It’s a common problem with email marketing and social media marketing: You know you need to send regular emails and post to your business’ social networks, but it’s hard to make time for it and you’re always struggling with what to say to your customers.
Before you know it, you haven’t sent an email since before the holiday rush, your last Facebook post was a month ago, and your customers think you’ve abandoned them.
Don’t lose hope! You can make marketing a regular part of your business day with these four tools that will keep you on track and help you come up with topics to talk about.
1. Email marketing plan template and calendar
Having an email marketing plan in place will help you align your marketing efforts. And it’s easier than you think.
In just 15 minutes, you can use our email marketing plan template to outline the dates and events that are important for your business throughout the year.
Tip: Plan social media posts to support your email campaigns and extend your reach. Our Social Share tool makes it easy to promote your email on social media — right in your Constant Contact account. Watch our Using Social Share video to see how it’s done.
If you’re not sure what the best time and day are to reach your audience, use Facebook Insights to determine when your fans are most active and engaging with your page, and what content they’re interested in.
This data will help you come up with a regular posting schedule that you can set in the Facebook Reminders calendar.
Image courtesy of AdWeek
3. Twitter Events
If you’re looking for ideas for what to share on Twitter, check out the Events feature in Twitter’s Analytics platform.
Start by going to analytics.twitter.com, click on the Brand Hub tab, and then click Events. The Events feature allows you to browse by looking at an overview of upcoming events with information on how many tweets have been shared, and which countries are tweeting the most about them.
Take a deeper dive by clicking into the categories here: Events, Sports, Movies, and Recurring trends.
You’ll find a list of popular events, with information like category, location, date, or audience size. Click into the event name for more details.
For example, the Valentine’s Day event details share statistics on how many tweets were shared for the holiday in 2016, demographic information, and a list of top tweets and live tweets.
Check out events to see if your business has a connection and join the conversation on Twitter. If you’re part of a larger conversation, your tweets have the chance to be seen and shared by more people.
Your customers want more than promotional emails from your retail business.
Are you giving them tips to use your product effectively? Have you introduced them to the people behind your business? When was the last time you asked them for feedback?
To drive sales with email marketing, go beyond self-promotion; look for ways to provide value and build customer relationships.
But even if you want to send a non-promotional email, how do you know what to send?
We get it. Sometimes coming up with an idea is the hardest part.
To get your email opened and read, you understand the importance of sending it at the right time. You understand the importance of a compelling subject line. You understand the importance of segmentation: sending the proper message to the proper group.
So now you’ve got them interested in your email, but what are you going to talk about? Many marketers get stuck here. Deciding what to write can be a little less confusing by following these concepts.
Focus on being relevant. Make sure that you know what your audience values: ask your customers and prospects what type of information they would like to receive in their inbox.
Figure out how much is enough. How much content is that? Keep in mind that a majority of people will be viewing your email from their mobile device, and will likely not have/not take the time to read a lengthy email.
Turn questions into content. Remember, you are the expert in your business or industry, and your customers typically are not.
Use images—great images! Or video! Just be sure your email is optimized for mobile, and that images don’t dominate your content.
Use the internet to help you find content: blogs, RSS feeds, Twitter trending topics and Google alerts are a few great resources.
Here’s a list of ideas to get you started today!
The Year in Review
Weekly/monthly calendar of events
Answer a frequently asked question (or two or three!)
Welcome a new staff member
How to…
Announcement of new product/service
News of awards/achievements
Shareable content (like photos, gif’s, and infographics)
Video of employees/staff volunteering in the community
Picture and caption of unique event/crazy weather
Special offer/sale/promotion
Anything “behind the scenes”
Invitation to an event
Highlight customer/charity/another business
Curated content with link to original source
Teaser text and link to your blog
Request for help, volunteers needed, etc
At the end of the day, it’s so important to remember that content marketing really isn’t about what you want to say, but about what your audience wants to hear. You know your tribe, so speak their language! Marketers who can remember this and implement it will do well.
Non-profit and membership organizations face challenges that are not always known in the business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) world. Primary among these challenges are limited financial resources and limited staffing resources. Add to that the sense of ownership among the organizations membership and/or donors, and the feeling of overwhelm can be incredible.
One of the easiest ways for an organization to communicate with the members/donors is through email. This can take many shapes including announcements, event promotion, surveys and feedback, calendars, and of course, newsletters. Let’s take a look at best practices for each of these digital communications.
Announcements are a great way to introduce your new Executive Director, Board of Directors, or even spotlight a dependable volunteer! All it takes is a short bio, a high-quality photo, a subject line, and voilá, you’re done. Short and sweet, announcements are generally limited to a single subject, and the recipient is kept in the loop of what’s happening with the organization.
Event Promotion. Generally speaking, non-profits hold fund-raising events throughout the year. Using a product such as EventSpot from Constant Contact makes event planning even easier by collecting many types of data including:
Detailed attendee data, that is completely customizable
Collecting payments for tickets or extra items available for purchase
Create and schedule customized emails prior to and post event
Even solicit items for the event, such as silent auction items, etc
Surveys and Feedback are invaluable tools for any business or organization. They provide insight and can offer market research, when utilized with careful thought. Many non-profits communicate with their subscribers to gather a variety of information, for example:
Pre-event suggestions (would you prefer a DJ or a live band at the gala? Assigned seating or open table seating? Limited plated dinner options or buffet-style dinner?)
Post-event feedback (on a scale of 1 – 5, rate the quality of the acoustics at the gala; what, if anything, would you suggest for additions to the silent auction for next years gala?) TIP: keep surveys to a maximum of 6 – 8 questions, and include an option for respondents to add their own additional comments
Calendars. Most likely, your organization has multiple events and activities taking place, including standing committee meetings, planning meetings, business mixers, and such. While this information will be posted on your website, sending a weekly or bi-weekly calendar update, with minimal information that is easy to read, is always a good reminder for your subscribers. TIP: include a link to your website event calendar for readers to get all the details.
Newsletters are probably the most commonly-used e-communications in member organizations, non-profits, churches, PTA, etc. And for good reason: there is a LOT of information that the subscribers need to know. This is a great place to offer overviews of upcoming events, the calendar, and announcements. And, data suggests that organizations such as these can actually send more detailed email newsletters than typical B2B or B2C marketing emails due to the sense of ownership among the members/donors. Parents want and need to know what’s happening at their child’s school, parishioners desire to know what’s happening in addition to what was printed in last Sunday’s bulletin, chamber members want to know the newest members to join, and so on. There are several studies that suggest using an unusual, catchy subject line will result in a higher open rate; however, use what works best for YOUR subscriber preferences. Not sure what they want to see in the subject line? Ask them! TIP: include links to your website for readers to get the details on the information that is most pertinent to them, and keep the digital format easier to read.
For details on the most recent data regarding email campaigns for nonprofits and other member organizations, check out this blog from the experts at Constant Contact.
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