in a positive way.

 

Critical Digital Marketing Strategy 2: Mobile-optimized Website.

 

It’s 2019. EVERYONE has a website. (If you don’t, let’s talk. Right away.) It isn’t enough to have a nice website anymore. You need a website that is optimized for all devices.

Have you heard of Google’s mobile-first initiative? No? that’s ok, that is why I’m here, to read all those algorithm updates so you don’t have to.

Basically, Google is going to prioritize mobile sites. If your site isn’t as quick to load or as appealing as other mobile sites, you’re going to get knocked down on the search results page. You need a website that both your customers AND Google’s web-bots will love.

Many website services have at least some mobile-responsive capabilities, but even leading sites like Wix aren’t scheduled to update to the latest mobile framework for another year.

But guess what (shameless plug coming), ApogeeINVENT already has updated to the latest mobile design framework (called Boostrap 4) and we can make sure your website is looking perfect for viewers, living and virtual, that might be viewing it.

You could also create AMPs (Accelerated Mobile Pages) for your website, which means you can appear in that lovely carousel of results at the top of Google’s search results (as picture below). Google loves AMP, and is pushing to make them even more important to developers.

 

AMPs are faster-loading and simplified for the mobile user.  Google-sponsored research shows that AMP leads to an average of a 2X increase in time spent on page. The data also shows e-commerce sites experience an average 20 percent increase in sales conversions compared to non-AMP web pages.

Most importantly, you want your users to have a great experience when on your website.

Buttons and links should be easy to tap on with a finger, images should be properly resized, and your forms should fit within the screen size.

Take Action:

Test your website’s speed.

Since load time is noted as one of the biggest determining factors for users, you should first run a speed test of your website across devices.

Google has a great service that tests your site and offers tips on how to improve: https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/

Check your website on multiple devices.

How user-friendly is it? Click on the links, fill out the forms

If you’re site isn’t responsive, find a web service that includes responsive designs, or have a website created using one of the latest responsive frameworks.

 

Digital Marketing Strategy 3: Get Reviews

 

It can be tough as a consumer to know which brands are trustworthy with so many choices available online.

People don’t trust brands. People trust people. That is why reviews are so essential to businesses for gaining more business online.

 

Think about it. How often do you read reviews before you buy online?

If you’re like me, you read at least 3 or more. If the product or company has fewer than two reviews, they are too new for me to trust and I’ll look elsewhere, even if it costs me more. 59% of people check 2 – 3 review sites before making a purchase decision.

Trust is worth the extra expense, because it saves us time and money in the long run if we take a risk on a new product that doesn’t satisfy.

Thankfully, there are a lot of places and ways you can get reviews online.

 

1. Get Reviews on Social Media

 

Having a big following on sites like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter can give your business credibility, and help potential customers trust in your brand. Building a solid presence on at least one social media site is a good first step.

Likes and follows are positive reviews themselves, but sites like Facebook will also allow customers to leave reviews of your business, which can show up in search results and also help build more credibility in your brand.

Google My Business is another way to take charge of your online presence and gather more reviews. Google automatically pulls reviews from sites around the web and puts them on a results page specifically for your business.

6 in 10 consumers now look to Google for reviews before visiting a business – more than any other review site.

Make sure you claim that page and keep it updated with accurate information, and this will allow you to respond to reviews (we will talk more about that in a minute).

2. Put reviews on your website.

 

Ask customers for testimonials and include a photo if you can. People trust testimonials with an image more than they’ll trust just a text testimonial.

Put those reviews in key places on your website, such as near call to action forms or on product pages, to increase customer trust during the purchase process.

 

3. Use Industry Review sites.

 

Many industries have websites specifically used to collect reviews and allow consumers to find a trustworthy business.

Do a quick Google search to find top ranking reviews sites for your industry. Zillow, Angie’s List, Healthgrades, Zagat, Cars.com, Expedia… these are all examples of niche review sites. Pick the top-ranking sites and get your business listed.

 

4. Ask for reviews.

Don’t be afraid to ask your customers to leave reviews. Most people will not think to leave a review unless they are very unhappy or exceptionally impressed.

Naturally, you should be trying to exceptionally impress ALL your customers. However, if they forget to share their happiness, a friendly reminder can go a long way.

After you’ve asked, make leaving a review as painless as possible.

Some examples of ways to ask for reviews:

• Set up an Autoresponder email to send out after a few days after a purchase, asking them if they are happy with their product with a link to the place to leave a review.
• Email the client personally and tell them how you enjoyed working with them, and hope they feel the same. Ask them if they would mind sending a quick testimonial to include on your website.
• Post review requests on social media in a humorous or fun way.

 

5. Respond to reviews when possible.

 

Most sites that include reviews allows business owners to respond to those reviews.

Thank customers for favorable reviews, and find ways to placate unhappy reviewers. This might turn angry customers into happy customers, and also allows people reading reviews to see that you care about your customers and you’re willing to go the extra mile to make them happy.

More than half of customers expect businesses to respond to unfavorable reviews, but 63 percent say that a business has never responded to their review.

In the age of instant gratification and connectedness, people expect businesses to respond in the same way they expect comments, likes, and replies to their messages. Don’t disappoint your consumers.

Another benefit of responding to reviews? It will allow customers to see your brand as genuine. This can become an element of Experiential marketing, where consumers play an integral role in the development of your brand. It is a great way to build trust and make consumers feel valued.

 

Take Action

Start collecting reviews right away.

Create places for people to leave reviews:

v Website

v Social Media profile(s)

v Google My Business or Bing Places

v Industry review site(s)

Send an email to your client list, asking them to leave a review with links to the places you’ve created.