OXIESEC PANEL

Name	Size	Modified	Perms
📁 ..	-	03/17/2019 06:24:57 AM	rwxrwxr-x
📄 03036edfece701eaa1537fea4014dd44.spc	52.22 KB	02/11/2020 10:50:52 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 04d0c6cc2bf146b1318b78f84416b912.spc	123.26 KB	03/12/2020 06:21:28 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 0582678c8cfff117f770f9368b70c2b5.spc	19.97 KB	02/11/2020 10:50:53 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 06d19ca88661ebf5f2459dd4315a2bb1.spc	169 bytes	02/11/2020 10:50:53 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 09c20f5ef1098fa6a0dcbf757db22c44.spc	212.6 KB	03/07/2020 03:53:26 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 0bb533998a40e1ca3cefc59d6e542fc8.spc	34.69 KB	02/11/2020 10:50:53 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 0ed254d4d9db6e3afe193b00bc6471bb.spc	31.22 KB	03/11/2020 01:28:56 PM	rw-r--r--
📄 1469d584e9747d132077c9df3cda6c97.spc	121.54 KB	03/12/2020 06:21:28 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 1608544648e39ada42071bed51f3b175.spc	192.61 KB	02/11/2020 10:50:54 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 1857fc578c17e6145bcf223d333aa48d.spc	79.19 KB	02/11/2020 10:50:54 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 192555ba2ac5f902a3e3f1c0e4aae46c.spc	176 bytes	02/11/2020 10:50:54 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 196f73e8cf4330017ab92ef17541ebea.spc	34.06 KB	02/11/2020 10:50:54 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 19d7e90c3867383bc4790ba57a9f0a5c.spc	39.17 KB	02/11/2020 10:50:54 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 19f3a21c36072f501f634db8e658bc9f.spc	17.31 KB	02/11/2020 10:50:54 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 1a2ad7ec8e9ae3e242926fdbb1c728ec.spc	34.11 KB	02/11/2020 10:50:55 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 1afdf65a8c3ff9f8db7a8f10b580c286.spc	41.69 KB	02/11/2020 10:50:55 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 1bb80174ec75e092e3e7dbd063def8b9.spc	29.45 KB	03/06/2020 06:31:05 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 1de9a562a6be22df63820a9463bcd78e.spc	168 bytes	02/11/2020 10:50:55 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 1e85d1a99d268e01b229ade5baf241c4.spc	40.19 KB	02/11/2020 10:50:55 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 23796aacf2848a8f58cd3ef3f69e38fc.spc	419.69 KB	02/11/2020 10:50:56 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 2408c179b723e6418904b92398f6b137.spc	83.21 KB	02/11/2020 10:50:57 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 242d3dabf79d13154fcc384ff8b2d25e.spc	138.23 KB	03/12/2020 06:21:24 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 24739622a680323db111e64a3e3c3305.spc	13.08 KB	03/11/2020 01:28:57 PM	rw-r--r--
📄 26ad3f3473af193dfc893e18704c9003.spc	5.83 KB	02/11/2020 10:50:58 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 2799184659106c88b5072a3e3f763a4d.spc	12.3 KB	02/11/2020 10:50:58 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 2abcd685295b4a261ad2e866188e5e11.spc	123.52 KB	03/12/2020 06:21:29 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 2d3ca8b6dffd0b708a87b587b3ae50cc.spc	48.87 KB	08/11/2020 06:13:30 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 30d0eeac4a6b2d98cdef50ef2edffa28.spc	38.41 KB	07/21/2020 08:32:16 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 30d5af6cd4c10ea02520bcaba31f3d1c.spc	474.22 KB	02/20/2020 06:35:59 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 3291222baa2e5dd4e0c4863cead17f0a.spc	366.46 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:02 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 346a1bcfe350fe2a1953cd7fbdc86186.spc	33.68 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:03 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 3691c57bc9ef4dc350ce3298a8291556.spc	34.69 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:02 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 38d3dc98ecc1c3d1c27452a54603959b.spc	30.38 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:02 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 3f7816c2aa3e261331a0214ae283daba.spc	36.88 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:03 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 3fabe39fe5de4def5db0b070e9d0c12e.spc	89.1 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:03 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 402e99fadf0b4cfb19572847e3765644.spc	31.17 KB	02/20/2020 06:35:54 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 403c286cb5177de3aee8ae96d600e668.spc	22.17 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:03 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 473e9ea85fa887bf730a58a3138e8427.spc	51.38 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:03 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 47481ffe1d8aa644664a3e0c5e57b911.spc	33.55 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:04 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 4b9b019425e46aa5699b25b164731ea6.spc	191 bytes	02/11/2020 10:51:04 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 4e8baeaef3679f9460ffdecddbb1f6a7.spc	38.47 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:04 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 4eb2ea2e7b4ee9f516345a8e766106ea.spc	41.31 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:04 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 4eb3be40ca0ee332f013def0ede20b51.spc	57.32 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:04 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 4eea197c2a9df7be5770ed85a45166af.spc	32.13 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:04 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 50df6b48e1a1b469b4fa9e86fc0c5018.spc	33.52 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:05 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 51447ae67b6d856982df0ea0496cf24b.spc	27.75 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:05 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 52598486d45e22d0c8e6d2cb26125d0e.spc	185 bytes	02/11/2020 10:51:05 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 52db6769e7a09162da92fb931530d490.spc	251 bytes	02/11/2020 10:51:05 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 557bca13c9bf58c561d365f34528cf99.spc	660.96 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:10 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 569a7c623553d15856943f80ff0d9ef0.spc	38.82 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:05 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 588359e68ff59d4ef53aaf3edb6a44cf.spc	5.91 KB	03/29/2020 11:25:33 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 593ed9fb92861195f982096e36a276a5.spc	78.73 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:08 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 59b7e8b10798f98d6ede55dc16d36abd.spc	286.35 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:10 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 5b48fed85f692b870a2e1c54eb110eea.spc	92.95 KB	02/27/2020 05:27:34 PM	rw-r--r--
📄 5b894986f9f55d997ed60e84c8fb60c7.spc	32.87 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:10 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 5c46aa1f7a9fbddb1de61f99e41c4c73.spc	27.51 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:10 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 5c541078070a50b4ef826d433fcade97.spc	203 bytes	02/27/2020 05:27:37 PM	rw-r--r--
📄 5c744a4198beb7326dcf101f961486b4.spc	56.9 KB	08/20/2020 06:22:11 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 5ef8b2cef4776b3e3f9f79092ce932ca.spc	123.2 KB	03/12/2020 06:21:29 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 60bc545cda9dafe75484b88be1dd4ae9.spc	62.66 KB	03/12/2020 06:21:27 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 60cdba7804abf8b71744dac57a1fd036.spc	37.57 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:12 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 6270f865db79068a5dedb78ba877e7a0.spc	32.31 KB	04/10/2020 11:49:32 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 64e0619d4a6fcecb77cd4fa41dd6658c.spc	43.69 KB	02/20/2020 07:08:27 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 66267a4d6dba7887fc7d4a1aa2da9b75.spc	124.15 KB	03/12/2020 06:21:28 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 6b370910388637897c5bc54c01bf6458.spc	39.47 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:12 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 6cedd2c7609f97e8201f50ac95407eb3.spc	373.91 KB	02/14/2020 05:05:41 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 6f3a7e432f89d87825c8f322156d359e.spc	105 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:14 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 6fb29d2636fbee8586653a44de845c14.spc	36.78 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:15 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 73bb6c1505db5ddb104f30c60b108890.spc	41.35 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:15 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 75223b5917c4f5312a6c6a8aecd9f9e6.spc	50.85 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:15 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 77ff73ee1cbbb4a6cb4bb52bbfd0543c.spc	94.22 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:15 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 7947ab9dba76b764cad321483ebe03c4.spc	26.63 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:16 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 7c2f1bde8d6c3ddb510b8089c44af91e.spc	43.81 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:16 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 7d1ab5c52f2c3ab33c409e73bedecc5e.spc	3.86 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:16 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 7f39e24ab9c263578364ff0fcde11837.spc	168.82 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:17 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 7fb89d7009fbbd9a5c1c2dcac2e055af.spc	2.12 MB	02/11/2020 10:51:32 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 80d5eace46cca553f0c7e7a631ed6703.spc	122.15 KB	03/12/2020 06:21:29 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 8464ad04f90f3f666985ad6a300191a2.spc	183.31 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:21 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 87bb9147a3420bb80136500148ef65dd.spc	373.91 KB	02/14/2020 05:06:32 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 89342927fe6500da4a2cd74e4c24cd84.spc	63.45 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:24 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 8bbfe139e67e5f738b9ffcb18a7c5b86.spc	92.25 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:26 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 8ddc5ee335658bf8ec6b8844cf85c93f.spc	38.21 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:26 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 8e912fe5f85715a1da6db5b96e9f1c91.spc	39.3 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:27 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 8edc68ba045edb463abe484c4485b3c1.spc	299 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:29 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 906b5d59de170e528244744b925a8af5.spc	32.01 KB	03/12/2020 06:21:25 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 925665a1ef421d5783a6690aaf7df881.spc	8.67 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:30 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 92c4233c5ea49b0f47ba9af6486e17f6.spc	30.9 KB	02/14/2020 10:55:56 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 93e4fd43857be9fead41ffa09315517f.spc	34.1 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:32 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 94b8ccc457e138e62b74ac96766909fe.spc	43.13 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:32 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 96c4f97f5353d399aeef3f49fcc0bd5a.spc	57.89 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:32 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 99e1eb580536f979670980ef56caa779.spc	87.52 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:33 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 9b4ca5bfc6880bed7985069758de6a4f.spc	38.89 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:33 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 Base.php	3.35 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:42 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 DB.php	4.6 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:53 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 File.php	4.19 KB	02/11/2020 10:52:02 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 Memcache.php	4.81 KB	02/11/2020 10:52:02 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 Memcached.php	5.27 KB	02/11/2020 10:52:02 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 MySQL.php	12.67 KB	02/11/2020 10:52:02 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 Redis.php	3.77 KB	02/11/2020 10:52:02 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 a3f94d98665e5d26445aa2956b13985d.spc	138.35 KB	03/29/2020 01:13:19 PM	rw-r--r--
📄 a40a776457ebfa5dcaef5c99f859250c.spc	126.09 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:33 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 a4a2ea47955d1ebd2b59a41a045b89ba.spc	86.78 KB	07/20/2020 05:27:37 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 a68acd2dce64f10ba3d23b96452cbd57.spc	53.71 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:34 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 a989cfbb4ebcd4ea5aede2f8d18f6b80.spc	114.06 KB	03/29/2020 01:13:18 PM	rw-r--r--
📄 aaf764fb46ef69a016d4d915512cedd4.spc	677.76 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:41 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 abea4df88cf62a5d9a03eb72a825b2f5.spc	23.09 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:36 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 abfe9571c106187db93288b1ea97357a.spc	28.61 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:36 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 ac468e6e3b78f7a8673a1be751be1226.spc	64.53 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:38 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 adb710891b75ea3e9d2379f0460c1d19.spc	65.91 KB	04/11/2020 06:44:20 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 adb7ca764a42bad01a0ccae2df09c2fa.spc	34.34 KB	03/29/2020 01:13:20 PM	rw-r--r--
📄 b1fc76c9199e2130438d81b6297c73fa.spc	124.12 KB	03/12/2020 06:21:29 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 b44b9e448df189cee8d7c7774273267b.spc	61.57 KB	08/22/2020 05:21:09 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 b5b9fb6ba1e724416126f7788d4bd8b7.spc	19.39 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:42 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 b95f1bb33446efbc7fa195b29ff261c6.spc	27.65 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:42 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 babee465717bca2404982e2751c61c53.spc	176 bytes	02/11/2020 10:51:42 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 bd3c5c1472767419fe12061049343483.spc	122.93 KB	03/12/2020 06:21:29 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 beb279d0ed1b28135d1331bbeb778b85.spc	39.34 KB	03/12/2020 06:21:27 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 c033b35e93579cf666101f023d034851.spc	108.48 KB	02/20/2020 06:35:51 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 c168527cd70d44755d5e3dc302cff303.spc	71.23 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:44 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 c31156c2178130a5e98ebbb8b2f61319.spc	32.33 KB	03/12/2020 06:21:25 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 c36e33d44db45f66ded3082899946005.spc	38.34 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:45 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 c3ae4c4faa1570ab007529b2461aed7c.spc	70.81 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:46 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 c49105af5fef08449f157af0549bf58b.spc	22.82 KB	03/12/2020 06:21:26 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 c62b9f08975a3ce69acf5001c1be6fc0.spc	828.2 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:51 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 c70815c1694d1b436d240d9290d75605.spc	139.88 KB	02/27/2020 05:27:37 PM	rw-r--r--
📄 c96754afef1f81a69a0494827bfa975c.spc	61.67 KB	02/11/2020 10:52:51 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 c97a7600c7331a10d8231324118b3a67.spc	19.75 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:48 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 cc6545fb14fe412555c86b6880afe2fb.spc	192 bytes	07/19/2020 12:01:09 PM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 cdb828b9de2723669f8b1a1352709ee2.spc	387.08 KB	02/27/2020 05:27:35 PM	rw-r--r--
📄 cfba70f3409c5425ded2d8430338d49a.spc	52.97 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:52 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 d537e9e237a12ec958fea41eced57151.spc	186 bytes	02/11/2020 10:51:52 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 d7881a7f1d63da45f197c9a2e16999e4.spc	16.18 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:52 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 d8c5aac1146a5e6b3c91488029d275be.spc	27.99 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:52 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 d8eefb559112e58cb4dab21367a186e2.spc	228.32 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:53 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 d9db250644ba2877f115f509ace5a7b5.spc	28.08 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:53 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 dc319385e4015b85de4c0dee8d535f8f.spc	37.1 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:53 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 dc7b0425002a35c26a812e42646cc5af.spc	111 KB	03/12/2020 06:21:28 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 debf9c17532a02a6e6db578a7f3a4646.spc	142.69 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:54 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 defbb59ea45d623ea1c51ac8743c90ea.spc	165 bytes	02/11/2020 10:51:54 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 df45183a85d0f0324d9f35c8c667f311.spc	124.89 KB	03/12/2020 06:21:28 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 e095b95df0ddae888ac7f451f20129bc.spc	38.71 KB	07/21/2020 08:32:17 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 e2003b6fa97074e2942822467b17062e.spc	26.48 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:55 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 e2a37cd95187c01162d6f71089afe300.spc	50.54 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:55 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 e57f0a350e6688a01a91dda64cfa2101.spc	122.43 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:55 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 e5dae6ccace4ca4cc8216461dda29c74.spc	100.76 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:56 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 e76dbae7c8f284493808fa5931a959ea.spc	37.61 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:56 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 ea703f3e5c39f76615e5a8b975f794a2.spc	19.19 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:56 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 ea82db2f68568b4765fcf688d6c93116.spc	64.03 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:56 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 ead3210aad70aa054d53594c794ef5cb.spc	36.52 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:56 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 f104494ec9505a88f21eecf9104e7bd5.spc	43.49 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:57 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 f14af3dc82bb30bf0c3018917fa3a45a.spc	23.14 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:57 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 f2e6e96f252853f6483f6c9c725f0ee2.spc	78.09 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:57 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 f34923678798ad8b6c06d24190cb88cd.spc	329.67 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:59 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 f5306b0dbdad73410aada80dbc3392d4.spc	2.43 KB	02/11/2020 10:51:59 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 f74498a86970a084e5ca639447042aa3.spc	85.09 KB	02/11/2020 10:52:00 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 f7d657440800849c7fcaeb682984c7e6.spc	30.41 KB	03/24/2020 05:47:43 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 f9cf779dc17343f7a142ab34fefeb6eb.spc	428.03 KB	07/14/2020 10:43:54 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 fbc57cfd03bf1e4ef525660536f2fc4c.spc	18.92 KB	02/11/2020 10:52:01 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 fbe8c695ab40ed6d8e54c74cfd8720fe.spc	38.5 KB	02/11/2020 10:52:01 AM	rwxrwxrwx
📄 fcf7bfc598a8e90673a28eed5eb8247c.spc	67.72 KB	03/29/2020 11:29:51 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 fd653df8381ec085d867b89d482aed73.spc	63.39 KB	03/12/2020 06:21:26 AM	rw-r--r--
📄 fe2860db6cccfc29356a9613564f0ce6.spc	37.76 KB	02/11/2020 10:52:01 AM	rwxrwxrwx
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A good strategy is something which helps people plan for how they will bring new traffic and conversions to their online presence. Even such a seemingly simple thing as a blog post is a useful addition to a content marketing [&#8230;]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/content-marketing-strategy-results-driven.html">How to Measure Whether Your Content Marketing Strategy is Results-Driven</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:12:"Amanda Brown";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10095:"<p>Content marketing, and a good <a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/7-step-plan-creating-effective-content-marketing-strategy.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">content marketing strategy</a>, are essential for success in today’s market. A good strategy is something which helps people plan for how they will bring new traffic and conversions to their online presence. Even such a seemingly simple thing as a blog post is a useful addition to a content marketing strategy &#8212; if it brings in leads.</p><p><span id="more-29819"></span></p><p>Creative content agencies will encourage businesses to form a coherent strategy for content marketing because such a strategy, if successful, can mean that businesses can consider and try out other marketing strategies without suffering from any loss of revenue. Another reason having a strategy is being able to form a coherent brand, and perhaps also to find ways in which your marketing can teach your intended audience, as well as persuade them to become customers.</p><p>It is important to know that there is a visible difference between a content marketing <em>strategy</em>, and a <a href="http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2017/02/content-marketing-plan-components/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">content marketing <em>plan</em></a>. Where a content marketing strategy asks <em>why</em>, a content marketing plan asks <em>how</em>, so the strategy should come first. The strategy lays out all the details of why the business is creating content, who it is being created for, and why the potential customers should look to that business over others. In contrast, the marketing plan, according to top content marketers, should contain information which is more along the lines of what topics will be covered in the marketing itself, and what content the business will create, and so on.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>How to Develop a Content Marketing Strategy</h2><p>A good content marketing strategy will help to show how the marketing itself will introduce people and potential customers to the business and what it values, as well as detailing how that will be addressed. There are no strict rules for what such a strategy should look like, but many creative content agencies cite the following five rules as good components of any strategy.</p><ol><li>Make the case for using content marketing: there are many forms of marketing – explain why the business chose content marketing over them.</li><li>Explain what the content marketing itself will involve. What will the business achieve through content marketing, what they are going to provide through said content, and what the customers themselves need.</li><li>Audience personas and content marketing maps: describe the audiences who the business is targeting, what values it is going to show through the marketing, and what the needs of its audience are.</li><li>Brand story: what message does the business want to get across to its audience, and what values.</li><li>Channel plan: what channels are the business going to use to spread their message? Will social media be involved?</li></ol><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Measure your content marketing strategy: goals to achieve</h2><h3>Results-driven strategy</h3><p>The best content marketing agencies will make sure that the businesses they work with are clear about what they want out of their content marketing – what goals they have. A business knowing what they want to work towards in terms of the goals they want to achieve. Knowing what results they want in terms of content, channels, and audience at the very least makes it more likely that the strategy will be successful.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>Failed strategy</h3><p>Not every strategy is successful. Sometimes the audience has been misjudged, or sometimes they don’t respond as well to the brand which is being marketed to them as was previously thought. A failed strategy does not necessarily mean a complete failure, however. It simply means that whichever part of the process failed needs to be re-evaluated.</p><p>A strategy which is not fully thought out is one which is more likely to fail. Therefore, it is necessary to be absolutely sure of your goals when it comes to content marketing management.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>The research done</h2><h3>Results-driven</h3><p>Research which is driven by results is research that knows, in some form, what it wants. While knowing the exact results would negate the need for research, it is important to at least know some general points about the direction you want your research to take – what audience uses social media, for example, and what iteration of the company brand would be best received.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>Failed strategy</h3><p>Research can sometimes fail, through either the fault of the business, or the fault of inaccurate information. Sometimes a business does not always pay attention to the result of their research, leading them to make decisions which are not in their best interests. Sometimes the information itself is out of date, for various reasons. This can lead to a business taking certain marketing avenues, but not achieving the desired results due to having outdated information.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Types of content and channels</h2><h3>Results-driven</h3><p>The type of content and the channels used can differ according to the audience which you seek. Good research will help sort out which channels and what content is best. For example, social media is better for a younger audience, while blogs and traditional websites are good for older audiences. Social media relies on smaller pieces of content than do blogs, and so on.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>Failed</h3><p>Failed strategies in this, again, revolve around a lack of research. A good example would be the use of social media; bad research would lead businesses to use social media to reach an audience which has no use for social media. The content marketing would fail, as it would have no way of reaching the intended target audience.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Tracking</h2><h3>Results-driven</h3><p>Tracking results during the content marketing process is vital for a good company. The best content marketing agencies will all recommend it, as businesses can track how the marketing is faring by using it, and so keep a better eye on what is happening.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>Failed</h3><p>Failed strategy in this area can come about either through a failure to track anything in the marketing campaign, or a failure to do anything about the information being tracked. If a business knows that one area of marketing is not successful, then leaving it as-is is a failure.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Updating and Experiments</h2><h3>Results-driven</h3><p>This naturally follows on from tracking – having a content marketing strategy allows you to explore new ideas which might act as good follow-ons from what is currently happening.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>Failed</h3><p>Running experiments with no clear idea of what works and what doesn’t in a marketing campaign. Not knowing what is working in a particular campaign means that any experiments lack support in that area, and are more likely to fail.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Conclusion</h2><p>The top content marketing companies will tell businesses that having a coherent content marketing strategy, one which covers the five stages of planning, implementing, measuring, analyzing, and improving is imperative for success. Following these five stages will allow for the creation of a strategy which is likely to succeed.</p><p><img class="pinterest-hidden aligncenter wp-image-29823 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/results-driven-content-marketingPIN-min.png" alt="results driven content marketing" width="735" height="1102" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/results-driven-content-marketingPIN-min.png 735w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/results-driven-content-marketingPIN-min-200x300.png 200w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/results-driven-content-marketingPIN-min-683x1024.png 683w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/results-driven-content-marketingPIN-min-720x1080.png 720w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/results-driven-content-marketingPIN-min-32x48.png 32w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/results-driven-content-marketingPIN-min-223x334.png 223w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/results-driven-content-marketingPIN-min-600x900.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/results-driven-content-marketingPIN-min-315x472.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 735px) 100vw, 735px"/></p><div class="wp_rp_wrap wp_rp_vertical_m" id="wp_rp_first"><div class="wp_rp_content"><h3 class="related_post_title">Related posts</h3><ul class="related_post wp_rp"><li data-position="0" data-poid="in-29117" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/social-media-takeover.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/04/social-media-takeover-min-315x158.png" alt="How to Plan &#038; Execute a Social Media Takeover" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/social-media-takeover.html" class="wp_rp_title">How to Plan &#038; Execute a Social Media Takeover</a></li><li data-position="1" data-poid="in-28848" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/content-strategies-buyers-journey.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/04/buyersjourney-min-315x158.png" alt="Content Strategies to Nurture Prospects Along the Buyer’s Journey" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/content-strategies-buyers-journey.html" class="wp_rp_title">Content Strategies to Nurture Prospects Along the Buyer’s Journey</a></li></ul></div></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/content-marketing-strategy-results-driven.html">How to Measure Whether Your Content Marketing Strategy is Results-Driven</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:36:"http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/";a:1:{s:10:"commentRss";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:80:"https://blog.getresponse.com/content-marketing-strategy-results-driven.html/feed";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:38:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/";a:1:{s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1:"0";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:1;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:12:"            ";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:5:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:48:"4 Steps to Create a First-Rate eCommerce Website";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:69:"https://blog.getresponse.com/create-first-rate-ecommerce-website.html";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:77:"https://blog.getresponse.com/create-first-rate-ecommerce-website.html#respond";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 19 Jun 2017 14:49:40 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9:"MARKETING";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:37:"https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=29799";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:586:"<p>Back in the day, any kind of trade had fewer opportunities to expand sales among new customers. No, I don’t want to mislead you saying that the trade was on a low level. If you “drip for a while” in the history of trade, you will discover that this ancient craft has always been one [&#8230;]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/create-first-rate-ecommerce-website.html">4 Steps to Create a First-Rate eCommerce Website</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:15:"Sergey Aliokhin";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:29525:"<p>Back in the day, any kind of trade had fewer opportunities to expand sales among new customers. No, I don’t want to mislead you saying that the trade was on a low level. If you “drip for a while” in the history of trade, you will discover that this ancient craft has always been one of the most powerful sources of income around the world.</p><p><span id="more-29799"></span></p><p>The problem of getting new customers and building new business connections was due to the necessity of exploring new horizons that took lots of time and efforts. Corsairs, storms, and, of course, huge distances were the barriers traders had to overcome.</p><p>Lots of famous traders still pique interest to their past commerce. And it is not surprising. Our modern society has improved its general level of trade facilitation thanks to a selling practice that our ancestors had contributed before.</p><p>Thanks to the age of the internet the process of a trade creation has become much easier to do. Yes, with the help of eCommerce web platforms, every trader can sell products without leaving the office at all. Nevertheless, if you want to see any progress in your eCommerce sales, you should take care of your web resource properly. You should adjust your <a href="http://www.etraffic.co/how-to-segment-your-content-marketing-strategy-4-types-of-content-for-4-types-of-audience/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">content marketing to various audience types</a> to combine that strategy with a few more basic tactics.</p><p>In this guide, I am going to show you four steps that will help you create a first-rate eCommerce website and attract customers you deserve.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>1. Make sure you know how to identify and attract your target audience</h2><p>I won’t claim that it is hard to identify the niche you believe your service or production belongs. The only thing you will have to do is to think wisely what kind of help you are able to offer your potential clients. You can ask yourself a few standard questions like:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>What products do I sell?</h3><p>It could be whatever you want, starts with some material goods (music instruments, automobiles, audio/video tech etc.) and ends with various personal services (tutorials, courses, lessons, etc.).</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>Who are the main competitors in your niche?</h3><p>Every industry has its leading authorities and these names are familiar to everybody. Let say, the leaders in the world of music instruments are such brands as Ibanez, Fender, Warwick etc. If we consider sportswear, then these brands are Adidas, Nike, Puma and so on. The same happens with your niche. Just make some research and you’ll find out the competitors you should stick to.</p><p>Once you find the answers to these two questions, you can be sure your niche. Afterwards, you will have to dive deeper into developing a strategy on how to make your eCommerce website attractive to your customers.</p><p>Frankly speaking, perhaps, every marketer wants to have fewer competitors than he or she has in the niche. To be honest with you, I would, , say that we all want to be the leaders in our business, and that’s why we claim not to have so many competitors.</p><p>Do you remember the statement “every cloud has a silver lining”? Try to think that you should respect your competitors and try to work them to the benefit.</p><p>How could you do this? Discover your competitors’ blogs and attract their clients for yourself. Let me show you how to do it.</p><p>Let’s presume that your eCommerce website sells sportswear and you have lots of competitors in this niche. There is no sense in spying for customers against such brands as Nike, Puma and others similar. I am quite sure, you won’t impress these clients with your unpopular production. Instead, you ask Google something like “buy sportswear online” and check out what it suggests for you:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-29805" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/SERP1.png" alt="first rate ecommerce website" width="975" height="483" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/SERP1.png 975w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/SERP1-300x149.png 300w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/SERP1-768x380.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/SERP1-97x48.png 97w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/SERP1-674x334.png 674w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/SERP1-600x297.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/SERP1-315x156.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 975px) 100vw, 975px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>As you can see there is a bunch of websites related to your niche. They look good in terms of the domain rating they have, the organic traffic they get, and, of course, the number of backlinks. Let’s have a look the example:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-29800" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/ahrefs.png" alt="ecommerce website techniques" width="975" height="479" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/ahrefs.png 975w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/ahrefs-300x147.png 300w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/ahrefs-768x377.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/ahrefs-98x48.png 98w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/ahrefs-680x334.png 680w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/ahrefs-600x295.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/ahrefs-315x155.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 975px) 100vw, 975px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Furthermore, it is obvious that content marketing involves running a blog with high-quality content. Thus, it is preferable for you to find blogs in your niche that take the highest positions in Google search. It will allow you to check out what kind of content these blogs publish, what their readers say in comments, what they like and dislike. By analyzing these aspects of competitors’ blogs, you will be able to turn your own blog into the desirable place for your potential clients.</p><p>The next position you shouldn’t forget is to try to find out your customers’ needs. As I’ve mentioned above, examination of comments on competitors’ blogs is one of the best ways to understand customer needs. If you want to go further, I recommend you work a bit with Quora.</p><p>No doubts you are familiar with Quora and you know that it is a platform where people ask questions and get answers. What an ideal place for seeing what people need. It works simply &#8211; just put an inquiry and you’ll get related questions to your inquiry and all possible replies:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-29808" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/quora.png" alt="how to build a first rate ecommerce website" width="975" height="473" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/quora.png 975w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/quora-300x146.png 300w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/quora-768x373.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/quora-99x48.png 99w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/quora-688x334.png 688w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/quora-600x291.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/quora-315x153.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 975px) 100vw, 975px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I don’t say you will be armed with all points with the information you will get from comments on Quora, but the general needs of the clients you will understand.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>2. Adjust your ecommerce website to various types of content</h2><p>I won’t give you the explanations why content is important for your eCommerce business. There are many factors that prove one good statement “content is king”. If you are still an outsider in content marketing, here are a few reasons you should know about content:</p><ul><li>It adds value to your production (and brand in general)</li><li>It generates new leads and sales</li><li>It works great as a tool for engagement your target audience</li><li>It increases traffic</li></ul><p>Search engines love high-quality and long-form content.</p><p>Don’t be under the delusion that content is just a rough text. No. Firstly, content is any sort of information you want to share with your audience. Please, pay your attention to the nuance that I said “audience” but not “readers”. In this very way, I want to underline that you can present the information in a few different ways.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>Video content</h3><p>In contrast to written content, video one has a higher level of user engagement. You just imagine, using videos you will be able to introduce your production from different angles. You can check out YouTube and see what your competitors upload on their brand channels. For instance, you want to introduce your users a new collection of indoor running shoes but you have no idea what the video should look like. Thus, back to leaders in your niche and make a detailed research of their video material. Here is how Nike advertised their collection of Air Max 1 running shoes:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-29803" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/nike.png" alt="how to build a first rate ecommerce website" width="926" height="696" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/nike.png 926w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/nike-300x225.png 300w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/nike-768x577.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/nike-64x48.png 64w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/nike-444x334.png 444w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/nike-600x451.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/nike-315x237.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 926px) 100vw, 926px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>You could adjust your own video content strategy to the same way and, even, add something more interesting for your customers. How about “how-to” videos? I liked the example on how to lace running shoes from eCommerce web platform runningwarehouse.com:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-29809" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/runningwarehouse.png" alt="how to build a first-rate ecommerce website" width="1020" height="766" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/runningwarehouse.png 1020w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/runningwarehouse-300x225.png 300w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/runningwarehouse-768x577.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/runningwarehouse-64x48.png 64w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/runningwarehouse-445x334.png 445w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/runningwarehouse-600x451.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/runningwarehouse-315x237.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 1020px) 100vw, 1020px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>The more images you create, the more (happy) clients you’ll have</strong></p><p>However, if you tend to “old-school” text type content, I highly recommend you create content based on images. Plus, you should remember that your customers want to see the production your eCommerce website offers. Let me provide you with a few examples of using images in content. For instance, sportsshoes.com offers a wide range of sports shoes for the customers attaching images of all shoe models they have:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-29806" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/sportshoes1.png" alt="how to build a first-rate ecommerce website" width="975" height="423" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/sportshoes1.png 975w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/sportshoes1-300x130.png 300w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/sportshoes1-768x333.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/sportshoes1-111x48.png 111w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/sportshoes1-770x334.png 770w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/sportshoes1-600x260.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/sportshoes1-315x137.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 975px) 100vw, 975px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>You might ask me “But where is the example of text content with images?” Very fair question. At first, I want to underline that customers don’t want to read long-form content where you describe apparel. Instead, you should focus on pitching your customers with images of your production adding a brief text description of it. The great examples of this strategy are by using Instagram and Pinterest:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-29804" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/pinterest.png" alt="how to create a first-rate ecommerce website" width="975" height="517" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/pinterest.png 975w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/pinterest-300x159.png 300w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/pinterest-768x407.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/pinterest-91x48.png 91w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/pinterest-630x334.png 630w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/pinterest-600x318.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/pinterest-315x167.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 975px) 100vw, 975px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Pinterest allows you to add more-or-less proper description of the product with all necessary details. Instagram is more designed for high-quality images. Yeah, you can add a few descriptive words for the image in contrast to Pinterest. However, you can add as many as 30 hashtags:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-29802" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/instagram.png" alt="how to build a great ecommerce website" width="975" height="471" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/instagram.png 975w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/instagram-300x145.png 300w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/instagram-768x371.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/instagram-99x48.png 99w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/instagram-691x334.png 691w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/instagram-600x290.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/instagram-315x152.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 975px) 100vw, 975px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>If you still are curious about text content with images that is related to some sort of product customers can purchase on an eCommerce website, you should check out the next example. Because I would like to consider various types of production (not only sportswear), here is a wonderful example of eCommerce blog that contains different articles on furniture, decorations, and decor:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-29807" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/onekingslane.png" alt="one kings lane ecommerce website" width="975" height="985" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/onekingslane.png 975w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/onekingslane-297x300.png 297w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/onekingslane-768x776.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/onekingslane-48x48.png 48w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/onekingslane-331x334.png 331w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/onekingslane-600x606.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/onekingslane-32x32.png 32w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/onekingslane-50x50.png 50w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/onekingslane-64x64.png 64w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/onekingslane-96x96.png 96w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/onekingslane-128x128.png 128w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/onekingslane-315x318.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 975px) 100vw, 975px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>It is just a part of the article from this eCommerce website’s blog called One Kings Lane. As you can see, the owner of this web resource can use content marketing strategy in the right direction. You can take your cut from this example and do the same.</p><p>Nevertheless, content marketing is only a part of the whole strategy for boosting your eCommerce online shop. You should keep an eye on building close connection with your customers. And I am going to give you a few insights on it.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>3. Don&#8217;t forget to build connection with customers</h2><p>I am quite sure that if a business owner has tight business relationships with customers, he or she will succeed. But how to build this connection with a target audience? No worries, I would like to introduce you a few tricks on how to do it. Before I start, I would like to explain you a bit why it is so important for every businessman who wants to be ahead of the competitors.</p><p>During building connections with your customers, you should not only get the information you need for your own business but share something useful with the customers as well. You must listen to their needs, problems and, as the result, give some pieces of advice. If you are interested only in promoting your brand, your customers will realize that the only thing you are focused on is money. As for me, being a customer of whatever I use, I don’t like selfish and arrogant companies or services who are struck blind with itself forgetting about everything around.</p><p>Your business depends on the customers you have because these customers are your direct source of income. And here are, basically, the ways of connections:</p><ul><li><strong>Comments</strong>.</li></ul><p>Why do we, as consumers, use the comment section on websites? Simply just for leaving our opinion on something; thoughts, likes, and, even, dislikes. And it is the norm for customers and for website owners. Taking a participation in the comment section you are able to reveal your brand (and products) in a vaster way, plus sharing some other useful information. For example, you could advise your customers various services for their needs &#8211; different pricing optimization platforms <a href="http://upstreamcommerce.com/products_/dynamic-pricing-predictive-analytics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">like UpstreamCommerce</a>, influencer marketing platforms for amplifying messages like, for instance, <a href="https://hyprbrands.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HYPR</a> and so on. The main purpose for you, as a website owner, to react to the comments fast and efficiently.</p><ul><li><strong>Help or FAQ</strong>.</li></ul><p>This section is an integral part of any website, including eCommerce. You should remember that FAQ section is the place where you can present all the answers to the questions that people tend to ask about your products. When a customer sees that you didn’t regret your time writing answers to the most frequent questions, he or she will understand that you take care of the consumers. Your desire to help the client will reward you.</p><ul><li><strong>Live chat.</strong></li></ul><p>Yeah, the first thing you might think about is your time. I totally agree with you that spending your time in a Live chat is very time-consuming. Nevertheless, if you want to be as closer to your customer as you can, Live chat is a wonderful option for this. Be patient, relax and be ready to reply to whatever your customers will ask you. Pay attention to the questions that might bring you some insight that you will be able to implement in your products (perhaps some new model of a jacket).</p><ul><li><strong>Insiders</strong>.</li></ul><p>Use Facebook for creating an ‘Insider’ page of your product. Share news about the product your brand produces, take a part in comments your customers leave, have a personal chat with your clients. Believe or not but “Insider” pages really work great in terms of building tight business relationships with your customers.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>But what about Social Media platforms?</h3><p>As far as you know, any business owner who runs an online business uses the major social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, and Pinterest. Yeah, we use social media for searching new business contacts and opportunities. However, you should be clever in terms of using social media accounts and create all the accounts attractive with the information related to your niche. Here are the examples of how you can use each social media platform:</p><ul><li><strong>LinkedIn</strong>.</li></ul><p>This platform is the first place you should create an account as a businessman. It doesn’t matter whether you have already succeeded in your sphere of business or you’ve just launched a new eCommerce web resource. LinkedIn will help you reveal new useful business contacts that might bring new customers.</p><ul><li><strong>Facebook</strong></li></ul><p>You might claim that Facebook is the place where people spend their time just for fun. I won’t get into an argument with you about it but Facebook has the other side of the coin. Those who do business online prefer to use Facebook as a great opportunity to say a word or two about their production using all possible features Facebook has. As I’ve mentioned above, you could create an “Insider” page and spread the information about your brand, communicate with users and turn them into your customers.</p><ul><li><strong>Pinterest and Instagram.</strong></li></ul><p>I decided to combine these two platforms into one group due to the fact they have almost the same “mission”. The only option of these platforms is sharing images of whatever you want. For you, it could be an awesome opportunity to show product units with a slight description of it. Let customers see what you offer to buy.</p><ul><li><strong>Twitter</strong></li></ul><p>I believe there is no sense in explaining Twitter’s purpose. I only want to encourage you that using this platform is important for your business prosperity. There are numerous articles that cover the topics a kind of “How to Build Business Using Twitter”, “Twitter Marketing” etc. Thus, Twitter is a powerful service for your business.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>4. Do More Outreach</h2><p>Outreach is a very important strategy for you as the owner of an eCommerce website. It helps you present your product to the customers in a more personal way. Come into customer’s world and just imagine that you’ve got a well-crafted and personalized as hell email message. You see that the one who sent the message to you had done a detailed investigation about your person. You are really impressed with this message and you can’t refuse the sender to reply or, even, become a customer. What a fantastic story, isn’t it? Well, it is real if you can succeed in the outreach strategy.</p><p>I would like to share with you a brief step-by-step process how to do email outreach properly.</p><ul><li><strong>Find the people you are going to reach out (make sure they are related to your niche).</strong></li></ul><p>It is rather easy to do. The only thing you need is the link to your competitor’s material and <a href="https://ahrefs.com/site-explorer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ahrefs Site Explorer</a> tool for revealing all backlinks this link has:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-29801" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/ahrefs2.png" alt="create a top rate ecommerce website" width="975" height="475" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/ahrefs2.png 975w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/ahrefs2-300x146.png 300w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/ahrefs2-768x374.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/ahrefs2-99x48.png 99w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/ahrefs2-686x334.png 686w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/ahrefs2-600x292.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/ahrefs2-315x153.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 975px) 100vw, 975px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>In this example, I decided to represent you how to search backlinks for the musical instruments industry. I chose the very first blog and check out what backlinks the article has. You might be impressed with the number of backlinks (5.29K) but, please, don’t hurry up with the conclusions. You will have to check almost each backlink manually and see whether they are fresh and you are able to get the right contact information of the recipient you’re willing to reach out.</p><ul><li><strong>Search for personal contacts of the recipients.</strong></li></ul><p>This stage of the outreach process is very significant to you. Without a proper email address, you won’t have any chance to reach the person out. I recommend you to use <a href="https://findthat.email/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">find.that email</a> and <a href="https://www.voilanorbert.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">voilanorbert</a> tools. Moreover, please, check out person’s social media accounts because people tend to leave their contacts over there.</p><ul><li><strong>Create personalized email templates. </strong></li></ul><p>Don’t be too lazy! Kill your inner sloth and try to find some additional information about the person you’re going to reach out. Mix this information with the main aim of the message, add an outstanding subject line and send it over to the recipient. I give you 90% that you’ll get a positive result.</p><ul><li><strong>Don’t be afraid of sending follow-up emails. </strong></li></ul><p>No worries if the recipient hasn’t replied to you. There are reasons for this. Thus, if you send a follow-up email, you will increase your chances to get the reply you’re waiting for.</p><p>Remember that outreach is a great way to boost your eCommerce website and get new customers you deserve. It goes without saying that I gave you just a few core elements of the outreach. However, if you’re interested in more detailed guide, I suggest you check this <a href="https://ahrefs.com/blog/blogger-outreach/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one</a>.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Conclusion</h2><p>Taking all the aforesaid into consideration, I would like to say that running eCommerce websites and sell your product in a digital world is a meticulous process. Every step and decision must be considered to the last detail. You will have to focus yourself on various aspects of marketing and study the ways how to use them wisely.</p><p>I won’t state that the lessons you’ve learned from this guide will push up sales over 100%. But I am quite sure that your eCommerce website will succeed in terms of internet marketing.</p><p>If you have some pieces of advice or thoughts you would like to share, please, feel free to use the comment section.</p><p>Don’t forget to share it via your social media accounts!</p><p><img class="pinterest-hidden aligncenter wp-image-29816 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/ecommerce-websitePIN-min.png" alt="4 steps to create a first-rate ecommerce website" width="735" height="1102" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/ecommerce-websitePIN-min.png 735w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/ecommerce-websitePIN-min-200x300.png 200w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/ecommerce-websitePIN-min-683x1024.png 683w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/ecommerce-websitePIN-min-720x1080.png 720w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/ecommerce-websitePIN-min-32x48.png 32w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/ecommerce-websitePIN-min-223x334.png 223w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/ecommerce-websitePIN-min-600x900.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/ecommerce-websitePIN-min-315x472.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 735px) 100vw, 735px"/></p><div class="wp_rp_wrap wp_rp_vertical_m" ><div class="wp_rp_content"><h3 class="related_post_title">Related posts</h3><ul class="related_post wp_rp"><li data-position="0" data-poid="in-29303" data-post-type="empty" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/magento-website-performance.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/Magento-website-min-315x158.png" alt="How to Improve Magento Website Performance" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/magento-website-performance.html" class="wp_rp_title">How to Improve Magento Website Performance</a></li><li data-position="1" data-poid="in-28836" data-post-type="empty" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/data-driven-information-online-reviews.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/04/online-reviews-min-315x158.png" alt="Data Driven Information from Online Reviews Can Boost Your Marketing Efforts" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/data-driven-information-online-reviews.html" class="wp_rp_title">Data Driven Information from Online Reviews Can Boost Your Marketing Efforts</a></li></ul></div></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/create-first-rate-ecommerce-website.html">4 Steps to Create a First-Rate eCommerce Website</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:36:"http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/";a:1:{s:10:"commentRss";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:74:"https://blog.getresponse.com/create-first-rate-ecommerce-website.html/feed";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:38:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/";a:1:{s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1:"0";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:2;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:12:"            ";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:5:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:62:"A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Referral Program that Works";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:56:"https://blog.getresponse.com/referral-program-works.html";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:64:"https://blog.getresponse.com/referral-program-works.html#respond";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 15 Jun 2017 14:34:01 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9:"MARKETING";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:37:"https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=29789";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:607:"<p>To get people to your site, you need to give them an incentive. Then, you need to give them an incentive to bring other people to your site. It is a never-ending process, but many people don’t fully understand the process of creating a referral program that actually works. Without a process in place, your [&#8230;]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/referral-program-works.html">A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Referral Program that Works</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10:"Jane Hurst";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9171:"<p>To get people to your site, you need to give them an incentive. Then, you need to give them an incentive to bring other people to your site. It is a never-ending process, but many people don’t fully understand the process of creating a referral program that actually works. Without a process in place, your referral program is never going to be at the level you want it to be. So, we have put together a step-by-step guide that will help you to create a referral program that will work for you. Let’s get started.</p><p><span id="more-29789"></span></p><h2>What is a referral?</h2><p>First, let’s look at what a referral actually is. In a nutshell, a referral is when someone recommends your site to someone else, through a link that they have received from you. There are three basic types of referrals: implicit; organic; and incentivized.</p><ul><li><strong>Implicit Referrals</strong> – When a user must share your link with others before they can actually get into the site and fully appreciate the experience.</li><li><strong>Organic Referrals </strong>– This is content that people just automatically want to share, such as cute kitten memes.</li><li><strong>Incentivized Referrals </strong>– This is when you give the user even more incentive to share your link or product outside of improving the functionality of their experience. This is very targeted.</li></ul><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Building a referral strategy</h2><p>Now that you understand what a referral is, it is time to start building your <a href="https://www.extole.com/blog/5-golden-rules-of-referral-marketing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">referral strategy</a>. The first thing you need to know is that you need to find the right people to share your product. The next thing is that you can’t ask them too soon, because you have to wait until you know they are into your product and are ready to share.</p><p>If you have an email list, but no one has responded to you, there really isn’t much sense in asking for referrals. Still, you can get those early birds who will give you referrals, but you have to do it in a hand’s on and personal way. Your best advocate audience is made up of about 200 or more existing customers who have transacted with you recently (within 30 days).</p><p>Now, you can start to work on your referral strategy, which involves giving people the right incentives to share your product.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Choosing the incentives</h2><p>If you aren’t giving out the right incentives, people aren’t going to bother sharing your product. So, you need to figure out what it is that they really want. It is unlikely that your product alone is going to be so unique that it is enough incentive on its own. Here are a couple of tips that will help you to choose the right incentives:</p><ul><li><strong>Double-Sided Incentives</strong> – Try to offer incentives that give both parties a reward of equal value. This makes it seem like your offer is not just spam. If the advocate can earn more than their friend, it can seem a lot like spam, and vice versa.</li><li><strong>One Sided Incentives </strong>– It may be that you can only afford to give out one incentive. If this is the case, choose the friend rather than the advocate. This only works for referral programs, and not with affiliate programs.</li></ul><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Send out the email</h2><p>Now you have to ask for the referrals. To do this, you need to <a href="https://www.referralcandy.com/blog/how-to-write-great-emails-asking-for-referrals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">craft an email</a> that is going to make people want to refer others. You also need to know how to ask, and this can be a problem for many people. The trick is to send an email that is neutral for your advocate and for their friends. The advocate can forward the email to their friends, so there isn’t much work or friction on their end. The benefits of this type of email include:</p><ul><li>Explaining the benefits of the product</li><li>Offer something to both parties</li><li>Easily sharable</li><li>Easily convertible</li></ul><p>Don’t forget to include your email signature. This is extremely important, because it will allow support teams to reach your users when they have solved a problem. This is going to double the chances of the user making a referral.</p><p>Build a landing experience that is going to make people want to visit, and to share your product with others. Make sure that they have a good incentive to share, and to visit again themselves. Look for <a href="http://gregdigneo.com/referral-program-ideas/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">referral program ideas</a> that have worked for other companies, and use the same tactics for your own success.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Track the results</h2><p>Once you send out the emails, you need a way of tracking them to see if your referral program is actually working for you. You will need to implement analytics and tracking systems, using referral program software. These two things are going to help you to understand how you are getting the referrals, so you know what is working and what isn’t. If you use Google Analytics, you will be able to see where people come from before reaching your site. In addition, make sure that you are using the right referral software.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Choose and send the right rewards</h2><p>Finally, you have to figure out which rewards to choose. You need to understand what you users want, and what will lead them to make that referral. Create your rewards program around the motivations of your users. Reward types include:</p><ul><li><strong>Single and double-sided rewards</strong> – Single rewards are common, but not nearly as effective as when double-sided rewards are offered.</li><li><strong>Monetary and non-monetary rewards </strong>– Offer prizes based on the behavior of your visitors. Offers can include giving access to premium features, company swag, etc.</li></ul><p>Make sure that you offer a good variety of rewards. Not all users want the same thing, so you are going to need to customize your offers for various users.</p><p>Now, you have all of your ducks in a row, you have referrals, and it is time to start giving out those rewards. If you are offering cash rewards, PayPal is the best way to send it. Or, you can send a coupon code. If the reward is a physical product, let them know that it is on its way in the mail. You will have happy users, and because they are receiving rewards, they will be more likely to refer your product to even more people.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Over to you</h2><p>Do you use referral programs in your business? What was your biggest lesson learned from using it? Share your thoughts in the comments below.</p><p><img class="pinterest-hidden aligncenter wp-image-29792 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/referral-programPIN-min.png" alt="create a referral program that works" width="735" height="1102" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/referral-programPIN-min.png 735w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/referral-programPIN-min-200x300.png 200w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/referral-programPIN-min-683x1024.png 683w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/referral-programPIN-min-720x1080.png 720w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/referral-programPIN-min-32x48.png 32w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/referral-programPIN-min-223x334.png 223w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/referral-programPIN-min-600x900.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/referral-programPIN-min-315x472.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 735px) 100vw, 735px"/></p><div class="wp_rp_wrap wp_rp_vertical_m" ><div class="wp_rp_content"><h3 class="related_post_title">Related posts</h3><ul class="related_post wp_rp"><li data-position="0" data-poid="in-29150" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/guide-keyword-research.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/04/keyword-research-min-315x158.png" alt="Creative Content Ideas: A Guide to Keyword Research" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/guide-keyword-research.html" class="wp_rp_title">Creative Content Ideas: A Guide to Keyword Research</a></li><li data-position="1" data-poid="in-29327" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/email-marketing-beyond-free-report.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/email-marketing-beyond-min-315x158.png" alt="Email Marketing &#038; Beyond: Global Industry Benchmarks 2017 [Free Report]" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/email-marketing-beyond-free-report.html" class="wp_rp_title">Email Marketing &#038; Beyond: Global Industry Benchmarks 2017 [Free Report]</a></li></ul></div></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/referral-program-works.html">A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Referral Program that Works</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:36:"http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/";a:1:{s:10:"commentRss";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:61:"https://blog.getresponse.com/referral-program-works.html/feed";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:38:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/";a:1:{s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1:"0";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:3;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:12:"            ";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:5:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:26:"5 Amazing Automation Hacks";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:60:"https://blog.getresponse.com/5-amazing-automation-hacks.html";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:68:"https://blog.getresponse.com/5-amazing-automation-hacks.html#respond";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 15 Jun 2017 14:09:11 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:8:"PLATFORM";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:37:"https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=29782";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:564:"<p>The other day, I was watching an episode of Sex and the City called “Ghost Town”. Aired in 2001, it was the first time in the series Carrie sends an email. Too afraid to express her feelings to her e-boyfriend Aiden over the phone, she emails him. But because her sender name is really cheesy, [&#8230;]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/5-amazing-automation-hacks.html">5 Amazing Automation Hacks</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:23:"Justyna Bakker-Rakowska";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:7934:"<p>The other day, I was watching an episode of <em>Sex and the City </em>called “Ghost Town”. Aired in 2001, it was the first time in the series Carrie sends an email. Too afraid to express her feelings to her e-boyfriend Aiden over the phone, she emails him. But because her sender name is really cheesy, Aiden marks it as junk.</p><p>It made me wonder: how can we ensure our emails get read? Today, when we’re competing to be heard, we spend a lot of time and effort trying to match our content with what we think our subscribers want to receive. But we forget about the other pieces of the puzzle. And when we try too hard, our email strategy is bound to fail.</p><p><span id="more-29782"></span></p><h2>Marketing segmentation-ish: a jigsaw puzzle</h2><p>Sometimes you may feel like Carrie. No matter what channel you use, the results disappoint. So we have to take a step back and look at the whole puzzle. I’m talking about <a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/8-advanced-email-marketing-techniques-cant-miss-2016.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">advanced clustering and segmentation</a>. Automated email flows. Social media integration. Contact management – and other ways to personalize your marketing to each subscriber, at different touch points.</p><p>Want to mix up your marketing? Then check out my 5 favorite email automation hacks:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>1. Personalize emails with lead scoring</h2><p>Marketing automation is about segmenting your contacts based on how close they are to buying a product – or upgrading to your premium offering.</p><p>So, how do you do it? By using lead scoring to qualify your contacts based on predefined criteria. You can use whatever type of scoring you like. I find the best and easiest way is to use terms like “prospect”, “warm” or “customer”.</p><p>The idea is to set up <a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/6-lead-scoring-techniques.html">automatic scoring</a>. Of course, sometimes you may need to do this manually (say if a salesperson needs to mark a contact as “paused” to ensure they don’t receive emails.) But automation can help you be far more effective and efficient with your email marketing.</p><p>Now you know what lead scoring is, the next step is to map these scores with specific actions on your website, app, or in your marketing campaign. This mapping can help you prepare your lead scoring model.</p><p>This should be based on individual contact and company demographics (like their gender, age, social networks and interests) and behavior (such as whether they registered, visited a pricing page, completed an order, or upgraded to a larger package).</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>2. Nurture with drip campaigns</h2><p>Many people use drip campaigns based on a time series – often to onboard new users. Others use it to send an email course.</p><p>But you can also <a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/autoresponders-case-scenario-online-coaching.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">use drip campaigns</a> to better engage your contacts. To do this, you’ll need to add some behavioral, demographic, and lead scoring triggers. In this way, you don’t just send the same email to every prospect, say two days after they get the first email of the series or join your list. Instead, you send a message based on each contact’s behavior – like visiting a web page, completing a subscription form, or abandoning their order.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>3. Use plain-text emails</h2><p>We all love beautifully designed, templated emails. But simple, plain-text emails get better click-through rates (CTR). Why? Because they seem more personal. I did this recently, and my CTR spiked by 15%.</p><p>The best part is, your email will look like plain text. But it’s actually fully HTML-enabled content. Why not try it?</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>4. Harness the power of custom fields</h2><p>Your database is a goldmine! So go beyond geo-location, and use custom fields to build customer profiles as they move through your funnel.  Or go all the way – assigning tags, so your subscribers travel through your lists. You can also add or remove tags to adjust the frequency of messages in your drip campaigns.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>5. Use progressive profiling</h2><p>Once you have contact data, you don’t need to ask them for the same information again. If you do present them with another form or popup, ask for different data.</p><p>You can use marketing automation to identify the user and ask for new information. Let’s say you already have a contact’s email address. Next, you can present them with a form that asks for their name and phone number. This is what we call <a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/how-to-hack-progressive-profiling-with-getresponse.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">progressive profiling</a>.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>In a perfect world…</h2><p>In the early days of email, Carrie tripped up by hiding behind an odd sender name. So her message was never heard. Today, there are many more pieces of the puzzle to think about. But if you embrace marketing automation to segment your database, you can be confident that your message makes an impact.</p><p>The software does all the hard work for you. So you can just focus on creating more effective marketing campaigns, armed with insights into your customers’ behavior and actions.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Your turn!</h2><p>Have you used marketing automation to engage your audience? Or is your strategy more like Carrie’s? Let us know in the comments below!</p><p><img class="pinterest-hidden aligncenter wp-image-29785 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/automation-hacksPIN-min.png" alt="amazing automation hacks" width="735" height="1102" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/automation-hacksPIN-min.png 735w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/automation-hacksPIN-min-200x300.png 200w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/automation-hacksPIN-min-683x1024.png 683w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/automation-hacksPIN-min-720x1080.png 720w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/automation-hacksPIN-min-32x48.png 32w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/automation-hacksPIN-min-223x334.png 223w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/automation-hacksPIN-min-600x900.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/automation-hacksPIN-min-315x472.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 735px) 100vw, 735px"/></p><div class="wp_rp_wrap wp_rp_vertical_m" ><div class="wp_rp_content"><h3 class="related_post_title">Related posts</h3><ul class="related_post wp_rp"><li data-position="0" data-poid="in-29402" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/coming-soon-new-getresponse.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/new_dashboard_header_v3-315x158.jpg" alt="The All-New GetResponse [New Release Info Available]" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/coming-soon-new-getresponse.html" class="wp_rp_title">The All-New GetResponse [New Release Info Available]</a></li><li data-position="1" data-poid="in-29366" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/strategic-email-marketing-course.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/strategic-email-marketing-min-315x158.png" alt="Email Your Way to Marketing Success With Our New Strategic Email Marketing Course" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/strategic-email-marketing-course.html" class="wp_rp_title">Email Your Way to Marketing Success With Our New Strategic Email Marketing Course</a></li></ul></div></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/5-amazing-automation-hacks.html">5 Amazing Automation Hacks</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:36:"http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/";a:1:{s:10:"commentRss";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:65:"https://blog.getresponse.com/5-amazing-automation-hacks.html/feed";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:38:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/";a:1:{s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1:"0";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:4;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:12:"            ";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:5:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:48:"The Simple Tricks to Make Your Customers Say Yes";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:56:"https://blog.getresponse.com/make-customers-say-yes.html";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:64:"https://blog.getresponse.com/make-customers-say-yes.html#respond";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 14 Jun 2017 18:56:29 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9:"MARKETING";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:37:"https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=29774";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:609:"<p>Want to lure your customer towards purchasing your product without acting like a typical salesperson? Here are some of the tricks to help you make your customer accept your request, naturally.   For every second in their 8 to 12 hour per day job, sales people are selling something. It’s their job to make their customer [&#8230;]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/make-customers-say-yes.html">The Simple Tricks to Make Your Customers Say Yes</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Allice Watson";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:12456:"<p><em>Want to lure your customer towards purchasing your product without acting like a typical salesperson? Here are some of the tricks to help you make your customer accept your request, naturally.  </em></p><p><span id="more-29774"></span></p><p>For every second in their 8 to 12 hour per day job, sales people are selling something. It’s their job to make their customer say “yes”, but the point is no matter how much customers would love product, they never like being sold to. What if you make them accept your request in a natural, un-salesy way?</p><p>Robert B. Cialdini, a renowned psychologist and marketing specialist, in his book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Robert-Cialdini/dp/006124189X">Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion</a> has presented six principles of persuasion. These tips are very effective for the marketers and here in this post, I am going to elaborate all the principles individually.</p><h2>1. Reciprocity</h2><p>This entails the desire of people to reciprocate when something good is done to them. They feel indebted to the doers until they return the favor. All that sales people have to do is to take the first step. Give them anything valuable: information, free samples, gifts, or simply a positive experience&gt; They’ll return your favor by following the desired action.</p><p>Cialdini says, “When customers come into a candy store if they’re given a chocolate at the beginning, they are 42% more likely to buy in that store because they feel obligated to give back to someone who has given to them”</p><p>People, when receiving a surprise gift, are more prone to listen to your sales pitch, services, tip more money to a waiter, or donate to a cause. You do not need to empty your wallet for the gift. Favors and information can be great.</p><h2>2. Liking</h2><p>Have you ever bought an item just because your favorite celeb endorsed it? Many people have. Some credit Nike’s fame and fan following to celebrity endorsements in its advertisements. The usage of company’s slogan “Improve your game with Nikefootball. Are you ready for the elite?” accompanied by the collage of 50 famous football players from various International teams on every box took its liking to the next level.</p><p><em>The main idea is that <strong>people are more inclined to buy from people they like; it’s one of the reasons why celebrities are brand ambassadors of famous brands.</strong></em></p><p>Besides liking, acquaintance can be useful too. In 2005, Randy Garner sent surveys to people he didn’t know, requesting that recipients return them. The results reported that the recipients with a similar-sounding name were twice more likely to fill out the survey versus those with different sounding names.</p><p><em>Now, how would you make your prospect like you? </em></p><p><em>One of the things you can do, according to </em>Cialdini, is to find the common ground with your customer. Discover valued characteristics about your customer and express your respect towards them. This will help you get your customers’ attention and you’ll soon find your customers echoing them back to you.</p><p><strong>Takeaway</strong><strong>: </strong>Try to be positive with your customers. Don’t defame your competitors, when promoting your services or highlight anything bad that has been occurred within the industry.</p><p><em>“There is a natural human tendency to dislike a person who brings us unpleasant information, even when that person did not cause the bad news. The simple association with it is enough to stimulate our dislike.” </em></p><p><strong>― </strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/160932.Robert_B_Cialdini"><strong>Robert B. Cialdini</strong></a><strong>, </strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/29303" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion</strong></a></p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>3. Authority:</h2><p>People want to buy from actual experts. Your customer would be more prone to say yes when you justify what you’re selling with evidence of your integrity, credentials, and competency. Prove that your product is worth buying, and that it has been serving your present customers well.</p><p>How would you look authoritative? A prolonged client-base wouldn’t do it alone. You should have a professional appearance and percept as well. Impressive business names and professional attire are effective in making you look more credible and increase the probabilities for your customers to accept the requests.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>4. Social proof:</h2><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-29775" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/socialproof.png" alt="how to help your customers say yes" width="969" height="469" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/socialproof.png 969w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/socialproof-300x145.png 300w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/socialproof-768x372.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/socialproof-99x48.png 99w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/socialproof-690x334.png 690w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/socialproof-600x290.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/socialproof-315x152.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 969px) 100vw, 969px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>People like what others like. Have you ever thought why retailers like <a href="https://www.amazon.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://www.ebay.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">eBay</a>, or Home Depot highlight their bestselling products on the website? It’s because showing the products that are sold the most creates an emotional response with many website visitors. It even lures some of the confused visitors to convert. That is what we call social proof.</p><p>Why does this work? When people are confused as to whether they should act in a certain way or not, they observe what others are doing in the same situation.</p><p>I worked as an <a href="https://www.chatoutsource.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">online chat agent</a> and sales correspondent for two years in a design agency. My job demanded me to deal with many different clients every day. Jane was one of my sweetest clients. A few months after the completion of her project, out of nowhere, she requested a refund for the logo design I sold to her (<em>because her new business partner felt that the design is not appealing</em>). A negative social review.</p><p>Since her project had been successfully completed, I knew she wouldn’t get a refund from the company. I didn’t want to break this news to her, so I tried to solve the problem on my own and told her that her design is so amazing (that it actually was). I further added that I used her logo as recent work to impress many of my clients and achieved my sales target, eventually.</p><p>P.S. It was not a malicious attempt; her logo was actually a masterpiece.</p><p>Result<em>: Jane started to find her logo appealing once again just because it was being socially admired and I retain my friendly association with her.</em></p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>5. Scarcity:</h2><p>Make your product a limited edition, or soon-to-be scarce. <strong>The less there is of your product, the more valuable it will be considered.</strong> The reason why you get so many emails from companies promoting their &#8220;limited time offers&#8221; is that people want to get things that wouldn’t be available anymore to others in future. The strategy works even if companies keep on presenting the same offer month after month after month!</p><p>Phrases like “Don’t miss this opportunity…”, “our offer is ending soon”, “Here’s something you’ll miss out soon…” can be helpful. You can also apply restraints over the supply, like free or X% Off on memberships for the first 100 applicants.</p><p>If your product is different from others that are already ruling the market, try to emphasize its unique traits to increase the impression of its scarcity.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>6. Commitment and consistency:</h2><p>Customers say yes when they observe commitment and consistency in your words, attitudes, and actions. You should act in line with what you have already done or said publicly.</p><p>If you make a commitment and stay consistently great in fulfilling those commitments, you made customers trust you. The commitments can be about anything like delivering quality services, meeting expectations, sticking to deadlines, just to name a few.</p><p>The reason why upselling to a previous, satisfied customer is easy because they believe that their experience with your company will be as good as the previous one. Similarly, unsatisfied clients won’t buy from you. That is the power of consistency.</p><p>Go for the little commitments at first and then earn your customer’s trust by keeping up the consistency. For instance, if you run a shop that houses different types of furniture, ask your prospects to complete a simple questionnaire to gauge their interest. Maybe they prefer comfort over price or the other way round. You can use the findings to adjust your commitments to them. For the comfort advocates, you can promise highly comfortable and cushiony sofas. Similarly, for those looking for affordability, you can guarantee the best-priced chairs and cabinets. Once you have made the commitment, you can fortify it to make large-scale offers.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2><strong>To sum up</strong></h2><p>We are living in a world full of sales people using baffling sales pitches. It’s time to be simple now. Sales is all about storytelling but make sure your story is comprehensive, short, influential and, most importantly, true. It’s much to ask from a simple story to be all this, but you can take baby steps towards incorporating these tips, tricks, hacks, strategies or whatever you call them in your practices. If you know more tips that are effective in persuading your customers to say yes, do share them with us in the comments below.</p><p><img class="pinterest-hidden aligncenter wp-image-29778 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/customers-say-yes-PIN-min.png" alt="tricks to make your customers say yes" width="735" height="1102" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/customers-say-yes-PIN-min.png 735w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/customers-say-yes-PIN-min-200x300.png 200w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/customers-say-yes-PIN-min-683x1024.png 683w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/customers-say-yes-PIN-min-720x1080.png 720w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/customers-say-yes-PIN-min-32x48.png 32w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/customers-say-yes-PIN-min-223x334.png 223w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/customers-say-yes-PIN-min-600x900.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/customers-say-yes-PIN-min-315x472.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 735px) 100vw, 735px"/></p><div class="wp_rp_wrap wp_rp_vertical_m" ><div class="wp_rp_content"><h3 class="related_post_title">Related posts</h3><ul class="related_post wp_rp"><li data-position="0" data-poid="in-28806" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/habit-fields.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/04/habit-fields-min-315x158.png" alt="How to Boost Your Productivity With Habit Fields" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/habit-fields.html" class="wp_rp_title">How to Boost Your Productivity With Habit Fields</a></li><li data-position="1" data-poid="in-28918" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/customer-experience.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/04/customer-experience-min-315x158.png" alt="&#8220;It’s the (Experience) Economy, Stupid.&#8221;" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/customer-experience.html" class="wp_rp_title">&#8220;It’s the (Experience) Economy, Stupid.&#8221;</a></li></ul></div></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/make-customers-say-yes.html">The Simple Tricks to Make Your Customers Say Yes</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:36:"http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/";a:1:{s:10:"commentRss";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:61:"https://blog.getresponse.com/make-customers-say-yes.html/feed";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:38:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/";a:1:{s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1:"0";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:5;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:12:"            ";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:5:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:73:"Three Linkedin Strategies that Will Take Your Marketing to the Next Level";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:59:"https://blog.getresponse.com/three-linkedin-strategies.html";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:67:"https://blog.getresponse.com/three-linkedin-strategies.html#respond";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 14 Jun 2017 14:23:02 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10:"AUTOMATION";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:37:"https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=29757";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:656:"<p>LinkedIn is about one thing, and one thing only – creating relationships. Whether the “relationship” you build is a new connection, a “like” on an update, a comment on your post or a long-term business engagement, it all starts with using the LinkedIn platform to initiate some sort of relationship.  Here are three strategies where [&#8230;]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/three-linkedin-strategies.html">Three Linkedin Strategies that Will Take Your Marketing to the Next Level</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:16:"Viveka von Rosen";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:11918:"<p>LinkedIn is about one thing, and one thing only – creating relationships. Whether the “relationship” you build is a new connection, a “like” on an update, a comment on your post or a long-term business engagement, it all starts with using the LinkedIn platform to initiate some sort of relationship.  Here are three strategies where you can connect “to <em>the world&#8217;s professionals to make (you) more productive and successful*”….. and take your marketing to the next level. (*LinkedIn’s tagline.)</em></p><p><span id="more-29757"></span></p><h2>Use Groups to Connect and Engage</h2><p>LinkedIn groups have changed – a lot.  With the newest user interface and the denigrated group API starting on June 30<sup>th</sup> – it is more difficult to use LinkedIn groups to market your content like you once could.  While this makes it harder to automate discussion blasts – it does mean that there will be less spam – and those members who remain might be more open to engagement.  Which is how I want to talk about them – as a great place to find and engage with prospects.  But to be successful, you must do two things:</p><ol><li>Download the LinkedIn Groups mobile all (<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/linkedin-groups/id1015643656?mt=8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">iPhone only</a>)</li><li>Turn your outreach into a message and invitation to connect</li></ol><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong><em>Why the app?</em></strong></p><p>It is very difficult to get notifications on your group engagement through LinkedIn on the browser.  Even if you turn your notifications on, you might not see any engagement on your group discussions.  Fortunately, the Notifications section in the LinkedIn group app will notify you of activity.  If you post a discussion, and a good prospect responds to it, you now have an opportunity to engage with them.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-29760" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/notifications.png" alt="" width="473" height="844" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/notifications.png 473w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/notifications-168x300.png 168w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/notifications-27x48.png 27w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/notifications-187x334.png 187w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/notifications-315x562.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 473px) 100vw, 473px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong><em>How to find a prospect in a group</em></strong></p><p>If you go to a prospect’s profile, you can see if you share a group with them in “Highlights”.  If you do share a group, simply find them and send them a message through the group.  But even if you don’t share a group, LinkedIn has literally millions of groups to review.  All you need to do is find a group (use the Discovery tab) and request to join a group where your target market hangs out. In fact, you can do a very basic search within a group you have joined to find your targets, and then send them a message inviting them to connect.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><ol><li>Join a group</li><li>Click on Members</li><li>Do a simple search by clicking on the magnifying glass</li><li>Click on member’s name</li><li>Review their profile and engagement – see if there is something you can reference</li><li>Go back to their name in the group members search</li><li>Click on “Message”</li><li>Send a quick message like:</li></ol><p>Hi Name</p><p>I liked the article you shared about…</p><p>I see with both are connected to…</p><p>And then I saw you were also a member in this group.</p><p>Want to connect?</p><p>Sign with your name and relevant links</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-29761" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/group.png" alt="" width="974" height="319" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/group.png 974w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/group-300x98.png 300w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/group-768x252.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/group-147x48.png 147w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/group-600x197.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/group-315x103.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 974px) 100vw, 974px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Once they respond to your positively respond to your message, send them an invite! Once you are connected, check out the following two strategies.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Use LinkedIn to Find Strategic Partners to Expand Your Visibility</h2><p>A colleague of mine recently said: “one + one + one equals a million.” When it comes to business, simple math does not apply.  If I have 10K in my audience and a strategic partner has 15K in her audience, the total number of people we can market to is not 25K, but 25K to the nth. Our combined voice is stronger and more authoritative.  Which means that any content we mutually share will get more amplification (friends sharing to their networks who then share to their networks, etc.).</p><p>If you have a product, service, webinar or free lead magnet to market, then find a strategic partner through LinkedIn that you can work with and share each other’s content.  It doesn’t have to be a long term official business partnership.  Some of my joint ventures have lasted exactly as long as the webinar we did together, and some of my strategic partnerships have lasted 7 years!</p><p>Ninja Trick: Check the “People Also Viewed” section.  LinkedIn tracks our viewing activity, and knowns who is viewing who.  If people are viewing your profile and another’s, it means you have something in common.  Some people will be your competitors, but others are very likely to be people you could easily create a strategic partnership with.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-29762" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/alsoviewed.png" alt="" width="380" height="464" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/alsoviewed.png 380w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/alsoviewed-246x300.png 246w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/alsoviewed-39x48.png 39w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/alsoviewed-274x334.png 274w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/alsoviewed-315x385.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 380px) 100vw, 380px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>As I look at the people in the “People Also Viewed” section of my profile, two of my long-term business partnerships regularly show up in the top four.  Because we promote each other and amplify each other’s voices  &#8211; which has only built our visibility and businesses!</p><h2></h2><h2>Create “Influencer” Articles with LinkedIn Publisher to Amplify You Voice</h2><p>If you aren’t quite ready to commit to a strategic partnership with someone, then think about using LinkedIn Publisher to showcase them and their expertise.  Why?  Because these Influencers might have a higher “standing” than you within your industry, and they might have a more loyal audience then you do.  But if you use your Publisher platform to highlight them (and their work), and if you notify them of the article about them (if it is positive!) they might share it with their significantly larger audience.  And hey, if you happen to have a great lead magnet in your post, you could significantly build your list with your Influencer’s audience!</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>And awesome example of this is the <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/200-powerful-tips-from-top-linkedin-experts-2017-brynne-tillman" target="_blank" rel="noopener">eBook</a> that Brynne Tillman (who just happens to be a strategic partner of mine) wrote featuring several other LinkedIn Influencers:</p><p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/200-powerful-tips-from-top-linkedin-experts-2017-brynne-tillman"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-29763 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/ebook.png" alt="" width="348" height="270" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/ebook.png 348w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/ebook-300x233.png 300w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/ebook-62x48.png 62w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/ebook-315x244.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 348px) 100vw, 348px"/></a></p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Conclusion</h2><p>I think there is no better place than LinkedIn to find partners to co-market and mutually build your businesses with.  While it should go without saying, I’ll say it anyway – co-marketing works when there is a win-win situation.  If you want to market your product, service, lead magnet or webinar to another’s audience and they gain nothing from it, well, you are not going to have a ton of people tugging at the bit to work with you! But if you have a great offer that you can both benefit from, start mining LinkedIn for good strategic partners.</p><p>If you are having a hard time reaching a potential strategic partner to co-market with, then reach out to them though groups.  And don’t forget, LinkedIn will even give you some leads in the “People also Viewed” section of your profile.  If you can’t find someone to promote your content, then promote them (or other Influencers) in your long-form posts.</p><p>Doing good stuff for others and with each other means a better marketing results when using LinkedIn!</p><p><img class="pinterest-hidden aligncenter wp-image-29768 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/linkedin_pinterest.png" alt="3 linkedin strategies to improve your marketing" width="735" height="1102" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/linkedin_pinterest.png 735w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/linkedin_pinterest-200x300.png 200w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/linkedin_pinterest-683x1024.png 683w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/linkedin_pinterest-720x1080.png 720w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/linkedin_pinterest-32x48.png 32w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/linkedin_pinterest-223x334.png 223w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/linkedin_pinterest-600x900.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/linkedin_pinterest-315x472.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 735px) 100vw, 735px"/></p><div class="wp_rp_wrap wp_rp_vertical_m" ><div class="wp_rp_content"><h3 class="related_post_title">Related posts</h3><ul class="related_post wp_rp"><li data-position="0" data-poid="in-29561" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/linkedin-lead-magnet-strategies.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/linkedinleadmagnetstrategies-min-315x158.png" alt="Driving Leads with LinkedIn: 4 Lead Magnet Strategies to Grow Your Marketing Automation" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/linkedin-lead-magnet-strategies.html" class="wp_rp_title">Driving Leads with LinkedIn: 4 Lead Magnet Strategies to Grow Your Marketing Automation</a></li><li data-position="1" data-poid="in-29288" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/linkedin-automation.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/LinkedIn-Automation-min-315x158.png" alt="Automating Your Activity on LinkedIn: The DO’s and DON’Ts" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/linkedin-automation.html" class="wp_rp_title">Automating Your Activity on LinkedIn: The DO’s and DON’Ts</a></li></ul></div></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/three-linkedin-strategies.html">Three Linkedin Strategies that Will Take Your Marketing to the Next Level</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:36:"http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/";a:1:{s:10:"commentRss";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:64:"https://blog.getresponse.com/three-linkedin-strategies.html/feed";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:38:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/";a:1:{s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1:"0";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:6;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:12:"            ";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:5:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:42:"Top 5 Tips for Improving International SEO";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:72:"https://blog.getresponse.com/top-5-tips-improving-international-seo.html";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:80:"https://blog.getresponse.com/top-5-tips-improving-international-seo.html#respond";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 14 Jun 2017 01:02:28 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9:"MARKETING";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:37:"https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=29750";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:658:"<p>Most companies dream of expanding abroad and many find that they receive international visitors without really targeting them. But many are unable to achieve significant brand recognition outside of their country of origin, despite marketing abroad. Why is this? Many companies copy and paste their marketing from one country to another without considering how it [&#8230;]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/top-5-tips-improving-international-seo.html">Top 5 Tips for Improving International SEO</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Peter Davidson";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9792:"<p>Most companies dream of expanding abroad and many find that they receive international visitors without really targeting them. But many are unable to achieve significant brand recognition outside of their country of origin, despite marketing abroad. Why is this?</p><p>Many companies copy and paste their marketing from one country to another without considering how it works across different countries and cultures. This huge mistake can destroy their international SEO.</p><p><span id="more-29750"></span></p><p>Let’s find out how to fix this!</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Translation</h2><p>The most important thing that you can do to improve your international SEO is investing in a professional (human!) translator to translate your content into foreign languages. After all, if you’re trying to appeal to a wider audience, it would be good if they could actually read your content.</p><p>For best results, have your translator translate the non-visual SEO elements, like ALT text for your images, as well as your blog posts, emails, and newsletters. Your title and description Metatag are particularly important as these are what appears in the search results. Having these in one language, but content in another will result in a very bad conversion rate.</p><p>Why does it have to be a human translator? After all, they can cost a lot of money and take a lot longer than an electronic translator.</p><p>Well, it’s because even the best translation app or service will translate each word or very short phrase individually, with no care for idioms or words with dual meaning, turning your masterpiece into a confusing, jumbled mess.</p><p>To see for yourself, take any sentence/paragraph/section from this article, translate it into any foreign language, and then translate it back. Did work, didn’t it?</p><p>So hire a human translator or you might end up on a list of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/worst-foreign-ad-translation-fails-2012-5?IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">funny translation fails</a>.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Localization</h2><p>While translation is the biggest stumbling block to international SEO success, you’ll also need to localize your content so that you don’t isolate customers in other countries. Even for countries that share your language, you should take into account that cultural differences go far beyond language.</p><p>Take the USA and the UK for example.</p><p>Both countries speak English, albeit with slight differences in spellings and word choice (soccer versus football, anyone?), but they have very different <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media-network/2016/jan/08/culture-defining-differences-uk-us-ads" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cultures</a>. In general, Americans are more patriotic, while Brits feel embarrassed by displays of national pride; Americans are positive, Brits are pessimistic; Americans makes jokes, Brits makes self-deprecating remarks.</p><p>While car ads in America may feature a pop-rock version of the <em>Star-Spangled Banner</em>; it’s hard to imagine the same thing working with <em>God Save the Queen</em> in the UK.</p><p>Even something as small as having the wrong date format (US: mm.dd.yy. UK: dd.mm.yy.) can trip you up.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Multilingual keyword research</h2><p>Unfortunately, you can’t rely on just translating the keywords that you already use because of the very real chance that something becomes lost in translation, whether because of the word-soup aspect of translation apps or a cultural gap in search terms.</p><p>For those reasons, high-ranking keywords in one language may have absolutely no ranking in another and by starting in your own language, you may well miss the magic keywords that could have drawn people to your site.</p><p>For example, if you’re translating “étude de marché” from French to English, the most direct translation would be “market study”. In the UK, this only has 170 searches a month, whereas 2 alternatives are:</p><ul><li>“case study” with 5,400 searches a month from the UK or</li><li>“market research” with 10,000 searches a month from the UK</li></ul><p>Using these terms would not only make your content flow more easily, it would also mean that you potentially appear for over 50 times as many searches as you would using a direct translation of the keyword.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>International link building</h2><p>If you have a multilingual website, then it’s essential to build incoming links to your site from other relevant sites in the same language. This is partly as Dutch speaking visitors for example arriving on a Dutch website will be much more likely to continue to view your products or services and partly because search engines value links from the same language (and ideally the same country) far more highly than they do links from different languages.</p><p>When translating an article, ideally you should also adapt outgoing links to appeal to an audience in a different country. This is for two main reasons:</p><ul><li><strong>Recognition</strong>: While some websites, like the BBC, are recognizable as a reliable source throughout the world, others, like the British ‘i’ newspaper, may only be recognised within its country of origin. Swap the less recognizable websites for authority websites in the country you’re targeting.</li><li><strong>Ranking</strong>: Linking to local sites can also boost your search engine rankings, so, for instance, if you’re looking to target people in Germany, use links that end in .de or go to German language sites for a German translation.</li></ul><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Design for a local market</h2><p>Cultural differences across countries may affect not just your content or keywords, but your website as a whole.</p><p>Sufficient visitors in each country are likely to use mobile devices but in some countries like the USA and Japan, this is so common that having a responsive design is essential.</p><p>Different colours can evoke different feelings in certain cultures, as can symbolism, so before creating a design for another country, check with a native speaker that it works for them!</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Next steps</h2><p>If you’re at the stage where you’re about to launch an international website, then put together a clear functional specification that includes all these essential SEO elements.  If you already have an international or multilingual site, then review your site for these different elements and ask yourself which one is most lacking and focus on that one to start with. It’s also important to follow international SEO best practice – you can read more about that <a href="https://www.indigoextra.com/blog/international-seo-best-practice" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.</p><p>SEO has evolved in recent years and Google reward sites with accurate translations and engaging content that also appeals to your local audience. The good news is that this also means anything that helps your user experience or drives organic traffic to your site is also likely to improve your SEO.  Avoid old fashioned tactics like keyword stuffing and instead focus on a strategy that makes intuitive sense for both search engines and your target audience.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Over to you</h2><p>Have any tips to add for our readers? Let us know in the comments.</p><p><img class="pinterest-hidden aligncenter wp-image-29753 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/international-seoPIN-min.png" alt="tips for improving international SEO" width="735" height="1102" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/international-seoPIN-min.png 735w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/international-seoPIN-min-200x300.png 200w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/international-seoPIN-min-683x1024.png 683w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/international-seoPIN-min-720x1080.png 720w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/international-seoPIN-min-32x48.png 32w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/international-seoPIN-min-223x334.png 223w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/international-seoPIN-min-600x900.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/international-seoPIN-min-315x472.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 735px) 100vw, 735px"/></p><div class="wp_rp_wrap wp_rp_vertical_m" ><div class="wp_rp_content"><h3 class="related_post_title">Related posts</h3><ul class="related_post wp_rp"><li data-position="0" data-poid="in-29533" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/align-content-marketing-strategy-mission.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/align-content-marketing-to-mission-min-315x158.png" alt="4 Ways to Align Your Content Marketing Strategy With Your Mission" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/align-content-marketing-strategy-mission.html" class="wp_rp_title">4 Ways to Align Your Content Marketing Strategy With Your Mission</a></li><li data-position="1" data-poid="in-29396" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/nightmares-graphic-designers.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/graphicdesignnightmares-min-315x158.png" alt="Nightmares Graphic Designers Will Want to Avoid" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/nightmares-graphic-designers.html" class="wp_rp_title">Nightmares Graphic Designers Will Want to Avoid</a></li></ul></div></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/top-5-tips-improving-international-seo.html">Top 5 Tips for Improving International SEO</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:36:"http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/";a:1:{s:10:"commentRss";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:77:"https://blog.getresponse.com/top-5-tips-improving-international-seo.html/feed";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:38:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/";a:1:{s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1:"0";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:7;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:12:"            ";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:5:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:57:"Hermione’s Time Turner: How to Find Time for Everything";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:58:"https://blog.getresponse.com/find-time-for-everything.html";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:66:"https://blog.getresponse.com/find-time-for-everything.html#respond";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 13 Jun 2017 15:30:02 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:12:"PRODUCTIVITY";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:37:"https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=29741";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:598:"<p>If you are a Harry Potter fan, you probably know that Hermione Granger used a magical time-turner to attend more classes and &#8216;save more than one innocent life&#8217;, as Dumbledore said. Even though most of us would never use it to attend more classes, it is no secret that all of us wish to have [&#8230;]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/find-time-for-everything.html">Hermione’s Time Turner: How to Find Time for Everything</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:11:"Olivia Ryan";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6903:"<p>If you are a <em>Harry Potter</em> fan, you probably know that Hermione Granger used a magical time-turner to attend more classes and &#8216;save more than one innocent life&#8217;, as Dumbledore said. Even though most of us would never use it to attend more classes, it is no secret that all of us wish to have such tool in our lives.</p><p><span id="more-29741"></span></p><p>What would you do if you had the ability to turn back time? Perhaps you want to experience two things that take place at the same time or missed an important meeting in the past. Some of us simply want a time turner to get back to times where we felt happiest.</p><p>However, we are not Hermione and, unfortunately, are not part of the wizarding community. Therefore, you should learn to do everything that is in a muggle&#8217;s power to find time for things you consider important.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>1. Plan your time</h2><p>There are many things you can do to plan your time properly, but we decided to pick the most popular ones to get you on the right track:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>Circular Diagram</h3><p>Originally invented for the world of economy, the <a href="https://www.edrawsoft.com/circular-diagram-solutions.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">circular diagram</a> is currently very popular among students in Asia. If you find it hard to plan your time and finish your tasks within the set deadlines, try out this popular time-planning method.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>Time-planner</h3><p>A <a href="http://weekplan.net/5-reasons-why-you-need-a-weekly-planner/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">time-planner</a> or to-do list can certainly make an order from your mess of a schedule. You cannot turn back time, but can certainly do most of it and what better way to do this than by writing it all down?</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>Franklin Covey system</h3><p>Have you heard of the <a href="http://www.mytimemanagement.com/franklin-covey.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Franklin Covey system</a>? This is a very simple, yet highly effective way to organize your time by setting tasks according to priorities and urgency.</p><p>Planning your time by using these systems is not difficult at all. Once you learn how to do this, you are one step closer to Hermione&#8217;s achievement (if that were even possible for us muggles).</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>2. Pick your priorities</h2><p>As the Franklin Covey system suggests, people must set their priorities to use time wisely. Time is rushing by and there is no way to stop it, which is why you must learn how to get the best out of it before it is too late.</p><p>Once you get an important thing done, you will have more motivation to continue with the remaining of your daily, weekly or monthly tasks and goals.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>3. Take drastic measures</h2><p>There is something you can do as Hermione does – take drastic measures to achieve your goals. Was there ever a time that Hermione forgot about her school tasks or did not read the assigned book? If you want to get something done, there is no room for fooling around or procrastinating things of high importance.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>4. Limit your internet time</h2><p>Wizards do not use the internet and social media for a reason and this reason is quite obvious – internet surfing is one of the biggest useless time-consumers. Imagine what would happen if Harry Potter was looking for ways to fight Voldermort online or looked for the Chamber of Secrets on Google Maps?</p><p>As technology advances, we are becoming more and more addicted to the Internet, which is why you have to follow their example. The Internet is an advantage since we are not magical, but try to limit the usage to get more time to finish the tasks.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>5. Don&#8217;t forget to rest</h2><p>No one can function at their best unless they are rested. For this reason, you have to take the time and give your brain some rest before getting on the following tasks.</p><p>When you start feeling tired, take a small break to refresh your mind. Being tired can only slow down your actions and is definitely not a productive way to finish your tasks.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Finite incantatum</h2><p>You may not have Hermione&#8217;s time turner, but you certainly do not have to rush around all day to finish every task. If you learn to manage your time properly, you can finish everything in time and achieve your goal without saying afterwards &#8216;I wish I had a time turner.&#8217;</p><p>What&#8217;s your favorite way to manage your time. Tell us your secrets in the comments below.</p><p><img class="pinterest-hidden aligncenter wp-image-29747 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/time-turnerPIN-min.png" alt="how to find time for everything" width="735" height="1102" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/time-turnerPIN-min.png 735w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/time-turnerPIN-min-200x300.png 200w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/time-turnerPIN-min-683x1024.png 683w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/time-turnerPIN-min-720x1080.png 720w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/time-turnerPIN-min-32x48.png 32w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/time-turnerPIN-min-223x334.png 223w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/time-turnerPIN-min-600x900.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/time-turnerPIN-min-315x472.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 735px) 100vw, 735px"/></p><div class="wp_rp_wrap wp_rp_vertical_m" ><div class="wp_rp_content"><h3 class="related_post_title">Related posts</h3><ul class="related_post wp_rp"><li data-position="0" data-poid="in-29443" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/organizing-digital-marketing-campaigns.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/organizing-digital-marketing-campaigns-min-315x158.png" alt="Best Practices For Organizing Your Digital Marketing Campaigns" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/organizing-digital-marketing-campaigns.html" class="wp_rp_title">Best Practices For Organizing Your Digital Marketing Campaigns</a></li><li data-position="1" data-poid="in-28806" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/habit-fields.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/04/habit-fields-min-315x158.png" alt="How to Boost Your Productivity With Habit Fields" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/habit-fields.html" class="wp_rp_title">How to Boost Your Productivity With Habit Fields</a></li></ul></div></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/find-time-for-everything.html">Hermione’s Time Turner: How to Find Time for Everything</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:36:"http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/";a:1:{s:10:"commentRss";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:63:"https://blog.getresponse.com/find-time-for-everything.html/feed";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:38:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/";a:1:{s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1:"0";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:8;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:12:"            ";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:5:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:57:"Boost Your Social Automation With Artificial Intelligence";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:75:"https://blog.getresponse.com/social-automation-artificial-intelligence.html";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:83:"https://blog.getresponse.com/social-automation-artificial-intelligence.html#respond";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 12 Jun 2017 20:42:25 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10:"AUTOMATION";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:37:"https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=29734";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:661:"<p>Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the bigger things that’s just starting to hit mainstream marketing. The early adopters who have been a bit ahead of the game have been integrating it into their activities. But what exactly is artificial intelligence in the marketing world? AI can take many forms in marketing: Predictive analytics Chatbots [&#8230;]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/social-automation-artificial-intelligence.html">Boost Your Social Automation With Artificial Intelligence</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:15:"Krista Wiltbank";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9999:"<p>Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the bigger things that’s just starting to hit <a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/ai-marketing.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mainstream marketing</a>. The early adopters who have been a bit ahead of the game have been integrating it into their activities. But what exactly is <a href="https://www.ama.org/publications/MarketingNews/Pages/past-present-future-ai-marketing.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">artificial intelligence in the marketing world</a>?</p><p><span id="more-29734"></span></p><p>AI can take many forms in marketing:</p><ul><li>Predictive analytics</li><li>Chatbots</li><li>Recommended purchases (via <a href="http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/machine-learning" target="_blank" rel="noopener">machine learning</a>)</li><li>Social media algorithms</li></ul><p>Basically, these overarching functions help shave time off the mundane parts of marketing – just like marketing automation is supposed to do. But, a little differently than automation, of course. It can even help save social media marketers some time.</p><p>But social media is supposed to be the antithesis of AI, right? It’s supposed to be human at its core. Well, yes, you want social media to be authentic above all else. But social automation has some fingers dipped into AI as well.</p><p>So, here’s where things get tricky. Because we know that social media automation has some <a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/benefits-and-pitfalls-of-social-media-automation.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">great uses</a>:</p><ul><li>Scheduling posts</li><li>Social listening</li><li>Initiating campaigns</li></ul><p>But social media automation has some big risks, too. Things like sounding robotic in automated replies, or automated replies being inappropriate to the situation. Adding AI into this mix, when done well, can help mitigate some of those risks. But it can never, ever replace human interaction. Be prepared to respond personally to any conversation you start on social media, no matter how you start it.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>How AI can boost social automation</h2><p>AI has already snuck into social media, very subtly. Social media marketers might not even consider this AI, but in reality, it is. And the bigger pieces point to some huge potential for social automation.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>1. Finding the “best time” to post to social channels.</h3><p>This is already here – how else does your social scheduling solution know when the best time is? But there’s even “smarter” scheduling than you might see in your favorite social scheduling software. Meet <a href="https://yalabot.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yala</a>. (Hi, Yala.) She’s a clever piece of software who can schedule your social posts, but also learn when to schedule your posts to when your audience will be most engaged… and she’ll adjust your posting schedule as your audience evolves. She uses machine learning to improve your scheduling with every post.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>2. Predictive analytics.</h3><p>Predictive, really? Yep. Wouldn’t it be amazing to have a good idea of which posts will perform the best for you? The data team at the <em>New York Times</em> build a slackbot (called <a href="http://www.niemanlab.org/2015/08/the-new-york-times-built-a-slack-bot-to-help-decide-which-stories-to-post-to-social-media/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Blossom</a>) to do that – it predicts which stories have the most potential to go viral.  A part of the <a href="https://www.socialbakers.com/suite/predictive-intelligence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Social Bakers analytics suite</a> can predict which organic content to promote based on predicted future performance. This is all based on an analysis of what kind of posts have done well for your company in the past, coupled with what kind of content your audience likes, so the software can predict how different kinds of content will perform.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>3. Assistance with writing posts</h3><p>What’s one of the things that we humans can bring to marketing? Creativity! So we can count on AI never putting creative types out of a job… but even we need help with understanding if a piece of creative is going to be effective or not. Enter AI. <a href="https://coschedule.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CoSchedule</a> has an analyzer for both <a href="https://coschedule.com/headline-analyzer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">headlines</a> and <a href="https://coschedule.com/social-message-optimizer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">social messages</a> (two of my go-to tools) to help write engaging copy for the relevant media.</p><p>There’s also a tool called Pi, from <a href="http://postintelligence.ai/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Post Intelligence</a> that learns how you post, what your audience likes the most, and then finds that kind of content for you. It can even start to <a href="https://martechtoday.com/new-ai-powered-social-marketing-tool-can-predict-engagement-write-post-196593" target="_blank" rel="noopener">write short posts for you</a> in your brand voice.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>4. Facial recognition</h3><p>From a user perspective, this can sound creepy, but from a marketer’s perspective, it’s pretty cool. Say you’re a brick &amp; mortar store of some sort, like a restaurant. A guest posts a photo at your place of business, and tags you or checks in there on social media. Imagine the <a href="https://thenextweb.com/contributors/2017/05/29/artificial-intelligence-social-media-marketing-collide/#.tnw_XFNhcxth" target="_blank" rel="noopener">facial recognition</a> feature of Facebook AI giving you the opportunity to retarget this user with a coupon, to help inspire repeat business. Or, looking to the future, using the <a href="http://pdfaiw.uspto.gov/.aiw?docid=20150242679&amp;SectionNum=1&amp;IDKey=47BC4614A23D&amp;HomeUrl=http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1%2526Sect2=HITOFF%2526d=PG01%2526p=1%2526u=/netahtml/PTO/srchnum.html%2526r=1%2526f=G%2526l=50%2526s1=201502" target="_blank" rel="noopener">emotional detection and content delivery</a> mechanism that Facebook is working on – to deliver specific content to your audience members based on their moods. There are lots of ways to capitalize on an audience mood – from buying things based on something you’re celebrating (adopting a pet, having a baby), of if you’re feeling a little down (retail therapy).</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>5. Surfacing the most important conversations</h3><p>Say what, now? Well, this is best described as acting like a <a href="https://thenextweb.com/guests/ai-becoming-essential-social-media/#.tnw_4a83eDTT" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spam filter</a> for social media. Lots of conversations happen, but how many of them are genuine conversations that deserve response? And how many of them are just posts from bots? Who’s looking for help, and who’s entering your contest? And AI can help you prioritize those legitimate users. But AI <a href="https://venturebeat.com/2016/11/21/how-ai-is-becoming-essential-for-social-media/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cannot help you actually respond</a> to them – it’s still our job to do what we do best: be human.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>In conclusion</h2><p>AI can be a tremendous tool for social media marketing. Pair it with good ol’ human-powered innovation and creativity, and you’ve got a powerhouse ready to work for you. The possibilities are endless.</p><p>Have you started using AI to boost your social media efforts? Tell us about it in the comments below.</p><p><img class="pinterest-hidden aligncenter wp-image-29738 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/735x1102_twitter.png" alt="boost social automation with artificial intelligence" width="735" height="1102" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/735x1102_twitter.png 735w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/735x1102_twitter-200x300.png 200w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/735x1102_twitter-683x1024.png 683w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/735x1102_twitter-720x1080.png 720w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/735x1102_twitter-32x48.png 32w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/735x1102_twitter-223x334.png 223w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/735x1102_twitter-600x900.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/735x1102_twitter-315x472.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 735px) 100vw, 735px"/></p><div class="wp_rp_wrap wp_rp_vertical_m" ><div class="wp_rp_content"><h3 class="related_post_title">Related posts</h3><ul class="related_post wp_rp"><li data-position="0" data-poid="in-29424" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/remain-authentic-with-instagram-automation.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/authentic-with-instagram-automation-min-315x158.png" alt="How to Remain Authentic With Instagram Automation" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/remain-authentic-with-instagram-automation.html" class="wp_rp_title">How to Remain Authentic With Instagram Automation</a></li><li data-position="1" data-poid="in-29288" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/linkedin-automation.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/LinkedIn-Automation-min-315x158.png" alt="Automating Your Activity on LinkedIn: The DO’s and DON’Ts" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/linkedin-automation.html" class="wp_rp_title">Automating Your Activity on LinkedIn: The DO’s and DON’Ts</a></li></ul></div></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/social-automation-artificial-intelligence.html">Boost Your Social Automation With Artificial Intelligence</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:36:"http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/";a:1:{s:10:"commentRss";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:80:"https://blog.getresponse.com/social-automation-artificial-intelligence.html/feed";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:38:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/";a:1:{s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1:"0";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:9;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:12:"            ";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:5:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:47:"Building Consumer Trust in a World of Fake News";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:57:"https://blog.getresponse.com/building-consumer-trust.html";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:66:"https://blog.getresponse.com/building-consumer-trust.html#comments";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 12 Jun 2017 13:42:33 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9:"MARKETING";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:37:"https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=29724";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:599:"<p>Public trust in the media is at an all time low. Fake news runs rampant on social media, some sites push opinions as facts, and many trusted information sources are losing journalistic authority in the eyes of the readers. Yet, in order to sell your products or services, you need consumer trust. Especially if you [&#8230;]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/building-consumer-trust.html">Building Consumer Trust in a World of Fake News</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9:"Ben Allen";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:8694:"<p>Public trust in the media is at an <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/fa332f58-d9bf-11e6-944b-e7eb37a6aa8e" target="_blank" rel="noopener">all time low</a>. Fake news runs rampant on social media, some sites push opinions as facts, and many trusted information sources are losing journalistic authority in the eyes of the readers.</p><p><span id="more-29724"></span></p><p>Yet, in order to sell your products or services, you need consumer trust. Especially if you rely on content marketing to attract new customers, building trust quickly with visitors is necessary to find success. Here are some tips to build trust in your business and content, in a world where consumer trust is low.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Backing claims up with facts</h2><p>As you produce content to sway people to your business, back up what you’re saying with hard facts and data. Link to data you’ve produced yourself or link to independent sources. It’s easy to link to other articles that state data or facts, but sometimes you need to follow the rabbit hole to <a href="https://www.lib.umn.edu/howto/primarysources" target="_blank" rel="noopener">find the original source</a>. Doing your part to prevent false facts from spreading can ensure you keep your hands clean of fake news.</p><p>Backing up your content with facts shows consumers that you do your research, and doing so sets you up as a reliable source of information. Be bold with the facts, tell people what your sources are, link to where you got your information from, and broadcast that you are trustworthy. This encourages people to fact-check you, so when they find you’re telling the truth, they’ll be more amenable to your content.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Look professional</h2><p>Nothing screams “don’t trust this article” more than an ugly website. As people check out your site, they instantly judge the level of professionalism by how it looks. Have an outdated design from the early 2000s? That could convey that you’re out of touch with the modern world. Is your site filled with obnoxious and clickbait ads? People will think your site exists just for the clicks and ad revenue. Make sure the <a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/how-to-tell-when-you-need-a-new-website.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">design of your site</a> is modern, classy, and attractive.</p><p>It’s not just how your site looks either; how you present your information matters, too. Filling the page with funny GIFs might help entertain your audience, but it hurts your professional appeal. On the other hand, having nothing entertaining might look too stuffy, and you could lose the interest of readers.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>The murky waters of social media</h2><p>A major catalyst for <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2188911/fake-news-inquiry-facebook-google-advertising-boycott/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">our fake news society is social media</a>. It allows misinformation to spread quickly without any type of governing body to ensure something is truthful or not. Yes, some sites like Facebook and Google are trying to stem the flow, but there’s still a surprising amount of fake news sites that get attention on social media and have built a substantial following.</p><p>What you share and don’t share on social media impacts how much followers trust you as an information source. Sharing only your own content is ineffective, so you have to also share external content. Being highly critical of what you post can help keep your company out of hot water.</p><p>Another great way to build trust on social media is by <a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/244474" target="_blank" rel="noopener">being transparent</a> and having conversations with your followers. Reply back to comments, ask for input, and get involved. Maybe even host an AMA (ask me anything) session and let people see your company is made up of normal people.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Avoid clickbaiting</h2><p>At this point, people are sick of clickbait. Yes, it’s effective at getting people to a site, but people hate it. Even <a href="https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2017/05/news-feed-fyi-new-updates-to-reduce-clickbait-headlines/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Facebook is trying to prevent sites that use clickbait from succeeding</a>.</p><p>So, clickbait titles went from a less than savory tactic of getting traffic to being completely unprofessional. If you do employ it, make sure to back up your claim. A prime example of what not to do is to title a piece: “You Won’t Believe What This Mom Does Every Day!” — and the article is about her hugging each of her children before school. Not only does that mislead your readers, it destroys your credibility.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Building a good team</h2><p>A blog is only as good as the writers who contribute to it. <a href="http://quickbooks.intuit.com/r/starting-up/build-a-winning-team/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Creating a professional and trustworthy team</a> to produce your content is a must. They need to be creative, well informed, and understand how to implement good writing practices with your marketing strategy.</p><p>That also means that your team needs to be on the ball with every piece of content they produce. A single mistake could draw the public’s eye and do lasting damage to your brand. <a href="http://taxandbusinessonline.villanova.edu/resources-business/infographic-business/disengaged-employees-cost-too-much-company-culture-and-collaboration-increase-productivity.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Disengaged writers</a> take shortcuts, don’t cite sources, and make mistakes in general. Happy and engaged writers will take more pride in their work and make sure everything is properly researched as much as possible.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Creating long-term consumer trust</h2><p>Trust isn’t earned overnight. It takes time, diligence, and honesty from both parties. One of the best ways to build trust is to run a squeaky clean business, respond to any problems quickly, and provide the service people expect. Doing that, along with providing trustworthy content, and avoiding less savory practices, are the best ways to build trust.</p><p>What is your experience with building consumer trust for your brand? Share your thought in the comments.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="pinterest-hidden aligncenter wp-image-29728 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/consumertrustPIN-min.png" alt="Building Consumer Trust in a World of Fake News" width="735" height="1102" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/consumertrustPIN-min.png 735w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/consumertrustPIN-min-200x300.png 200w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/consumertrustPIN-min-683x1024.png 683w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/consumertrustPIN-min-720x1080.png 720w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/consumertrustPIN-min-32x48.png 32w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/consumertrustPIN-min-223x334.png 223w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/consumertrustPIN-min-600x900.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/consumertrustPIN-min-315x472.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 735px) 100vw, 735px"/></p><div class="wp_rp_wrap wp_rp_vertical_m" ><div class="wp_rp_content"><h3 class="related_post_title">Related posts</h3><ul class="related_post wp_rp"><li data-position="0" data-poid="in-29456" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/lead-generation-tactics-content-marketers.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/LeadGenContentMarketer-min-315x158.png" alt="Top Lead Generation Tactics for Content Marketers" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/lead-generation-tactics-content-marketers.html" class="wp_rp_title">Top Lead Generation Tactics for Content Marketers</a></li><li data-position="1" data-poid="in-29480" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/social-media-monitoring-generate-leads.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/social-media-monitoring-min-315x158.png" alt="How Social Media Monitoring Can Generate Leads" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/social-media-monitoring-generate-leads.html" class="wp_rp_title">How Social Media Monitoring Can Generate Leads</a></li></ul></div></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/building-consumer-trust.html">Building Consumer Trust in a World of Fake News</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:36:"http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/";a:1:{s:10:"commentRss";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:62:"https://blog.getresponse.com/building-consumer-trust.html/feed";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:38:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/";a:1:{s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1:"1";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:10;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:12:"            ";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:5:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:41:"How to Organize a Hack Day at Your Agency";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:51:"https://blog.getresponse.com/organize-hack-day.html";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:59:"https://blog.getresponse.com/organize-hack-day.html#respond";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 08 Jun 2017 14:53:19 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9:"MARKETING";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:37:"https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=29712";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:610:"<p>Hack day, hackathon, hackfest (noun): an event or day where a person or company takes time out from normal daily activities to brainstorm, create, or develop. Originating in the tech world, the earliest hackathons were designed for coders to brainstorm a particular problem and develop a solution in a short time. And they still continue [&#8230;]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/organize-hack-day.html">How to Organize a Hack Day at Your Agency</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:12:"John Waldron";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:11866:"<p><em>Hack day, hackathon, hackfest (</em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackathon" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>noun</em></a>)<em>: an event or day where a person or company takes time out from normal daily activities to brainstorm, create, or develop.</em></p><p>Originating in the tech world, the earliest hackathons were designed for coders to brainstorm a particular problem and develop a solution in a short time. And they still continue in this vein to this day. At a recent hack day at <em>The Guardian</em>, for example, the tech team <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/info/developer-blog/live/2016/jun/09/guardian-hack-day-june-2016-live" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">created 40 different innovations</a>, including a tool that forces internet trolls to donate to charity before commenting on sensitive articles, and an audio-commenting tool which lets readers record voice responses to articles.</p><p><span id="more-29712"></span></p><p>But hack days aren’t just for developers. <a href="http://www.bigspaceship.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Big Spaceship</a>, a Brooklyn-based digital agency, <a href="http://dumbo.is/blogging/behind-the-scenes-of-big-spaceship-hack-day/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">launched a hack day</a> to get the whole workforce coming up with new marketing ideas. The team were told to spend the day “making things that are shareable”, and they produced some pretty groovy concepts – from emoji-fueled fighting games to virtual reality “happy places.”</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>The benefits of hack days</h2><p>This is what hack days are all about. For one day a year (or more frequently if you like!), everyone at your agency gets the chance to drop tools and bounce all those cool and unusual ideas they’ve had rattling around their heads off each other. Pausing normal business operations so that your entire team can follow their creative urges may sound slightly left field to say the least – but the benefits are numerous.</p><p>First, taking time out to organize a hackathon for your team is a fantastic opportunity to form new strategies and innovations simply by bringing the whole team together to work towards one specific goal. But hack days offer so much more than that, not least in building team morale – for what hack days offer is a chance for the whole office to mingle, and that might be something that doesn’t happen enough at your agency.</p><p>Indeed, according to <a href="https://hbr.org/2012/04/the-new-science-of-building-great-teams" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">recent research</a> from the <a href="http://hd.media.mit.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MIT’s Human Dynamics Laboratory</a>, the most valuable form of communication between team members is face-to-face, with email and texting showing to be the least valuable. This is why organizing a hack day at your agency will be so beneficial – it will provide an opportunity to get your team involved with some proper in-person interaction. How many great ideas get lost in endless email exchanges? How much valuable insight from the sales department never makes it through to the marketing team? Organize a hackathon, give these separate departments a chance to have some fun and share their ideas together, and you might just unearth a brand new strategy with potential to make real changes in your company.</p><p>Put simply, a hack day gives your agency the chance to generate new ideas, rekindle your employees’ passion for their work, unleash new swathes of creativity, and bring your team closer together.</p><p>Let&#8217;s run through the three Ps of running a successful hack day – planning, participation, and prizes.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>How to organize a hack day at your agency</h2><h3>PLANNING your hack day</h3><p><strong>Timing</strong></p><p>It should go without saying, but give yourself plenty of time to organize a hack day. Ensure you have picked a date and time when the vast majority of those you wish to participate are available. Give everyone at least a month’s notice, and see that the event is diarized and timely reminders are sent out. And be careful that you’re not planning a hack day at a time when it will clash with a major event, or workload is likely to be particularly heavy. The runway must be clear.<br/>Next, decide which team members will be involved in the hackathon. Do you want to focus on a small part of the team who you feel will work well together, or do you want to get everyone involved? A team-wide hack day can be incredibly invigorating and fun, and by including everybody, you may find that the most innovative ideas come from the unlikeliest of sources.</p><p><strong>Structure</strong></p><p>Think about how you want to structure your hackathon. Choosing a theme can be a great way to give the day some structure – suggested themes might be internal culture, customer focus, <a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/stop-procrastinating.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">productivity,</a> new marketing initiatives, or <a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/radical-pyschological-experiments.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ways to boost conversion rates</a>. A thematic approach works well if you have a specific problem you want to solve or an initiative you want to develop. Alternatively, you could keep things completely open, meaning everything from office hacks to art hacks to food hacks to life hacks are encouraged – nothing is off-limits. This approach may well generate more ideas, but it should be noted that it could also become disjointed if there is less direction to what you are trying to achieve. Think about the outcomes you want and plan accordingly.</p><p>Lastly, don&#8217;t forget the basics in terms of a suitable venue, refreshments, and the equipment you’ll need. Ideally, a hack day should be held away from your normal working environment, a change of scene may well heighten the enthusiasm of your team members and enhance their creativity.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>PARTICIPATION in your hack day</h3><p>Depending on the size of your team, you will need to think about the logistics of how everyone will work together to generate the innovative ideas you’re hoping will emerge when you organize a hack day. For smaller agencies, you may be able to work as one group – larger companies may need to separate out a bit. If this is the case, it’s a good idea to plan the day so as to ensure that your team members do not stay in the same group all day – perhaps by planning several different sessions. One-to-one ideas generation can also be great for encouraging collaborative working and thinking, and will push your team members out of their comfort zones by ensuring they speak to others they don’t normally work with. One-to-ones can be easily facilitated with a simple <a href="http://www.speednetworking.com/eventnewsandtips/2015/6/2/how-to-run-a-speed-networking-event" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">speed networking session.</a></p><p>Which brings us onto facilitation. A good facilitator is essential for your hack day, as they will be able to plan and time the sessions appropriately, encourage the more reluctant team members to participate, and keep things under control if minds (and mouths!) start to wander. Your facilitator could already be on the payroll, but there is <a href="http://www.brefigroup.co.uk/facilitation/types_of_facilitator.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">huge value in bringing in an external facilitator</a> if your budget allows.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>PRIZES for your hack day</h3><p>Without putting too fine a point on it, some of your team members may be less than enthusiastic about participating when you tell them you’re going to organize a hack day, assuming it’s a sort of “touchy-feely” management initiative, or that the day is taking them away from all the far more important tasks on their to-do list. Injecting an element of fun through prizes or incentives may help increase enthusiasm and introduce a healthy competitive element into your hack day.</p><p>And competitions – even the healthy varieties – of course need prizes. Top prizes will naturally go to the members who generated the best new ideas – and the better the prize (tickets, vouchers, cash!) the better the incentive. However, the best hack days also keep an air of informality about them, and so don’t forget the fun prizes, too. For instance – offering a fun prize (a badge, t-shirt, or some chocolate!) to the participant who presented his/her idea in the most humorous/memorable/original way will certainly encourage some entertaining pitches. And, it must be said, that even if your hackathon doesn’t end up producing a wealth of great new growth ideas, if it gets everyone laughing, bonding and having fun together, then that’s a success in itself.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Over to you</h2><p>Organizing a hack day will undoubtedly unearth some great new objectives for your company. But, in addition, it will also give everyone a break from the normal everyday grind, a chance to express their creativity, and a real opportunity to interact with team members they don’t usually get a chance to work with. Communication is the lifeblood of a happy, successful workforce, and when you organize a hack day, you have the chance to enrich it.</p><p><strong>Got any great ideas for organizing a hack day that you’d like to share? Head down to the comments section below and let’s hear ‘em! Happy hacking, everyone!</strong></p><p><img class="pinterest-hidden aligncenter wp-image-29718 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/hackdayPIN-min.png" alt="how to organize a hack day at your agency" width="735" height="1102" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/hackdayPIN-min.png 735w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/hackdayPIN-min-200x300.png 200w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/hackdayPIN-min-683x1024.png 683w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/hackdayPIN-min-720x1080.png 720w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/hackdayPIN-min-32x48.png 32w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/hackdayPIN-min-223x334.png 223w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/hackdayPIN-min-600x900.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/hackdayPIN-min-315x472.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 735px) 100vw, 735px"/></p><div class="wp_rp_wrap wp_rp_vertical_m" ><div class="wp_rp_content"><h3 class="related_post_title">Related posts</h3><ul class="related_post wp_rp"><li data-position="0" data-poid="in-29486" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/creating-magnetic-blog.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/magnetic-blog-min-315x158.png" alt="9 Steps to Creating a Magnetic Blog" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/creating-magnetic-blog.html" class="wp_rp_title">9 Steps to Creating a Magnetic Blog</a></li><li data-position="1" data-poid="in-28954" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/user-interface-trends-2017.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/04/user-interface-trends-min-315x158.png" alt="8 Top Must-Know User Interface Trends of 2017" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/user-interface-trends-2017.html" class="wp_rp_title">8 Top Must-Know User Interface Trends of 2017</a></li></ul></div></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/organize-hack-day.html">How to Organize a Hack Day at Your Agency</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:36:"http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/";a:1:{s:10:"commentRss";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:56:"https://blog.getresponse.com/organize-hack-day.html/feed";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:38:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/";a:1:{s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1:"0";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:11;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:12:"            ";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:5:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:46:"How to Up Your Blogging Game in Six Easy Steps";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:62:"https://blog.getresponse.com/how-to-up-your-blogging-game.html";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:71:"https://blog.getresponse.com/how-to-up-your-blogging-game.html#comments";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 07 Jun 2017 16:30:34 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9:"MARKETING";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:37:"https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=29703";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:625:"<p>Whether you’re new to blogging or just trying to streamline your process, there are a number of considerations you want to take into account. Improving your blogging process can help you increase traffic, establish yourself as a thought leader and get higher rankings in search results. In the early days of the internet, blogging was [&#8230;]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/how-to-up-your-blogging-game.html">How to Up Your Blogging Game in Six Easy Steps</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Ashley Poynter";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9508:"<p>Whether you’re new to blogging or just trying to streamline your process, there are a number of considerations you want to take into account. Improving your blogging process can help you increase traffic, establish yourself as a thought leader and get higher rankings in search results.</p><p><span id="more-29703"></span></p><p>In the early days of the internet, blogging was as simple as publishing your thoughts onto the web. Between Google’s <a href="http://searchengineland.com/new-unconfirmed-google-fred-update-shakes-seo-world-270898" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">random ranking updates</a> and the evolving, consumer-centric marketing world, that is no longer the case. Effective blogging and content marketing requires forethought, planning and <a href="https://contentrewired.com/winning-b2b-content-marketing-strategy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">strategizing</a>. Let’s take a look at the six steps you can take to take your blogging efforts to the next level.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>1. Define your objectives</h2><p>Whether you’re a novice to marketing or a seasoned expert, you should know that every great execution is backed by a solid strategy. Every strategy is laid with specific goals in mind. Before you start blogging, you need to consider what it is you’re trying to achieve. Perhaps you want to get more traffic to your site. Or maybe you want to improve your search results for particular keywords. No matter what the reason, write it down. The best blogging strategies are built backwards from objectives.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>2. Define your strategy</h2><p>You have your objectives in mind, and now it’s time to start planning how you’ll meet them. If you’re blogging to rank better for certain keywords, you should make a list of those keywords and build out your topics with those in mind. Check out <a href="http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2016/04/proper-keyword-research/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">this Content Marketing Institute article</a> for a good idea on how to conduct effective keyword research.</p><p>Once your keywords are established, you should begin to think about blog topics that align with those keywords. The best way to organize here is to create a content calendar. There are a number of ways to do this, but a simple spreadsheet can work wonders. Create columns for the following:</p><ul><li>Date</li><li>Topic/Title</li><li>Keyword</li><li>Audience/Persona</li><li>Promotion Channels</li></ul><p>Rows should consist of dates. From there, you can fill in your schedule accordingly. Some people like to organize content calendars by monthly themes or campaigns. Others choose to organize by product or service focus.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>3. Optimize your calendar</h2><p>The content calendar is a great way to get your ideas organized. Next, you’ll want to make sure your calendar is optimized. Let’s say your goal is to improve search rankings for particular keywords. You can use <a href="https://trends.google.com/trends/?cat" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Google Trends</a> to see the search trends and volume for your chosen keywords across regions and languages. This will help you get a sense for how many people are actually searching for the focus keywords you’ve selected. You can also utilize <a href="https://adwords.google.com/home/tools/keyword-planner/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Google’s Keyword Planner</a>, which can supply you with related keyword ideas and long-tail keywords to target.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Also optimize your blog titles. Ideally, these are no more than 60 characters long. A helpful trick is to insert an additional column in your spreadsheet, next to your title with the formula =<a href="https://exceljet.net/excel-functions/excel-len-function" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">LEN</a>(a1) (if a1 is the cell containing your title). This formula calculates the total number of characters in your title. If you drag the formula into every cell down to the bottom of your calendar, it will auto-populate the tally every time you insert or change a title. Just like magic, you can tweak your blog titles to ensure they are the optimized, search-friendly length.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>4. Start writing</h2><p>Once you’ve planned a month or two of topics, keywords, and social channels on which to promote your content, you should start the writing process. Depending on your niche, this could involve some significant research. With most B2B blog writing, it makes sense to include facts, stats and figures that build the case for the story you’re telling. You’ll want to dedicate enough time to gather the insights and data you need to write a comprehensive, intelligent blog post.</p><p>Once you have the information you need, you can either dive right into drafting or outline the guts of your post. Everyone’s preferences are different when it comes to writing process, but always be sure to spell and grammar check your final product. It can also be helpful to run the copy through a <a href="http://smallseotools.com/plagiarism-checker/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">plagiarism checker</a> to ensure you’ve properly credited all sources and haven’t accidentally copied something word-for-word in your research.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>5. Optimize for SEO</h2><p>In order to get the most out of your blogging, you should always take on-page SEO best practices into account. WordPress plugins like <a href="https://yoast.com/wordpress/plugins/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Yoast</a> can make this simple for you by providing an interface on the backend for you to address all SEO elements. If you’re not an SEO pro and you aren’t using Yoast, keep the following in mind:</p><ul><li>Titles should be less than 60 characters</li><li>Include meta descriptions of about 140 characters</li><li>If you upload images, include an ALT tag with your keyword</li><li>Utilize tagging for page titles (H1) and headings/sub-headings (H2/H3)</li><li>Use internal links where possible</li></ul><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>6. Publish and promote</h2><p>Congrats! You’ve completed the blogging journey and you’re ready to hit the publish button. I always like to run a last-minute spelling and grammar check to ensure that any changes I’ve logged in the editing process didn’t enter any typos or odd sentences into my finished piece. Do one final read-through to check that everything is structured in a way that makes sense, all sources are cited and your SEO is on point. Once you’re happy with the final result, go ahead and publish.</p><p>Your work doesn’t end there. Great blogs are useless if no one reads them. Be sure to promote your shiny new piece on the appropriate social media channels (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Tumblr, others as appropriate). Include a question in your status updates to elicit feedback and comments on your post.</p><p><img class="pinterest-hidden aligncenter wp-image-29709 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/up-blogging-game-PIN-min.png" alt="up your blogging game in 6 easy steps" width="735" height="1102" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/up-blogging-game-PIN-min.png 735w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/up-blogging-game-PIN-min-200x300.png 200w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/up-blogging-game-PIN-min-683x1024.png 683w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/up-blogging-game-PIN-min-720x1080.png 720w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/up-blogging-game-PIN-min-32x48.png 32w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/up-blogging-game-PIN-min-223x334.png 223w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/up-blogging-game-PIN-min-600x900.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/up-blogging-game-PIN-min-315x472.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 735px) 100vw, 735px"/></p><h2>Wrapping up</h2><p>A lot more work goes into blogging than you would see on the surface. Do you have any other tips on how to improve your blogging processes? Share your thoughts in the comments below.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><div class="wp_rp_wrap wp_rp_vertical_m" ><div class="wp_rp_content"><h3 class="related_post_title">Related posts</h3><ul class="related_post wp_rp"><li data-position="0" data-poid="in-29486" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/creating-magnetic-blog.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/magnetic-blog-min-315x158.png" alt="9 Steps to Creating a Magnetic Blog" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/creating-magnetic-blog.html" class="wp_rp_title">9 Steps to Creating a Magnetic Blog</a></li><li data-position="1" data-poid="in-29150" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/guide-keyword-research.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/04/keyword-research-min-315x158.png" alt="Creative Content Ideas: A Guide to Keyword Research" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/guide-keyword-research.html" class="wp_rp_title">Creative Content Ideas: A Guide to Keyword Research</a></li></ul></div></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/how-to-up-your-blogging-game.html">How to Up Your Blogging Game in Six Easy Steps</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:36:"http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/";a:1:{s:10:"commentRss";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:67:"https://blog.getresponse.com/how-to-up-your-blogging-game.html/feed";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:38:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/";a:1:{s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1:"1";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:12;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:12:"            ";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:5:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:46:"9 Tricks for Automating Your Content Marketing";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:69:"https://blog.getresponse.com/automation-tricks-content-marketing.html";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:77:"https://blog.getresponse.com/automation-tricks-content-marketing.html#respond";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 07 Jun 2017 14:00:12 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10:"AUTOMATION";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:37:"https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=29698";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:621:"<p>Marketing automation has driven content to new and exciting places but is your content game as strong as it could be? These nine automation tricks and tips can nudge you that little bit closer to content perfection&#8230; take them, implement them, and pass them on. &#160; 1. Keep it dynamic Fields such as content marketing [&#8230;]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/automation-tricks-content-marketing.html">9 Tricks for Automating Your Content Marketing</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:15:"Michael Brenner";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9533:"<p>Marketing automation has driven content to new and exciting places but is your content game as strong as it could be? These nine automation tricks and tips can nudge you that little bit closer to content perfection&#8230; take them, implement them, and pass them on.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><span id="more-29698"></span></p><h2>1. Keep it dynamic</h2><p>Fields such as content marketing and marketing automation are constantly evolving; in fact, they could be described as dynamic. It makes sense, then, for you to introduce dynamic content to your email marketing and to your website, providing your users with content offerings which are as smooth and pleasing to the reader as that segue.</p><p>Content marketers now have the tools at their disposal to upload content which changes based upon the location and preference of the user. Utilize these tools and create a much more personalized effect. This personal touch is something which is too often lost during the automation of your content strategies. It is important to reclaim it whenever you can.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>2. Build a long term narrative</h2><p>This one comes down to planning. Once you have launched a killer bit of content, what comes next? Do you consider that content done and dusted and move onto something else? Or do you carefully consider the next steps in your journey and that of your audience?</p><p>Plan your content carefully. Make each piece worthwhile and useful in its own right but look to build an ongoing narrative, with each piece leading into the next. Refer back to your content marketing <a href="https://marketinginsidergroup.com/content-marketing/craft-content-marketing-mission-statement/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">mission statement</a> to ensure you are heading in the right direction.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>3. Segment, and segment again</h2><p>We are already well aware of buyer profiles, but the idea of the buyer profile is not simply to <a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/customer-segmentation.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">segment your audience</a> into manageable chunks, but to whittle your categories further and further to provide the most tailored experience possible to customers.</p><p>So, if your buyer profiles are not achieving the right result, segment again, narrowing them even further. Be as specific as your resources will allow, and achieve far more bang for your content buck.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>4. Understand your channels</h2><p>Your automation platform has a reporting function, so use it. This function tells you where leads and prospects are accessing your content, which pieces of content are proving the most effective, and which devices are yielding the most conversions.</p><p>This represents an astonishingly valuable bit of insight. Knowing which channels are pulling their weight and which ones need further work gives you a strong indication of what you should do next.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>5. Be human</h2><p>Automation can, occasionally, become a little too automatic. If this seems like a ludicrous statement, bare with me a moment. What I mean is that we should take every opportunity to inject a bit of humanity into our marketing.</p><p>Unless you have shelled out for a particularly incredible bit of software, the content you deploy via <a href="https://www.getresponse.com/features/marketing-automation.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">automation</a> is not created automatically. You have to write it or produce it, so have fun with it. Add your own voice and don&#8217;t lose sight of your humanity. Your audience will reward you with a positive response.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>6. Get inspired</h2><p>There&#8217;s no harm in casting a glance sideways every now and again to check out what the competition are up to. In fact, this is positively encouraged. Plagiarizing content is always wrong, and provides no benefit to marketers anyway, but sealing ourselves off from the outside world is simply pointless.</p><p>Look around you, look at what others are doing, think about how you could do it better. Inspiration is the driving force for creativity and, no matter how much you try to bury yourself in facts and figures and conventional wisdom, your content must be creative.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>7. Keep it fresh</h2><p>Your audience are only human, and humans get bored from time to time. It is up to you to combat this boredom and to maintain interest in your content. To do this you need to look inwards.</p><p>What do you do when you get bored? You find something else to read, watch or do. What sort of things keep you from being bored? Things that remain fresh, interesting, diverse and useful. Work to introduce this freshness to your content marketing.</p><p>Play with <a href="https://marketinginsidergroup.com/content-marketing/blogging-vlogging-works-brand/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">different forms of media</a>, invite guest bloggers to work with you, or form content partnerships. The definitions of fresh and exciting change all the time; make sure you are alive to these changes.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>8. Focus on value</h2><p>The bottom line of content must always be meaningful and valuable. You can craft a flashy bit of content, publish it, and then distribute it via your marketing automation platform, but your efforts will be wasted if the content is found to be ultimately of little to no value.</p><p>Your audience are smart; they engage with you because they have a specific problem and require your expertise or killer product to resolve this problem. As such, marketers must respect this intelligence and make sure that each piece of content hits this target.</p><p>Ask yourself: what is the point of this content? What is it trying to achieve? And is it successful?</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>9. Consider the support aspect of content</h2><p>Once we start achieving results from the content we launch, it is tempting to get a little carried away. We spend time creating great content. We carefully select the automation platform which best suits our needs, then we put the two elements together and&#8230; hey presto&#8230; a rapid upturn in conversions and new customers.</p><p>But what about the other end of the scale? What about the customers you have already acquired? Don&#8217;t they deserve love and support too? They certainly do, and failing to provide that support can be costly. Statistics released by Superoffice found that <a href="http://www.superoffice.com/blog/customer-experience-statistics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">67% of customers</a> who churn cited bad experiences as the reason for their leaving the fold – i.e. they were pushed away, rather than pulled by attractive offers elsewhere.</p><p>Content can play a major role in preventing churn. Consider your interactions with displeased customers; what was playing on their mind? what issues needed to be resolved? Could these solutions be supported or provided with content?</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>Marketing can never be truly automated. And this is especially true for content marketing, which seeks to engage people in an authentic way.</p><p>But follow these 9 tips to automate your content marketing, and you’ll save the time and the money you need to focus your attention on what really matters: marketing that delivers business results.</p><p><img class="pinterest-hidden aligncenter wp-image-29699 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/MB_735x1102.png" alt="automation tricks" width="735" height="1102" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/MB_735x1102.png 735w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/MB_735x1102-200x300.png 200w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/MB_735x1102-683x1024.png 683w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/MB_735x1102-720x1080.png 720w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/MB_735x1102-32x48.png 32w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/MB_735x1102-223x334.png 223w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/MB_735x1102-600x900.png 600w" sizes="(max-width: 735px) 100vw, 735px"/></p><div class="wp_rp_wrap wp_rp_vertical_m" ><div class="wp_rp_content"><h3 class="related_post_title">Related posts</h3><ul class="related_post wp_rp"><li data-position="0" data-poid="in-29471" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/lead-scoring-lessons.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/card-counting-min-315x158.png" alt="Lead Scoring Lessons from a Card Counter" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/lead-scoring-lessons.html" class="wp_rp_title">Lead Scoring Lessons from a Card Counter</a></li><li data-position="1" data-poid="in-29508" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/content-imperative.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/content-imperative-min-315x158.png" alt="The Content Imperative for Successful Marketing Automation [Webinar Recap]" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/content-imperative.html" class="wp_rp_title">The Content Imperative for Successful Marketing Automation [Webinar Recap]</a></li></ul></div></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/automation-tricks-content-marketing.html">9 Tricks for Automating Your Content Marketing</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:36:"http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/";a:1:{s:10:"commentRss";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:74:"https://blog.getresponse.com/automation-tricks-content-marketing.html/feed";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:38:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/";a:1:{s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1:"0";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:13;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:12:"            ";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:5:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:43:"UX and Marketing – a Case for Equal Spend";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:73:"https://blog.getresponse.com/ux-and-marketing-a-case-for-equal-spend.html";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:81:"https://blog.getresponse.com/ux-and-marketing-a-case-for-equal-spend.html#respond";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 06 Jun 2017 18:15:30 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9:"MARKETING";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:37:"https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=29690";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:623:"<p>As a product owner, deciding where to allocate your precious budget is always a tough decision. Everyone has an opinion. It’s hard not to be swayed by impassioned pleas! It’s a predicament&#8230; is it best to spend on tried and tested marketing methodologies? Or do you look to the future, and invest in the evolving, [&#8230;]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/ux-and-marketing-a-case-for-equal-spend.html">UX and Marketing &#8211; a Case for Equal Spend</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:11:"Tom Starley";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10684:"<p>As a product owner, deciding where to allocate your precious budget is always a tough decision. Everyone has an opinion. It’s hard not to be swayed by impassioned pleas! It’s a predicament&#8230; is it best to spend on tried and tested marketing methodologies? Or do you look to the future, and invest in the evolving, more cutting edge approaches focused around improving user experience to drive your business forward?</p><p><span id="more-29690"></span></p><p>Valid and very topical questions, the bottom line being what is going to deliver the best return on investment &#8211; both now and in the future.</p><p>Here are some interesting figures for you:</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.experiencedynamics.com/blog/2014/07/making-strong-business-case-roi-ux-infographic">On average, for</a><a href="https://www.experiencedynamics.com/blog/2014/07/making-strong-business-case-roi-ux-infographic" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> every $1 spent on UX you can expect a return of up to $10</a><a href="https://www.experiencedynamics.com/blog/2014/07/making-strong-business-case-roi-ux-infographic">0</a> &#8211; that&#8217;s a return of 9,900%</li><li><a href="https://www.webstrategiesinc.com/blog/what-is-a-good-marketing-roi" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">For every $1 spend on marketing campaigns should yield on average $5 in revenue</a> &#8211; Chris Leone President of WebStrategies. &#8211; that’s a return of 400%</li></ul><p>According to <a href="http://www.mycustomer.com/community/blogs/ivanhok/conversion-rate-optimisation-the-unsung-hero-of-ux" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">mycustomer.com</a> &#8211; 80% of digital spend is investment in getting people to your product (marketing) whereas only 20% is spent on improving the user&#8217;s journey through conversion rate optimization and improving UX while the users are there. That seems like a huge disparity given the average rate of return!</p><p>While every business is different and there’s never a one size fits all approach to propelling your product forward, I feel that it’s incredibly important that there is ongoing spend on both user experience and marketing.</p><p>In case the numbers above aren’t a strong enough case for investment in UX alongside marketing here are some other reasons why they should command an equal share of your budget.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Decrease acquisition costs.</h2><p>Customer acquisition costs are high, but guess what? They don’t have to be! Ensuring you provide a pleasing and memorable experience is the best advert of all. If someone loves your product they’re often quick to promote it to others and that’s the kind of social proof that money literally can’t buy &#8211; it’s free!</p><p>Increased numbers of users find your product through positive word of mouth, they’re prequalified, they have the intent to buy. Then they interact with your sales site and that’s seamless to use, they’re definitely in, they convert… rinse &amp; repeat! The better the UX, the less you need to spend on marketing activities while your conversions actually increase organically.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Increase conversions</h2><p>Conversion optimization is a facet of marketing but is also very closely interwoven with UX. How you display your offering and how you pitch it are crucial for the optimum number of prospects to become your paid customers.</p><p>Understanding why potential users do what they do, how they think, what problems they face, how they make decisions and how all that influences their interaction with your product would undeniably make meeting their needs easier. Seamlessly meeting potential users needs and overcoming objections through a deep understanding of their issues and perspective increases conversion. It can’t not! People are happy to buy into something that satisfies their requirements and makes their lives easier and that&#8217;s what creating great user experiences is all about.</p><p>You can convert more prospects without spending more on marketing or traffic acquisition.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Boost sales</h2><p>Take a minute to digest these stats…</p><ul><li><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/Veopix/less-is-more-veopix-pres?qid=cd904a4f-5350-452a-86b1-76a773f3aa70&amp;v=default&amp;b=&amp;from_search=4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">75</a><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/Veopix/less-is-more-veopix-pres?qid=cd904a4f-5350-452a-86b1-76a773f3aa70&amp;v=default&amp;b=&amp;from_search=4">%</a> of users base your entire company’s credibility on how your website</li><li>It is possible to increase sales on your site by as much as <a href="https://www.uie.com/publications/whitepapers/PogoSticking.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">225</a><a href="https://www.uie.com/publications/whitepapers/PogoSticking.pdf">%</a> just by presenting sufficient information to your prospects at exactly the right time.</li></ul><p>This is key! The look, feel and usability that you craft, that come together as an experience for your customer can affect and increase sales by hundreds of percent. On the flip side…</p><ul><li>The percentage of online consumers that are less likely to return to a site after a poor experience is <a href="http://www.mcrinc.com/Documents/Newsletters/201110_why_web_performance_matters.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">88</a><a href="http://www.mcrinc.com/Documents/Newsletters/201110_why_web_performance_matters.pdf">%</a></li><li>Combine that with the fact that <a href="https://www.akamai.com/us/en/about/news/press/2009-press/akamai-reveals-2-seconds-as-the-new-threshold-of-acceptability-for-ecommerce-web-page-response-times.jsp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">79</a><a href="https://www.akamai.com/us/en/about/news/press/2009-press/akamai-reveals-2-seconds-as-the-new-threshold-of-acceptability-for-ecommerce-web-page-response-times.jsp">%</a> of online shoppers who endure a dissatisfying experience when they visit are less likely to make a purchase from that site again and that looks pretty bleak!</li></ul><p>If you’re actively marketing, continually striving to be driving site traffic and you’re not also actively tackling any user experience related obstacles, you are likely spending an awful lot, for what will likely only yield very little from the very few people who are prepared to put up with a subpar experience. Your users won’t rave about your product, they likely won’t keep on coming back and it all starts to fizzle. But it needn’t! If you have the drive, you can change that!</p><p>Provide a better experience to those people who do come upon your product, give them something of value, that solves a problem for them, packaged in a way that is psychologically proven to be appealing &#8212; and watch your sales skyrocket. Then those customers will become evangelists for your product and we’ve come full circle back to great user experiences decreasing acquisition costs.</p><p>There are plenty of other reasons why investing in user experience is as important as an investment in ongoing marketing, here’s few more for you&#8230;</p><ul><li>It’s an awesome brand differentiator.</li><li>It’s a great way for you to stand out in overcrowded market places and secure competitive advantage.</li><li>The process of crafting great experiences often shines a light on emerging opportunities through a greater knowledge of your target market and empathy with your users.</li><li>People’s expectations are getting higher and higher, and a user experience revolution is rising to meet the need for better experiences. Don’t risk getting left behind and missing out!</li></ul><p>It’s always tough committing to where to invest your precious hard earned funds. I’ll admit it’s tempting to fall back on tried and tested old school ways of working, but I hope I’ve made a compelling case for user experience being very worthy of your investment money. Crafting a great user experience is an ongoing investment in your product and brand’s long term future and balanced with ongoing marketing spend can provide you with nothing short of miraculous returns on your investment &#8211; surpassing results that marketing alone might yield.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="pinterest-hidden aligncenter wp-image-29695 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/UX-equal-spendPIN-min.png" alt="UX and marketing" width="735" height="1102" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/UX-equal-spendPIN-min.png 735w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/UX-equal-spendPIN-min-200x300.png 200w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/UX-equal-spendPIN-min-683x1024.png 683w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/UX-equal-spendPIN-min-720x1080.png 720w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/UX-equal-spendPIN-min-32x48.png 32w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/UX-equal-spendPIN-min-223x334.png 223w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/UX-equal-spendPIN-min-600x900.png 600w" sizes="(max-width: 735px) 100vw, 735px"/></p><div class="wp_rp_wrap wp_rp_vertical_m" ><div class="wp_rp_content"><h3 class="related_post_title">Related posts</h3><ul class="related_post wp_rp"><li data-position="0" data-poid="in-29228" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/email-marketing-and-beyond.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/04/kath-pay-webinar-recap-min-315x158.png" alt="Email Marketing and Beyond: Global Industry Benchmarks [Webinar Recap]" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/email-marketing-and-beyond.html" class="wp_rp_title">Email Marketing and Beyond: Global Industry Benchmarks [Webinar Recap]</a></li><li data-position="1" data-poid="in-28824" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/email-marketing-and-marketing-automation-in-2017-free-report.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/04/email-marketing-and-marketing-automation-min-315x158.png" alt="Email Marketing and Marketing Automation in 2017 [Free Report]" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/email-marketing-and-marketing-automation-in-2017-free-report.html" class="wp_rp_title">Email Marketing and Marketing Automation in 2017 [Free Report]</a></li></ul></div></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/ux-and-marketing-a-case-for-equal-spend.html">UX and Marketing &#8211; a Case for Equal Spend</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:36:"http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/";a:1:{s:10:"commentRss";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:78:"https://blog.getresponse.com/ux-and-marketing-a-case-for-equal-spend.html/feed";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:38:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/";a:1:{s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1:"0";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:14;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:12:"            ";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:5:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:47:"Here’s How You Can Start Segmenting Your List";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:54:"https://blog.getresponse.com/segmenting-your-list.html";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:62:"https://blog.getresponse.com/segmenting-your-list.html#respond";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 05 Jun 2017 19:26:48 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10:"AUTOMATION";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:37:"https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=29678";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:621:"<p>It turns out that only 6.6% of email marketers use layered targeting to send relevant, personalized messages to their audience (Email Marketing &#38; Beyond: Global Industry Benchmarks 2017). As you can see, there’s a huge opportunity for your business here. That’s why today I want to show you how to start segmenting your email list. [&#8230;]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/segmenting-your-list.html">Here’s How You Can Start Segmenting Your List</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Irek Klimczak";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:16949:"<p>It turns out that only 6.6% of email marketers use layered targeting to send relevant, personalized messages to their audience (<a href="https://www.getresponse.com/resources/reports/email-marketing-and-beyond-global-industry-benchmarks-2017.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Email Marketing &amp; Beyond: Global Industry Benchmarks 2017</a>). As you can see, there’s a huge opportunity for your business here. That’s why today I want to show you how to start segmenting your email list.<br/><span id="more-29678"></span></p><h2>Start with data</h2><p>Segmentation starts with a proper set of data. If you want to send relevant emails, you need to be able to collect relevant information about your subscribers.</p><p>If you run an online business, you know the golden rule – the less form fields, the higher the conversion rate. That’s exactly the reason why most ecommerce businesses ask only for the email address. You’re probably wondering: <em>how can I segment my list when the email address is the only thing I’ve got?</em> It’s OK. You can start with the email address and collect other data later throughout the subscription process.</p><p>Asking for small amounts of data over time rather than throwing a long web form at people who want to sign up is called progressive profiling. You can visit our resources and download a free guide: <a href="https://www.getresponse.com/resources/guides/how-to-generate-leads-through-progressive-profiling-guide.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">How To Generate Leads Through Progressive Profiling</a>, if you want to learn more.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>What do you really need to know about your subscribers?</h2><p>Decide what information you’re after. Start with the following question: “What do I need to know about my subscribers in order to send them relevant emails?” It’s a simple yet powerful question. Depending on the business you might need different set of data to segment your list successfully, e.g.:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>Fashion ecommerce</h3><ul><li>Sex (male/female/kids)</li><li>Product size</li><li>Preferred style</li><li>Favorite brands</li><li>Price sensitivity</li></ul><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>Brick-and-mortar retail store</h3><ul><li>Address</li><li>Purchase preferences</li><li>Loyalty</li></ul><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>Non-profit</h3><ul><li>Name (the use of the subscriber’s name might personalize the message and influence their decisions)</li><li>Interests</li><li>Average donation</li><li>Behavioral data (e.g. the kind of content subscribers interacted with)</li></ul><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Plan your email marketing workflow</h2><p>Marketing automation forces you to think in terms of longer communication patterns. And that’s great because it makes planning emails for progressive profiling and segmentation much easier.</p><p>Look at the emails in your workflow and match them with the information you want to collect. This way you’ll create a step-by-step segmentation plan and clear template design guidelines, e.g.:</p><ul><li><strong>Subscription form</strong> – name, email address, date of birth (optional – for those who want to receive something special on that day)</li><li><strong>Welcome email</strong> – promo code for the first purchase (you can tag those who purchased using the promo code)</li><li><strong>First product email</strong> – 2 CTAs: for him/ for her (name and behavioral data collected based on the CTA will allow you to segment based on the sex)</li><li><strong>Content email</strong> – 5 gift ideas for Star Wars fans (see who clicked the most &#8211; any die hard fans on your list?)</li><li><strong>“Refer a friend” email</strong> – identify the most engaged subscribers and turn them into brand ambassadors</li></ul><p>As you can see, each email in the workflow provides you with some information. It’s up to you if and how you collect, analyze, and make use of it.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Get inspired by other email marketers</h2><p>Let me show you a few real-life examples from my inbox and maybe inspire you with examples of email marketers who are on top of their game.</p><p>Also remember to check out how you can start segmenting your list and use marketing automation features like <a href="https://www.getresponse.com/features/scoring-and-tagging.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">scoring and tagging</a>, <a href="https://www.getresponse.com/features/website-visitor-tracking.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">web event tracking</a>, and <a href="https://www.getresponse.com/features/marketing-automation-segmentation.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">automation segmentation</a>.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>1. Demographics</h3><p>Demographic data refers to a subscriber’s profile characteristics like sex, age, geography, income, etc. Among the commonly-used demographics in B2B are industry, budget, position in the company, etc.</p><p>Demographics allow you to validate your assumptions about your target audience and create mental pictures of the personas.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><div id="attachment_29672" style="width: 791px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-29672 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/gucci.png" alt="Here’s How You Can Start Segmenting Your List" width="781" height="1015" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/gucci.png 781w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/gucci-231x300.png 231w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/gucci-768x998.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/gucci-37x48.png 37w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/gucci-257x334.png 257w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/gucci-600x780.png 600w" sizes="(max-width: 781px) 100vw, 781px"/><p class="wp-caption-text"><em>The 2 CTAs (shop girls/shop boys) point subscribers to their preferred product category. Based on their activity, you can capture useful behavioral data.</em></p></div><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>2. Product preferences</h3><p>Product preference plays a huge role in ecommerce. If you want to know what your subscribers look for, track the links clicked in your emails and on the website.</p><p>Try to go beyond the obvious and come up with creative ways of asking subscribers to choose their favorite products. If you’re looking for inspiration, TEAVANA is one of the brands that know how to engage their subscribers.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><div id="attachment_29674" style="width: 698px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-29674 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/teavana.png" alt="Here’s How You Can Start Segmenting Your List" width="688" height="722" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/teavana.png 688w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/teavana-286x300.png 286w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/teavana-46x48.png 46w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/teavana-318x334.png 318w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/teavana-600x630.png 600w" sizes="(max-width: 688px) 100vw, 688px"/><p class="wp-caption-text"><em>A fragment of an email from TEAVANA asking people to vote for their favorite blend of tea. A clever way to test products and collect information on product preferences.</em></p></div><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>3. Interests</h3><p>You can use different types of content to figure out what your subscribers want to know. Whether it’s fashion, literature, or construction – it’s always good to know your target audience’s information needs.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><div id="attachment_29673" style="width: 677px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-29673 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/stanley.png" alt="Here’s How You Can Start Segmenting Your List" width="667" height="896" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/stanley.png 667w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/stanley-223x300.png 223w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/stanley-36x48.png 36w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/stanley-249x334.png 249w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/stanley-600x806.png 600w" sizes="(max-width: 667px) 100vw, 667px"/><p class="wp-caption-text"><em>STANLEY sends out different how-to content based on their subscribers’ skill level. A great example of valuable content providing great subscriber insights.</em></p></div><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><div id="attachment_29675" style="width: 661px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-29675 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/uncommongoods.png" alt="Here’s How You Can Start Segmenting Your List" width="651" height="1459" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/uncommongoods.png 651w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/uncommongoods-134x300.png 134w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/uncommongoods-457x1024.png 457w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/uncommongoods-482x1080.png 482w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/uncommongoods-21x48.png 21w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/uncommongoods-149x334.png 149w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/uncommongoods-600x1345.png 600w" sizes="(max-width: 651px) 100vw, 651px"/><p class="wp-caption-text"><em>An email form UncommonGoods with Father’s day gift ideas. Such a nice way to help out your subscribers and segment your email list at the same time.</em></p></div><h3></h3><h3>4. Engagement</h3><p>Find and reward your most engaged subscribers. Turn them into brand ambassadors who will help you increase brand awareness, build your email list, and bring in new customers.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><div id="attachment_29671" style="width: 604px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-29671 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/Americangiant.png" alt="Here’s How You Can Start Segmenting Your List" width="594" height="771" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/Americangiant.png 594w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/Americangiant-231x300.png 231w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/Americangiant-37x48.png 37w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/Americangiant-257x334.png 257w" sizes="(max-width: 594px) 100vw, 594px"/><p class="wp-caption-text"><em>A thank you email from American Giant send to those who spread the word about the brand.</em></p></div><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>5. Geography</h3><p>If you run a brick-and-mortar business, geography has major importance. Use online marketing channels to find potential customers in your area. Segment your list based on location and drive traffic to your physical locations.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><div id="attachment_29670" style="width: 698px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-29670 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/americaneagle.png" alt="Here’s How You Can Start Segmenting Your List" width="688" height="729" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/americaneagle.png 688w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/americaneagle-283x300.png 283w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/americaneagle-45x48.png 45w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/americaneagle-315x334.png 315w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/americaneagle-600x636.png 600w" sizes="(max-width: 688px) 100vw, 688px"/><p class="wp-caption-text">A fragment of an email form American Eagle with an offline promotional campaign and a CTA urging the subscriber to find the nearest store.</p></div><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>6. Website activity</h3><p>Marketing automation allows you to see what subscribers do on your website. You can collect the data and send them a personalized email based on their activity when the moment is right.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><div id="attachment_29676" style="width: 739px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-29676 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/uncommongoods2.png" alt="Here’s How You Can Start Segmenting Your List" width="729" height="1250" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/uncommongoods2.png 729w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/uncommongoods2-175x300.png 175w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/uncommongoods2-597x1024.png 597w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/uncommongoods2-630x1080.png 630w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/uncommongoods2-28x48.png 28w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/uncommongoods2-195x334.png 195w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/uncommongoods2-600x1029.png 600w" sizes="(max-width: 729px) 100vw, 729px"/><p class="wp-caption-text"><em>An email with products based on my previous website activity.</em></p></div><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>7. Purchase frequency</h3><p>Did you know that you could use marketing automation data to identify frequent buyers, one-time customers, or deal hunters among your subscribers? Now you do. It&#8217;s a good idea to track subscribers purchase history and create segments for those who are ready to buy your product without a discount, and those who’d rather wait for the perfect moment with their purchase.</p><p>If you’re thinking of running a loyalty program and searching for inspiration, take a look at the airline industry.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><div id="attachment_29677" style="width: 677px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-29677 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/virginamerica.png" alt="Here’s How You Can Start Segmenting Your List" width="667" height="740" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/virginamerica.png 667w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/virginamerica-270x300.png 270w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/virginamerica-43x48.png 43w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/virginamerica-301x334.png 301w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/virginamerica-600x666.png 600w" sizes="(max-width: 667px) 100vw, 667px"/><p class="wp-caption-text">A fragment of an email form Virgin America offering a trip you can pay for in USD or loyalty-program points.</p></div><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Start segmenting your list</h2><p>You know why segmentation is important. You know what marketing automation features will help you collect meaningful information about your subscribers and group them in a meaningful way. You’ve seen some great email examples. So what are you waiting for? Start small and gradually become a segmentation expert. Share your thoughts in the comments below!</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="pinterest-hidden aligncenter wp-image-29682 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/IK_735x1102.png" alt="Here’s How You Can Start Segmenting Your List" width="735" height="1102" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/IK_735x1102.png 735w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/IK_735x1102-200x300.png 200w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/IK_735x1102-683x1024.png 683w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/IK_735x1102-720x1080.png 720w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/IK_735x1102-32x48.png 32w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/IK_735x1102-223x334.png 223w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/IK_735x1102-600x900.png 600w" sizes="(max-width: 735px) 100vw, 735px"/></p><div class="wp_rp_wrap wp_rp_vertical_m" ><div class="wp_rp_content"><h3 class="related_post_title">Related posts</h3><ul class="related_post wp_rp"><li data-position="0" data-poid="in-29327" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/email-marketing-beyond-free-report.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/email-marketing-beyond-min-315x158.png" alt="Email Marketing &#038; Beyond: Global Industry Benchmarks 2017 [Free Report]" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/email-marketing-beyond-free-report.html" class="wp_rp_title">Email Marketing &#038; Beyond: Global Industry Benchmarks 2017 [Free Report]</a></li><li data-position="1" data-poid="in-29228" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/email-marketing-and-beyond.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/04/kath-pay-webinar-recap-min-315x158.png" alt="Email Marketing and Beyond: Global Industry Benchmarks [Webinar Recap]" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/email-marketing-and-beyond.html" class="wp_rp_title">Email Marketing and Beyond: Global Industry Benchmarks [Webinar Recap]</a></li></ul></div></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/segmenting-your-list.html">Here’s How You Can Start Segmenting Your List</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:36:"http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/";a:1:{s:10:"commentRss";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:59:"https://blog.getresponse.com/segmenting-your-list.html/feed";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:38:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/";a:1:{s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1:"0";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:15;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:12:"            ";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:5:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:66:"What on Earth’s the Difference Between an MQL and an SQL Anyway?";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:78:"https://blog.getresponse.com/differences-between-an-mql-and-an-sql-anyway.html";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:86:"https://blog.getresponse.com/differences-between-an-mql-and-an-sql-anyway.html#respond";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 05 Jun 2017 13:50:04 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9:"MARKETING";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:37:"https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=29663";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:659:"<p>MQL vs. SQL. Marketing qualified leads versus sales qualified leads. What on earth’s the difference between these two categories? And, once you know the differences, what strategies should you use to target each cohort? Let’s find out… &#160; The key differences between an MQL and an SQL What’s an MQL? An MQL is simply a [&#8230;]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/differences-between-an-mql-and-an-sql-anyway.html">What on Earth&#8217;s the Difference Between an MQL and an SQL Anyway?</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:12:"John Waldron";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9876:"<p>MQL vs. SQL. Marketing qualified leads versus sales qualified leads. What on earth’s the difference between these two categories? And, once you know the differences, what strategies should you use to target each cohort?</p><p>Let’s find out…</p><p><span id="more-29663"></span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>The key differences between an MQL and an SQL</h2><h3></h3><h3>What’s an MQL?</h3><p>An MQL is simply a lead that your marketing team deems likely to <em>eventually</em> turn into a sale, and therefore <em>qualifies</em> for additional marketing, but isn’t yet ready to receive a sales call. An MQL does not represent a done deal – the prospect is generally not ready to buy as yet. Nonetheless, marketing qualified leads are more likely to turn into customers compared to regular leads.</p><p>Some factors that help identify MQLs are as follows:</p><ul><li>Lead requests information via email but doesn’t ask to be contacted.</li><li>Lead has downloaded information from your website (ebooks, tip sheets, infographics, etc.)</li><li>Lead has visited your website numerous times to look at relevant product or service pages.</li></ul><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>And what’s an SQL?</h3><p>In contrast, an SQL is a prospective customer that has been researched and vetted – first by your marketing team and then by your sales team – and is deemed ready for a direct sales push. Some of the factors which help identify sales qualified leads are as follows:</p><ul><li>Lead indicates that they want to be contacted.</li><li>Lead has been identified as a decision maker or key stakeholder in the buying process at the company where they work.</li><li>Lead has indicated they’re willing to invest time in a meeting to discuss your products/services.</li></ul><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>The lead lifecycle stages – working through the stages to maximize sales</h2><p>We&#8217;ve identified the key differences between MQLs and SQLs – one is ready for sales, the other needs more <a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/expert-lead-nurturing-tactics-will-work.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">lead nurturing</a>. But how do you work with your MQLs to turn them into SQLs? Well this comes down to the understanding of the lead lifecycle.</p><p>A simplified lead lifecycle looks something like this:</p><h3>Generate leads through content and social media marketing. → Marketing and sales work together to identify which leads are MQLs and which are SQLs. → Marketing nurtures MQLs and converts them to SQLs. → Marketing passes SQLs to Sales. → SALE!</h3><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Let’s take a more detailed look at each stage in the lead lifecycle:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>1. Generate leads through content and social media marketing.</h3><p>The first stage is to generate leads through a variety of content marketing practices. Leads are generated at the point where they surrender an email address in exchange for access to content. See our “<a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/beginners-guide-to-lead-generation.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Beginner’s Guide to Lead Generation</a>” for more on how to generate leads.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>2. Identify which leads are MQLs and SQLs (and which are dead ends).</h3><p>It’s vital for marketing and sales teams to work together to <a href="https://business.linkedin.com/en-uk/marketing-solutions/blog/posts/B2B-Marketing/2016/making-sense-of-the-buyers-journey-stats" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">analyze where each lead is in the buyer&#8217;s journey</a>. Your strategy at this point is essentially to determine which leads are already SQLs and can be passed on to the sales team, and which require further lead nurturing. To do this you can use <a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/6-lead-scoring-techniques.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">lead scoring</a>.<br/><strong>Lead scoring – a joint marketing and sales strategy</strong><br/>To identify whether you’re dealing with MQLs or SQLs, you&#8217;ll need to employ an effective lead intelligence strategy which includes lead scoring. Lead scoring is a vital process as it helps you determine which leads are ready for the sales team, and which need more development from the marketing team.</p><p>Lead scoring can maximize the number of MQLs you can convert to SQLs, and it’s most effective when sales and marketing work closely together. You assign a value to each lead based on levels of engagement with CTA triggers on your website, automated marketing emails, and on any other information you&#8217;ve gathered from your lead intelligence. Lead scoring is important for three reasons:</p><ul><li>To avoid your sales team bothering leads before they’re ready to buy</li><li>To identify which leads require more lead nurturing from your marketing team</li><li>To allow your sales team to more easily identify leads who are ready to buy</li></ul><p>There are a number of ways you can score your leads – five of them below:</p><ol><li>Demographic information</li><li>Company information</li><li>Online behavior</li><li>Email engagement and subscription status</li><li>Social engagement</li></ol><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Once you’ve scored your leads and identified them as MQLs or SQLs, you can continue nurturing any MQLs further, and pass any firm SQLs directly on to the sales team.</p><h3>3. Marketing nurtures MQLs and converts them to SQLs (using an appropriate marketing strategy).</h3><p>In practice, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/mql-sql-criteria-getting-balance-right-stuart-ray" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">research shows</a> that as many as 90% of MQLs are not converted to SQLs, either because they were falsely identified as solid MQLs or because of faults in the marketing strategy at the MQL stage.</p><p>Nurture your leads carefully. The lead intelligence you collected should indicate which methods the potential customer is using to engage with your company. Target them using their preferred method – whether this be through <a href="https://www.getresponse.com/email-marketing/gb-features/marketing-automation.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">marketing automation</a>, social media interaction, or specific content and offers. Don’t apply a one-size-fits-all policy – use your lead intelligence to create the best possible marketing strategy for each lead.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>4. Marketing pass leads to sales to close the deal.</h3><p>Once you have converted your MQLs to SQLs, they can be passed onto the sales team. At this stage, the sales team can get in touch with the potential customer directly, confident that your marketing team has nurtured and educated them well, and that the customer is ready to begin the sales process.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>5. SALE!</h3><p>The final stage is to let those sales whizzes do what they do best and seal the deal. And, when they do, you have a brand new customer. Congratulations!</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Final thoughts</h2><p>Getting your marketing and sales departments to work more closely together is one of the most vital steps you can take to correctly identify whether it’s an MQL or an SQL that you’ve got on your hands. It’s an important distinction to make – leads are easily scared off by pushy salespeople when they’re not yet ready to buy. Therefore, the better the collaboration between the two departments, the stronger the SQLs that will come through – and generating sales qualified leads is the ultimate goal of marketing.</p><p><strong>What are your MQL and SQL generation strategies? Let us know in the comments below.</strong></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="pinterest-hidden aligncenter wp-image-29666 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/MQL-SQL-PIN-min.png" alt="key differences between an MQL and an SQL" width="735" height="1102" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/MQL-SQL-PIN-min.png 735w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/MQL-SQL-PIN-min-200x300.png 200w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/MQL-SQL-PIN-min-683x1024.png 683w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/MQL-SQL-PIN-min-720x1080.png 720w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/MQL-SQL-PIN-min-32x48.png 32w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/MQL-SQL-PIN-min-223x334.png 223w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/MQL-SQL-PIN-min-600x900.png 600w" sizes="(max-width: 735px) 100vw, 735px"/></p><div class="wp_rp_wrap wp_rp_vertical_m" ><div class="wp_rp_content"><h3 class="related_post_title">Related posts</h3><ul class="related_post wp_rp"><li data-position="0" data-poid="in-29471" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/lead-scoring-lessons.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/card-counting-min-315x158.png" alt="Lead Scoring Lessons from a Card Counter" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/lead-scoring-lessons.html" class="wp_rp_title">Lead Scoring Lessons from a Card Counter</a></li><li data-position="1" data-poid="in-29346" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/facebook-lead-ads-zapier.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/FACEBOOK-lead-ads-min-315x158.png" alt="How to Automate Your Lead Gen with Facebook Lead Ads and Zapier" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/facebook-lead-ads-zapier.html" class="wp_rp_title">How to Automate Your Lead Gen with Facebook Lead Ads and Zapier</a></li></ul></div></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/differences-between-an-mql-and-an-sql-anyway.html">What on Earth&#8217;s the Difference Between an MQL and an SQL Anyway?</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:36:"http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/";a:1:{s:10:"commentRss";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:83:"https://blog.getresponse.com/differences-between-an-mql-and-an-sql-anyway.html/feed";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:38:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/";a:1:{s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1:"0";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:16;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:12:"            ";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:5:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:52:"How Businesses Can Use Education as a Marketing Tool";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:63:"https://blog.getresponse.com/education-as-a-marketing-tool.html";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:72:"https://blog.getresponse.com/education-as-a-marketing-tool.html#comments";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 01 Jun 2017 15:02:04 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9:"MARKETING";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:37:"https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=29655";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:597:"<p>Businesses have become what they are today due to an element of expertise you possess. The expertise or knowledge can be in any domain. Be it finance, or supply chain &#8212; at the helm of it is education driving our businesses. Even if you are not formally educated to devise a new business idea, it [&#8230;]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/education-as-a-marketing-tool.html">How Businesses Can Use Education as a Marketing Tool</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:11:"Ivan Hamlin";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9377:"<p>Businesses have become what they are today due to an element of expertise you possess. The expertise or knowledge can be in any domain. Be it finance, or supply chain &#8212; at the helm of it is education driving our businesses.</p><p><span id="more-29655"></span></p><p>Even if you are not formally educated to devise a <a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/productivity-tips-small-business-teams.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">new business</a> idea, it may have been your secondary education at the very least that would have served as the catalyst to your coming up with a business idea.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Understanding how to leverage education for business</h2><p>In his book “Education of Millionaires,” Michael Ellsberg states that education should be considered as an investment. According to one study, it takes nearly 20 years to fully materialize the four-year degree, we so earnestly seek at college.</p><p>Education should be something that can serve us in the long term and by making you more financially stable. There is no point in spending six figures for a traditional college degree when in the end you have to settle for “peanuts” in the name of salary.</p><p>The idea is to network and seek mentors who will teach you the in-demand skills. It doesn’t matter, if you aren’t college graduated, skills learned from your mentors will be enough to keep your economic engine running. Moreover, it will prove to multiply your means of income or income streams, for that matter.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>The trend</h2><p>Although, this piece is not meant to preach to you on how not going to college is the trend. But this aspect cannot be totally denied. Although you can resort to mentors for knowledge and learning skills, it is also the world of digital marketing that has shaped the way we gain education.</p><p>If you have mastered the skills in digital media and specialize in the use of offline tools, you can thrust your business into a world of endless possibilities because the online medium has proven to supersede traditional forms of marketing.</p><p>For instance, <a href="https://www.udemy.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Udemy</a>, a platform offering thousands of courses, some paid whilst others free, is a business. On the face of it, it is an educational platform dealing in online education but for the creators, it is a business that hosts tutors/instructors from all around the world, specialized in their niches. They impart training and that is, in itself, marketing for Udemy.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Education to promote your brand</h2><p>You must be wondering how you can channel your formal education which you cannot “un”-acquire, of course, for promoting your brand. See, whatever public need you are adhering to it becomes a commodity and people will buy it. The distinction arises when they prefer your product over the rivals.</p><p>Education never gets wasted. If it’s a degree you have the competitive edge in the market. Whether or not you have work is another debate. But you stand out because of your degree which others don’t have. Similarly, if a brand of shoes just sells shoes, okay, but what if that shoe brand began to facilitate fitness and fashion education?</p><p>Startling statement, eh? Just imagine what if it does? Wouldn’t it be a USP for the brand? Similarly, if its food items you sell, talk about nutritious elements of it. If it is painting, teach about design and the list goes on.</p><p>Referring to my earlier claim of how if you learn digital media tools you can deliver a seamless marketing experience. The answer is that an online presence of your brand will increase your chances of sale. Even if you are not well-versed in the domain of digital media, hire an expert. Allow room for your brand to speak volumes about your business, digitally.</p><p>This does not mean that you should compromise on the quality of the product or that pricing doesn&#8217;t matter to customers, you online presence is only meant to act as a value addition. What if the person browsing his favorite shoe from your online store happens to come across a blog on fashion educating him on current trends or an advice from the expert, would it hamper or help in the sale? I ask you. Think, decide and answer.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Too much clutter – stand out through education</h2><p>Ok, I can’t hear what you have to say but I am sure, anyone in their right mind and with the slightest business acumen would never pass up on an opportunity that has to do with maximizing business revenue and in turn, personal gains.</p><p>There is a lot of competition. Cutthroat, to be honest. Tools like SEO and meaningful content can gravely bring in <a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/best-practices-increasing-website-traffic-offline-sources.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">traffic to your website</a> and subsequent conversions can result in both online purchases and at your brick and mortar store as well.</p><p>If you <a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/most-important-seo-techniques-that-still-work.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">learn SEO</a>, you will be able to rank your business higher in search results. If you are just starting out with your business, focusing on the organic form of SEO is your best option in promoting your business. In organic SEO, you should have powerhouse content to go with it else you cannot reap the desired benefits.</p><p>If you are an established entity, you can experiment with paid SEO. I don’t intend to drift from the topic but it is to give you an idea and not brief you on how to SEO. So, forgive me for not delving into it any further. You can browse for <a href="http://www.dissertationtbliss.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">dissertation help</a> online. As mentioned, running a blogs section on your business website can greatly help you to leverage digital media as a marketing tool. Make sure blogs are informative and serve as a takeaway for the visitors. With time, you can build a loyal base of readers.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Bringing it together</h2><p>Thus, you must have observed by now how everything is connected and walks hand in hand. <em>Through education, you initiate a business that you then market. Or, your business can educate which, technically, is marketing your brand</em>. I know, it’s a lot to digest on the first read. So, read again but this time slowly to absorb the message.</p><p>Businesses are built around a need that the society is deprived of. Most often than not, education aims to stimulate the brain and makes you look around at what is lacking. You identify what’s amiss (it can be a product or a service) and formulate a strategy to translate that idea into reality. The same effort that goes into enacting a business, usually acts as a marketing vessel for your business. Startups are a classic example.</p><p><img class="pinterest-hidden aligncenter wp-image-29660 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/education-for-marketingPIN-min.png" alt="businesses can use education as a marketing tool" width="735" height="1102" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/education-for-marketingPIN-min.png 735w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/education-for-marketingPIN-min-200x300.png 200w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/education-for-marketingPIN-min-683x1024.png 683w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/education-for-marketingPIN-min-720x1080.png 720w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/education-for-marketingPIN-min-32x48.png 32w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/education-for-marketingPIN-min-223x334.png 223w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/06/education-for-marketingPIN-min-600x900.png 600w" sizes="(max-width: 735px) 100vw, 735px"/></p><div class="wp_rp_wrap wp_rp_vertical_m" ><div class="wp_rp_content"><h3 class="related_post_title">Related posts</h3><ul class="related_post wp_rp"><li data-position="0" data-poid="in-29228" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/email-marketing-and-beyond.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/04/kath-pay-webinar-recap-min-315x158.png" alt="Email Marketing and Beyond: Global Industry Benchmarks [Webinar Recap]" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/email-marketing-and-beyond.html" class="wp_rp_title">Email Marketing and Beyond: Global Industry Benchmarks [Webinar Recap]</a></li><li data-position="1" data-poid="in-29274" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/online-advertising-opportunities.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/online-advertising-opportunities-min-315x158.jpg" alt="All the Online Advertising Opportunities for Your Business" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/online-advertising-opportunities.html" class="wp_rp_title">All the Online Advertising Opportunities for Your Business</a></li></ul></div></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/education-as-a-marketing-tool.html">How Businesses Can Use Education as a Marketing Tool</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:36:"http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/";a:1:{s:10:"commentRss";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:68:"https://blog.getresponse.com/education-as-a-marketing-tool.html/feed";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:38:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/";a:1:{s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1:"2";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:17;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:12:"            ";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:5:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:69:"How to Attract, Engage, and Retain Students with Marketing Automation";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:71:"https://blog.getresponse.com/marketing-automation-higher-education.html";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:79:"https://blog.getresponse.com/marketing-automation-higher-education.html#respond";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 31 May 2017 19:31:38 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10:"AUTOMATION";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:37:"https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=29647";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:682:"<p>For students, attending a higher education institution is about many things. Getting to know your own self, meeting interesting people, pursuing new hobbies, acquiring new skills, changing your career or even your entire life. For those involved in managing a higher education institution, apart from helping to shape the next generation to achieve great things [&#8230;]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/marketing-automation-higher-education.html">How to Attract, Engage, and Retain Students with Marketing Automation</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:18:"Michal Leszczynski";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30929:"<p>For students, attending a higher education institution is about many things. Getting to know your own self, meeting interesting people, pursuing new hobbies, acquiring new skills, changing your career or even your entire life.</p><p><span id="more-29647"></span></p><p>For those involved in managing a <a href="https://www.getresponse.com/industry-solutions/education.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">higher education institution</a>, apart from helping to shape the next generation to achieve great things and conducting ground-breaking research, <strong>it&#8217;s just like any other business</strong>. To grow, it needs to attract, engage, and retain its customers, i.e. the students.</p><p>It&#8217;s not an easy task, especially at times of high economic uncertainty, when even graduating from a top school doesn&#8217;t guarantee you landing a profitable job. But it&#8217;s not necessarily a losing game.</p><p>Higher education institutions, e-learning platforms, and other businesses involved in personal development, can still meet their objective and attract, engage, and retain students long after they&#8217;ve graduated. They just need to get more creative in their marketing efforts. Let&#8217;s take a look at how adding <a href="https://www.getresponse.com/features/marketing-automation.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">marketing automation to the mix</a> can help you meet your marketing department&#8217;s goals.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Step 1. Attract</h2><p>One of the key business objectives for any higher education institution is to <strong>attract as many quality prospects as possible.</strong> By quality prospects, I mean potential students who are genuinely interested in acquiring new skills and developing their career, and who are ready to make the effort to achieve their goals.</p><p>So how can you find such quality prospects online? Here are several tactics you should start with:</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.getresponse.com/features/landing-page-creator.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Build a landing page</strong></a><strong> for each specific course</strong> (e.g. International Business Management BSc) or at least the department (e.g. Business School), listing all the key benefits of joining them and a sign-up form that lets you collect the information about your prospects.</li><li><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/is-facebook-advertising-really-worth-it.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Run targeted ads using Facebook</strong></a> to find prospects who match your criteria (e.g. age, location, people who like specific pages or have checked in at a given location) and direct them to your landing page (either the general page for undergraduates, a specific department, or a particular course).</li><li><strong>Run targeted ads using </strong><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/inactive-email-list-reactivate-facebook-custom-audiences.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Facebook Lookalike audiences</strong></a> to find prospects who are similar to those who have already signed up for your courses or have done so in the past.</li><li><strong>Run retargeting display ads to try to win back prospective students</strong> who visited your website. Make the ads unique, to match the pages they&#8217;ve visited and showed interest in.</li><li><strong>Partner up with websites used by future students</strong> to seek information about their career development and schools. These can be ranking sites, local forums and news pages, career development centers, or simply high-schools and colleges. Present your prospectus on their site in a sponsored article, through an email newsletter, or organize an offline event where students can ask questions.</li><li><strong>Use </strong><a href="https://www.getresponse.com/resources/guides/10-steps-to-understanding-content-marketing.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>content marketing</strong></a> – run an online magazine, a newspaper, a free newsletter, vlogs, or simply a blog talking about things that matter to students and are happening in the world surrounding them. You can also organize offline and online meet-ups, where former alumni or well-known people can tell their stories and present the value of higher education through personal experiences.</li><li><a href="https://www.getresponse.com/resources/getresponse-university/courses" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Offer free online</strong> <strong>courses</strong></a> – both through your own website or platforms such as <a href="https://www.edx.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">edX</a> or <a href="https://www.coursera.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Coursera</a>. This way you&#8217;ll provide value to those who can&#8217;t afford higher education and give a taste of it to those who are considering signing up to a school.</li><li><strong>Add social sharing features</strong> to your site and email communication. Try involving your current students and prospects to become advocates for your institution.</li></ul><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-29642 size-large" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/graduate-college-texas-state-landing-page-1024x748.png" alt="university of texas graduate college marketing automation higher education email" width="1024" height="748" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/graduate-college-texas-state-landing-page-1024x748.png 1024w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/graduate-college-texas-state-landing-page-300x219.png 300w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/graduate-college-texas-state-landing-page-768x561.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/graduate-college-texas-state-landing-page-1478x1080.png 1478w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/graduate-college-texas-state-landing-page-66x48.png 66w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/graduate-college-texas-state-landing-page-457x334.png 457w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/graduate-college-texas-state-landing-page-600x438.png 600w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Of course, there&#8217;s plenty more you should be doing. Attending <strong>offline events, organizing open days</strong> at your school, <strong>presenting your school</strong> to students across the globe, partnering up with businesses to <strong>start scholarship and internship programs</strong>, <strong>offline display advertising</strong>, and much, much more.</p><p>When doing so, consider the way your future students are going through the decision-making process. Look at how your competitors present their offer to students. Perhaps instead of simply listing all the courses, you should draw up a career path they can follow, showing them exactly what it takes to e.g. become a developer.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-29643 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/learning-paths-lynda.png" alt="lynda.com marketing automation higher education email" width="2460" height="1194" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/learning-paths-lynda.png 2460w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/learning-paths-lynda-300x146.png 300w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/learning-paths-lynda-768x373.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/learning-paths-lynda-1024x497.png 1024w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/learning-paths-lynda-99x48.png 99w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/learning-paths-lynda-688x334.png 688w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/learning-paths-lynda-600x291.png 600w" sizes="(max-width: 2460px) 100vw, 2460px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>At the same time, make registration as easy as possible. Unclutter your pages, speed up the load time, and improve the accessibility on mobile phones. Be on the social media platforms your future students are using and follow the latest trends – not just in terms of how you promote your institution, but also what you&#8217;re teaching. Having an up-to-date, relevant syllabus is key in most industries, especially IT and digital marketing.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Step 2. Engage</h2><p>Once you&#8217;ve managed to get students to sign up – be it for a specific course or just to receive communication about your offer – you need to engage them. Of course, <strong>engaging current and prospective students won&#8217;t be the same </strong>– after all, the goal you&#8217;ll want to achieve for those audiences is different – so I&#8217;ll split these two situations up.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>How to engage prospective students</h3><p>Before prospects enroll in your course, they first need to be convinced that the value they&#8217;ll receive is worth their time and money. They need to be sold on the idea of studying – which isn&#8217;t only about the fun of learning new things, but also about doing the actual work. Getting someone to enroll, often pay, and then do the hard work – that&#8217;s the tricky part.</p><p>So what can you do to engage prospects who&#8217;ve made the first step towards pursuing higher education?</p><p><strong>Here are a few ideas:</strong></p><ul><li><strong>Run an onboarding email campaign</strong>. It should guide them through the life on your campus, experiences they&#8217;ll gain, friends they&#8217;ll make, projects they&#8217;ll work on – overall the ins and outs of studying. To make it more trustworthy, let your current and former students speak for you: share their opinions, stories, and perspective, their reasons for choosing that particular school, and how it&#8217;s affected their lives.</li><li><strong>Use different channels and content formats</strong>. Students are different and so is the way they consume information. Take this into consideration and share the information about your offer using web push notifications, social media, and email, videos, online documents, podcasts, or shareable and inspiring photos.</li><li><strong>Let your students speak for you.</strong> I&#8217;ve already mentioned this in the first point, but this should be a general rule. You can make your social media and blog popular, by sharing your students’ stories. Let them be in charge of some of your communication. Let them take photos, record videos, post stories on Instagram, and show what life is like studying at your school, from their perspective.</li><li><strong>Build a connection and </strong><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/the-hidden-power-of-the-survey-email.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>open up for feedback</strong></a><strong>.</strong> To get to know your prospects better, you&#8217;ll need to speak to them and observe how they react to your communication. Consider adding an easy way to get in touch with you through email, phone, social media, or even a live chat. This is especially important if your prospective students are located across the globe and calling in may be expensive or troublesome. Ask and answer questions; this way you&#8217;ll be able to help your audience right when they need it. And they&#8217;ll know whether they’ll make the right choice by joining your program.</li><li><strong>Reach out.</strong> You know exactly who visited your site, signed up to receive your emails, and read your prospectus – why not ask them for an opinion? This will give you yet another chance to clear their doubts and learn more about their concerns. Use this feedback to improve how you communicate. Update your FAQ page, the landing pages describing the course, and your onboarding email communication.</li><li><strong>Reactivate if they seem to be falling out of your funnel.</strong> If your onboarding communication wasn&#8217;t enough to convince them to enroll, that&#8217;s not a problem. Use retargeting campaigns, either through Google AdWords, Facebook, LinkedIn, email, or SMS – and present your offer at a later time. Signing up for a course isn&#8217;t a decision you can make overnight. Let them take their time, nurture them to gain their interest, and in the event of lowered engagement, run a retargeting campaign.</li></ul><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-29645 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/udemy-reactivation-email.png" alt="udemy marketing automation higher education" width="1340" height="920" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/udemy-reactivation-email.png 1340w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/udemy-reactivation-email-300x206.png 300w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/udemy-reactivation-email-768x527.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/udemy-reactivation-email-1024x703.png 1024w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/udemy-reactivation-email-70x48.png 70w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/udemy-reactivation-email-486x334.png 486w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/udemy-reactivation-email-600x412.png 600w" sizes="(max-width: 1340px) 100vw, 1340px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>When employing the above-mentioned tactics, always remember to <strong>use tagging and scoring</strong>. With the information gathered through this process, you should be able to split your prospects into segments (e.g. based on the course, department, field of interest, or level of engagement in communication) and personalize your communication to deliver more relevant and valuable content. This way your conversion rates and consequently your sign-up rates will be higher!</p><h3></h3><h3>How to engage current students</h3><p>Your current students are the ones who&#8217;ve successfully enrolled to the course and have stayed that way for some time. It&#8217;s a good situation to be in, but it&#8217;s not the end of the race. You&#8217;ll want to keep them engaged and active, i.e. so that they&#8217;ll return to you, they&#8217;ll study, develop, and maybe eventually become advocates for your brand.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Here&#8217;s what you can do to achieve this goal:</strong></p><ul><li><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/20-automated-emails.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Run an onboarding campaign</strong></a><strong>.</strong> Just like with prospective students, it&#8217;s worth running an onboarding email campaign to start the relationship off on the right foot. Prepare your students for the course so they&#8217;ll benefit from it as much as possible and enjoy it at the same time. Help them quickly become emotionally attached to your school and other fellow students, so that they&#8217;ll want to belong there and keep coming back to the classes.</li><li><strong>Provide help.</strong> The beginnings might be difficult. Getting around the campus, the e-learning platform, or the online research database might cause some frustration and concerns. Help your students out and guide them through the most important areas, so that they&#8217;ll never get stuck. Use email campaigns (both behavior-triggered and regular autoresponders), onboarding messages in your panel, or live chat to provide the help when it&#8217;s needed.</li></ul><p><strong>Send announcements and invitations. </strong>Organizing a meet-up, workshops, or launching a new course? Let your students know and show them how to enroll. Send an email invitation and guide them to your landing page, or the area in the dashboard that lets them sign up for the event.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-29646 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/university-of-birmingham-alumni-reunion-invitation.jpg" alt="university of birmingham marketing automation higher education" width="650" height="1579" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/university-of-birmingham-alumni-reunion-invitation.jpg 650w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/university-of-birmingham-alumni-reunion-invitation-123x300.jpg 123w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/university-of-birmingham-alumni-reunion-invitation-422x1024.jpg 422w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/university-of-birmingham-alumni-reunion-invitation-445x1080.jpg 445w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/university-of-birmingham-alumni-reunion-invitation-20x48.jpg 20w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/university-of-birmingham-alumni-reunion-invitation-137x334.jpg 137w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/university-of-birmingham-alumni-reunion-invitation-600x1458.jpg 600w" sizes="(max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><ul><li><strong>Provide reminders and last-chance calls. </strong>Sometimes you&#8217;ll have to give it more than one try, to get your students to sign up for the class. That&#8217;s why you should set up your marketing automation workflows to send automatic reminders to those who haven&#8217;t signed up yet. Tell them it&#8217;s their last chance to enroll, gain value, and get closer to achieving their goals.</li><li><a href="https://www.getresponse.com/features/marketing-automation.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Send behavior-triggered messages</strong></a><strong>. </strong>If you&#8217;ve set up your marketing automation and platform right, you should be able to observe the actions your students are taking. Whether they&#8217;re signing up to classes, attending them, or submitting their assignments, you should be able to respond timely. Engage them and stay alert so that you&#8217;ll be able to congratulate them on their effort or motivate to make an extra effort.</li></ul><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-29644 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/udemy-engagement-email.png" alt="udemy higher education marketing automation" width="684" height="786" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/udemy-engagement-email.png 684w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/udemy-engagement-email-261x300.png 261w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/udemy-engagement-email-42x48.png 42w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/udemy-engagement-email-291x334.png 291w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/udemy-engagement-email-600x689.png 600w" sizes="(max-width: 684px) 100vw, 684px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><ul><li><strong>Send recommendations. </strong>Consider what your students may be interested in, based on what courses they&#8217;ve taken or what grades they scored in their individual assignments. Also look at what other fellow students have done and found valuable in the past. Gather all this information and send your students recommendations that will motivate them to enroll to new courses or engage with your brand more.</li><li><strong>Ask for opinions and use them as social proof in your communication. </strong>Just like with prospective students, you should value the feedback you can get from your current and former students. Ask them to rate your school, the facilities, the resources, and individual courses. The feedback you collect can help you build a better service and the social proof can be used to make your communication more convincing.</li><li><strong>Build a community.</strong> Some students are there just for the certificate. Others are there for everything – the people, the experience, the community. But the community doesn&#8217;t form itself, you have to light the first match. Do so by connecting your audience with other current and former students. Lower the distance between the faculty and those who seek professional advice from them. Show your students that graduation is just the beginning and that there are benefits of staying in touch, years after receiving the diploma. Invite former alumni to join the conversation, create the culture of giving back to the community that has enabled them to gain professional education.You can do so by starting a blog or forum. Publish interesting stories, spark the discussion, and send automated emails to gather feedback from others who might be interested in the dialogue. Like I mentioned earlier, remember to use different content formats. Easy-to-digest videos might be best for engaging your audience, but long-form articles might be better for SEO, which in turn can help you attract sponsors and businesses who&#8217;d like to cooperate with you.</li></ul><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Start engaging your students right at the beginning and until the very end. If you do it right, the next point, i.e<em>.</em> retention, won&#8217;t be much of a challenge.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-29640 size-large" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/duolingo-engagement-email-1024x881.png" alt="duo lingo italian email" width="1024" height="881" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/duolingo-engagement-email-1024x881.png 1024w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/duolingo-engagement-email-300x258.png 300w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/duolingo-engagement-email-768x661.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/duolingo-engagement-email-56x48.png 56w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/duolingo-engagement-email-388x334.png 388w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/duolingo-engagement-email-600x516.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/duolingo-engagement-email.png 1202w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Step 3. Retain</h2><p>Last but not least, your goal should be to retain your students. You want them to stay with you for as long as possible, whether as students enrolling for new courses, or alumni who keep visiting your site, join the conversation, and maybe even help fund the studies for future students.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Here&#8217;s how you can retain your students better:</strong></p><p>&nbsp;</p><ul><li><strong>Ask for feedback and follow up on it. </strong>Just like I&#8217;ve mentioned before. Gaining feedback is crucial to running a successful higher education institution. You don&#8217;t want to run courses for the sake of it, you want students to enjoy and benefit from them. If you don&#8217;t know how they liked them, how can you improve your educational offer?Send email surveys automatically after your students finish the course or hand in their assignments. Upon receiving the feedback, be sure to follow up and ask further questions about what went well and what should be improved. If all goes well, you&#8217;ll get valuable information and will be able to ask your students to recommend the course to others who might be interested in it.</li><li><strong>Send recommendations. </strong>Again, this applies to students who&#8217;ve just finished your course or have done so a few years ago. Recommend courses that are relevant to your audience. Whether it&#8217;s an elementary course or an MBA program, make sure that your offer is relevant and that the benefits portrayed are applicable to the given target group.</li><li><strong>Use content marketing. </strong>A blog, vlogs, photos, and stories from your university or students are likely to interest even those who left your campus some time ago. Include alumni in your newsletters and update them on what&#8217;s new on your campus. Perhaps information about a party won&#8217;t interest them, but an interesting story about a Nobel prize winner who graduated from the same school might just work.</li></ul><p><strong>Send announcements and updates. </strong>Plenty of things are happening each day, some of them more remarkable than others. Share updates with your audience – about a new course that just started, a newly-opened department, or a breakthrough in an important research that your students and faculty have been conducting.</p><p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-29641 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/global-alumni-gathering-event-university-of-birmingham.png" alt="University of Birmingham higher education marketing automation goals" width="804" height="1104" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/global-alumni-gathering-event-university-of-birmingham.png 804w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/global-alumni-gathering-event-university-of-birmingham-218x300.png 218w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/global-alumni-gathering-event-university-of-birmingham-768x1055.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/global-alumni-gathering-event-university-of-birmingham-746x1024.png 746w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/global-alumni-gathering-event-university-of-birmingham-787x1080.png 787w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/global-alumni-gathering-event-university-of-birmingham-35x48.png 35w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/global-alumni-gathering-event-university-of-birmingham-243x334.png 243w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/global-alumni-gathering-event-university-of-birmingham-600x824.png 600w" sizes="(max-width: 804px) 100vw, 804px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><ul><li><strong>Bring the good memories back. </strong>One tactic that can work well towards engaging your audience is to remind them of the great experiences they&#8217;ve had while pursuing education at your school. Follow up on those events, for example, a year or five years after they&#8217;ve graduated.To make your communication more effective, personalize it using the data that you have about them, e.g. their name, course they attended, their class photo, or the date of the graduation. If you do it right, you&#8217;ll see that the response rate for this campaign will turn out great!</li><li><strong>Organize meet-ups and reunions. </strong>Most students form small groups of friends they see every now and then. Others may not manage to do so, especially if they&#8217;re attending an online course.You can help them out, engage with them, and make sure they stay in the community by organizing offline and online meet-ups. If you have a fair amount of international students, try organizing them in different locations or informing them ahead of time. Make invitations, reminders, and follow-ups after the event has taken place part of your automation workflow, and make your events a success.</li><li><strong>Ask for updates and donations. </strong>It&#8217;s important to gather information about your former students on a regular basis. Be it for statistical reasons or to get them to help you make the courses more interesting. Whatever the reason, you can do this, e.g. through an annual survey sent via email or direct mail.While you&#8217;re at it, be sure to ask your alumni to donate towards your institution. After all, they&#8217;ve benefited from it too, which means convincing them to help other students to fund their studies shouldn&#8217;t be a great challenge. Their help can come in many forms, so think about it too, if you want your conversion rate for this tactic to be high.</li></ul><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-29639 size-large" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/donations-helping-hand-university-1024x655.png" alt="marketing automation higher education" width="1024" height="655" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/donations-helping-hand-university-1024x655.png 1024w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/donations-helping-hand-university-300x192.png 300w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/donations-helping-hand-university-768x491.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/donations-helping-hand-university-75x48.png 75w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/donations-helping-hand-university-522x334.png 522w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/donations-helping-hand-university-600x384.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/donations-helping-hand-university.png 1332w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Summing up</h2><p>As you can see there are many, many ways to attract, engage, and retain students. Which tactics you&#8217;ll use will depend on the type of school you&#8217;re running – whether it’s a traditional university or an e-learning platform. Although the methods you&#8217;ll use will vary, the end goal and the rationale behind your strategy will remain the same. You&#8217;ll want your students to develop, achieve their goals, and while doing so – build a lasting relationship with your school.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="pinterest-hidden aligncenter wp-image-29650 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/ML_735x1102.png" alt="marketing automation higher education email" width="735" height="1102" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/ML_735x1102.png 735w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/ML_735x1102-200x300.png 200w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/ML_735x1102-683x1024.png 683w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/ML_735x1102-720x1080.png 720w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/ML_735x1102-32x48.png 32w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/ML_735x1102-223x334.png 223w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/ML_735x1102-600x900.png 600w" sizes="(max-width: 735px) 100vw, 735px"/></p><div class="wp_rp_wrap wp_rp_vertical_m" ><div class="wp_rp_content"><h3 class="related_post_title">Related posts</h3><ul class="related_post wp_rp"><li data-position="0" data-poid="in-29193" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/increase-travel-website-bookings.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/04/increase-travel-website-bookings-min-315x158.png" alt="How to Increase Travel Website Bookings, Automatically" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/increase-travel-website-bookings.html" class="wp_rp_title">How to Increase Travel Website Bookings, Automatically</a></li><li data-position="1" data-poid="in-29018" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/questions-about-marketing-automation.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/04/questions-about-marketing-automation-min-315x158.png" alt="The 5 Most Frequently Asked Questions About Marketing Automation" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/questions-about-marketing-automation.html" class="wp_rp_title">The 5 Most Frequently Asked Questions About Marketing Automation</a></li></ul></div></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/marketing-automation-higher-education.html">How to Attract, Engage, and Retain Students with Marketing Automation</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:36:"http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/";a:1:{s:10:"commentRss";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:76:"https://blog.getresponse.com/marketing-automation-higher-education.html/feed";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:38:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/";a:1:{s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1:"0";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:18;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:12:"            ";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:5:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:45:"A Checklist for a WordPress Website Migration";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:71:"https://blog.getresponse.com/checklist-wordpress-website-migration.html";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:79:"https://blog.getresponse.com/checklist-wordpress-website-migration.html#respond";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 31 May 2017 15:19:55 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9:"MARKETING";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:37:"https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=29634";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:647:"<p>In the entire time of a website’s existence, the toughest decision for a website owner is the choice of website migration. Given the number of online tutorials available on the Internet, migration might seem like a cakewalk. However, it can be a frustrating experience for newbie developers. Migrating a WordPress website involves moving the entire [&#8230;]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/checklist-wordpress-website-migration.html">A Checklist for a WordPress Website Migration</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:17:"Catherrine Garcia";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9788:"<p>In the entire time of a website’s existence, the toughest decision for a website owner is the choice of website migration. Given the number of online tutorials available on the Internet, migration might seem like a cakewalk. However, it can be a frustrating experience for <a href="https://websitesetup.org/become-web-developer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">newbie developers</a>.</p><p><span id="more-29634"></span></p><p>Migrating a WordPress website involves moving the entire site’s data from one domain to another, one host to another, and several others. Let’s see what kinds of migrations a website can probably ask for.</p><ul><li>Migration to a new Host/ Server</li><li>Moving a WordPress multisite</li><li>Moving WordPress from local host to server</li><li>Moving from sub domain/subdirectory to root</li><li>Cloning</li></ul><p>Now, these types of migrations will require different types of checklists and procedures to carry out. We took the freedom to mention these types here so that you can refer to these search terms whenever you need them, like a friendly reminder. You can keep these pointers handy so that you can check them out, if there is a need in the future.</p><p>Particularly, in this blog post, we will discuss the generic checklist for non-technical people so that we can help you in the migration of your WordPress site. However, before we begin, you must be aware of the reasons why you might need to migrate your website. If you do not find your reason listed here, let us know in the comments below.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Reasons for migrating a website</h2><h3></h3><h3>Rebranding</h3><p>There can be many reasons for rebranding your website. Your business might have grown, or you might just want a fresh look of your website. You might have to overhaul your website to catch up with a new trend or technology. Rebranding your website is always a good thing to do because it brings about a newer version of your existing website. So, if rebranding is your reason, you can move forward with your WordPress site’s migration.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>Better domain availability</h3><p>Not a lot of people do this, but if a better domain becomes available for your existing website, migration could be a good move. A domain name is just as important as your website’s content. A short and <a href="https://www.searchenginejournal.com/how-your-domain-name-will-impact-seo-social-media-marketing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">SEO-friendly domain name</a> is important for any website. So, if there is an available domain name that you have been eyeing for a while, go for it and migrate your WordPress site.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>Penalized website</h3><p>If your website has been penalized for a serious number of times due to issues like keyword domains, hidden links, spamming, plagiarism etc.; now is the time to migrate your WordPress site to another one. Also, you should give up on these practices and make sure that you never commit these errors to <a href="https://blog.kissmetrics.com/penalized-by-google/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">avoid Google penalization</a>.</p><p>So, let’s begin with the rundown.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>The migration checklist</h2><h3></h3><h3>Backup:</h3><p>Begin with a complete backup of your existing WordPress website. This is the most important step towards a hassle-free migration of your WordPress website. Make sure that you double check the backed-up files to ensure that you haven’t missed any data.</p><p>You must also back up the theme files, uploads on the site, installed plugins, and the complete website database. If you manage to skip any of these, your migration efforts will fail and the new website won’t be completely functional.</p><p>To accomplish the backup successfully, you have two methods at your disposal. You can either backup the entire content through your website’s cPanel or use a WordPress backup plugin like <a href="https://ithemes.com/purchase/backupbuddy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">BackupBuddy</a> to help finish this process.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>The selection of a new host</h3><p>If you haven’t already, we suggest that you upgrade your website’s web hosting provider to a better one, whenever you are migrating. Given the fierce amount of competition in the market, you can always land up with an affordable deal where you can get the maximum number of features. The best WordPress web hosting provider will ensure that your new website is secure, speedy, and awesome.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>Don’t lose your SEO rankings</h3><p>Amidst all the confusion regarding the migration of their WordPress site, many website owners will forget that they need to retain their SEO rankings as well. If they fail to do so, the entire website will have to start at zero. To ensure that your SEO efforts are maintained, always use a <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/duplicator/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Duplicator plugin</a> to ease this transition time. You can follow the instruction to use a Duplicator plugin so that your website downtime is also under check.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>Always make notes</h3><p><strong> </strong>There are always one-off manual settings and changes that we keep introducing to our WordPress websites to keep them running. These changes can be anything ranging from a manual change in the site’s theme or a generic change in a plugin’s code. Always note these down before you begin to take down your existing website.</p><p>Before you start the whole migration process, you must note down any issues that you specifically want to remove from your new website. If you have them in writing, you will be able to address them properly without any confusion.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>Broken links</h3><p>In the migration process, there will be things that end up broken. Since links are crucial for your website’s SEO, make sure that you check them twice with tools like <a href="http://www.brokenlinkcheck.com/broken-links.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Online Broken Link Checker</a> and get them fixed.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>The 404 Page</h3><p>Always design a <a href="http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/60-really-cool-and-creative-error-404-pages/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">suitable 404 page</a> so that your existing audience is re-engaged. You can get a bit creative with the designing and work smarter so that the 404 page appears relevant to your WordPress site’s theme, design or layout.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>The game of URLs</h3><p>While the migration of your WordPress website will bring about some changes in your new website, you can make efforts to ensure that URLs stay the same. To keep this in a loop, you must note down your old URLs. After the migration is complete, check that your 301 redirects are working properly.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Wrap-up</h2><p>Migrating an existing website is a tough task. We agree that a lot of research and awareness can go into this process, if we want to get this done the right way. With this checklist, we hope that we have covered the basic tips that will help you with your pre- and post- website migration issues.</p><p>For a detailed migration guide, kindly refer to the <a href="https://codex.wordpress.org/Moving_WordPress" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">WordPress codex</a>.</p><p>If you have some website migration tips up your sleeves, feel free to share them with us through the comments below. We always look forward to receiving your feedback and suggestions.</p><p><img class="pinterest-hidden aligncenter wp-image-29636 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/website-migrationPIN-min.png" alt="wordpress website migration" width="735" height="1102" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/website-migrationPIN-min.png 735w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/website-migrationPIN-min-200x300.png 200w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/website-migrationPIN-min-683x1024.png 683w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/website-migrationPIN-min-720x1080.png 720w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/website-migrationPIN-min-32x48.png 32w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/website-migrationPIN-min-223x334.png 223w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/website-migrationPIN-min-600x900.png 600w" sizes="(max-width: 735px) 100vw, 735px"/></p><div class="wp_rp_wrap wp_rp_vertical_m" ><div class="wp_rp_content"><h3 class="related_post_title">Related posts</h3><ul class="related_post wp_rp"><li data-position="0" data-poid="in-29486" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/creating-magnetic-blog.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/magnetic-blog-min-315x158.png" alt="9 Steps to Creating a Magnetic Blog" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/creating-magnetic-blog.html" class="wp_rp_title">9 Steps to Creating a Magnetic Blog</a></li><li data-position="1" data-poid="in-29303" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/magento-website-performance.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/Magento-website-min-315x158.png" alt="How to Improve Magento Website Performance" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/magento-website-performance.html" class="wp_rp_title">How to Improve Magento Website Performance</a></li></ul></div></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/checklist-wordpress-website-migration.html">A Checklist for a WordPress Website Migration</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:36:"http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/";a:1:{s:10:"commentRss";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:76:"https://blog.getresponse.com/checklist-wordpress-website-migration.html/feed";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:38:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/";a:1:{s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1:"0";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:19;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:12:"            ";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:5:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:61:"10 Reasons Why Cloud-Based CRM Systems Are Great for Business";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:57:"https://blog.getresponse.com/cloud-based-crm-systems.html";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:65:"https://blog.getresponse.com/cloud-based-crm-systems.html#respond";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 30 May 2017 14:15:05 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9:"MARKETING";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:37:"https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=29621";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:658:"<p>You can’t debate the importance of customer relationship management (CRM) tools for both large and small businesses. It has grown to become a strong platform for maintaining good customer relationships. As a result, most businesses have invested in world-class software to maintain and enhance the efficiency of their CRM systems. One of the emerging trends [&#8230;]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/cloud-based-crm-systems.html">10 Reasons Why Cloud-Based CRM Systems Are Great for Business</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:12:"Riya Sanders";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9248:"<p>You can’t debate the importance of customer relationship management (CRM) tools for both large and small businesses. It has grown to become a strong platform for maintaining good customer relationships. As a result, most businesses have invested in world-class software to maintain and enhance the efficiency of their CRM systems. One of the emerging trends in customer relationship management is the use of cloud-based CRM systems.</p><p><span id="more-29621"></span></p><p>There are currently a lot of debates going around as to whether cloud-based customer relationship systems are good for businesses. The truth of the matter is that any company with five or more clients should consider using tools that exist in the cloud. Here some of the reasons why.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2><strong>1. They are easy to access.</strong></h2><p>System accessibility is a key to successful customer relationship management. Sales representatives need to access the system wherever and whenever they want. Therefore, they need a platform that allows them to work with the CRM tool seamlessly. The nature of the cloud allows them to log in from anywhere as long as there is an internet connection. Such provisions are helpful in emergency situations where a representative must make last minute calls to a customer. They also allow them to close sales from remote areas and generate leads while on the go.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2><strong>2. They are easy to scale. </strong></h2><p>Cloud-based CRM systems are flexible when it comes to scalability. The systems can allow a company to adjust in its scope of operations without interfering with their normal operations. A company can either scale up or down depending on the necessity without any technical drama. The only thing the company needs is enough capacity in the cloud to accommodate any growth in data input. In case the company requires an upgrade in the CRM tool&#8217;s capacity, it can call the provider, who will make the expansion instantly.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2><strong>3. They have a flexible integration process.</strong></h2><p>Businesses use CRM tools as databases for keeping important information about customer relationship initiatives made by the sales team. Other existing applications used for customer relationship management such as <a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/email-marketing-lead-nurturing.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">emails are attached</a> to the CRM to enhance the uninterrupted flow of information. Cloud-based systems make the integration process easier to establish and maintain.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2><strong>4. They allow collaboration.</strong></h2><p>Cloud CRM allows users to work together on one platform without any form of interference. It enables each member of the team to have his or her own login. This means that it is possible to log on multiple accounts at the same time. Such features can also provide additional security because they prevent someone from stealing any information from the system.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2><strong>5. They promote centralization of information.</strong></h2><p>Gathering information in both small and large business is often an uphill task because an individual must go through all the documents from each department. This can be time-consuming and frustrating, especially if one cannot find the information. With a cloud-based CRM, it is possible to get all the customer information from one place at any instance. Centralizing information will also promote the sharing of information in an office. One can also give instructions to the team to read and send messages to their prospects.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2><strong>6. They increase employee productivity.</strong></h2><p>Cloud-based CRM programs for small business and large corporations have proven to <a href="http://www.lifehack.org/articles/work/11-things-you-can-increase-employee-productivity.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">increase the rate of productivity at workplace</a>. The team can work without being tied to an office desk. This allows them to track customers more efficiently from anywhere. They, in turn, initiate meaningful conversations and collect real-time data. They also increase the rate at which they engage customers in feedback talks. In the end, they deliver actionable leads that increase the level of productivity across the board.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2><strong>7. Cloud-based CRM enhances security.</strong></h2><p>System security is an integral part of any business. Most e-commerce businesses have experienced at least one incidence of cyber-attacks, especially on the local systems. The level of security provided by cloud is high and tight. Unless you have made some major investments in the network and onsite security running in the office, you need the cloud for cheaper and better security.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2><strong>8. They can give a quick deployment.</strong></h2><p>Time is the essence when relating to customers. It only takes a matter of minutes to lose a customer. As a result, a sales representative needs a system that can allow him or her to interact with and track customers fast enough, before they change their minds. A business needs a CRM platform that allows faster deployment and execution of commands regardless of the user’s location. It should not be labor-intensive or create unnecessary pressure on the IT team. With a cloud-based CRM option, a business can get rid of the time-lag while relying on quality services throughout.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2><strong>9. They are agile.</strong></h2><p>Software agility affects every component of business. An agile CRM software allows the users to access it from any device all the time. It also allows the user to make some changes at his or her convenience.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2><strong>10. They allow data backup.</strong></h2><p>Data backup is an important function that usually consumes a lot of resources for most businesses. Given that businesses store a lot of confidential information about their customers, they need a system that allows them to back up the data and retrieve it easily in case of any system breakdown. Cloud-based CRM service providers pay close attention to their data backup plans. They have a good recovery process in case there is loss or breach of data.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2><strong><em>The bottom line</em></strong></h2><p>IT cloud-based services have seen an impressive outcome since the platform was invented. We have seen <a href="http://www.vpshispeed.com/vps/en/blog/complete-guide-vps-web-hosting/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the major advances such as VPS cloud hosting</a><u>,</u> and now cloud-based software. Small and large companies should not ignore the impact of cloud on the sales conversion rates. It is high time businesses get rid of outdated attitudes about CRM and explore financially viable and effective ways to improve customer relationships.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="pinterest-hidden aligncenter wp-image-29625 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/cloud-based-CRM-PIN-min.png" alt="cloud-based CRM systems are great for business" width="735" height="1102" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/cloud-based-CRM-PIN-min.png 735w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/cloud-based-CRM-PIN-min-200x300.png 200w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/cloud-based-CRM-PIN-min-683x1024.png 683w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/cloud-based-CRM-PIN-min-720x1080.png 720w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/cloud-based-CRM-PIN-min-32x48.png 32w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/cloud-based-CRM-PIN-min-223x334.png 223w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/cloud-based-CRM-PIN-min-600x900.png 600w" sizes="(max-width: 735px) 100vw, 735px"/></p><div class="wp_rp_wrap wp_rp_vertical_m" ><div class="wp_rp_content"><h3 class="related_post_title">Related posts</h3><ul class="related_post wp_rp"><li data-position="0" data-poid="in-29402" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/coming-soon-new-getresponse.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/new_dashboard_header_v3-315x158.jpg" alt="The All-New GetResponse [New Release Info Available]" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/coming-soon-new-getresponse.html" class="wp_rp_title">The All-New GetResponse [New Release Info Available]</a></li><li data-position="1" data-poid="in-29346" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/facebook-lead-ads-zapier.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/FACEBOOK-lead-ads-min-315x158.png" alt="How to Automate Your Lead Gen with Facebook Lead Ads and Zapier" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/facebook-lead-ads-zapier.html" class="wp_rp_title">How to Automate Your Lead Gen with Facebook Lead Ads and Zapier</a></li></ul></div></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/cloud-based-crm-systems.html">10 Reasons Why Cloud-Based CRM Systems Are Great for Business</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:36:"http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/";a:1:{s:10:"commentRss";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:62:"https://blog.getresponse.com/cloud-based-crm-systems.html/feed";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:38:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/";a:1:{s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1:"0";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:20;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:12:"            ";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:5:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:118:"Essential Techniques the World’s Largest Corporations Use to Keep Their Marketing Automation Campaigns Humming Along";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:75:"https://blog.getresponse.com/essential-marketing-automation-techniques.html";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:83:"https://blog.getresponse.com/essential-marketing-automation-techniques.html#respond";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 29 May 2017 16:27:37 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10:"AUTOMATION";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:37:"https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=29616";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:693:"<p>Did you know that there are 11 times more B2B organizations using marketing automation today than there were in 2011? It’s true. As surprising as that statistic might be, in other ways, it’s not hard to believe. After all, marketing automation works, so a lot of corporations are jumping on board. Take Oracle as an [&#8230;]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/essential-marketing-automation-techniques.html">Essential Techniques the World’s Largest Corporations Use to Keep Their Marketing Automation Campaigns Humming Along</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:12:"Jamie Turner";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:8135:"<p>Did you know that there are <a href="https://www.siriusdecisions.com/blog/marketing-automation-study" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">11 times more</a> B2B organizations using marketing automation today than there were in 2011? It’s true. As surprising as that statistic might be, in other ways, it’s not hard to believe. After all, marketing automation <em>works</em>, so a lot of corporations are jumping on board.</p><p><span id="more-29616"></span></p><p>Take Oracle as an example. They used marketing automation to shorten the time it took to send a lead to their sales team by several days. Initially, it took them five days to pass a lead along to sales, but after implementing a marketing automation platform, they were able to pass leads on in a matter of hours.</p><p>That technique – passing a lead along to sales in a matter of hours – can be a game changer. A <a href="https://hbr.org/2011/03/the-short-life-of-online-sales-leads" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">study out of Harvard</a>, which involved 1.25 million sales leads from 29 B2C and 13 B2B companies, showed firms that contacted leads within an hour were nearly 7 times more likely to have a conversation with a decision maker than those that tried to contact the lead after more than one hour.</p><p>The same study found that the fast-moving companies were more than 60 times as likely to reach decision makers as companies that waited 24 hours or longer. Imagine getting 60 times better results from your campaigns simply because you didn’t wait 24 hours to respond to a lead!</p><p>Based on that (and other research), it’s safe to say that marketing automation is catching on big time. With all that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the techniques larger corporations are using to keep their marketing automation campaigns humming along.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Understand the 9 stages of subscriber engagement</h2><p>Your prospects go through 9 distinct stages when they engage with your brand. Those stages are outlined on <a href="https://www.getresponse.com/resources/infographics/email-marketing-funnel.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">this infographic</a> on the GetResponse website. For those of you whose index fingers don’t feel like clicking the mouse, we’ve included the 9 stages in the list below:</p><ol><li>Planning</li><li>Awareness</li><li>Consideration</li><li>Familiarity</li><li>Intent</li><li>Evaluation</li><li>Conversion</li><li>Relations</li><li>Loyalty and Advocacy</li></ol><p>You’ll notice that two of those stages happen after your prospects convert into customers. Many companies overlook that nuance, but given the fact that people are <a href="http://www.business2community.com/infographics/understanding-importance-word-mouth-marketing-infographic-01773867#9IHorlFDtKSQzFbC.97" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">90% more likely to trust and buy</a> from a brand that has been recommended by a friend, stages 8 and 9 are extremely important because they lead to word-of-mouth advertising for your business.</p><p>Are you leveraging stages 8 and 9 for your company? If not, you might be missing out on incremental revenue for your business.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Re-engage with inactive users</h2><p>It happens to all of us. People subscribe to your e-newsletter and click through on all the right links. They’re deeply engaged with your brand and gradually move down the sales funnel. You tag them as a warm lead, then a hot lead. And then … nothing. They go quiet.</p><p>It’s enough to drive you crazy, but there’s some good news – there’s a tried and true technique you can use to re-engage inactive users. Start by creating a segment of people in your database who haven’t engaged with your brand in, say, 6 months or more. Then, send an exclusive offer or discount to those people to re-engage them with your brand. This will help restore the inactive leads and will also help you generate incremental revenue that you thought might have been lost.</p><p><strong>Pro tip</strong>: There will still be some people in your segment who don’t respond despite your special offer. Consider deleting them from your database – if you have too many people in your database who aren’t engaged with your brand, it makes the database look spammy to email whitelist companies.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Upsell, cross-sell and cycle-sell</h2><p>Are you upselling, cross-selling and cycle-selling? If not, you may be missing out on opportunities to grow your sales and revenues with marketing automation.</p><p>The easiest way to understand the difference between these three techniques is to think of a car sale. If the sales person wants to <em>upsell</em>, they say “Rather than buying the two-door, why don’t you buy the four-door instead?” If the sales person wants to <em>cross-sell</em>, they say, “Would you like to include a trailer hitch with the purchase of your new car?” And if the sales person wants to <em>cycle-sell</em>, they say, “It’s been 6 years since you bought your last car. It’s probably time for a new one. Would you like to discuss some of our low-cost financing options?”</p><p>These three techniques – upsell, cross-sell and cycle-sell – are used quite frequently by companies that leverage the power of marketing automation. Are you using the upsell, cross-sell and cycle-sell techniques? If not, it might be time to explore some of them for your company.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Putting it all into action</h2><p>These are just some of the tips and techniques the world’s largest brands are using to improve the results of their marketing automation campaigns. What are some of the techniques you’ve used? If you have some ideas that our community should hear about, let us know in the comments section below.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="pinterest-hidden aligncenter wp-image-29628 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/JT_735x1102.png" alt="marketing automation techniques" width="735" height="1102" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/JT_735x1102.png 735w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/JT_735x1102-200x300.png 200w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/JT_735x1102-683x1024.png 683w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/JT_735x1102-720x1080.png 720w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/JT_735x1102-32x48.png 32w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/JT_735x1102-223x334.png 223w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/JT_735x1102-600x900.png 600w" sizes="(max-width: 735px) 100vw, 735px"/></p><div class="wp_rp_wrap wp_rp_vertical_m" ><div class="wp_rp_content"><h3 class="related_post_title">Related posts</h3><ul class="related_post wp_rp"><li data-position="0" data-poid="in-29471" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/lead-scoring-lessons.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/card-counting-min-315x158.png" alt="Lead Scoring Lessons from a Card Counter" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/lead-scoring-lessons.html" class="wp_rp_title">Lead Scoring Lessons from a Card Counter</a></li><li data-position="1" data-poid="in-29327" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/email-marketing-beyond-free-report.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/email-marketing-beyond-min-315x158.png" alt="Email Marketing &#038; Beyond: Global Industry Benchmarks 2017 [Free Report]" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/email-marketing-beyond-free-report.html" class="wp_rp_title">Email Marketing &#038; Beyond: Global Industry Benchmarks 2017 [Free Report]</a></li></ul></div></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/essential-marketing-automation-techniques.html">Essential Techniques the World’s Largest Corporations Use to Keep Their Marketing Automation Campaigns Humming Along</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:36:"http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/";a:1:{s:10:"commentRss";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:80:"https://blog.getresponse.com/essential-marketing-automation-techniques.html/feed";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:38:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/";a:1:{s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1:"0";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:21;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:12:"            ";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:5:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:57:"The Customer is Always Right: Listen and Build Your Brand";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:62:"https://blog.getresponse.com/the-customer-is-always-right.html";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:71:"https://blog.getresponse.com/the-customer-is-always-right.html#comments";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 29 May 2017 14:56:59 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9:"MARKETING";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:37:"https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=29609";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:596:"<p>What’s the best way to learn what people really think about you? Find out what they say when you’re out of the room. This is one of the best – but least understood – ways in which social media can help you to make your business better. Embrace criticism For many business owners, the rise [&#8230;]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/the-customer-is-always-right.html">The Customer is Always Right: Listen and Build Your Brand</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Markerle Davis";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:7563:"<p>What’s the best way to learn what people really think about you? Find out what they say when you’re out of the room. This is one of the best – but least understood – ways in which social media can help you to make your business better.</p><p><span id="more-29609"></span></p><h2>Embrace criticism</h2><p>For many business owners, the rise of Twitter and other social media sites fills them with a certain kind of dread. They know they should be doing something but aren’t exactly sure what – worse still negative feedback can be damaging. If a customer has bad service they can moan about it for the whole world to see. Some have seen their business drop off a cliff because of a few bad reviews.</p><p>Rather than see this as a danger, though, you can also see it as an opportunity. Monitoring mentions of you on social media is a great way to assess brand performance and work out ways in which you can improve. If you handle it the right way a bad review also needn’t be the PR nightmare you’re dreading. In fact, it can boost your image.</p><p>For example, let’s imagine a customer has spent ages trying to order something online without luck. We’ve all had those moments – spending ages filling out forms, correcting errors only to be told that the system has crashed.</p><p>It’s frustrating, makes us hate the brand, and most importantly stops us buying. In a matter of minutes, it’s turned a potential customer into a PR headache.</p><p>But that can be a good thing. Businesses lose a huge amount of money every year because customers bail out of the online ordering process. Every additional step, every glitch creates higher bounce rates.</p><p>That enraged customer has actually done you a great favour. He’s told you about a glaring problem in your business process – one which could be costing you thousands in revenue. If that one customer is having a problem, it’s a good bet that others are also.</p><p>Of course, your analytics should have already told you that something is up. An unexpectedly high bounce rate in the buying process will tell you that something is going wrong, but what this can’t do is tell you why. As a leading <a href="https://www.soapmedia.co.uk/services/seo-services-agency/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">digital marketing agency</a>, we’ve been in countless meetings where a client is telling us that they have a high bounce rate on a certain page, but they’re not sure why or how to put it right. Of course, you can use your own expertise, and that of an internal SEO team to offer some insights, but it’s not as good as finding out straight from the customer themselves.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Speak to your customers</h2><p>So that’s what you do. Contact the customer and find out what went wrong and how to put it right. The chances are, they’ll be more than happy to help you because it’s in their best interests. They want to use your product and they want it to work well. Better still, that interaction will often be public so, although the complaint is there for all to see, so too is the resolution.</p><p>Engaging, then, is a great way to extinguish a potential PR fire and also to learn crucial things about your own business in the process. It works across all areas and can be a great way to learn how your brand is perceived, or how a new product is working.</p><p>For example, remember when the US giant Kraft bought Cadbury’s. There was an outcry online of people worried a firm best known for manufacturing cheese strings and something called ‘pink slime’ would ruin the quality of our country’s favorite chocolate brand. That in itself should have told the people at Kraft that they had a problem with their own branding, and that they shouldn’t under any circumstances, do something to mess with the quality of the product.</p><p>They didn’t listen. Soon afterwards, they announced that they were changing the chocolate mix from the premium type – as used in their Dairy Milk bars, to something more basic and less appealing. The reaction was quick, sudden and angry. Sales fell. A year after their move, sales of Crème Eggs had declined by <a href="http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-3394244/Cadbury-Creme-Egg-sales-fall-6m-Britons-crack-recipe-changes-American-firm-year.html">£6million</a>.</p><p>It’s a hit the company needn’t have sustained had they properly listened to what people were saying about them online. It would have told them the move would be unpopular, it would hit sales and harm their brand reputation. They did it anyway.</p><p>Others did listen. GAP’s decision to change their logo in 2010 met with a furious response online which told them two things: people hated the new design, and there was nothing wrong with the old one. They listened and before long the old branding was back.</p><p>The lesson to learn from this story is that there are many things about your business which could probably work better. Your customers can help you find this out, but conventional forms of customer feedback will not always highlight this. People tend to be politer about a business when they are talking to a representative. The really good feedback is to be found when you turn your back.</p><p><img class="pinterest-hidden aligncenter wp-image-29612 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/customer-rightPIN-min.png" alt="the customer is always right" width="735" height="1102" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/customer-rightPIN-min.png 735w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/customer-rightPIN-min-200x300.png 200w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/customer-rightPIN-min-683x1024.png 683w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/customer-rightPIN-min-720x1080.png 720w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/customer-rightPIN-min-32x48.png 32w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/customer-rightPIN-min-223x334.png 223w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/customer-rightPIN-min-600x900.png 600w" sizes="(max-width: 735px) 100vw, 735px"/></p><div class="wp_rp_wrap wp_rp_vertical_m" ><div class="wp_rp_content"><h3 class="related_post_title">Related posts</h3><ul class="related_post wp_rp"><li data-position="0" data-poid="in-29456" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/lead-generation-tactics-content-marketers.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/LeadGenContentMarketer-min-315x158.png" alt="Top Lead Generation Tactics for Content Marketers" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/lead-generation-tactics-content-marketers.html" class="wp_rp_title">Top Lead Generation Tactics for Content Marketers</a></li><li data-position="1" data-poid="in-29480" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/social-media-monitoring-generate-leads.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/social-media-monitoring-min-315x158.png" alt="How Social Media Monitoring Can Generate Leads" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/social-media-monitoring-generate-leads.html" class="wp_rp_title">How Social Media Monitoring Can Generate Leads</a></li></ul></div></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/the-customer-is-always-right.html">The Customer is Always Right: Listen and Build Your Brand</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:36:"http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/";a:1:{s:10:"commentRss";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:67:"https://blog.getresponse.com/the-customer-is-always-right.html/feed";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:38:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/";a:1:{s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1:"1";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:22;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:12:"            ";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:5:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:46:"Email Subject Lines: Specific Is the New Short";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:68:"https://blog.getresponse.com/email-subject-lines-specific-short.html";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:77:"https://blog.getresponse.com/email-subject-lines-specific-short.html#comments";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 25 May 2017 14:00:17 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9:"MARKETING";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:37:"https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=29590";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:603:"<p>For years now the best practice for writing email subject lines has been “keep it short”. This became even more important when more and more people started reading their emails on mobile devices. But – when you look at the data – does this advice really hold true? I have numbers that say something a [&#8230;]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/email-subject-lines-specific-short.html">Email Subject Lines: Specific Is the New Short</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:17:"Karolina Kurcwald";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:18508:"<p>For years now the best practice for writing email subject lines has been “keep it short”. This became even more important when more and more people started reading their emails on mobile devices. But – when you look at the data – does this advice really hold true? I have numbers that say something a little different.</p><p><span id="more-29590"></span></p><p>As an email marketer I’m sure you know that many email clients cut off subject lines in the preview pane at 40 characters or less, and mobile devices can be even more limiting. So all best practice advice for years has been based on that: we’ve been told to keep our subject lines short. Or at least put the most important information first – which actually still makes a lot of sense, and I won’t argue with that. But according to the data from our <a href="https://www.getresponse.com/resources/reports/email-marketing-and-beyond-global-industry-benchmarks-2017.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">recent research study</a>, short subject lines are not the ones that are the most effective.</p><p>They’re certainly the most common – the majority of the subject lines of the emails we examined were 30-39 characters long (and mind you, we examined around 2 billion emails from the GetResponse database sent in Q4 2016, all over the globe.)</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-29582 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig85.png" alt="Email Subject Lines: Specific Is the New Short" width="944" height="611" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig85.png 944w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig85-300x194.png 300w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig85-768x497.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig85-74x48.png 74w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig85-516x334.png 516w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig85-600x388.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig85-315x204.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 944px) 100vw, 944px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Enter open and click rates.</h2><p>What we’ve noticed was the fact that the subject lines that got the highest open rates were <strong>90-119</strong> characters long. Not something you’d call a short subject line, right?</p><p>Same goes for click rates – the research found that click rates are also the highest for longer subject lines (<strong>130-139</strong>), with the most popular length somewhere in the middle.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-29583 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig86.png" alt="Email Subject Lines: Specific Is the New Short" width="783" height="1267" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig86.png 783w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig86-185x300.png 185w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig86-768x1243.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig86-633x1024.png 633w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig86-667x1080.png 667w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig86-30x48.png 30w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig86-206x334.png 206w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig86-600x971.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig86-315x510.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 783px) 100vw, 783px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>What does that mean?</h2><p>The fact that a subject line is short enough to not get cut off by email clients doesn’t make the email more likely to be opened. In fact, the length of the subject line doesn’t seem to be the crucial element here at all. According to <a href="https://getresponse.tv/video/80ycE7iK2kA/email-marketing-beyond-global-industry-benchmarks-2017-webinar-kath-pay/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kath Pay</a>, it’s about <strong>being specific</strong>. Specific subject lines naturally tend to be longer – they include more detailed information, while short subject lines tend to be generic and vague (after all, how specific can you be in 30 characters?)</p><p><a href="https://coschedule.com/blog/email-subject-lines/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">35% of recipients</a> open their emails based on the subject line alone – and it seems only logical that the more specific information you include, the more you can get your audience interested with the  details, such as dates,  price, or elements of personalization.</p><p>Of course, this is just a theory based on the data, and we’d have to test specifically (sic!) how specific subject lines perform in comparison to general ones. But it’s a completely valid theory that I think is worth exploring. And the data proves one thing for sure – take best practice advice with a grain of salt, and test. Testing is the only way you’re going to see what works best with your audience.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>What about the preheader?</h2><p>The preheader still tends to be undervalued, or even overlooked (probably why it’s my favorite element of the email.) In our research study, only 13% emails included it. It’s a shame, because the preheader is your chance to build on the subject line and add more information, if you can’t/don’t want to be too specific in the subject line itself. Even if your subject line does get cut off in the preview pane, most email clients will display the preheader – so why waste that little piece of text?</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-29584 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig87.png" alt="Email Subject Lines: Specific Is the New Short" width="783" height="488" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig87.png 783w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig87-300x187.png 300w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig87-768x479.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig87-77x48.png 77w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig87-536x334.png 536w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig87-600x374.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig87-315x196.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 783px) 100vw, 783px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>When you look at the open and click rates – guess what – both are higher for emails that included preheaders.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-29585 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig88.png" alt="Email Subject Lines: Specific Is the New Short" width="944" height="453" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig88.png 944w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig88-300x144.png 300w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig88-768x369.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig88-100x48.png 100w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig88-696x334.png 696w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig88-600x288.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/fig88-315x151.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 944px) 100vw, 944px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>It’s worth noting that preview text and preheader might not be the same thing. Preview text will play a similar role if you’re not using a preheader at the top of your email – displaying along with the subject line in the email envelope – but it may be hidden in the body of the email. If you’re omitting the preheader/preview text altogether, the first line of text within the body of the email will take its place (so bear than in mind when writing it.) Watch out – it might be the alt text or title of your header image, if there’s no other text preceding it.</p><p>Of course, I’m not talking about the “View your email online” type of preheader here. (I can’t really see how it can influence anyone to open the email.) But if the preheader continues or complements the subject line (or: is the next element of the story you’re telling in your email), then it’s another, well, story altogether.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>About the story: tell it, don’t sell it.</h2><p>Today marketing is very much based on storytelling. In an email, you can start your story in the very subject line. Use it to set the scene, and make it interesting enough for people to click. And when you’re doing that, remember that the rest of the email has to deliver on the promise you’re making in the subject line. Your open and click rates will thank you.</p><p>Now back to the main topic.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Back to “specific” – some examples.</h2><p>So I browsed my inbox (or inboxes) in search of some subject line + preheader/preview text duos. Take a look at a few I found. They’re not necessarily short, but they give me enough information to decide if I’m interested in the email (even if the subject line’s cut off, I can still make sense of them.)</p><p>Like this one:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-29587 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/photojojo1.png" alt="Email Subject Lines: Specific Is the New Short" width="944" height="26" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/photojojo1.png 944w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/photojojo1-300x8.png 300w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/photojojo1-768x21.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/photojojo1-150x4.png 150w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/photojojo1-600x17.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/photojojo1-315x9.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 944px) 100vw, 944px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>And here’s the same email seen in the Gmail iOS app, which cuts off the subject line text pretty heavily, but still lets me understand what the email’s about.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-29588 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/photojojo2.png" alt="Email Subject Lines: Specific Is the New Short" width="944" height="260" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/photojojo2.png 944w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/photojojo2-300x83.png 300w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/photojojo2-768x212.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/photojojo2-150x41.png 150w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/photojojo2-600x165.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/photojojo2-315x87.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 944px) 100vw, 944px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Or this one, which gives me pretty detailed info in the preview text.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-29581 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/engageprague.png" alt="Email Subject Lines: Specific Is the New Short" width="944" height="291" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/engageprague.png 944w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/engageprague-300x92.png 300w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/engageprague-768x237.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/engageprague-150x46.png 150w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/engageprague-600x185.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/engageprague-315x97.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 944px) 100vw, 944px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>With a totally unspecific subject line, this email does a good job using preview text to let me in on the details (free shipping!)</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-29586 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/miista.png" alt="Email Subject Lines: Specific Is the New Short" width="944" height="26" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/miista.png 944w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/miista-300x8.png 300w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/miista-768x21.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/miista-150x4.png 150w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/miista-600x17.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/miista-315x9.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 944px) 100vw, 944px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Similarly to this one, explaining the event mentioned in the subject line.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-29579 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/bareminerals.png" alt="Email Subject Lines: Specific Is the New Short" width="944" height="27" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/bareminerals.png 944w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/bareminerals-300x9.png 300w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/bareminerals-768x22.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/bareminerals-150x4.png 150w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/bareminerals-600x17.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/bareminerals-315x9.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 944px) 100vw, 944px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>This one combines a functional preheader, sending the reader to the online version, with extra information that’s added to the subject line.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-29589 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/stuart.png" alt="Email Subject Lines: Specific Is the New Short" width="944" height="26" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/stuart.png 944w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/stuart-300x8.png 300w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/stuart-768x21.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/stuart-150x4.png 150w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/stuart-600x17.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/stuart-315x9.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 944px) 100vw, 944px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>This on the other hand, shows the completely wasted preheader opportunity:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-29580 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/clothingline.png" alt="Email Subject Lines: Specific Is the New Short" width="944" height="26" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/clothingline.png 944w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/clothingline-300x8.png 300w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/clothingline-768x21.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/clothingline-150x4.png 150w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/clothingline-600x17.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/clothingline-315x9.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 944px) 100vw, 944px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Along with this one that’s completely missed the specificity boat – both by being vague in the subject line, and completely ignoring the preheader/preview text:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-29578 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/annefleshman.png" alt="Email Subject Lines: Specific Is the New Short" width="944" height="227" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/annefleshman.png 944w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/annefleshman-300x72.png 300w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/annefleshman-768x185.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/annefleshman-150x36.png 150w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/annefleshman-600x144.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/annefleshman-315x76.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 944px) 100vw, 944px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Nope, I didn’t open it.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>See?</h2><p>Your audience doesn’t care much about how long, or short your subject line is. So when crafting (and testing!) your next subject lines, remember to take into account much more than the length of your subject line. Put on your subscriber’s shoes, and read it in different email clients/on different devices. Check how the preview text plays off your subject line (does it?) Would <em>you</em> open your email?</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Over to you</h2><p>What worked for your subject lines? Got any advice? Let me and others know in the comments.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="pinterest-hidden aligncenter wp-image-29593 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/email-subject-lines-specific-shortPIN-min.png" alt="Email subject lines: specific is the new short" width="735" height="1102" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/email-subject-lines-specific-shortPIN-min.png 735w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/email-subject-lines-specific-shortPIN-min-200x300.png 200w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/email-subject-lines-specific-shortPIN-min-683x1024.png 683w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/email-subject-lines-specific-shortPIN-min-720x1080.png 720w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/email-subject-lines-specific-shortPIN-min-32x48.png 32w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/email-subject-lines-specific-shortPIN-min-223x334.png 223w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/email-subject-lines-specific-shortPIN-min-600x900.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/email-subject-lines-specific-shortPIN-min-315x472.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 735px) 100vw, 735px"/></p><div class="wp_rp_wrap wp_rp_vertical_m" ><div class="wp_rp_content"><h3 class="related_post_title">Related posts</h3><ul class="related_post wp_rp"><li data-position="0" data-poid="in-29027" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/new-mobile-workspace.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/04/1600x800-min-315x158.png" alt="Announcing the New Mobile Workspace for Landing Pages" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/new-mobile-workspace.html" class="wp_rp_title">Announcing the New Mobile Workspace for Landing Pages</a></li><li data-position="1" data-poid="in-29150" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/guide-keyword-research.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/04/keyword-research-min-315x158.png" alt="Creative Content Ideas: A Guide to Keyword Research" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/guide-keyword-research.html" class="wp_rp_title">Creative Content Ideas: A Guide to Keyword Research</a></li></ul></div></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/email-subject-lines-specific-short.html">Email Subject Lines: Specific Is the New Short</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:36:"http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/";a:1:{s:10:"commentRss";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:73:"https://blog.getresponse.com/email-subject-lines-specific-short.html/feed";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:38:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/";a:1:{s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1:"1";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:23;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:12:"            ";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:5:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:88:"Driving Leads with LinkedIn: 4 Lead Magnet Strategies to Grow Your Marketing Automation";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:65:"https://blog.getresponse.com/linkedin-lead-magnet-strategies.html";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:74:"https://blog.getresponse.com/linkedin-lead-magnet-strategies.html#comments";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 24 May 2017 16:20:00 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10:"AUTOMATION";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:37:"https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=29561";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:671:"<p>In my last article, I mentioned the importance of not adding every brand-new connection to your email list (without their permission). However, it is a good practice to send a message with a (valuable) lead magnet to anyone who invited you to connect. Let&#8217;s dive a little deeper into this strategy. 1. Lead magnet &#38; responding [&#8230;]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/linkedin-lead-magnet-strategies.html">Driving Leads with LinkedIn: 4 Lead Magnet Strategies to Grow Your Marketing Automation</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:16:"Viveka von Rosen";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10981:"<p>In my <a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/linkedin-automation.html">last article</a>, I mentioned the importance of not adding every brand-new connection to your email list (without their permission). However, it is a good practice to send a message with a (valuable) lead magnet to anyone who invited you to connect.</p><p>Let&#8217;s dive a little deeper into this strategy.</p><p><span id="more-29561"></span></p><h2>1. Lead magnet &amp; responding to invitations</h2><p>With all the talk about social selling &#8211; it&#8217;s important to note that LinkedIn is not actually about selling! It is about creating better relationships with your connections so that they begin to know, like and trust you enough to eventually buy from you.</p><blockquote><p>“All things being equal, people will do business with, and refer business to, those people they know, like and trust” – Bob Burg</p></blockquote><p>So, first and foremost, you must know who your audience is and then create content that they would be interested in.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-29558 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/2017-05-18_17-43-31.png" alt="linkedin lead magnet strategies" width="995" height="710" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/2017-05-18_17-43-31.png 995w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/2017-05-18_17-43-31-300x214.png 300w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/2017-05-18_17-43-31-768x548.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/2017-05-18_17-43-31-67x48.png 67w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/2017-05-18_17-43-31-468x334.png 468w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/2017-05-18_17-43-31-600x428.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/2017-05-18_17-43-31-315x225.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 995px) 100vw, 995px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I have a client who works in the arena of mergers and acquisitions (M&amp;A). He realizes that M&amp;A is much more than just a bunch of accountants looking at numbers. He really focuses on marketing and equity building strategies, and has excellent videos and articles he shares with his new connections. All his lead magnets are pieces of content that businesses can use to build their equity. He is really beginning to position himself and his company as the “go to” M&amp;A company in Europe.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>2. Add a lead magnet in your publisher articles</h2><p>If you are already creating content for a blog post, you should re-purpose that content for LinkedIn publisher! (I have a whole article on how to use <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/social-selling-linkedin-publisher-viveka-von-rosen" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">LinkedIn Publisher here</a>)</p><p>If people are reading your long form posts (and they should be long – 900-1400 words,) then they are invested in you and your content.   So why not put a lead magnet right in the heart of your article?</p><p>One of my clients in Toronto, Canada, is bespoke men&#8217;s clothier. They have some of the coolest lead magnets I&#8217;ve seen – from how to tie an ascot tie – to how to properly wear a morning jacket! Would a female realtor be reading their articles?  Probably not. But male sales and marketing professionals in Toronto sure are.  And the content in their posts are tailored (get it?) just for their niche audience.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>3. Send private messages to carefully curated connections</h2><p>One thing I make all my clients do (they hate me at first but thank me later) is to “manage” their connection by tagging them.  Why?  So that they can sort their network by those tags and then send private messages to that carefully curated selection of connections.</p><p>LinkedIn got rid of the tagging tool on the latest user interface.  But free users of LinkedIn can use a free <a href="https://dux-soup.com/index.html#home">Chrome app called Dux-Soup</a> to tag and take notes on their connections and contacts. Sales Navigator (LinkedIn’s premium sales platform) still uses Tags and Notes.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-29559 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/2017-05-19_12-33-06.png" alt="linkedin lead magnet strategies" width="1199" height="574" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/2017-05-19_12-33-06.png 1199w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/2017-05-19_12-33-06-300x144.png 300w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/2017-05-19_12-33-06-768x368.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/2017-05-19_12-33-06-1024x490.png 1024w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/2017-05-19_12-33-06-100x48.png 100w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/2017-05-19_12-33-06-698x334.png 698w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/2017-05-19_12-33-06-600x287.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/2017-05-19_12-33-06-315x151.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 1199px) 100vw, 1199px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Once you have organized your connections into curated lists, you can message them with content (and lead magnets) designed specifically for them.</p><p>While you also will want to share some of that content in Publisher or as an update on LinkedIn, you have a much better chance of them seeing your content if you send it to them a private message.</p><ul><li>Review your connections.</li><li>Tag them accordingly.</li><li>Create content for that targeted audience.</li><li>Send them a private message with the content link and a description of the content. (You should only send free lead magnets – not something you&#8217;re trying to sell them.)</li></ul><p>&nbsp;</p><p>4. Use Sponsored Updates to Promote an Article or Update</p><p>Finally, if you are sharing your content &#8211; either through updates or sharing Published Posts, consider paying to sponsor those updates so they are seen by a bigger network on LinkedIn.</p><p>If you have a clearly defined target market, but are not connected to them all yet, then sponsored updates will help you to reach these new leads.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-29560 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/2017-05-19_12-35-14.png" alt="linkedin lead magnet strategies" width="859" height="330" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/2017-05-19_12-35-14.png 859w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/2017-05-19_12-35-14-300x115.png 300w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/2017-05-19_12-35-14-768x295.png 768w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/2017-05-19_12-35-14-125x48.png 125w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/2017-05-19_12-35-14-600x231.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/2017-05-19_12-35-14-315x121.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 859px) 100vw, 859px"/></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>One of my clients is a very successful realtor, but was new to LinkedIn, so didn’t yet have a great network.  She came to me to help her create a strategy to grow her visibility.  The first thing we talked about was how she was NOT going to try and sell houses on LinkedIn. Rather, we were going to use LinkedIn to promote her as the “go to” resource for her community.  We had her write and share content about her community activities (where the best yoga studios, best doctors, salons and farmer’s markets were.) In fact – we repurposed a lot of content she had already created for Facebook and Instagram and lead magnets– that were still business-relevant. Since she didn’t have a big following yet, we promoted some of those articles to her very specific local market.  And she started getting invitations to connect!  If she had just plastered houses she was trying to sell all over her timeline or messaged every connection with a list of her latest properties, she would have remained invisible on LinkedIn.  Instead, she shared relevant community information with the right prospects in her area – and in turn, they think of her when they need &#8211;  or hear of someone who needs &#8211; a realtor.  She sells several homes a year through LinkedIn in this way.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>In Conclusion</h2><p>You can see that LinkedIn can in fact be a great place to grow your network, grow your visibility, grow your influence and grow your funnel.  While the tools and strategies are all there – you might just need a little help in figuring out how to put them together the right way for the best results!</p><p><img class="pinterest-hidden aligncenter wp-image-29575 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/linkedin_2_pinterest.png" alt="linkedin lead magnet strategies" width="735" height="1102" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/linkedin_2_pinterest.png 735w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/linkedin_2_pinterest-200x300.png 200w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/linkedin_2_pinterest-683x1024.png 683w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/linkedin_2_pinterest-720x1080.png 720w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/linkedin_2_pinterest-32x48.png 32w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/linkedin_2_pinterest-223x334.png 223w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/linkedin_2_pinterest-600x900.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/linkedin_2_pinterest-315x472.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 735px) 100vw, 735px"/></p><div class="wp_rp_wrap wp_rp_vertical_m" ><div class="wp_rp_content"><h3 class="related_post_title">Related posts</h3><ul class="related_post wp_rp"><li data-position="0" data-poid="in-29327" data-post-type="empty" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/email-marketing-beyond-free-report.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/email-marketing-beyond-min-315x158.png" alt="Email Marketing &#038; Beyond: Global Industry Benchmarks 2017 [Free Report]" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/email-marketing-beyond-free-report.html" class="wp_rp_title">Email Marketing &#038; Beyond: Global Industry Benchmarks 2017 [Free Report]</a></li><li data-position="1" data-poid="in-29288" data-post-type="empty" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/linkedin-automation.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/LinkedIn-Automation-min-315x158.png" alt="Automating Your Activity on LinkedIn: The DO’s and DON’Ts" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/linkedin-automation.html" class="wp_rp_title">Automating Your Activity on LinkedIn: The DO’s and DON’Ts</a></li></ul></div></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/linkedin-lead-magnet-strategies.html">Driving Leads with LinkedIn: 4 Lead Magnet Strategies to Grow Your Marketing Automation</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:36:"http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/";a:1:{s:10:"commentRss";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:70:"https://blog.getresponse.com/linkedin-lead-magnet-strategies.html/feed";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:38:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/";a:1:{s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1:"1";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:24;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:12:"            ";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:5:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:52:"Four Unconventional Ways to Improve Conversion Rates";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:78:"https://blog.getresponse.com/unconventional-ways-improve-conversion-rates.html";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:86:"https://blog.getresponse.com/unconventional-ways-improve-conversion-rates.html#respond";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 24 May 2017 15:14:45 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9:"MARKETING";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:37:"https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=29566";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:642:"<p>Most people reading this blog already know several techniques that will improve conversion rates on their landing pages. The most common technique is A/B split testing. That’s where you test one version of a landing page (version A) and compare the results against a second version of the landing page (version B). You might test [&#8230;]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/unconventional-ways-improve-conversion-rates.html">Four Unconventional Ways to Improve Conversion Rates</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:12:"Jamie Turner";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:8545:"<p>Most people reading this blog already know several techniques that will improve conversion rates on their landing pages.</p><p>The most common technique is A/B split testing. That’s where you test one version of a landing page (version A) and compare the results against a second version of the landing page (version B).</p><p><span id="more-29566"></span></p><p>You might test a different headline, or a different graphic, or even a different color for your “submit” button. By testing one variable at a time, you’ll be able to learn which version outperforms the other, and then use that version as the control against which to test future versions.</p><p>The odds are, you knew about A/B split testing already. Which is why we wanted to let you know about some of the less frequently discussed conversion optimization techniques.</p><p>Ready to get started? If so, let’s dive in.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>1. Stop worrying about your click through rate and start worrying about your secondary action rate.</h2><p>Most marketers focus on their click through rate because it’s an early indicator of whether or not a campaign is working. But <a href="http://www.xad.com/media-mentions/best-metrics-quantifying-mobile-campaign-success/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">studies from xAd and Nielsen</a> indicate that a greater predictor of success is the <em>secondary action rate</em>.</p><p>What is the secondary action rate? It’s what people do after they click through on an ad. If someone clicks an ad and arrives at a landing page, what do they do next? Do they click the “back” button on their browser? Do they scroll to the bottom of the landing page? Do they click through on specific links more than others?</p><p>Those metrics, called the secondary action rate, have been shown to be a better predictor of success than the click through rate. That means that an ad with a high click through rate but a low secondary action rate on the landing page will under-perform vs. an ad that has a low click through rate but a high secondary action rate.</p><p><strong>Action Step</strong>: Be sure to measure and monitor your secondary action rate on your landing pages. By doing so, you’ll have a higher probability of success than if you simply measured the click through rate.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>2. Customers don’t leave you because of price, they leave you because of poor customer service.</h2><p>Several years ago, <a href="https://newsroom.accenture.com/subjects/customer-relationship-management/customer-service-not-price-remains-top-cause-customer-churn-accenture-study-finds.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Accenture did research</a> on the impact price had on customer churn (the rate at which consumers abandon a brand). To their great surprise, price had less of an impact than they expected. In fact, within certain limits, they found that an improvement in customer service reduced churn better than a reduction prices did.</p><p><strong>Action Step:</strong> Re-examine your landing pages and explore ways that you can provide over-the-top customer service. Are you using chat software like LiveChat or ZenDesk on your landing pages? Do you provide a phone number for people to call as well? And what about a money-back guarantee? Those have been found to pay for themselves many times over.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>3. It’s ten times easier to sell to an existing customer than it is to sell to a new prospect.</h2><p>Want to know the easiest way to bump up the conversion rates on your landing pages? Just get the landing page in front of your existing customers. <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/patrickhull/2013/12/06/tools-for-entrepreneurs-to-retain-clients/#18f816252443" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">A study by Marketing Metrics</a> found that the probability of selling to an existing customer is 60% to 70% while the probability of selling to a new prospect is only 5% to 20%.</p><p>Targeting existing customers &#8212; wow, that’s like money in the bank!</p><p><strong>Action Step:</strong> Re-marketing campaigns, which are digital ads that can be served to people who have visited or bought something on your website, are a great tool for anyone interested in driving existing customers to their landing pages. You can also segment your e-newsletter lists into groups based on engagement with your brand. By doing so, you’ll find your conversion rates will improve significantly over time.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>4. Provide information about your product or service in groups of three. If you have more information, break it into multiple groups.</h2><p>For reasons that aren’t entirely understood, the human brain processes information best in groups of three. You may have noticed this when you’re trying to memorize something – most people can memorize 3 things (like apple, pear, banana) relatively easily, but if you add a fourth item (apple, pear, banana, peach), the odds of remembering all the items drops way off.</p><p>In similar fashion, people process information on your landing page best when they’re divided into groups of three. If you have more than three bullet points or groupings that you want people to remember, it’s best to divide it into two groups than to keep piling things on.</p><p><strong>Action Step:</strong> Take a look at your existing landing pages. Do they suffer from information overload? If so, is there a way to break them down so that the information is provided in smaller batches?</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>The ultimate goal.</h2><p>At the end of the day, we’re all trying to accomplish the same thing, which is to design a high converting landing page. For most of us, doing traditional things like A/B split testing is something we might already be doing, which is why we wanted to share some of the less conventional techniques with you in this blog post.</p><p>Take a look around at your landing pages (and other marketing materials). Then put what you’ve learned in the blog post into action. By taking action on what you’ve learned, you’ll be well on your way to success.</p><p><img class="pinterest-hidden aligncenter wp-image-29571 size-full" src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/improve-conversion-ratesPIN-min.png" alt="unconventional ways to improve conversion rates" width="735" height="1102" srcset="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/improve-conversion-ratesPIN-min.png 735w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/improve-conversion-ratesPIN-min-200x300.png 200w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/improve-conversion-ratesPIN-min-683x1024.png 683w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/improve-conversion-ratesPIN-min-720x1080.png 720w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/improve-conversion-ratesPIN-min-32x48.png 32w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/improve-conversion-ratesPIN-min-223x334.png 223w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/improve-conversion-ratesPIN-min-600x900.png 600w, https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/05/improve-conversion-ratesPIN-min-315x472.png 315w" sizes="(max-width: 735px) 100vw, 735px"/></p><div class="wp_rp_wrap wp_rp_vertical_m" ><div class="wp_rp_content"><h3 class="related_post_title">Related posts</h3><ul class="related_post wp_rp"><li data-position="0" data-poid="in-29027" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/new-mobile-workspace.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/04/1600x800-min-315x158.png" alt="Announcing the New Mobile Workspace for Landing Pages" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/new-mobile-workspace.html" class="wp_rp_title">Announcing the New Mobile Workspace for Landing Pages</a></li><li data-position="1" data-poid="in-29073" data-post-type="none" ><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/thank-you-page.html" class="wp_rp_thumbnail"><img src="https://blog.getresponse.com/uploads/2017/04/thank-you-pages-min-315x158.png" alt="How to Create the Perfect Thank You Page: An Epic Guide" width="315"/></a><a href="https://blog.getresponse.com/thank-you-page.html" class="wp_rp_title">How to Create the Perfect Thank You Page: An Epic Guide</a></li></ul></div></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com/unconventional-ways-improve-conversion-rates.html">Four Unconventional Ways to Improve Conversion Rates</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.getresponse.com">GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:36:"http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/";a:1:{s:10:"commentRss";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:83:"https://blog.getresponse.com/unconventional-ways-improve-conversion-rates.html/feed";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:38:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/";a:1:{s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1:"0";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}}}s:27:"http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom";a:1:{s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:0:"";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:3:{s:4:"href";s:33:"https://blog.getresponse.com/feed";s:3:"rel";s:4:"self";s:4:"type";s:19:"application/rss+xml";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:44:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/";a:2:{s:12:"updatePeriod";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6:"hourly";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:15:"updateFrequency";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1:"1";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}}}}}}}}s:4:"type";i:128;s:7:"headers";a:14:{s:6:"server";s:5:"nginx";s:4:"date";s:29:"Wed, 21 Jun 2017 06:03:48 GMT";s:12:"content-type";s:34:"application/rss+xml; charset=UTF-8";s:10:"set-cookie";s:44:"PHPSESSID=2rfpnekl9o7ktfm4renk399e47; path=/";s:7:"expires";s:29:"Thu, 19 Nov 1981 08:52:00 GMT";s:13:"cache-control";s:62:"no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate, post-check=0, pre-check=0";s:6:"pragma";s:8:"no-cache";s:35:"content-security-policy-report-only";s:171:"default-src https: 'unsafe-inline' 'unsafe-eval'; img-src https: data:; font-src https: data:; report-uri https://ls.getresponse.com/log/csp_report?source=getresponse-blog";s:13:"last-modified";s:29:"Tue, 20 Jun 2017 17:08:17 GMT";s:4:"etag";s:39:""1efca49cc763fd25cc4a9efa1c5dc966-gzip"";s:12:"x-robots-tag";s:15:"noindex, follow";s:4:"link";s:63:"<https://blog.getresponse.com/wp-json/>; rel=https://api.w.org/";s:4:"vary";s:15:"Accept-Encoding";s:16:"content-encoding";s:4:"gzip";}s:5:"build";s:14:"20170320111500";}