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September 30, 2026

Why Most Giveaways Fail to Generate Long-Term Customers

A giveaway wraps up. The entry count looks great, and the team calls it a win. Then three months pass, and none of it shows up anywhere that matters. No bump in repeat purchases. No real growth in the customer list. Just a folder of names nobody opens again.

This happens a lot. Giveaways are easy to run and easy to measure right after launch. Entries are visible, they’re easy to count, and they look great on a recap slide. But entries are not customers. Treating them like the same thing is the root of the problem. The mistakes that cause it aren’t new, either. The same few show up in giveaway after giveaway, and most of them have a straightforward fix once a brand knows to look.

The Prize Attracted the Wrong Crowd

The most common mistake starts before the contest even launches: the prize itself.

A gift card, cash, or a popular gadget with no real link to the brand pulls in a huge crowd. It also pulls in people who have zero interest in what the brand actually sells. These are the accounts that follow every giveaway on their feed, enter dozens a week, and unfollow the moment the winner is picked. Lots of entries, very little interest, and almost no chance any of them become a paying customer.

A prize tied to the product does the opposite. Fewer entries, sure, but the people who show up already care about the category. They’re not there for a free gadget. They’re there because they actually want what the brand makes.

Picking a Prize on Purpose, Not by Habit

This is a tradeoff brands need to make on purpose instead of stumbling into. A big generic prize will always win on raw entry numbers. A relevant prize wins on the number that actually matters six months down the line: how many entrants turn into customers.

Entry Mechanics Never Asked for Anything Useful

Plenty of giveaways ask for the bare minimum. An email address, maybe a follow, maybe a tag. That’s fast for the entrant, but it leaves the brand with almost nothing to work with once the contest is over.

Now compare that to an entry form with a short preference question, a product pick, or a quick quiz. Same effort from the entrant, but now the brand actually learns something. Which product they like. What problem they’re trying to solve. What kind of message might land with them later.

Without that extra layer, every entrant looks identical on paper. A brand has nothing to personalize a follow-up with, so everyone ends up getting the same generic email. Generic emails get generic results.

The One Question Most Forms Skip

A lot of teams drop this question from the form on the assumption that any extra step costs entries. That assumption rarely holds up. One short question barely moves the total number, and the payoff down the line outweighs whatever small dip it might cause on launch day. A brand that asks nothing upfront ends up guessing at everything downstream. A brand that asks one good question skips the guessing entirely.

This has to be fixed at the entry form, not after the fact. Once the contest closes, there’s no way to go back and ask people questions they were never asked to begin with.

The Follow-Up That Never Got Built

This mistake shows up more than any other, and it’s rarely about effort. It’s about where that effort went.

Almost all the planning time on a giveaway goes toward the launch. The creative, the prize, the entry flow, getting the page live. The period after the winner is announced usually gets one “thanks for entering” email and nothing else. Not because anyone decided that on purpose, but because the team is tired, the budget’s gone, and announcing the winner gets treated as the finish line.

But the interest a contest builds doesn’t disappear the day the winner is picked. People who entered are still paying attention right after that announcement. That’s exactly the moment a brand needs a real follow-up plan, and it’s exactly the moment most brands leave empty.

A giveaway with no post-contest plan isn’t really a customer acquisition campaign. It’s a short spike in attention with nothing built to hold onto it.

Everyone Got Treated the Same Way

A flat list of entrants isn’t really an asset yet. It only becomes one once it’s split apart by how each person engaged.

The winner deserves a different message than someone who only submitted an email and did nothing else. Someone who answered a product quiz deserves different follow-up than someone who spent ten seconds on the page. And any existing customers who happened to enter shouldn’t get pushed into a generic “welcome to the brand” series they don’t need.

Skipping this step means every entrant gets the exact same email no matter how engaged they were. That makes a genuinely interested entrant feel like just another name on a list, and it wastes whatever signal the entry form managed to collect.

The Follow-Up Was One Email, Not a Real Sequence

Even brands that do send something after the contest often send just one message, usually the same day the winner is announced. That single email tries to do everything at once. Thank people, promote a product, ask for a follow, and push a sale, all in one shot.

What a Real Sequence Looks Like

A real sequence starts somewhere, builds, and ends somewhere else. The opening message tells people who won, thanks everyone for showing up, and leaves them with a reason to stick around. A second message goes out a few days later with something for everyone who didn’t win, usually a small offer that rewards them without asking for a full purchase. Only after that does the sequence move into an actual product message, ideally tied to whatever the entrant showed interest in during the contest.

Cramming all of that into one email doesn’t just weaken the message. It burns through the best window a brand has to keep the conversation going, since entrants are only paying close attention for a short stretch right around the announcement.

Retargeting Stopped at the Entry List

A lot of brands treat the entrant list as the whole audience worth retargeting, which leaves a big chunk of interested traffic completely untouched.

Anyone who landed on the entry page and left without finishing is a warmer prospect than cold traffic, even if they never actually entered. So is anyone who clicked in from an ad but bounced off the landing page. None of that traffic shows up in the entrant list, but all of it saw the brand and showed some interest.

The other common mistake is running the same ad creative for weeks after the contest ends. Entrants have already sat through a lot of the brand’s messaging in a short window, so that creative goes stale fast. Once the contest wraps, the ad message should pivot toward an actual product or offer instead of repeating a pitch people have already seen.

Lookalike Audiences Get Skipped Too

There’s a second retargeting mistake that’s easy to miss because it doesn’t involve the entrant list at all. A well-run contest produces a useful seed audience for lookalike targeting on paid social, and a lot of brands never build one. The entrants who converted into customers, not just anyone who entered, make the strongest seed group. Skipping this step means the brand only ever markets back to people it already reached, instead of using the contest to find new prospects who look like the ones who actually stuck around.

User-Generated Content Went Straight Into a Folder

If the contest asked people to submit photos, videos, or captions, that content is usually the most wasted asset from the whole campaign.

Real customer photos make better social proof than studio shots most people don’t fully trust anymore. UGC often performs better than polished brand creative in paid social. A recap post brings back people who didn’t enter this time but might next time. None of that happens if the submissions just sit in a folder after the winner is picked.

The other piece brands miss is permissions. Reposting UGC on social and running it in paid ads usually need different levels of rights, and that has to be checked against the official contest rules before any of it goes back out. Skip that check, and content that could have been an asset turns into a legal headache instead.

The Data Never Made It Into the CRM

Even a contest with good segmentation and a solid follow-up plan can still fail long-term if the data dies with the campaign. Contest data sitting in its own spreadsheet, cut off from the brand’s real CRM and lifecycle marketing, is only useful for as long as that one email sequence runs.

Tagging contacts by entry source lets a brand compare contest-driven leads against other channels later on. What matters is how many entrants become paying customers, not how many opened an email. Get quiz answers and preferences into the brand’s personalization work, and a contest stops being a one-off and starts paying off long after it ends.

Nobody Defined What Success Meant Before Launch

The last mistake is the quietest one, and it’s why so many giveaways get called a win when they really weren’t. If a brand only decides what success looks like after the campaign wraps, entry count becomes the default measure, since it’s the easiest number sitting right there.

Setting a thirty- and sixty-day checkpoint before the contest even launches changes that. A target open rate for the follow-up emails. A conversion goal for the retargeted audience. Several UGC pieces cleared for reuse. Picking those numbers ahead of time is what forces a team to actually check back in two months later, instead of letting the whole campaign’s success rest on how big the entry count looked on day one.

Measuring the Right Numbers

Part of why entry count sticks around as the default metric is that it’s the only number that exists the moment the contest closes. Email engagement by segment, retargeting conversion, repeat purchases among entrants, and cleared UGC all take weeks to show up, and by then attention has usually moved to the next campaign.

That’s a reporting problem more than a results problem. A brand that builds a short checklist ahead of time, reviewed at thirty days and again at sixty, gets to see the real outcome instead of guessing at it.

Did entrants from the relevant-prize group convert at a better rate than the ones chasing a generic prize? Did the segmented sequence outperform a single blast email? Those answers only exist if someone bothers to check, and checking only happens when it’s built into the plan from the start rather than left for whoever remembers later.

Fixing the Pattern

None of these mistakes are really about the entry phase. That part usually works fine. Brands are good at getting people to enter something when there’s a decent prize attached.

Where things fall apart is everything the entry phase was supposed to set up. A prize that attracts the right people. An entry form that collects something useful. A segmented list. A real follow-up sequence with an actual arc. Retargeting that reaches past the entrant list. A plan for the content people submitted. And a way to feed all of it into the CRM so it doesn’t disappear the moment the campaign ends.

A giveaway that skips all of this can still hit its entry goal and still fail at the one thing that actually matters: turning a stranger’s five seconds of attention into someone who sticks around. The entry count was never the finish line. It was just the point where the real work was supposed to start.

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  • Analytics, Contest Marketing, Digital Marketing, Instant Win Game Promotion

Gamification & Interactive Mechanics That Drive Participation

 

Most contests fail because they’re passive. Enter your email, click submit, and wait. There’s no excitement, no incentive to share, and no reason to come back. That’s not engagement. That’s a checkbox. 

Gamification changes that. It isn’t about adding flashy games just for fun. It’s about designing interactive systems that tap into how people actually think and behave. When done right, gamified contests can boost participation, drive referrals, and turn one-time visitors into active brand advocates. 

In this article, we’ll break down the psychology behind gamification and show you how to create interactive experiences that feel like play and convert with purpose. 

Why Gamified Contests Work: The Psychology of Participation 

Before you pick a contest format, it helps to understand what actually motivates people to engage. Gamified contests work because they tap into core psychological triggers that make people want to participate, not just click and exit. 

Humans are wired for rewards, competition, and surprise. We like the thrill of winning, the satisfaction of progress, and the chance to show off. Interactive formats like spin-to-win wheels or instant scratch cards activate these instincts and turn a passive form into an active experience. 

Here are the three biggest psychological drivers behind successful gamified promotions: 

  1. Variable Rewards

Not knowing what you’ll win is often more powerful than the prize itself. Instant win games, spin wheels, and scratch cards keep people coming back because they’re unpredictable. The suspense fuels excitement and encourages repeat interaction. 

  1. Social Proof and Peer Comparison

When people see others participating, sharing, or climbing a leaderboard, it pushes them to join in. Refer-a-friend campaigns and public rankings create a sense of competition and community. Nobody wants to be left behind when their peers are unlocking rewards. 

  1. Progress Tracking

Games that let users earn points, unlock levels, or complete milestones encourage repeat visits and long-term engagement. People love to see progress. It gives them a reason to come back and finish what they started. 

Gamification works not because it’s trendy, but because it speaks to how people naturally behave. Use these triggers thoughtfully, and you’ll create a contest experience people actually want to be part of — and share. 

Proven Interactive Contest Formats That Boost Participation 

Gamified contests are successful when they do two things well: get people to enter and keep them engaged. Below are proven formats that consistently boost participation, time on page, and shares — especially when combined with a strong reward structure and follow-up strategy. 

  1. Spin-to-Win Wheels

This format offers instant gratification with very little friction. Users spin the wheel, get a prize, and feel like they’ve won something — even if it’s a small discount. 

  • Great for collecting emails quickly
     
  • Easy to embed on pop-ups or landing pages
     
  • Add scarcity by limiting big wins to a set number per day
     
  1. Instant Win Games

People love knowing immediately if they’ve won. That sense of instant feedback is powerful. 

  • Encourages repeat participation and return visits
     
  • Works well with countdown timers or daily entry limits
     
  • Example: “Check back tomorrow for another chance to win”
     
  1. Refer-a-Friend Bonuses

Contests become more valuable when they spread organically. Give users more chances to win when they share with others. 

  • Offer extra spins or entries for each successful referral
     
  • Display progress visually: “Invite 3 more friends to unlock your bonus prize”
     
  • Helps build social proof and trust around the contest
     
  1. Leaderboards and Point Systems

If your audience is community-driven or uses your app frequently, this format builds long-term engagement. 

  • Assign points for actions like sharing, posting UGC, or repeat visits
     
  • Display rankings publicly to increase competition
     
  • Ideal for fitness apps, education platforms, or gaming communities
     
  1. Scratch & Reveal or Unlockables

This format feels tactile and fun, especially on mobile. 

  • Great for layered promos like “Reveal your discount” or “Unlock the product drop”
     
  • Works well with coupon-based ecommerce, especially during sales or product launches
     
  • Adds a sense of mystery and anticipation
     

The key to success with these formats is matching the game mechanic to your audience and business goals. Keep it fun, fast, and focused on driving action — not just entries. 

Make It Mobile-First or Risk Losing Entries 

If your contest isn’t optimized for mobile, you’re leaving conversions on the table. Most users will discover your giveaway through social media, email, or mobile search. If the experience doesn’t load fast and feel smooth on a phone, they’ll exit before you get the lead. 

Here’s how to make your gamified contest mobile-ready: 

  1. Keep Entry Forms Short

Ask for the bare minimum. First name and email are enough. You can include one optional field for segmentation, but avoid asking too much up front. 

  1. Design Game Elements for Small Screens

Whether it’s a spin wheel, scratch card, or progress bar, test all interactive elements on mobile. Buttons should be easy to tap, animations should load fast, and nothing should break the layout. 

  1. Avoid Multi-Step Forms Without Visible Progress

If your contest includes several steps, show clear progress. Use percentages or a progress bar to let users know how close they are to finishing. 

  1. Use Auto-Fill and Social Logins

Speed matters. Enable auto-fill for name and email fields. Allow entry through Google, Apple, or Facebook login to reduce friction. 

  1. Test in Social Media App Browsers

Your audience will likely find the contest through Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook. Open your landing page inside those apps and test for speed, responsiveness, and formatting issues. 

Mobile-first design is not optional. Keep the experience fast, simple, and smooth so your contest works exactly where your audience already is — on their phones. 

Boost Visibility and UGC Through Gamified Mechanics 

Contests can do more than drive entries. With the right mechanics, they can generate user-generated content (UGC) that builds trust, expands your reach, and fuels your marketing across channels. 

Here’s how to turn participation into content you can actually use: 

  1. Reward Creative Actions

Encourage participants to complete a task in exchange for bonus entries or exclusive rewards. This turns them into co-creators instead of passive entrants.
Examples: 

  • Upload a themed photo to earn 5 extra spins
     
  • Record a short video testimonial for a VIP prize draw
     
  • Share their own product review or tutorial for bonus entries
     
  1. Feature Submissions Publicly

Showcase top user submissions during the campaign. Share photos, stories, or videos on your social feeds and emails. This creates FOMO and encourages others to jump in. People love seeing their content featured by brands. 

  1. Use Timed Prompts to Keep Momentum

Keep things fresh by rolling out daily or weekly challenges. Ask users to respond to a new prompt, like posting a “before and after” or sharing their favorite product hack. Timed prompts keep your campaign from going stale. 

  1. Let Users Vote

Allow your audience to vote on submitted content. This turns casual viewers into active participants and spreads visibility through shares. It also increases trust by showing authentic engagement from real users. 

  1. Combine UGC with Prizes

Offer weekly or daily rewards for the best submission. This motivates higher quality content and keeps participation high throughout the contest. 

UGC makes your campaign work twice as hard. It brings in new traffic, builds social proof, and gives you creative assets to repurpose long after the contest ends. 

Post-Game Strategy: What to Do After the Fun Ends 

The contest is over, but your work isn’t. If you stop engaging users once the campaign ends, you lose the momentum you worked hard to build. 

To turn those interactions into long-term value, follow up with a clear and strategic plan. 

  1. Send Immediate, Personalized Follow-Ups

Once the contest ends, trigger automated emails based on each user’s experience. 

  • Example: “You unlocked 10% off. Here’s how to use it before it expires.”
     
  • Winners should receive redemption instructions and a thank-you message
     
  • Non-winners should get a consolation offer or an invite to your next campaign
     
  1. Segment Based on Engagement

Group your participants based on their actions so you can tailor future messaging. 

  • Users who shared the contest are potential brand advocates
     
  • Those who referred friends often become high-lifetime-value customers
     
  • Anyone who uploaded user-generated content is more likely to join loyalty or referral programs
     
  1. Keep High-Engagement Users in Your Inner Circle

Some participants go above and beyond. They share multiple times, create strong content, or drive several referrals. Keep them close. 

  • Invite them to future exclusive campaigns
     
  • Give early access to product launches
     
  • Feature their content in follow-up promotions or on your social media
     

A contest doesn’t end when the winner is announced. It should mark the start of a deeper customer relationship that fuels long-term growth. 

Conclusion: Make Contests Worth Participating In 

If your contest feels like a chore, people won’t engage. The best campaigns are simple, fun, and built with the user in mind. When you create experiences that are mobile-friendly, rewarding, and interactive, you don’t just get entries — you earn attention, referrals, and lasting brand connection. 

Gamified mechanics reduce acquisition costs, boost participation, and generate content you can use long after the contest ends. 

If you want to build a campaign that your audience actually wants to play and share, The Content Factory is here to help. Let’s create something that delivers real ROI. 

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  • Advertising, Digital Marketing

Unlocking the Power of Programmatic Advertising for SMBs

In the fast-evolving digital landscape, visual content is more important than ever. As people increasingly rely on images to convey information, search engines and AI-driven tools like Google Lens are adapting to prioritize visual search. For businesses, content creators, and marketers, this shift means that optimizing images for Google Lens and search engines is no longer optional—it’s imperative. Here’s why:

The Rise of Visual Search

Visual search is transforming how users interact with the web. Instead of typing queries, users can now snap a photo or upload an image to find related information, products, or services. Google Lens, one of the most popular visual search tools, is at the forefront of this trend. As more consumers embrace visual search, ensuring your images are optimized for these tools becomes crucial to maintaining visibility.

Enhanced User Experience

When images are optimized for Google Lens and search, users can find exactly what they’re looking for faster and more accurately. Whether it’s identifying a product, finding similar items, or gathering more information about an object, well-optimized images improve the overall user experience. This not only helps in satisfying existing customers but also attracts new ones by offering a seamless search experience.

Increased Traffic and Engagement

Optimized images can significantly boost your website’s traffic. Google Lens and image search capabilities enable users to discover your content through new avenues. For instance, a user might find a product on your site by taking a photo of a similar item elsewhere. When your images are properly optimized, they are more likely to appear in these searches, driving organic traffic and increasing engagement on your site.

Better SEO Performance

Search engines like Google increasingly prioritize visual content. By optimizing your images with relevant alt text, metadata, and structured data, you enhance your SEO performance. This optimization helps search engines understand your content better, making it more likely to appear in relevant search results. Over time, this can improve your site’s rankings, visibility, and overall search engine performance.

Competitive Advantage

As visual search becomes more common, those who invest in image optimization will gain a competitive edge. Many businesses have yet to fully embrace the potential of visual search, meaning there’s a substantial opportunity to stand out. By optimizing your images for Google Lens and search, you position your brand ahead of competitors who may be slower to adopt these practices.

Supporting E-commerce Growth

For e-commerce businesses, image optimization is particularly critical. Consumers often use visual search tools like Google Lens to find products they’re interested in buying. By ensuring your product images are optimized, you make it easier for potential customers to discover and purchase your items. This can directly lead to higher conversion rates and sales.

Adapting to Future Trends

The digital landscape is continuously evolving, with AI and machine learning playing a larger role in search technologies. Google Lens and similar tools are only going to become more sophisticated, and visual search will likely become a standard part of the online shopping and browsing experience. By optimizing your images now, you’re preparing your brand for future trends and ensuring long-term relevance.

Now that we know you need to do this, let’s review how you do this – after all, this is what a user would search as most folks already use it and know you need it:

To ensure your images can be easily found using Google Lens, you can follow these best practices:

  1. High-Quality Images: Use clear, high-resolution images. Google Lens relies on visual details to recognize and match images, so sharp, detailed photos are more likely to be accurately identified.
  2. Alt Text and Metadata: Add descriptive alt text to your images, which helps search engines understand the content of the image. Including relevant metadata, such as file name, title, and description, can also improve searchability.
  3. Contextual Placement: Place your images in relevant and descriptive content. Google Lens often considers the surrounding text on a webpage when matching images, so ensuring your image is in context with related keywords and descriptions can be helpful.
  4. Image Sitemaps: Use image sitemaps to help Google discover your images. This is particularly important if you have images that are dynamically loaded or are not easily found by standard crawling processes.
  5. Unique and Relevant Content: Ensure your images are unique and not just generic stock photos. Google Lens is better at identifying distinctive images that are tied to specific content.
  6. Structured Data: Implement structured data (schema markup) for your images. This helps search engines understand the context of the images and can improve the chances of your images being found through Google Lens.
  7. Image Consistency: Avoid excessive editing that alters the content of the image too much, as this might confuse Google Lens. Consistent visual elements help with recognition.
  8. Proper Image Hosting: Ensure your images are hosted on a reliable and fast server. Slow-loading images might not be indexed properly or could be skipped by search engines.

By following these steps, your images will have a better chance of being found and recognized by Google Lens.

In a world where visual content is increasingly driving search behavior, optimizing your images for Google Lens and search engines is essential. From enhancing user experience to boosting SEO performance and gaining a competitive edge, the benefits are clear. By taking the time to properly optimize your images, you ensure that your content is accessible, discoverable, and effective in reaching your target audience. Don’t wait—start optimizing your images today and position your brand for success in the visual search era.

 

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  • Digital Analytics, Digital Marketing, eMail Marketing, Marketing

The Best CRMs for SMBs and Enterprises: A Comprehensive Review

Customer Relationship Management, the Heart of Your Marketing Stack 

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software has become an essential tool for businesses of all sizes, helping manage interactions with customers, streamline processes, and improve the customer journey while also increasing profitability. However, choosing the right CRM can be a daunting task, especially when considering the unique needs of small-to-medium businesses (SMBs) and enterprise-level organizations. In this blog, we’ll review some of the best CRMs available, categorizing them by customer segments and discussing their outstanding benefits and limitations, along with pricing information. 

Best CRMs for Small-to-Medium Businesses (SMBs) 

HubSpot CRM 

Website: HubSpot CRM 

Benefits: 

User-Friendly Interface: HubSpot offers an intuitive interface that makes it easy for teams to adopt and use. 

Free Tier: The free version includes essential features like contact management, email tracking, and reporting tools, making it accessible for small businesses. 

Automations: HubSpot offers a variety of automation features across its different hubs (Marketing, Sales, Service, and CMS) to help streamline processes and enhance productivity. Here are some key automation capabilities: 

Marketing Hub Automations: 

Email Marketing Automation: Create automated email workflows based on user behavior and preferences. 

Lead Scoring: Automatically score leads based on interactions and criteria you define. 

Social Media Scheduling: Schedule posts and automate social media interactions. 

Forms & Lead Capture: Automatically trigger actions based on form submissions, like sending a follow-up email. 

Workflows: Set up complex workflows to nurture leads and manage contacts based on specific criteria. 

API Integrations: Automate data transfer between Hubspot and other tools 

Chatbot Automation: Use chatbots 24/7 for customer support and lead qualifications 

Report Automation: Schedule reports to be generated and sent to team members regularly. 

Limitations: 

Limited Features in Free Version: While the free version is robust, advanced features require a paid subscription. 

Scaling Issues: As businesses grow, some users find that HubSpot’s features become limiting without upgrading. 

Pricing: Free for the basic version; paid plans start at $50/month for the Starter plan. 

 

Zoho CRM 

Website: Zoho CRM 

Benefits: 

Customization: Zoho offers extensive customization options, allowing businesses to tailor the CRM to their specific needs. 

Affordable Pricing: Competitive pricing tiers make it accessible for SMBs. 

Automation Features: Includes workflow automation, email automation, and lead scoring, helping to streamline processes. 

Marketing Automation 

Workflow Rules: Set up automated actions based on specific triggers, such as lead creation, updates, or stage changes in the sales pipeline. 

Email Campaigns: Automate targeted email campaigns based on customer segments or behavior. 

Lead Assignment: Automatically assign leads to sales reps based on predefined criteria (e.g., territory, workload). 

Lead Scoring: Automate scoring of leads based on interactions and characteristics to prioritize follow-up. 

Automated Reports: Schedule and automate the generation and delivery of reports to relevant stakeholders. 

Social Media Integration: Automate social media interactions and lead capture through integrated campaigns. 

Web Forms: Automatically collect leads through integrated web forms that feed directly into the CRM. 

Limitations: 

Steep Learning Curve: Users may find the interface overwhelming at first due to its numerous features. 

Occasional Performance Issues: Some users report slow load times and occasional glitches. 

Pricing: Plans start at $14/user/month for the Standard plan, with a free tier available for up to 3 users. 

 

Pipedrive 

Website: Pipedrive 

Benefits: 

Sales-Focused: Designed specifically for sales teams, it provides a clear sales pipeline and tracking tools. 

Visual Pipeline Management: Users can easily visualize their sales processes, which helps in forecasting and managing leads. 

Automations: Pipedrive offers a range of automation features designed to streamline sales processes, enhance productivity, and improve customer relationship management. 

Marketing Automations 

Customizable Workflows: Create automated workflows based on specific triggers and conditions, such as deal stage changes or contact updates. 

If/Then Logic: Set conditions to automate actions, allowing for tailored responses based on your pipeline dynamics. 

Automated Email Campaigns: Send personalized emails based on triggers, such as when a lead enters a particular stage in the pipeline. 

Lead Assignment: Automatically assign leads to team members based on predefined criteria, such as geographic location or workload. 

Third-Party Integrations: Connect Pipedrive with other tools (like email platforms, marketing software, and more) to automate data syncing and task completion. 

Automated Reports: Schedule reports to be generated and sent to stakeholders regularly, providing insights into sales performance and pipeline status. 

Field Updates: Automate updates to custom fields based on certain actions, ensuring your data stays current without manual input. 

Smart Contact Data: Use AI to automatically enrich contact data and provide insights for better engagement. 

Limitations: 

Limited Customer Support: Some users report that customer support could be more responsive. 

Lack of Advanced Features: Compared to larger CRM platforms, it may lack features like advanced reporting and analytics. 

Pricing: Plans start at $15/user/month for the Essential plan. 

 

Best CRMs for Enterprise-Level Organizations 

Salesforce 

Website: Salesforce 

Benefits: 

Comprehensive Features: Salesforce offers a robust set of features including analytics, automation, and AI-driven insights. 

Customizable: Highly customizable to fit various industries and business processes. 

Scalability: Designed to scale with your business, making it suitable for large organizations. 

Limitations: 

Complexity: The extensive features can make it complex to navigate, especially for new users. 

High Cost: Pricing can be significantly higher than other options, which may deter smaller organizations. Talent is very expensive to operate, consult, or hire. 

Pricing: Plans start at $25/user/month for the Essentials plan, with higher tiers available for more features. 

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 

Website: Microsoft Dynamics 365 

Benefits: 

Integration with Microsoft Products: Seamless integration with other Microsoft tools, making it a great choice for organizations already using Microsoft software. 

Customizable Dashboards: Offers powerful reporting and analytics capabilities with customizable dashboards. 

AI and Machine Learning Features: Incorporates AI features to help predict customer behavior and enhance decision-making. 

Limitations: 

Costly Add-Ons: Many useful features come as add-ons, which can increase overall costs. 

Steeper Learning Curve: Users may require training to fully leverage the platform’s capabilities. 

Pricing: Plans start at $70/user/month for the Sales Professional plan. 

 

Oracle CRM 

Website: Oracle CRM 

Benefits: 

Robust Functionality: Offers comprehensive features for sales, marketing, and customer service, ideal for large organizations. 

Strong Analytics: Advanced analytics capabilities allow for deep insights into customer behavior and sales performance. 

Customization: Highly customizable to meet the needs of different industries. 

Limitations: 

Complex Implementation: Initial setup and implementation can be complex and time-consuming. 

High Cost: Pricing is generally on the higher end, which may be a barrier for smaller enterprises. 

Pricing: Pricing varies based on the specific needs of the business; interested users should contact Oracle for a quote. 

Conclusion 

Choosing the right CRM for your business depends significantly on your specific needs, size, and budget. For SMBs, options like HubSpot CRM, Zoho CRM, and Pipedrive provide user-friendly interfaces and essential features at competitive prices. Conversely, larger enterprises may benefit from the comprehensive functionalities of Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and Oracle CRM, albeit with higher costs and complexities. 

When considering a CRM, it’s essential to evaluate both the benefits and limitations of each platform. Trial periods or demos can also provide invaluable insights into how well a CRM will meet your organization’s unique needs. Ultimately, the right CRM will enhance your customer relationships, streamline operations, and contribute to long-term success. 

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  • Digital Marketing, SEO

Optimize Your Images for Google Lens for the WIN

In the fast-evolving digital landscape, visual content is more important than ever. As people increasingly rely on images to convey information, search engines and AI-driven tools like Google Lens are adapting to prioritize visual search. For businesses, content creators, and marketers, this shift means that optimizing images for Google Lens and search engines is no longer optional—it’s imperative. Here’s why: 

The Rise of Visual Search 

Visual search is transforming how users interact with the web. Instead of typing queries, users can now snap a photo or upload an image to find related information, products, or services. Google Lens, one of the most popular visual search tools, is at the forefront of this trend. As more consumers embrace visual search, ensuring your images are optimized for these tools becomes crucial to maintaining visibility. 

Enhanced User Experience 

When images are optimized for Google Lens and search, users can find exactly what they’re looking for faster and more accurately. Whether it’s identifying a product, finding similar items, or gathering more information about an object, well-optimized images improve the overall user experience. This not only helps in satisfying existing customers but also attracts new ones by offering a seamless search experience. 

Increased Traffic and Engagement 

Optimized images can significantly boost your website’s traffic. Google Lens and image search capabilities enable users to discover your content through new avenues. For instance, a user might find a product on your site by taking a photo of a similar item elsewhere. When your images are properly optimized, they are more likely to appear in these searches, driving organic traffic and increasing engagement on your site. 

Better SEO Performance 

Search engines like Google increasingly prioritize visual content. By optimizing your images with relevant alt text, metadata, and structured data, you enhance your SEO performance. This optimization helps search engines understand your content better, making it more likely to appear in relevant search results. Over time, this can improve your site’s rankings, visibility, and overall search engine performance. 

Competitive Advantage 

As visual search becomes more common, those who invest in image optimization will gain a competitive edge. Many businesses have yet to fully embrace the potential of visual search, meaning there’s a substantial opportunity to stand out. By optimizing your images for Google Lens and search, you position your brand ahead of competitors who may be slower to adopt these practices. 

Supporting E-commerce Growth 

For e-commerce businesses, image optimization is particularly critical. Consumers often use visual search tools like Google Lens to find products they’re interested in buying. By ensuring your product images are optimized, you make it easier for potential customers to discover and purchase your items. This can directly lead to higher conversion rates and sales. 

Adapting to Future Trends 

The digital landscape is continuously evolving, with AI and machine learning playing a larger role in search technologies. Google Lens and similar tools are only going to become more sophisticated, and visual search will likely become a standard part of the online shopping and browsing experience. By optimizing your images now, you’re preparing your brand for future trends and ensuring long-term relevance. 

Now that we know you need to do this, let’s review how you do this – after all, this is what a user would search as most folks already use it and know you need it: 

To ensure your images can be easily found using Google Lens, you can follow these best practices: 

  1. High-Quality Images: Use clear, high-resolution images. Google Lens relies on visual details to recognize and match images, so sharp, detailed photos are more likely to be accurately identified. 
  2. Alt Text and Metadata: Add descriptive alt text to your images, which helps search engines understand the content of the image. Including relevant metadata, such as file name, title, and description, can also improve searchability. 
  3. Contextual Placement: Place your images in relevant and descriptive content. Google Lens often considers the surrounding text on a webpage when matching images, so ensuring your image is in context with related keywords and descriptions can be helpful. 
  4. Image Sitemaps: Use image sitemaps to help Google discover your images. This is particularly important if you have images that are dynamically loaded or are not easily found by standard crawling processes. 
  5. Unique and Relevant Content: Ensure your images are unique and not just generic stock photos. Google Lens is better at identifying distinctive images that are tied to specific content. 
  6. Structured Data: Implement structured data (schema markup) for your images. This helps search engines understand the context of the images and can improve the chances of your images being found through Google Lens. 
  7. Image Consistency: Avoid excessive editing that alters the content of the image too much, as this might confuse Google Lens. Consistent visual elements help with recognition. 
  8. Proper Image Hosting: Ensure your images are hosted on a reliable and fast server. Slow-loading images might not be indexed properly or could be skipped by search engines. 

By following these steps, your images will have a better chance of being found and recognized by Google Lens. 

In a world where visual content is increasingly driving search behavior, optimizing your images for Google Lens and search engines is essential. From enhancing user experience to boosting SEO performance and gaining a competitive edge, the benefits are clear. By taking the time to properly optimize your images, you ensure that your content is accessible, discoverable, and effective in reaching your target audience. Don’t wait—start optimizing your images today and position your brand for success in the visual search era. 

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  • Digital Analytics, Digital Marketing

Server Side Tracking: Why You Need It to Survive

Server Side Tracking Will Save You From the Death of the Cookie

Ever wonder how websites keep tabs on your every move? That’s where server side tracking steps in. It’s not just about snooping on your online activities; it’s about survival in the digital jungle. With server-side tracking, your website gains the upper hand by gathering vital data straight from the source. 

No more relying solely on client-side tracking. It’s about you taking control of your data game, understanding your audience better, and making smarter decisions. So buckle up and dive into the world of server-side tracking because in today’s online landscape, it’s not just a luxury—it’s a necessity for survival.

Understanding SST

When you hear the term “server side tracking,” you might wonder what it really involves. Essentially, server side tracking is a method where data about user interactions on a website is processed and stored directly on the server, rather than on your browser. This is a pivotal shift from traditional client-side tracking, which relies on cookies and other methods within your browser to gather data.

So, how does server side tracking differ from what you’re used to with client-side tracking? The key difference lies in where the data collection takes place. With client-side tracking, your browser plays a major role in capturing and sending data. This often exposes the data to various risks, including blocking by privacy tools. Server side tracking, however, minimizes these risks by handling everything server-side. This means less dependency on your browser and more control over the privacy and accuracy of the data collected.

The benefits of server side tracking for your website can be significant. For starters, it offers enhanced data security and privacy, aligning better with global privacy regulations like GDPR. It also ensures more reliable data collection, as it’s less susceptible to being blocked by ad blockers or failing due to poor internet connections. 

Moreover, server side tracking can lead to faster page load times for your visitors, as there’s less strain on their browsers during data collection. These advantages make server side tracking an essential tool for maintaining robust and respectful user analytics.

The Need for Survival

In today’s digital age, the need for server-side tracking is becoming increasingly critical for your business’s survival. As the landscape of online tracking evolves, it’s essential to stay ahead of the curve. Server-side tracking enables you to collect and manage data directly from the server, bypassing many of the limitations that browsers impose. This method is becoming more vital as browsers continuously update their privacy features, often limiting the effectiveness of traditional client-side tracking methods.

Moreover, with privacy concerns on the rise and regulations becoming stricter, ensuring that your tracking methods comply with legal standards is not just good practice—it’s necessary. Server-side tracking provides a more secure way of handling data, giving you and your users peace of mind regarding privacy.

As browser technologies advance, they often come with enhancements that can disrupt conventional tracking technologies. This disruption can impact your ability to gather essential analytics, which are crucial for optimizing your marketing strategies and understanding customer behaviors. By implementing server-side tracking, you safeguard your tracking processes against these updates, ensuring consistent data flow regardless of browser changes.

Understanding these challenges and adapting to them is not just about keeping pace—it’s about setting the pace. That’s where we come in. Contest Factory offers full-service gamification marketing solutions that can integrate server-side tracking into your promotions. Whether you need a comprehensive gamified promotion or specialized tracking services without a game, we’re here to help. Ready to elevate your marketing strategy? Contact us today, and let’s ensure your business not only survives but thrives.

Advantages of SST

Server-side tracking is increasingly crucial in the digital era, especially as you strive to maintain robust data management and user privacy. Here are some compelling advantages of server-side tracking that illustrate why it’s indispensable for your operations:

  • Enhanced Data Privacy: Server-side tracking allows you to keep sensitive user data on your servers, minimizing exposure to third parties. This means your user data is less susceptible to breaches, giving your users the peace of mind they deserve.
  • Improved Data Accuracy: By processing data on your servers, you reduce dependencies on client-side elements like browsers or devices, which can often block or distort tracking information. This ensures that the data you collect is more accurate and reliable.
  • Reduced Load on User Devices: Server-side tracking shifts the workload from the user’s device to your server. This results in a faster, more responsive user experience on your website or app, as it decreases the processing burden on users’ devices.
  • Better Compliance with Regulations: With server-side tracking, you have more control over data processing and storage, making it easier to comply with strict data privacy laws and regulations like GDPR. This is crucial in building and maintaining trust with your users.
  • Customization and Flexibility: You can tailor server-side tracking to meet specific needs of your business, allowing for more sophisticated data processing and handling techniques that are not possible with client-side tracking.

Server-side tracking offers substantial benefits that can help you navigate the complexities of modern data management and regulatory compliance. By implementing server-side tracking, you not only protect user data but also enhance the overall effectiveness of your data collection strategies, ensuring you stay competitive and compliant in today’s digital landscape.

Challenges and Limitations of Server Tracking

Server side tracking is crucial in today’s digital landscape, but it’s not without its hurdles. Here’s a look at some of the challenges and limitations you might encounter:

  • Complexity in Integration: Integrating server side tracking into your existing systems can be complex. You may need specialized knowledge or external help, which can be a hurdle if you’re running on a lean operation or tight budget.
  • Cost Implications: There’s no denying that setting up server side tracking comes with its costs. From acquiring the necessary technology to hiring the right talent to manage it, you’ll need to be prepared for the initial financial outlay and ongoing expenses.
  • Data Privacy Regulations: Navigating the ever-evolving landscape of data privacy laws can be tricky. Server side tracking must comply with regulations like GDPR or CCPA, which require meticulous handling and processing of user data. This means you need to stay continually updated on legal requirements, potentially limiting the scope of data you can collect and use.
  • Reliance on Technical Expertise: Server side tracking is not a set-it-and-forget-it solution. You need ongoing technical expertise to manage, update, and troubleshoot your tracking setup. This dependency can be a significant barrier if you lack in-house IT support.
  • Potential Data Silos: When not integrated properly, server side tracking can lead to data silos where information is compartmentalized and inaccessible to other systems. This fragmentation can hinder your ability to make informed decisions based on comprehensive data analysis.

Despite these challenges, integrating server side tracking is a powerful step towards understanding and leveraging customer data effectively. By anticipating these limitations, you can better prepare and navigate through them, ensuring your digital strategy remains robust and responsive.

Best Practices for SST

Server-side tracking is crucial in today’s digital landscape, ensuring robust data management and privacy compliance. Here are some best practices to make the most of server-side tracking for your website:

  • Centralize Your Data Collection: Consolidate data collection at the server level to enhance control and minimize dependencies on third-party cookies.
  • Prioritize User Privacy: Ensure that your server-side tracking architecture adheres to global privacy regulations by incorporating necessary consent mechanisms.
  • Leverage First-Party Cookies: Utilize first-party cookies to maintain data accuracy and improve user experience while keeping the tracking process transparent to your users.
  • Monitor Performance Regularly: Keep tabs on the performance and efficiency of your server-side tracking to quickly identify and rectify any issues that arise.
  • Validate and Audit Data: Regularly validate and audit your tracking data to ensure accuracy and integrity, which helps in making informed business decisions.

By incorporating these practices into your server-side tracking strategy, you enhance both user trust and data reliability, key components for thriving in the digital age.

Enhancing Data Security and Accuracy with Server-Side Tracking

To thrive in today’s data-driven market, incorporating server-side tracking into your strategy isn’t just advisable; it’s essential. By using server-side tracking, you ensure more secure, reliable data collection, providing you with the insights necessary to make informed decisions and stay ahead of the competition. 

Don’t let the opportunity to enhance your marketing strategies pass you by. At Contest Factory, we offer full-service gamification marketing solutions tailored to your needs, from custom promotions to specialized services without a game. Interested in taking your promotional efforts to the next level? Contact us today, and let’s innovate your approach to engagement!

SST FAQs 

What Are the Main Benefits of Server-Side Tracking?

Server-side tracking provides enhanced data security, improved accuracy of data collection, and greater control over user data which helps in compliance with privacy regulations.

How Does Server-Side Tracking Address Privacy Concerns?

It enhances privacy by processing data on servers, reducing the amount of personal data transferred and stored on user devices, and offering better control over data sharing.

Is Server-Side Tracking Compatible with All Analytics Tools?

Server-side tracking is compatible with many analytics tools, but compatibility depends on the specific tool and its ability to accept server-based data inputs.

What Are the Technical Requirements for Implementing Server-Side Tracking?

Implementation requires server infrastructure, data processing capabilities, and integration with existing analytics and data management systems.

How Can Businesses Measure the ROI of Server-Side Tracking?

ROI can be measured by evaluating improvements in data accuracy, compliance with privacy laws, and enhanced user experience, which can lead to increased conversions and customer trust.

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  • Digital Marketing, eCommerce, Gamification, Loyalty Marketing, Retail Marketing

Repeat Customers: A Deep Dive Guide

Customer retention is crucial for businesses as it directly impacts their long-term success and financial performance. A strong focus on customer retention can be a competitive advantage. Businesses that consistently meet and exceed customer expectations are more likely to stand out in the market and differentiate themselves from competitors. By retaining customers, businesses can achieve a more predictable and stable revenue stream, reducing the reliance on constantly acquiring new customers. A few reasons why retention is a more affordable model than acquisition; meanwhile you must have both.

Acquiring new customers typically costs more than retaining existing ones. Marketing expenses, advertising, and promotional efforts are often higher for acquiring new customers. Retained customers contribute to revenue without the same acquisition costs.

Satisfied and loyal customers often become advocates for the brand. They are more likely to recommend the company to friends, family, and colleagues, contributing to organic growth through word-of-mouth marketing.

Retained customers are more likely to make repeat purchases. A positive relationship with the brand encourages customers to return for additional products or services, increasing the lifetime value of each customer.

Financial Impact of Repeat Customers

The financial impact of repeat customers can be significant. According to various studies, it’s often more cost-effective to retain existing customers than to acquire new ones. Here’s a simplified example to illustrate the financial impact of a 5% increase in repeat customers:

Let’s assume:

  • Average Order Value (AOV): $85
  • Number of Transactions: 1 per month per customer
  • Number of Customers: 10,000

Without a 5% Increase in Retention:

  • Monthly Revenue: $85 (AOV) * 10,000 (Customers) = $850,000

With a 5% Increase in Retention:

  • Assuming a 5% increase in customer retention, the number of customers retained would increase by 5%, resulting in 10,500 customers.
  • Monthly Revenue with Increased Retention and increased AOV for loyal and trusting customers: $90 (AOV) * 10,500 (Customers) = $945,000

Impact:

  • The 5% increase in repeat customers leads to an additional monthly revenue of $95,000.

This is a simplified illustration, and the actual financial impact can vary based on factors such as the business model, industry, and customer behavior. However, it highlights the potential for increased revenue with a relatively small improvement in repeat customers’ sales.

The New Customer Expects New Service Level in Exchange for Loyalty

Navigating the ever-shifting landscape of customer retention demands more than just transactional approaches; it requires a strategic blend of innovative techniques to build genuine and lasting connections. This comprehensive guide unveils a spectrum of customer retention strategies that transcend routine transactions, laying the foundation for authentic and enduring customer loyalty.

Learn what new customer demands look like as well as brands that are appealing to these demands with innovative solutions.

Prioritize Convenience and Empowerment

Seamless customer experiences start with adopting cutting-edge customer service tools. These tools not only streamline communication but also solve problems swiftly, enhancing the overall customer journey. Simultaneously, prioritize convenience at every touchpoint, from user-friendly interfaces to hassle-free returns, empowering customers with a seamless and empowering experience.

A notable example of a company that exemplifies the seamless integration of cutting-edge customer service tools and prioritization of convenience is Amazon. Amazon utilizes state-of-the-art customer service tools to streamline communication and problem-solving. The company’s robust online help center, chat support, and automated tracking systems ensure that customers can easily find information and resolve issues without extensive wait times.

Convenience is at the center of all changes in consumer demands. Customers migrate to brands that understand them and cater to their needs. The power has shifted, and consumers are driving – brands are rewarded with repeat customers when they oblige the services consumers want.

Genuine Apologies and Transparency

When mistakes inevitably occur, transparency becomes the cornerstone of trust-building. Sincerely apologizing humanizes your brand, fostering trust and loyalty. Transparency during moments of error signals authenticity, reinforcing the customer’s confidence in your commitment to their satisfaction.

One of the prominent examples of a company that exemplifies the importance of transparency and sincere apologies in building trust is Starbucks. Starbucks has encountered various instances where mistakes happened in its operations. In these moments, the company has consistently demonstrated a commitment to transparency, acknowledging errors, and taking corrective actions. This approach has played a crucial role in humanizing the brand, fostering trust, and building enduring loyalty among its customer base.

In 2018, Starbucks faced a highly publicized incident where two African American men were wrongfully arrested in one of its Philadelphia stores. The company responded swiftly by publicly acknowledging the mistake and taking responsibility for the incident. Starbucks’ CEO, Kevin Johnson, issued a public apology, emphasizing the company’s commitment to addressing racial bias and implementing corrective measures.

Starbucks didn’t stop at apologies; it took concrete actions to address the issue. The company initiated a nationwide training program on racial bias for its employees, reinforcing its commitment to creating an inclusive environment. This commitment not only aligned with the company’s values but also reassured customers that Starbucks was actively working to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Tailored Offerings and Personalization

Leverage data-driven personalization to tailor offerings to individual preferences. Making customers feel seen and valued is the essence of this strategy, deepening their emotional connection to your brand.

Spotify stands out as a prime example of a company that effectively leverages data-driven personalization to tailor offerings to individual preferences, thereby making customers feel seen and valued. Spotify, a leading music streaming platform, employs advanced algorithms and machine learning to analyze user behavior, preferences, and listening habits. The platform tracks the songs users listen to, the genres they prefer, and even the time of day they listen. This wealth of data is then used to create personalized playlists, recommendations, and content tailored to each user’s unique taste.

Spotify’s “Discover Weekly” is a prime example of data-driven personalization. Every Monday, users receive a curated playlist of songs they might enjoy based on their listening history. Similarly, “Daily Mix” playlists are dynamically generated, combining favorite tracks with new discoveries, ensuring a personalized and diverse listening experience. These features not only showcase Spotify’s commitment to personalization but also make users feel that their individual musical preferences are being acknowledged.

The essence of Spotify’s personalization strategy lies in making users feel seen and valued. By curating content that aligns with individual preferences, Spotify deepens the emotional connection users have with the platform. Users don’t just see Spotify as a music streaming service; they perceive it as a platform that understands their tastes, creating a more intimate and personalized relationship.

Spotify has shown that they understand what their audience wants; evidenced by 330 million repeat customers showing up every month.

Open Communication and Active Listening

Engage in open and genuine communication by actively seeking and listening to customer feedback. Understanding their needs on a profound level enhances your ability to tailor your offerings and services to exceed their expectations.

Zappos is an excellent example of a company that excels in engaging in open and genuine communication with its customers.  Zappos has built its brand around exceptional customer service. Zappos actively seeks and listens to customer feedback, demonstrating a commitment to understanding their needs on a profound level and exceeding expectations. The company is renowned for its 24/7 customer support and a customer-centric culture that prioritizes going above and beyond to satisfy customers. Zappos actively encourages customers to reach out with questions, concerns, or feedback, fostering an open channel of communication.

Zappos makes their phone number readily available on their website and social media platforms. This is rare – take note!

Build Credibility with Social Proof

Capitalize on social proof by showcasing positive reviews, testimonials, and user-generated content. Building credibility and trust is essential in cultivating loyalty.

Airbnb, a global online marketplace for lodging and travel experiences, effectively capitalizes on social proof to build credibility and trust among its users. The platform relies on showcasing positive reviews, testimonials, and user-generated content to create a sense of reliability and foster loyalty. One of Airbnb’s key features is the ability for guests to leave reviews for their hosts and vice versa. These reviews are prominently displayed on the platform, providing potential guests with valuable insights into the quality of accommodations, the hospitality of hosts, and the overall experience. The transparency of real guest feedback builds trust and helps users make informed decisions to become repeat customers.

Airbnb recognizes and rewards hosts who consistently provide exceptional hospitality through the Superhost program. Superhosts receive a badge on their listings, signaling to potential guests that they can expect a high level of service. This program serves as a form of social proof, instilling confidence in users and encouraging loyalty.

Airbnb integrates user-generated content from social media platforms into its website. Hosts and guests often share their experiences on Instagram, Twitter, and other social channels using the hashtag #Airbnb. By curating and displaying these posts on the platform, Airbnb leverages social proof from real users to showcase the positive moments and experiences shared within the community.

Education as a Value Proposition

Offer valuable content and resources that educate customers, positioning your brand as an authority in your industry. Providing ongoing value reinforces your brand’s significance beyond mere transactions.

HubSpot, a leading provider of B:B inbound marketing, sales, and customer service software, is an exemplary company that demonstrates the strategy of offering valuable content and resources to educate customers. HubSpot positions itself as an authority in the industry by providing extensive educational content that goes beyond mere transactions, reinforcing its brand significance.

HubSpot offers a comprehensive and free online learning platform called HubSpot Academy. The academy provides a wide range of courses covering topics such as inbound marketing, content marketing, social media strategy, and sales techniques. These courses are designed to educate users on best practices, industry trends, and the effective use of HubSpot’s tools, positioning the company as an educator and thought leader in the marketing and sales space.

Multi-Channel Support and Presence

Be present where your customers are. Provide support through the channels they prefer, whether it’s social media, chat, or email. A multi-channel approach ensures accessibility and responsiveness.

Apple exemplifies a multi-channel approach to customer support, ensuring accessibility and responsiveness through various channels. The company’s commitment to being present where customers are, whether on social media, chat, or email, contributes to a seamless and comprehensive support experience. Apple has an active presence on major social media platforms, including Twitter. The company uses these channels not only for marketing but also as a means of providing customer support. Customers can reach out to @AppleSupport on Twitter for assistance, and Apple’s support team responds promptly to address queries and concerns publicly.

Apple offers an online chat option on its official website, allowing customers to connect with support representatives in real-time. The chat support feature is easily accessible, providing customers with a quick and convenient way to seek assistance without the need for a phone call.

The Apple Support app is a dedicated platform that centralizes customer support resources. It offers a variety of self-help articles, troubleshooting guides, and the ability to schedule appointments at Apple Stores. Users can also initiate a chat with support representatives directly through the app.

For certain technical issues, Apple offers remote assistance with screen sharing. This allows support representatives to view a customer’s screen and guide them through troubleshooting steps, providing a more hands-on and personalized level of support.

Traditional phone support remains a crucial component of Apple’s customer service strategy. Customers can call Apple Support for immediate assistance, making it an essential channel for those who prefer verbal communication.

Apple’s retail stores serve as physical touchpoints for customer support. Customers can schedule appointments with Apple’s Genius Bar for in-person assistance, repairs, or product consultations. This in-person support option enhances the accessibility of Apple’s customer service for those who prefer face-to-face interactions.

Apple has proven a commitment to customer support that remains paramount to any other brand support we can find.

Consistency, Transparency, and Reliability

Build trust as the foundation of loyalty. Be consistent, transparent, and reliable in all interactions, ensuring customers can depend on your brand.

Costco, a multinational retail corporation, serves as an exemplary case of a company that builds trust as the foundation of loyalty. Costco’s commitment to consistency, transparency, and reliability in all interactions has played a pivotal role in cultivating a loyal customer base. Costco operates on a membership-based model, requiring customers to pay an annual fee for access to exclusive discounts and benefits. This upfront transparency about the membership cost fosters trust by providing clarity and demonstrating a commitment to delivering value in return for customer loyalty.

Costco is known for its stringent quality standards. The company consistently offers high-quality products, and customers trust that Costco’s commitment to quality remains unwavering. This consistency reinforces trust in the brand’s reliability and dedication to delivering products that meet or exceed expectations.

Costco’s success in building trust as the foundation of loyalty lies in its consistent pricing, high-quality products, transparent business practices, employee satisfaction, clear policies, and community engagement. The company’s commitment to transparency and reliability has created a sense of trust that extends beyond individual transactions, contributing to a loyal customer base.

Foster Community and Connection

Foster a sense of belonging by creating a community where customers can share experiences and connect with each other. Community engagement adds a social dimension to your brand.

REI excels in fostering a sense of belonging by creating a community where customers can share experiences and connect with each other. Because they operate as a cooperative, and customers have the option to become members, it fosters a sense of belonging by making customers feel like they are part of a community with shared values. Members receive exclusive benefits, dividends, and voting rights, creating a unique bond with the brand.

REI organizes in-store workshops and classes on various outdoor activities, from hiking and camping to rock climbing. These events not only educate customers but also provide a platform for like-minded individuals to meet, share experiences, and learn from one another. The focus on education and shared interests strengthens the sense of community.

REI offers adventure travel programs that allow customers to embark on guided outdoor trips. These trips, led by experienced guides, provide an opportunity for participants to form connections while enjoying outdoor activities together. It goes beyond selling gear – it’s about creating shared experiences and memories.

REI hosts member-only garage sales were returned or gently used gear is sold at discounted prices. These events not only provide economic benefits to members but also create a sense of exclusivity and shared opportunities. Members bond over their love for quality gear and good deals as well as for upcycling and a commitment to keeping this world better than when we found it.

With a focus on outdoor activities, REI has successfully integrated community engagement to add a social dimension to its brand.

Become Integral to Daily Lives

Align your brand with the lifestyle and values of your customers, becoming an integral part of their daily lives. This deep integration reinforces your brand’s relevance beyond occasional transactions.

Yeti is as an excellent example of aligning a brand with the lifestyle and values of customers. Yeti has successfully become an integral part of the daily lives of outdoor enthusiasts by offering durable and reliable gear that aligns with their active lifestyles. Just walk into REI and you’ll see!

Yeti specializes in manufacturing durable and rugged outdoor gear, including coolers, drinkware, and bags and is renowned for its quality by uber fans. By creating products that withstand the demands of outdoor adventures, Yeti aligns itself with the lifestyle of customers who value durability and reliability in their outdoor equipment.

Yeti employs storytelling and authenticity in its marketing efforts. The brand shares stories of real adventurers, athletes, and everyday outdoor enthusiasts who rely on Yeti products in their daily lives. This approach humanizes the brand and reinforces its relevance to the target audience. Their marketing campaigns often focus on showcasing how its products seamlessly fit into customers’ lifestyles. Whether it’s a camping trip, a day at the beach, or a backyard barbecue, Yeti positions its products as essential companions in various aspects of outdoor living.

Yeti allows customers to personalize their products through customization options, such as adding logos or choosing specific colors. This personalization fosters a sense of ownership and individuality, making Yeti products an integral part of customers’ lives that reflects their unique preferences.

Yeti has successfully aligned its brand with the lifestyle and values of outdoor enthusiasts by offering durable products, actively participating in outdoor culture, and engaging authentically with its community. By becoming an integral part of customers’ daily lives, Yeti reinforces its relevance beyond transactional moments, establishing a lasting connection with its target audience.

Establish Loyalty with Uniqueness

Develop unique offerings that set your product or service apart, making it a must-have for your customers. Uniqueness is a compelling factor in establishing lasting loyalty.

Dyson excels at developing unique offerings that set a product apart, making it a must-have for customers. Dyson has consistently pushed the boundaries of innovation, creating distinctive and groundbreaking products that have become synonymous with cutting-edge technology in the home appliance industry. They also are synonymous with incredible branding – holding their line that the MAP price barrier will not be broken. The only way you will get more value is a bundled product as added value but never via a discount.

Dyson revolutionized the vacuum cleaner market by introducing cyclone technology. Unlike traditional vacuum cleaners that rely on bags, Dyson’s cyclone technology uses powerful centrifugal forces to capture dust and debris. This unique approach to cleaning set Dyson apart, making its vacuum cleaners a must-have for consumers seeking superior performance. Dyson disrupted the conventional fan design with the introduction of bladeless fan technology. The Dyson Air Multiplier uses a bladeless design to create a smooth and uninterrupted airflow. This unique approach not only enhances safety but also sets Dyson fans apart in terms of aesthetics and functionality. A genuine blue ocean strategy.

Dyson has embraced smart technology integration in its products, allowing users to control and monitor devices through mobile apps. This commitment to connectivity and user-friendly interfaces adds a unique and modern dimension to Dyson’s offerings, appealing to tech-savvy consumers.

Dyson has embraced smart technology integration in its products, allowing users to control and monitor devices through mobile apps. This commitment to connectivity and user-friendly interfaces adds a unique and modern dimension to Dyson’s offerings, appealing to tech-savvy consumers.

Problem-Solving with Focus

Address specific pain points effectively rather than attempting to solve every problem. Focus on excellence in your niche, offering solutions that resonate with your target audience.

HelloFresh addresses specific pain points related to home cooking rather than attempting to solve every problem in the broader food industry. The company focuses on excellence in its niche, offering a specialized solution that resonates with individuals seeking convenient and enjoyable home-cooked meals.

HelloFresh tackles the common pain point of meal planning by providing a solution that streamlines the process. Customers can choose from a variety of chef-curated recipes, and HelloFresh delivers pre-portioned ingredients along with step-by-step cooking instructions, eliminating the need for extensive planning and grocery shopping.

HelloFresh addresses the issue of food waste by providing precisely measured ingredients for each recipe. Customers receive only what they need for the selected meals, minimizing unused perishables and reducing the environmental impact associated with excess food waste.

HelloFresh provides a solution for individuals who want to explore new cuisines and recipes but may lack culinary expertise or access to specialty ingredients. The company’s meal kits come with diverse and globally inspired recipes, offering customers an opportunity to enjoy restaurant-quality dishes at home.

In weaving together these customer retention strategies, businesses can elevate their approach beyond mere transactions, fostering enduring connections resilient to market fluctuations. By placing a premium on customer satisfaction, personalization, and a commitment to continuous improvement, brands can cultivate a loyal customer base that not only withstands the test of time but forms the very bedrock of your loyalty program.

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  • Advertising, Digital Marketing, Social Media

The Ultimate Social Media Playbook

The Ultimate Social Media Playbook

Developing a comprehensive social media strategy is crucial for achieving your business goals and building a strong online presence. Here are some of the top items to consider when creating a social media strategy.

Clear Social Media Objectives and Goals:

Define specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals for your social media efforts. Goals might include increasing brand awareness, driving website traffic, generating leads, or boosting sales. Be sure to have timely goals with when you want to attain these goals and be realistic. If you want to grow your audience by 1,000 you will need a realistic budget and want to look at case studies to understand the average cost to acquire a qualified fan to your business page.

Target Audience:

Identify your target audience(s) and create detailed buyer personas. Understand their demographics, interests, pain points, and online behavior to tailor your content and messaging. This will also help you target your ads to the right demographics as well as communicate with your advertising agency as a communication tool so that everyone is on the same page when working for you and your mission.

If you are new to persona or avatar creation, you may want to take a quick tour of how to create personas with our handy guide you can find here.>>

Platform Selection:

Choose the social media platforms that align with your target audience and business objectives. Focus on platforms where your audience is most active. If you are a business to business company, you may start with Linkedin and research how competitors market, whether they include Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or Snapchat. You want to be good at everything you do, so do not select too many platforms where you find yourself spread too thin and not doing a good job anywhere.

The goal is to be where your audience is and to speak to them in the language that suits the platform best.

Content Strategy:

Develop a content strategy that includes the types of content you’ll create (e.g., blog posts, videos, infographics), the topics you’ll cover, and the frequency of posting. Ensure your content aligns with your brand and resonates with your audience. And remember you can repurpose content into so many different formats and get so much more mileage out of them.  Consider all of these content formats.

  1. Blog Posts: Written articles or posts published on your website’s blog.
  2. Infographics: Visual representations of information, data, or concepts.
  3. Videos: Recorded or live videos on platforms like YouTube, Facebook Live, or TikTok.
  4. Podcasts: Audio recordings typically available on podcast platforms.
  5. Social Media Posts: Short, concise updates on social media platforms (e.g., Facebook posts, tweets, Instagram captions).
  6. Ebooks: Comprehensive, downloadable digital books or guides.
  7. Whitepapers: In-depth reports or research papers typically used in B2B marketing.
  8. Case Studies: Detailed accounts of successful projects or customer experiences.
  9. Webinars: Live or recorded online seminars or presentations.
  10. Email Newsletters: Regularly scheduled email updates sent to subscribers.
  11. GIFs: Short, looping animated images.
  12. Memes: Humorous or relatable images or text often shared on social media.
  13. Interactive Quizzes: Online quizzes that engage and educate users.
  14. User-Generated Content (UGC): Content created by your customers or audience, such as reviews, testimonials, or photos.
  15. Tutorials and How-To Guides: Step-by-step instructions for accomplishing tasks.
  16. Product Demos: Demonstrations of how products or services work.
  17. Surveys and Polls: Interactive content to gather audience feedback.
  18. Templates and Checklists: Pre-designed resources for users to customize.
  19. Slideshows and Presentations: Visual presentations created with tools like PowerPoint or Google Slides.
  20. Guest Posts: Content contributed by external experts or influencers.
  21. Interviews: Q&A sessions with industry experts or thought leaders.
  22. News and Updates: Timely updates on industry news or company announcements.
  23. Behind-the-Scenes Content: A glimpse into your company’s culture, processes, or workspace.
  24. Contests and Giveaways: Promotions where participants can win prizes.
  25. Interactive Maps: Maps that allow users to explore locations or data.
  26. Live Streams: Real-time video broadcasts on platforms like Twitch or Instagram Live.
  27. Reviews and Testimonials: Feedback and endorsements from satisfied customers.
  28. Comparison Charts: Visual comparisons of products or services.
  29. FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions): Answers to common questions about your products or services.
  30. Resource Lists: Curated lists of valuable tools, resources, or articles.
  31. Challenges and Competitions: Encouraging participation or competition among your audience.
  32. Storytelling: Compelling narratives that engage and resonate with your audience.
  33. Comic Strips and Cartoons: Humorous or informative visual content.
  34. Interactive Games and Quizzes: Engaging games or trivia to entertain and educate.
  35. Augmented Reality (AR) Filters: Customized filters for platforms like Snapchat or Instagram.
  36. Virtual Reality (VR) Experiences: Immersive, 360-degree content experiences.
  37. Surprise and Delight: Unexpected or personalized content to surprise and delight your audience.
  38. Inspirational Quotes: Motivational or inspirational quotes paired with visuals.
  39. Ask-Me-Anything (AMA) Sessions: Interactive Q&A sessions with your audience.
  40. Holiday and Seasonal Content: Content tailored to specific holidays or seasons.

Content Calendar:

Creating a social media calendar template can help you plan and organize your social media content in advance, ensuring a consistent and cohesive online presence. Here’s a basic template below that you can use as a starting point. You can customize it to suit your specific needs and platforms. These columns help you plan your month, keeping attention to days of the week and how media performs on different days, the type of media – is this a quiz, a blog, a slideshow, a video, or something else.  What is the focus of the post, what does the imagery show, time and engagement for that post. These will help you identify your best content, best days, and content types so you can increase the types of posts that increase your brand engagement.

Social Media Calendar Template

Social-Media-Calendaring-Template

Content Types:
– Blog Post
– Image Post
– Video Post
– Infographic
– Poll/Quiz
– Product Promotion
– Event Promotion
– User-Generated Content
– Inspirational Quote
– News/Announcement

Posting Times:
– Morning (e.g., 8:00 AM)
– Mid-Morning (e.g., 10:00 AM)
– Lunchtime (e.g., 12:00 PM)
– Afternoon (e.g., 3:00 PM)
– Evening (e.g., 6:00 PM)

Engagement Metrics:
– Likes
– Comments
– Shares/Retweets
– Clicks/Views
– Conversion (e.g., Sign-ups, Purchases)
– Reach/Impressions

Notes:
– Use the “Content Type” column to specify the type of content you plan to post (e.g., blog post, image, video).
– In the “Content Topic” column, briefly describe the main theme or topic of the content.
– In the “Post Copy/Description” column, write the text that will accompany your post.
– Attach visual media (images or videos) to your posts as necessary.
– Use the “Posting Time” column to specify the preferred time for each post.
– After posting, record engagement metrics (likes, comments, shares, etc.) to evaluate the success of each post.

Feel free to expand or customize this template to accommodate additional details, platforms, or specific requirements for your social media strategy. Regularly updating and using a social media calendar can help you stay organized, plan content effectively, and maintain a consistent online presence.

Visual Branding:

Maintain a consistent visual identity across all social media profiles. Use a consistent logo, color scheme, and visual style to reinforce brand recognition.

Engagement and Community Building:

Establish guidelines for engaging with your audience, responding to comments, and handling customer inquiries or feedback. Build an active and engaged community around your brand.

Hashtag Strategy:

Develop a hashtag strategy to increase discoverability and engagement. Use relevant and trending hashtags in your posts.  You will want to assess the popularity and competition level of the hashtags you plan to use. Balance between using highly competitive and less competitive hashtags to increase your visibility.  You will also want to organize your hashtags into categories based on relevance. For instance, you might have categories for product-related hashtags, brand-related hashtags, and industry-related hashtags.

Avoid overloading your posts with hashtags. While platforms like Instagram allow up to 30 hashtags per post, it’s generally best to use a smaller, more targeted selection. Aim for a mix of around 5 to 15 hashtags per post, depending on the platform. This will also help you identify which hashtags are driving the most exposure. Hashtags specifically enable folks to find you by subjects that interest you. If you have 30, you will not be able to identify the driving hashtag. Single use hashtags will show you exactly what you get with each #hashtag.

Paid Advertising:

Consider allocating a budget for social media advertising. Use paid campaigns to target specific audiences, promote products or services, and drive conversions. If you detailed direction while diving into advertising, you can check out our Ultimate Omnichannel Marketing Guide here.>>

Monitoring and Analytics:

Implement tools for monitoring social media activity and tracking key metrics. Regularly analyze performance data to measure the effectiveness of your strategy and make adjustments as needed.

Influencer Collaboration:

Explore influencer marketing opportunities if they align with your brand and goals. Collaborate with influencers to reach a wider and more targeted audience.

Crisis Management:

Develop a plan for handling social media crises and negative feedback. Outline steps for addressing issues promptly and professionally.

Compliance and Legal Considerations:

Ensure that your social media activities comply with relevant laws and regulations. Protect customer data and respect privacy rights.

A well-thought-out social media strategy should align with your overall business objectives, resonate with your target audience, and be flexible enough to adapt to the dynamic nature of social media platforms. Regularly review and update your strategy to ensure it remains effective and relevant.

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  • Advertising, Digital Marketing

Refining Your Funnel for Improved Profit

 

Refining Your Funnel for Improved Profit

Marketers employ a variety of tactics to expedite the sales funnel and guide prospects through the buying journey more quickly. Here are the top 10 ways marketers can achieve this:

  1. Segmented Email Drip Campaigns:
    • Marketers use email drip campaigns to send a series of targeted, automated emails to prospects based on their behavior and preferences. These emails provide valuable information, address objections, and nurture leads, ultimately moving them closer to a purchase decision. This increase in touch points increases engagement over and over while you only need to set it up once for each customer segment or persona you are appealing to. This leads to improved profit in your sleep, the best kind.
  2. Auto-Responders:
    • Auto-responders are automated email or messaging responses triggered by specific actions, such as signing up for a newsletter or making an inquiry. They provide immediate acknowledgment and follow-up information, helping to maintain engagement and prompt further action.
  3. Chatbots and Live Chat:
    • Chatbots and live chat support on websites enable real-time interaction with prospects. They can answer questions, provide product information, and guide visitors through the sales funnel swiftly, even outside of regular business hours.
  4. Gated Content:
    • Gated content involves offering valuable resources such as eBooks, whitepapers, or webinars in exchange for contact information. This tactic allows marketers to capture leads and nurture them with relevant content.
  5. Retargeting and Remarketing:
    • Marketers use cookies and tracking pixels to identify visitors who have interacted with their website but didn’t complete a desired action, like making a purchase. They then retarget these prospects with tailored ads across various platforms to bring them back into the funnel.
  6. Social Proof and Reviews:
    • Displaying customer reviews, testimonials, and case studies helps build trust and credibility with prospects. Positive social proof can expedite decision-making by addressing doubts and objections.
  7. Abandoned Cart Recovery:
    • For e-commerce businesses, sending automated reminders to customers who have abandoned their shopping carts can be highly effective. These reminders often include incentives like discounts or free shipping to encourage the completion of the purchase.
  8. Upselling and Cross-selling:
    • Marketers leverage data and algorithms to recommend complementary or upgraded products to customers during the checkout process. This can lead to larger order values and faster conversions.
  9. Personalization:
    • Personalization involves tailoring content, product recommendations, and offers to individual customer preferences and behaviors. Personalized experiences can accelerate the decision-making process by making prospects feel valued and understood.
  10. A/B Testing and Optimization:
    • Marketers continuously test and optimize various elements of their sales funnels, such as landing pages, email subject lines, call-to-action buttons, and pricing strategies. This data-driven approach helps identify what resonates most with prospects and can lead to faster conversions.

These tactics are often used in combination to create a comprehensive and efficient sales funnel. The key is to provide relevant, valuable, and timely information to prospects while minimizing friction and obstacles in their journey toward making a purchase decision. Additionally, marketers should regularly analyze data and adjust their strategies to ensure they are effectively expediting the sales funnel.

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  • Digital Analytics, Digital Marketing

Google Tag Manager (GTM): Simplifying Website Tracking and Management

Simplifying Website Tracking and Management with Google Tag Manager

Google Tag Manager (GTM) is a powerful tool designed to simplify the process of managing and deploying various tracking codes and tags on your website without the need for manual code implementation. GTM streamlines the tracking process, making it more efficient, organized, and flexible for marketers and website administrators. It also reduces the load of code on your site, keeping it lighter and faster loading. Be sure to plan what you want to track before starting this process, then you’ll be set for starting your set up.

Check out the GA4 Guide to help you decide what you want to track>>

Centralizing Tracking for Agencies

Google Tag Manager (GTM) plays a crucial role in facilitating collaboration among multiple agencies working on a single website or digital project. It offers a seamless solution to manage and implement various tracking codes, scripts, and tags from different stakeholders in a controlled and organized environment. Here’s how GTM enables multiple agencies to work harmoniously within the same environment and ensures a conflict-free, centralized repository for tags:

1. Centralized Management: GTM provides a centralized platform where all agencies can collaboratively manage and deploy tags without the need to directly modify the website’s code. This central hub ensures that all tracking codes are organized and controlled in one place.

2. Container Approach: GTM operates on a container-based system, allowing you to create different containers for various websites or projects. Each container can have its set of tags, triggers, and variables. This compartmentalized structure helps prevent conflicts between agencies and keeps their respective tracking codes separate.

3. User Access Control: GTM offers role-based user access control, allowing you to assign specific permissions to different agency team members. This means that agencies can access and modify only the tags and settings relevant to their tasks, ensuring data security and minimizing the risk of accidental changes.

4. Version Control and Preview Mode: GTM’s version control feature enables agencies to work on different versions of the same container simultaneously. This prevents conflicts and ensures that changes made by one agency do not interfere with the work of another. Additionally, the Preview mode allows agencies to test their changes before deploying them live, reducing the chances of errors.

5. Collaboration and Communication: GTM’s collaborative environment encourages agencies to communicate effectively and coordinate their efforts. Agencies can leave comments within GTM to explain their changes, share insights, and discuss any potential issues.

6. Tag Templates and Customization: GTM provides tag templates for popular marketing tools and platforms, making it easier for agencies to implement common tags without extensive coding knowledge. Agencies can also create custom tags tailored to their specific needs, enhancing flexibility and control.

7. Real-Time Updates: Once a tag is deployed within GTM, it becomes active on the website in real time. This means that changes made by one agency can be instantly reflected across the site, reducing the need for back-and-forth communications, and ensuring consistent data tracking.

8. Error Detection and Debugging: GTM offers a debugging console that helps agencies identify and troubleshoot issues with tags. This feature aids in detecting errors and resolving them swiftly, minimizing disruptions and ensuring accurate data collection.

9. Continuous Monitoring and Optimization: With GTM, agencies can continuously monitor the performance of tags and adjust settings based on data insights. This collaborative approach to optimization helps achieve better results for the website’s overall digital strategy.

Container: The Heart of Google Tag Manager

A “container” in GTM is a virtual space that holds all the tags, triggers, and variables you use to manage website tracking. It acts as a central hub for managing and deploying these elements. When you set up a GTM account, you’ll create a container for each website or app you want to track. The container’s code is placed on every page of your site, and it’s the gateway through which GTM adds and updates tags.

Tags: The Tracking Codes

Tags are snippets of code or tracking pixels that gather specific data from your website. They collect information about user interactions, such as clicks, form submissions, page views, and more. Tags are often used to integrate various third-party tools and services onto your website. Here’s a curated list of some of the items Tag Manager can aid in tracking:

  • Google Analytics Tag: This tag integrates Google Analytics tracking into your website. It enables you to monitor user behavior, track conversions, and gain insights into how visitors interact with your site.
  • Facebook Pixel Tag: The Facebook Pixel tag helps you track user actions on your website for retargeting and tracking conversions on Facebook ads. It allows you to optimize ad campaigns based on user behavior.
  • Google Ads Conversion Tag: This tag tracks conversions and user actions on your website related to Google Ads campaigns. It enables you to measure the effectiveness of your ad campaigns and optimize your targeting.
  • Hotjar Tag: Hotjar is a user behavior analytics tool. The tag captures heatmaps, session recordings, and user feedback, helping you understand how users navigate and interact with your site.
  • LinkedIn Insight Tag: This tag tracks conversions and user interactions on your website for LinkedIn advertising campaigns. It provides insights into how LinkedIn users engage with your site.
  • Twitter Universal Website Tag: This tag helps you track conversions and user activity for Twitter advertising campaigns. It allows you to measure the impact of your Twitter ads on website interactions.
  • Google Optimize Tag: Google Optimize is a testing and personalization platform. This tag allows you to deploy experiments and personalization campaigns on your website through GTM.
  • DoubleClick Floodlight Counter Tag: DoubleClick Floodlight is used for tracking conversions and user interactions for DoubleClick (now part of Google Marketing Platform) advertising campaigns.
  • Pinterest Tag: The Pinterest Tag tracks user interactions on your website for Pinterest advertising campaigns. It enables you to measure conversions and optimize ad targeting.
  • Custom HTML Tag: This tag allows you to add custom HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code to your website via GTM. It’s useful for integrating tools or tracking codes not directly supported by other tags.
  • Scroll Tracking Tag: This tag tracks how far users scroll down a page, helping you understand user engagement and identify sections that might need optimization.
  • YouTube Video Tracking Tag: This tag tracks user interactions with embedded YouTube videos on your website. It captures events like play, pause, and completion.

Functions of Tags: What They Do

Tags serve different functions based on the tracking requirement or integration you’re implementing. Some common functions of tags include:

  1. Tracking Pageviews: Tags can be used to track when a user loads a specific page on your website, allowing you to gather insights into user behavior.
  2. Event Tracking: Tags can be configured to track specific user interactions, like clicks on buttons, downloads of files, form submissions, and video views.
  3. Conversion Tracking: Tags enable you to monitor user actions that lead to conversions, such as completed purchases, sign-ups, or downloads.
  4. Remarketing and Advertising: Tags enable you to collect data for retargeting purposes and for creating audiences for advertising platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Ads.
  5. Custom HTML and JavaScript: Tags can also be used to deploy custom code or scripts for specific functionalities on your website.

Creating Tags in Google Tag Manager

To create a tag in GTM, follow these steps:

  1. Log in to your Google Tag Manager account and select the appropriate container.
  2. Navigate to the “Tags” section within the container.
  3. Click the “+ New” button to create a new tag.
  4. Choose a tag type based on your tracking requirement. For example, you might choose “Google Analytics” if you want to track pageviews using Google Analytics.
  5. Configure the settings for the tag, which may include entering your Google Analytics Tracking ID, setting up triggers for when the tag should fire, and defining additional parameters.
  6. Save your tag configuration.
  7. Test your tag using the “Preview” mode to ensure it’s working as intended.

Creating a Google Ads Conversion Tracking Tag

To create a tag for tracking conversions in Google Ads using GTM, follow these steps:

  1. Log in to your Google Tag Manager account and select the container for your website.
  2. Navigate to the “Tags” section and click “+ New” to create a new tag.
  3. Select the “Google Ads Conversion Tracking” tag type.
  4. Enter your Google Ads conversion ID and label. You can find these in your Google Ads account under “Tools & Settings” > “Conversions.”
  5. Configure the firing triggers for the tag. For example, you might fire the tag on a specific page after a form submission.
  6. Define additional settings, such as the conversion value and format.
  7. Save the tag configuration.
  8. Preview and test your tag to ensure it’s working correctly.
  9. Once confirmed, publish your changes in GTM to make the tag live on your website.

By utilizing Google Tag Manager, you can efficiently manage various tracking codes and tags on your website, enabling you to collect valuable data and insights to optimize your digital marketing efforts, all while enabling multiple hands in the Tag Manager cookie jar.

 

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  • Digital Marketing, Loyalty Marketing, Marketing, Promotion

How to Set up a Customer Referral Program That Works

How to Set up a Customer Referral Program That Works

Word of mouth remains a valuable marketing tool, so you should learn how to set up a customer referral program that encourages loyal customers to recommend your business.

Studies report that up to 94% of satisfied customers would recommend your business to family, friends, and work contacts. That represents a lot of active promotion and extended reach. Don’t let that potential slip away!

Creating an active, robust referral program turns satisfied customers into amateur sales associates, bringing in new customers for your business at a fraction of the cost of other marketing strategies.

Referral Program Basics

A referral program offers incentives for loyal customers to bring in new business.  Happy customers know what your business offers and can easily demonstrate the benefits of your product or service, making them excellent advocates and walking testimonials to your business’s value.

Additionally, your satisfied customers understand who in their lives would benefit from your product or service, so the leads they bring in tend to be high-value and well-qualified. When the referred customer makes a purchase, the loyal customer receives a referral reward, which incentivizes them to refer again. A good referral program generates a feedback loop as new customers bring in their contacts and receive their rewards.

Starting a referral program produces results, both in the form of increased business and in securing ongoing loyalty and positive opinions from existing customers.

Referral Program Benefits

Using a referral program offers many powerful benefits, such as:

  • Standardizing the referral process sets up a clear and easy-to-follow roadmap that energizes active referrals.
  • Referral programs lead to higher conversion rates. Not only do 90% of consumers trust referrals from family and friends, but studies list referrals as a key motivator in almost half of all purchases.
  • Referred customers also have a 37% higher retention rate, bringing your business lifetime value from repeated patronage.
  • Supporting a robust referral program boosts consumer loyalty and retention by keeping your clients engaged. Your customers get positive feedback and feel stronger connections to your business through referral rewards and acts of appreciation which prove to them the value of the relationship.
  • A customer referral program costs your business very little, and well-managed programs carry proven track records of results.

Guide to Starting a Referral Program

Follow these steps to guide you through the process of how to set up a customer referral program.

Design a Referral Template

Templates provide structure for how to present, collect, and process referrals.

Lay Out Your Goals

Think about what you hope to get and what your measures for success look like.

Plan Your Best Practices by Researching the Path of Previous Referrals

Figuring out the recipe for successful referrals lets you adjust your plans and build from where you stand.

Identify the Referral Program Type That Suits Your Business Best and Incentivizes Your Customers

Fine-tune your program to the nature of your business and your customers and calibrate it to fit your optimal cost/benefit ratio.

Single Out Your Strongest Leads

Identify the customers that value your business the most and that move in the right circles to promote it most effectively. Start planning how to approach and engage these customers in your referral program.

Pinpoint the Platforms That Can Host Your Referral Program and Create Resources to Advertise

Develop a multilevel approach that informs, promotes, and updates customers. Create social posts and share the referral link throughout your web presence.

Also, prepare a system to track referrals, so you can manage your program effectively and take advantage of the valuable data it provides.

Set Standards to Thank Customers for Referring Others

A little bit of appreciation goes a long way! Even when the customer receives a direct benefit by doing so, they deserve to feel valued and respected for their efforts.

Set Up Quick Response

Neglected referrals grow cold and can backfire with poor attention. Be ready to move on referrals and fulfill the program terms swiftly. When people get fast results, they stay engaged to become loyal customers.

Never Stop Improving

Success takes trial and error sometimes, and even the most effective referral program can grow stale. Stay on top of changes in customer needs and values and take advantage of social trends and customer feedback to keep your program relevant and responsive.

Generate Renewed and Continual Interest in your Referral Program

Keep your referral program fresh with contests, fundraisers, social gifting campaigns, seasonal offerings, and customer loyalty incentives. These details take a successful referral program and make it better, avoiding the pitfalls of stagnation and loss of interest.

Referral Programs Work

A comprehensive customer referral program works to retain customers and incentivize word-of-mouth marketing. Forbes rates referral programs as one of the top customer loyalty strategies with the highest return on investment. Use this guide for how to set up a customer referral program to harness the power of word-of-mouth marketing.

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  • Digital Marketing, Loyalty Marketing, Marketing

2023 Top Growth Hacking Strategies

As digital marketing has dominated general marketing initiatives in the past couple of decades, there have been new emerging efforts in marketing, coined, growth hacking.  Growth hacking is the process of identifying the most efficient method of traffic through untested methods. This is where marketers and coders develop their own hypotheses and methods to find alternative ways to beat the market in attracting new followers.

Marketers and coders continue to challenge themselves to find a new method that can deliver mass interest with less effort and cost. In recent years, many new opportunities have come and gone.  Let’s see what 2023 is considering the best growth hacking initiatives to grow your audience.  These subjects are being actively discussed in forums, LinkedIn groups, and leadership communities. The goal of learning what others are doing in this area is to see how you can slightly tweak it and create your own blue ocean of growth hacking.

  1. Social media marketing: Use various social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube to reach your target audience.One growth hacking strategy that has emerged since social media platforms have been in existence, is the use of hashtags to group information. Tagging your content with #relevantphrase enables users to search for like-minded content and can extend your reach significantly.  Using multiple hashtags extends your reach even further. Now consider you do not know which hashtag is the one that propelled your content virally; this is where testing comes in. Start small and try small new variants as you go.Another social media evolution is the ability to tag people and brands. This alerts another social media friend, friend of a friend, or brand that you want them to see your post. At first this is exciting and earns extreme response, until, like most new things, they become old and provide diminishing returns. Brands of course are excited when you tag them, but then the overwhelm, and impossibility of keeping up.  As in all things, early adopters are rewarded until the fanfare dies out.
  2. Influencer marketing: Partner with influencers in your industry to promote your product or service to their followers.Influencer marketing is a distant relative to the old, “product placement,” you could only get when working with the movie studios. The Apple computer in the teenage angst movie, or the Calvin Klein’s in Back to the Future, and one of the most iconic of them all, Reece’s Pieces in E.T.  The evolution of this practice is influencer marketing, which crowd sources exposure by using more influencers to deliver the same result that product placement has historically delivered.Brands are now using micro-influencers to reach different personas as well as the traditional Beyonce or Taylor Swift when possible to hit it out of the park.  Influencers of all sorts exist, from the yoga influencer to the gamer or gadget product influencer. Influencers create followers on social media and talk to their audiences about products they like. They receive spiffs and or product from the brands to promote the brand products. They often are provided an affiliate link from the brand that they may share with their audience for a discount or value add. This link allows the brand to track their success and reward them accordingly.
  3. Content marketing: Produce high-quality content that provides value to your target audience and helps establish your brand as a thought leader in your industry.Content marketing is not new to marketing, but the hands that are able to create it have evolved significantly.  You don’t need a journalism degree or film and sound crew to produce some fantastic quality content in 2023. You need to plan, research, and develop the messaging you want with the best delivery medium for the message; this may be written form, video, diagrams, animations, or a combination to deliver a compelling message to your target audience.  Consider your audience age, interests, and media tendencies when determining your message form factor.
  4. SEO optimization: Optimize your website for search engines to improve your visibility in search results. SEO is one of the original growth hacking tools that emerged after the internet became mainstream. This is the practice of optimizing your website for Google, Yahoo, Bing and the other global search engines to rank you in their search engine results. This entails backwards engineering the Google algorithm to determine which variables help you rank higher. Over the years, this has evolved significantly as Google understands user search intent. The initial algo rewarded national publishers as they offered free content. As time progressed Google learned that searchers are looking for locally relevant content and they often are looking to spend money and not just get free information – this is where local usurped global publishers and tilted search results in favor of the local business.Current opportunities for growth hacking reside in the voice search category – all new technology provides a green playing field for innovation and opportunity. Learning voice search optimization for local businesses will be pivotal for future growth. This will include variables you may not consider, like tagging your videos with audio script, and voice search tags, as well as structured data and the typical SEO players.
  5. Email marketing: Build an email list of your target audience and regularly send them relevant and engaging content. Email marketing has not always been considered a growth hacking strategy, rather good communication as well as an economical marketing communications channel. The real growth hacking element in email marketing is list growth – not any list growth, but qualified leads list growth. You want folks to want your message or it’s wasteful on any level. Your time and energy should always be focused on qualified leads. This means the audience that is interested in your product and service. Growing this list will certainly grow your business.Consider growing your list through non-competitive partner marketing. This is a similar product or service that is not competitive but shares people with like minds and needs. An example of this would be a health food company and a fitness company. Collaborating and placing ads in each other’s email may be beneficial for both of you and cost you nothing.  This is a dual-upside partnership and well worth your time to identify more in your industry.
  6. Referral marketing: Encourage your current customers to refer their friends and family to your business by offering them incentives or rewards. Refer a friend campaigns are some of the most successful marketing campaigns available. This is the original word-of-mouth marketing that has proven to be so successful that customer review indices have been built around it.
  7. Community building: Build a community around your brand by engaging with your audience on social media and creating a forum for discussion. This may not seem as obvious of a strategy but it’s creating a community before the community creates their own; this gives you ownership, leadership, and influence in the community. Consider the ever-popular Red Bull brand developing events that drew masses from far and near to see what has, “WINGS.” Flugtag was born from a tagline, “Red Bull gives you wings.” And then the global sensation of flying “things” dawning the Red Bull brand began and has kept its popularity over decades.
  8. Mobile optimization: Optimize your website and content for mobile devices to ensure that your audience can easily access your content on-the-go. This hack seems like it may not be growth oriented until you run the numbers. This is the first place you want to optimize as it delivers immediately. Ensure your eCommerce is dialed in using testing scenarios and getting feedback from existing customers. You want to ensure you are meeting the average, “add to basket” rate, the average conversion rate, and the average order lines, and order value in your industry.If you are not familiar with usability testing, this is where you want to spend some time learning. Understand what your users expect online and how then think when adding to basket and checking out. Compare your process to others to understand best practices and possible opportunities you may have not considered.

Remember simply copying growth hacking strategies is merely keeping up with the Jones’, you actually need to speed right past them so that you are the leader of the pack. Review what others are doing and then start creating your own blue ocean by strategically testing nuances to these strategies. Continue to read, hypothesize, strategize, test, optimize, repeat – this is how growth hacking wins.

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  • Advertising, B2B, Digital Marketing, Direct Marketing

How to Design and Use an Effective Lead Funnel

Every business needs customers, but how do you find the customers who need your product or service and convert them from potential leads into loyal customers? You need a lead funnel. Lead generation and brand awareness are two strategies at the very top of a lead funnel to draw in your target audience and keep them engaged all the way until they buy your product or service.

An effective lead funnel is the best way to clarify what action you want your potential customers to take and encourage them to take that action to boost retention, sales, and revenue.

What Is a Lead Funnel?

Imagine a funnel: It has a wide entrance that narrows down to allow whatever is in it to pass through. A business lead funnel works the same way! This marketing pipeline tracks the process between a potential customer’s awareness of your brand and the moment they become a paying customer.

Your lead funnel should:

  • Find people who are interested in your product or service.
  • Keep them engaged to the point that they make a purchase.

The Stages of an Effective Lead Funnel

Before a new customer makes a purchase, four stages typically occur. Whether your potential customer found you through a Google search or social media, your lead funnel should guide them through several steps, like signing up for emails, filling out a quote form, or providing their contact information so that you can convert them into a paying customer.

At the very top of the funnel, you have a large pool of potential customers. In the middle, the product or ad is getting attention through brand awareness. You can see the conversion process or the transition of receiving better sales, traffic, and brand awareness through the funnel.

  1. Discovery or Awareness of Brand – At the top of the funnel showcases, your leads will see your ad, social media post, or marketing content and become aware of your brand. The goal at this stage is to get the lead to visit your website to learn more about your business.
  2. Piqued Interest – At the middle section of the funnel, your prospects may not be ready to buy but have interest in a product. At this stage, you want to encourage the lead to engage with your posts, subscribe to a newsletter, or give their email or phone number to learn more.
  3. Desire – Still in the middle of the funnel, customers want to make a purchase and are exploring your brand. If a customer has previously signed up for emails, you could send a retargeting email to remind them about your product or service and why they need it. At this stage, offer free trials, demos, or promo codes, especially when a customer has left a product in their cart.
  4. Action – At the bottom of the funnel, you close the deal and finalize the conversion, whether that means the customer buys your product or pays for your service.

An effective lead funnel will continue this process, using reviews and testimonials from existing customers as social proof to show other potential customers that you offer exceptional products or services. This boosts conversion rates and restarts the cycle.

Best Ways to Design a Lead Funnel

After you understand the basic steps of a lead funnel, it’s time to design it. Let’s look at the four tactics that each lead funnel must have to address psychological needs during the buying process.

  1. Map out the journey of your ideal customer. Analytics is just one small piece of the funnel puzzle. Ask questions such as: who is my customer? What are they looking for? Knowing the basis of your customer’s journey provides personal insights that numbers cannot. This helps you understand how your prospect thinks and feels so you can develop content that meets their needs.
  2. Create meaningful content like blogs, videos, social media posts, and free e-books. The goal is to connect with your customers’ pain points and show how your product or service solves them. Include clear, concise calls to action (CTAs) to drive your leads to the next step in the lead funnel.
  3. Publish reviews, testimonials, and social media posts from past customers or brand ambassadors to build social proof and establish authority. You may also ask your influencers and past customers to post on your ads giving them the social proof you are looking for. There’s nothing better than an ad that addresses a problem you have and it seems too good to be true, so you go to the comments to read them and find out that existing customers are saying its true and posting pictures of the proof – this is the gold you want in marketing. Marketers often will pay their influencers or reward loyal customers for doing so.
  4. Set up retargeting campaigns to reach out to qualified leads who tried a free trial but didn’t make a purchase. Retargeting ads convert customers faster than any other ad because the customer has already been primed with ads, blogs, reviews, social proof with photography, and word of mouth. This is the lowest hanging fruit with all the effort you have put into your strategy.

How Lead Generation Marketing Strategies Promote Business Success

Acquiring new customers is tricky; most leads (from social media, SEO, and landing pages) will not open your website and immediately buy.

A typical lead gen landing page will have a conversion rate of 2% or less, so you need to build your lead funnel with lead nurturing strategies. The middle of the lead funnel contains a pivotal point for maintaining interest, which is the key to turning an interested person into a paying customer. This is where you need to engage your audience with the aforementioned blogs, tips, and content supporting the challenge that your product or service ultimately solves.

The middle of the funnel (MOFU) is a crucial stage in the customer journey where potential customers have already shown interest in your business but haven’t yet made a purchase decision. It’s the stage where they are actively considering your product or service and evaluating whether it’s the right fit for their needs.

Engaging users in the MOFU is important because it can help you move them closer to making a purchase decision. Here are some tips on how to engage these users:

  1. Provide educational content: Offer content that helps potential customers understand their problems and how your product or service can solve them. This can include whitepapers, case studies, videos, and webinars. Educational content can position your business as an expert and help potential customers make informed decisions.
  2. Personalize the experience: Use data you have collected on the potential customer to personalize the experience. For example, you can send targeted emails based on their previous interactions with your business or suggest products that are similar to ones they have previously shown interest in.
  3. Build trust: In the MOFU, potential customers are looking for reasons to trust your business. Provide social proof such as customer testimonials or reviews. Offering a guarantee or free trial can also help build trust.
  4. Offer incentives: Providing incentives such as discounts or exclusive offers can encourage potential customers to take the next step and make a purchase.
  5. Communicate regularly: Stay in touch with potential customers by regularly sending them helpful content or updates on your product or service. This can help keep your business top of mind and increase the likelihood of them making a purchase.

By engaging potential customers in the MOFU, you can help them move closer to making a purchase decision and increase the likelihood of them becoming a loyal customer. This is where your focus needs to be intense with testing on copywriting, customer journey segmentation with persona line up, and imagery testing. This is the most intense part of understanding what is resonating with your customers. Be sure to use a testing platform that will give you true multi-variate or A/B testing.

The repetition of the engagement will get those that intend on purchasing through your funnel and those that are by standers will join or eventually move on.

Once you master the funnel, you’re ready to move on to loyalty marketing – this turns loyal customers into evangelists. Learn more about loyalty marketing here>>

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  • Digital Marketing, Direct Marketing

What is a Funnel Page and How Do You Design One?

What is a Funnel Page?

A funnel page, also known as a landing page or a lead capture page, is a single web page that is designed to guide visitors through a specific sequence of actions, with the goal of converting them into leads or customers.

The idea behind a funnel page is to create a focused and streamlined experience for visitors, leading them through a series of steps that ultimately lead to a desired outcome, such as making a purchase, filling out a contact form, or subscribing to a newsletter.

A typical funnel page might feature a clear and attention-grabbing headline, along with a brief description of the product or service being offered. The page might also include a prominent call-to-action (CTA) button, inviting visitors to take a specific action, such as filling out a form or making a purchase.

By guiding visitors through a clear and focused sequence of actions, funnel pages can help businesses increase their conversion rates and generate more leads and sales. They are often used in conjunction with online advertising campaigns, email marketing campaigns, and other forms of digital marketing, and can be an effective way to target specific audiences and drive more revenue.

How to Build Your Funnel Page

  1. Identify your goal: Before you start building your funnel page, you need to identify the specific action you want visitors to take. This could be anything from making a purchase to signing up for a newsletter.
  2. Create your landing page: Your landing page should be designed to capture the visitor’s attention and encourage them to take action. Keep the page simple and focused, with a clear call-to-action (CTA) that tells visitors what you want them to do.
  3. Create your funnel sequence: Once visitors have landed on your page, you need to guide them through a sequence of actions that will lead them to your goal. This might involve offering them a free download or other incentive in exchange for their email address or providing them with additional information to help them make a purchase decision. Below is a list of succinct sections your funnel page should include.
    1. Headline: This should be short and fit within the viewable max length for an SEO title of 60 characters. Use powerful adjectives for attention grabbing worthy response.
    2. Benefit: What problem are you solving? How do different people discuss this same problem? Ensure you use the proper keywords and alternate the way you message to appeal to audiences that reference this problem differently.
    3. Imagery: Pictures say a thousand words – show happy people with problems solved – can you visually explain your product or service – try.
    4. Testimonial: Word of mouth marketing is the oldest and most successful marketing available. Video testimonials are even more powerful – string together 3-5 video testimonials and now you have visual word of mouth marketing with is exceptionally powerful.
    5. Offer: What are you asking for your service or product – when does this offer expire? Is there limited inventory? Is there limited time – this is where you use sense of urgency and conviction in value.
    6. CTA: The buy now button – make sure you know how to use colors – red is not a good color despite Target’s affinity. Green is the most liked color in the spectrum.
  4. Create your thank-you page: Once visitors have completed the desired action, they should be redirected to a thank-you page that confirms their action and provides them with any additional information they might need. This is another piece of your funnel where you want a 2nd call-to-action. Upgrade now for only $9.99 with a soft benefit.
  5. Test and refine: Once your funnel page is up and running, you should monitor its performance and make adjustments as needed. This might involve tweaking the page design, changing the copy, or adjusting the sequence of actions to optimize your conversion rate.

Popular Brands That Use Funnel Pages

Many successful brands use funnel pages as part of their marketing and sales strategies. Here are a few examples of popular brands that are known for using funnel pages effectively:

  1. ClickFunnels: ClickFunnels is a popular software platform that specializes in building high-converting funnel pages. The company uses its own product to drive leads and sales and is known for its extensive library of templates and integrations.
  2. HubSpot: HubSpot is a leading provider of inbound marketing and sales software. The company uses funnel pages as part of its lead generation and nurturing campaigns and provides tools and resources to help businesses create their own high-converting pages.
  3. Salesforce: Salesforce is a cloud-based software platform that provides customer relationship management (CRM) and sales automation tools. The company uses funnel pages as part of its lead generation and sales strategies and provides resources and support to help businesses create effective pages.
  4. Shopify: Shopify is a popular e-commerce platform that enables businesses to sell products online. The company uses funnel pages as part of its marketing and sales campaigns and provides tools and resources to help businesses create effective pages that drive sales.
  5. Airbnb: Airbnb is a global online marketplace that connects travelers with hosts who have accommodations to rent. The company uses funnel pages as part of its booking process, guiding visitors through a sequence of actions that ultimately lead to a booking confirmation.

These are just a few examples of popular brands that use funnel pages as part of their marketing and sales strategies. By using funnel pages effectively, these brands can drive more leads, sales, and revenue, while providing a seamless and user-friendly experience for their customers.

Overall, building a funnel page requires careful planning and execution, but can be a highly effective way to guide visitors toward a specific goal and improve your conversion rates.

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  • Advertising, Digital Marketing, eCommerce, Social Media

Master Facebook Custom Audiences for CRO

 

Facebook custom audiences are a targeting feature that allows businesses to create a specific audience based on their existing customer data. Custom audiences can be created using a variety of sources, such as email addresses, phone numbers, website visitors, and engagement with Facebook and Instagram content.

By using custom audiences, businesses can deliver targeted ads to a specific group of people who have already interacted with their brand in some way. For example, a business can use custom audiences to target customers who have abandoned their shopping carts or to upsell to customers who have previously made a purchase.

Custom audiences can also be used to create lookalike audiences, which are audiences that share similar characteristics to the existing custom audience. This helps businesses reach new potential customers who are likely to be interested in their products or services.

Overall, Facebook custom audiences are a powerful tool for businesses to deliver highly targeted ads and improve the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns.

Popular types of Facebook custom audiences

Customer lists

This audience is created by uploading a list of email addresses, phone numbers, or other contact information that the business has collected from its customers.

Website traffic

This audience is created by tracking visitors to a business’s website using Facebook’s tracking pixel. The pixel can track specific actions such as page views, add-to-cart events, and purchases, and businesses can create custom audiences based on these actions.

App activity

This audience is created by tracking users who have interacted with a business’s app. The business can create custom audiences based on specific in-app actions such as installs, purchases, and registrations.

Engagement

This audience is created based on how users have interacted with a business’s Facebook or Instagram content. Businesses can create custom audiences based on actions such as video views, likes, comments, and shares.

Lookalike audiences

This audience is created by using Facebook’s algorithm to find people who share similar characteristics to an existing custom audience. This is a powerful tool for businesses to reach new potential customers who are likely to be interested in their products or services.

Custom audiences based on Facebook groups

Advertisers can create custom audiences based on people who are members of specific Facebook groups. This can help them reach people who have a shared interest or hobby.

There are more targeted and granular Facebook audience segments that you can create. The more personalized the segment, the more customized the targeting ad can be. For example, creating segments of people who look at bakeware as opposed to customer segments that look at the knife section of your homewares catalog. Offering likeminded individuals offers will increase your response rate by offering the right product to the right customer.

Here are the steps to create a custom audience based on website traffic:

  1. Go to Ads Manager and click on the “Audiences” tab.
  2. Click on the “Create Audience” dropdown and select “Custom Audience.”
  3. Select “Website Traffic” as the source of your custom audience.
  4. Choose “People who visited specific web pages” and enter the URL of the category page on your website that you want to target.
  5. You can further refine your audience by setting a time range for how far back you want to go and by adding additional rules such as excluding certain URLs or targeting people who have visited multiple pages on your website.
  6. Once you’ve created your audience, you can use it to create targeted Facebook ads that will be shown to people who have visited the specific category page on your website.

And once you have created this custom audience, you can leverage it to fill the top of your funnel with people that are not familiar with your brand. This methodology will find people on Facebook that have similar demographics and psychographics to the people in your category segment, enabling you to appeal to a wider audience. Remember this audience segment will convert at a lower rate than someone that is familiar with your brand, but you have to continually fill your funnel to find new customers, and this is one of the many targeted methodologies to do so.

To create a lookalike audience in Facebook, follow these steps:

  1. Go to Ads Manager and click on the “Audiences” tab.
  2. Click on the “Create Audience” dropdown and select “Lookalike Audience.”
  3. Choose the source of your lookalike audience. You can use your Facebook pixel data, your custom audience data, or your page fans.
  4. Select the country or region where you want to find similar people.
  5. Choose your desired audience size, which ranges from 1% to 10% of the total population of the selected country or region. The smaller the percentage, the more closely the lookalike audience will match your source audience.
  6. Click “Create Audience” and wait for Facebook to create your lookalike audience. This may take a few hours.
  7. Once your lookalike audience is ready, you can use it to create targeted Facebook ads that will be shown to people who have similar characteristics and behaviors to your source audience.

There are endless options on configuring Facebook audiences. Your limit is only your creativity and your brand understanding. Understanding brand nuances can help you uncover like characteristics you may have not considered, such as a private group these likeminded individuals may participate in. In addition to being creative with your custom audiences, you can also layer your audiences.

Layering Custom Audiences

Layering Facebook custom audiences is the process of combining multiple custom audiences to create a more refined and targeted audience. Layering your custom audiences can provide even further optimization to your targeting by adding additional criteria and further segmenting your audience. Because the audience is more targeted, you are more likely to see a higher conversion rate and lower cost per conversion with layered custom audiences. By layering custom audiences, you can also create retargeting campaigns that are tailored to specific behaviors or interests, which can lead to higher engagement and conversion rates. By targeting only the most relevant audience, you can save money on ad spend and get more value for your advertising budget.

Overall, layering Facebook custom audiences can help you create more targeted and effective ad campaigns that can lead to higher engagement, conversion rates, and return on investment.

How to Layer Custom Audiences

  1. Go to Ads Manager and click on the “Audiences” tab.
  2. Click on the “Create Audience” dropdown and select “Custom Audience.”
  3. Choose the source of your first custom audience. You can choose from website traffic, customer file, engagement, app activity, offline activity, and more.
  4. Set up the targeting for your first custom audience. You can include or exclude specific groups of people based on their behavior or characteristics.
  5. Click “Create Audience” to save your first custom audience.
  6. Repeat the process to create a second custom audience using a different source, such as a different page on your website, a different customer file, or a different type of engagement.
  7. Once you have created your second custom audience, click on the “Create Audience” dropdown again and select “Custom Audience.”
  8. Choose “Custom Combination” to create a new audience that combines your first and second custom audiences.
  9. Select the source of your first custom audience and the source of your second custom audience.
  10. Set up the targeting for your new custom audience. You can include or exclude specific groups of people based on their behavior or characteristics from both of your original custom audiences.
  11. Click “Create Audience” to save your new custom audience.

You can repeat this process to layer more custom audiences and create a more refined and targeted audience. By layering custom audiences, you can create an audience that includes people who meet specific criteria from multiple sources, which can help you reach a more relevant audience and achieve better results with your Facebook ads.

Now that you have the comprehensive facts and how-to for Facebook Custom Audiences, it’s time to take on the Facebook Ad types so you can find out which is best for your audience. Best of luck with the social selling!

You might also like: 8 Types of Facebook Ads to Crush Your Sales Goals

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  • Digital Marketing, Marketing, Social Media

Influencer Marketing: How to Do it Right

 

Marketing has certainly been through a revolution ever since the internet hit the internet! Entrepreneurs were unleashed to dream, design, build, and market their masterpieces. Adding web 2.0 provided further mind-blowing opportunities for the technology-hungry audience growing globally. This rise of individual ability to make a name and breakthrough big brands advertising has never been so present as now. And thus, influencer marketing has been born. Let’s review how influencer marketing works, who are the top influencers to watch, what influencer marketing costs, what influencer marketing is doing for top brands, and where to find influencers for your brand.

Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketers provide or do several things for brands, including:

  1. Promote products or services: Influencer marketers promote products or services on behalf of brands to their own audiences on social media, blogs, and other digital channels. This can help increase brand awareness, drive sales, and generate leads.
  2. Create content: Influencer marketers create high-quality, engaging content that resonates with their audiences and aligns with the brand’s messaging and values. This can include sponsored blog posts, social media posts, and videos.
  3. Increase brand visibility: Influencer marketers can help increase a brand’s visibility and reach by leveraging their own audiences and social media channels. By partnering with influencers, brands can tap into new audiences and increase their reach on social media.
  4. Build brand trust and credibility: Influencer marketers can help build trust and credibility for brands by promoting their products or services to their audiences. This is especially true for micro-influencers, who have smaller but more engaged audiences and are seen as more authentic and trustworthy by their followers.
  5. Provide valuable insights: Influencer marketers can provide valuable insights into their audiences, including demographics, interests, and buying behavior. Brands can use this information to create more effective marketing campaigns and tailor their messaging to better resonate with their target audience.

Overall, influencer marketers provide a valuable service to brands by helping them reach new audiences, increase their visibility, and drive sales. By partnering with influencers, brands can leverage the trust and credibility that they have built with their audiences to achieve their marketing goals.

Top Social Media Influencers

Some of the top influencer names come as no surprise – and that’s exactly why Influencer Marketing is so popular! If you know, you know. The top earning influencer marketers can vary from year to year and depend on a number of factors, including their audience size, engagement rate, and industry. Here are some examples of top earning influencer marketers:

  1. Kylie Jenner: With over 270 million followers on Instagram, Kylie Jenner is one of the most influential people on social media. She is known for her makeup and skincare brand, Kylie Cosmetics, and has earned an estimated $590 million from her company.
  2. Cristiano Ronaldo: The professional soccer player has over 240 million followers on Instagram and has partnered with a number of brands, including Nike, Herbalife, and Clear Shampoo. He is estimated to have earned $70 million from social media sponsorships in 2021 alone.
  3. Kim Kardashian: With over 250 million followers on Instagram, Kim Kardashian is one of the most recognizable influencers in the world. She has partnered with several brands, including Skims, KKW Beauty, and Lumee, and is estimated to have earned $17.5 million from social media sponsorships in 2021.
  4. Jake Paul: The controversial YouTube personality has over 20 million subscribers on his channel and is known for his boxing matches and pranks. He has partnered with a number of brands, including DraftKings and Fashion Nova, and is estimated to have earned $14 million from social media sponsorships in 2021.
  5. Charli D’Amelio: The 17-year-old TikTok star has over 120 million followers on the platform and is known for her dance videos. She has partnered with several brands, including Hollister, Morphe, and Dunkin’, and is estimated to have earned $10 million from social media sponsorships in 2021.

Popular Social Media Campaigns

There are many successful influencer marketing campaigns that have generated significant results for brands. Here are a few examples of popular campaigns with results, according to case studies:

  1. Daniel Wellington: The watch brand partnered with micro-influencers on Instagram, offering them a unique discount code to share with their followers. This led to a massive increase in sales, with the brand selling 1 million watches in just one year and generating $230 million in revenue.
  2. Glossier: The beauty brand partnered with influencers on Instagram to promote its new line of products. This led to a significant increase in sales, with the brand selling out of several products within just a few hours of the campaign’s launch.
  3. Old Navy: The clothing retailer partnered with a group of influencers to create a “bigger than us” campaign, encouraging followers to share photos of themselves wearing Old Navy clothing. This led to a massive increase in brand awareness and engagement, with the campaign generating over 1 million user-generated posts and 6.5 billion impressions.
  4. Airbnb: The vacation rental platform partnered with influencers on Instagram to promote its new Experiences feature. This led to a significant increase in bookings, with the brand reporting a 500% increase in revenue in just one year.
  5. H&M: The fashion retailer partnered with influencers on Instagram to promote its new line of clothing. This led to a significant increase in sales, with the brand reporting a 32% increase in revenue in just one quarter.

These are just a few examples of successful influencer marketing campaigns, but there are many others that have generated significant results for brands. The key to success is to carefully choose the right influencers, create engaging content, and measure and optimize the campaign for maximum impact.

Influencer Marketing Costs

So now you know who is elite – you can imagine how the pricing works. The more valuable you / your audience is, the more it will cost. Of course, niche relevance is important, so don’t feel beholden to popular names if it does not support your brand.

The cost of social media influencers can vary widely depending on a number of factors, including the size and engagement rate of their audience, the type of content they create, and the duration and scope of the campaign. Some influencers may charge a flat fee for their services, while others may charge based on the number of views, clicks, or conversions that the campaign generates.

According to a 2021 report by Influencer Marketing Hub, the average cost for an influencer post on Instagram is $300 to $1,000 per post for micro-influencers (10,000 to 100,000 followers), $1,000 to $5,000 per post for mid-tier influencers (100,000 to 500,000 followers), and $5,000 to $100,000 per post for top-tier influencers (over 500,000 followers).

Brands should carefully consider their goals and budget when deciding whether to work with influencers and should work closely with the influencer to negotiate a fair and effective compensation package.

Influencer Marketing Brand Value

And while considering cost – of course you must consider the value – what is your brand looking to gain when hiring an influencer – they should be able to tell you how their audience responds. While Beyonce may drive awareness, Kylie Jenner may drive activation. You want to be sure your goals and tactics are aligned as awareness widens your top of funnel and requires more ad funds to push the leads through the funnel, while an activation leads to direct behavior, whether email acquisition or sale – it’s a result with a value that does not require an additional ad spend.  And finding purely activation influencers is like the elusive Unicorn.

The revenue generated by influencer marketing can vary widely depending on several factors, such as the industry, the size and engagement of the influencer’s audience, and the specific goals of the campaign. However, influencer marketing has been shown to be a highly effective form of marketing, with some studies indicating that it can generate a significant return on investment.

According to a study by Influencer Marketing Hub, the average earned media value (EMV) for every $1 spent on influencer marketing was $5.78. This means that for every dollar spent on influencer marketing, brands were able to generate almost $6 in earned media value, which includes social media mentions, shares, and other forms of engagement. This is a positive ROI with the basic ROAS (Return on ad spend) metric requires a 4X ROAS to be considered profitable. Nice return here on influencer data.

Another study by Linqia found that 39% of marketers plan to increase their influencer marketing budgets in 2023, indicating that it’s a growing and increasingly important part of many brands’ marketing strategies.

When working with your influencer, you can provide exact tags for landing pages that will attribute their efforts so you may see traffic data tagged with their referrals. Of course it cannot all be tracked as some people will hear it on the radio or see it and go to your site later and the tracking is not available for folks just going to your site from brand recall – that’s valuable enough on its own and you will start to notice larger volumes of unknown traffic and this is your key – you know, it’s not magic – influencer marketing works.

While it’s difficult to provide an exact figure for the revenue generated by influencer marketing, it’s clear that it can be a highly effective way for brands to reach their target audiences, increase brand awareness, and drive sales.

How to Find an Influencer for Your Brand

There are several ways that brands can find marketing influencers and micro-influencers:

  1. Social media platforms: Brands can use social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok to search for influencers and micro-influencers who are relevant to their industry or niche. Brands can search for popular hashtags or keywords related to their products or services to find influencers who are already talking about similar topics.
  2. Influencer marketing platforms: There are many influencer marketing platforms available that can help brands find influencers and micro-influencers for their campaigns. These platforms often allow brands to search for influencers based on various criteria, such as follower count, engagement rate, and demographics.
    1. AspireIQ: AspireIQ is an influencer marketing platform that helps brands find and connect with influencers across various social media platforms. The platform offers features like campaign management, influencer discovery, and content tracking.
    2. Upfluence: Upfluence is an all-in-one influencer marketing platform that helps brands find influencers, manage campaigns, and track performance. The platform offers a database of over 4 million influencers and includes features like audience analytics and influencer outreach tools.
    3. CreatorIQ: CreatorIQ is a cloud-based platform that helps brands manage and optimize their influencer marketing campaigns. The platform offers features like influencer discovery, campaign management, and performance tracking, and includes a database of over 5 million influencers.
    4. Traackr: Traackr is an influencer marketing platform that helps brands find and connect with influencers across various social media platforms. The platform offers features like influencer discovery, campaign management, and performance tracking, and includes tools for measuring influencer ROI.
  3. Referrals: Brands can also ask for referrals from other influencers or industry professionals who may know of relevant influencers. This can be a great way to find high-quality influencers who are already trusted by others in the industry.
  4. Brand ambassador programs: Brands can create their own brand ambassador programs, where they work with a select group of influencers or micro-influencers on an ongoing basis. This can be a great way to build long-term relationships with influencers and to create a consistent stream of content.
  5. Outreach: Brands can also reach out directly to influencers or micro-influencers who they think would be a good fit for their brand. This can be done through social media, email, or other channels. When reaching out to influencers, it’s important to be clear about what the brand is looking for and what the influencer can expect from the partnership.

Overall, finding the right influencers or micro-influencers for a marketing campaign requires research, patience, and a willingness to experiment and try new things. By carefully selecting the right influencers and creating engaging content, brands can leverage the power of influencer marketing to drive sales, increase brand awareness, and build long-term relationships with their customers.

Now that you have a comprehensive guide on what influencers do, how they do it, what it costs, where to find influencers, and the value they provide – you are set to reach out and do a test for your brand to understand what level of influencer you need and what goals you want to accomplish. Be sure to compare influencers to get an understanding of costs and benefits as well as their working style. You want someone similar to your brand.

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  • Advertising, Digital Marketing, eCommerce, Social Media

Meta Pixel: The Ultimate Guide

Leveraging the Meta Pixel for Conversion

The Meta pixel is a piece of code that can be added to a website to track user behavior and conversions on that site. It allows advertisers to track the actions of users who have interacted with their ads on Facebook and then visited their website, and to use that information to optimize and target their ads more effectively.

Privacy laws such as the GDPR and CCPA have had an impact on the use of the Meta pixel, as they require websites to obtain explicit consent from users before tracking their behavior. This means that website owners need to ensure that they have proper consent mechanisms in place, such as cookie banners or pop-ups, before implementing the Meta pixel.

The Facebook API provides advanced settings that allow developers to customize the behavior of the pixel, such as setting custom parameters or tracking specific events on their site. These settings can be accessed through the Facebook Ads Manager or by using the Facebook Marketing API. Here are some examples of advanced settings that are available through the Facebook API:

  1. Custom Parameters: The Meta Pixel can be customized to track additional parameters beyond the default ones that are provided. This allows advertisers to track more specific information about user behavior, such as the type of product that was viewed or the value of a purchase. This configuration enables you to see what the customer engaged with so you may present this again in retargeting or show ads to this person from the same product collection. You may also offer a flash sale that is available for the next 3 hours only to encourage action now.
  2. Event Configuration: Advertisers can configure the Meta Pixel to track specific events on their website, such as button clicks or form submissions. They can also set up custom events to track unique user behavior that is relevant to their business. Events are an additional data point that enables you to score your data. Once you have their email address, your ability to market for free has been achieved – this is a great success and something you should build into your funnel with a tracking event. Once you have their email, you can place them in an audience segment that you test in conjunction with email and without to see the lift you get from the awareness exposure on Facebook. You may find that once you test email with ads and email without ads that the lower email conversion rate is acceptable and that you take the additional money and spend it on acquiring emails so you can then convert in email and have a steady stream of new opportunity from your email sign ups.
  3. Conversion Optimization: The Meta Pixel can be set up to optimize ad delivery for specific conversions, such as product purchases or lead form submissions. This helps advertisers to deliver their ads to users who are most likely to take the desired action. Facebook determines this exposure based on their proprietary algorithm; they are constantly optimizing to best deliver the audience that meets your needs. The more they can help you sell, the more ad dollars you will invest in the platform.
  4. Audience Creation: Advertisers can use the Meta Pixel to create custom audiences based on specific user behavior on their website. For example, they can create an audience of users who added items to their cart but did not complete a purchase. This is the number one converting audience – you must retarget folks that add to basket – it’s the number one conversion ad type on Facebook. The next audience you want to create is the browsers; these are the folks that look at the product detail page but do not add to cart. This audience was engaged enough to click through but not add to cart – just one step less engaged than your number one converting audience.
  5. Ad Delivery: The Meta Pixel can be used to control how ads are delivered to users based on their behavior on the website. For example, advertisers can show different ads to users who have already made a purchase compared to users who have only viewed a product page. This is a great place to introduce your loyalty program as well – save 10% on your 2nd purchase when you sign up for the Rockstar Rewards and save 10% on your next purchase – or get this loyalty welcome gift with your second purchase.

Overall, the advanced settings available through the Facebook API provide advertisers with a great deal of flexibility in how they use the Meta Pixel to track user behavior and optimize their ad campaigns.

Here are the basics of setting up the Meta pixel using the Facebook API:

  1. Set up a Facebook Business Manager account: If you don’t already have one, create a Facebook Business Manager account. This will allow you to manage your Facebook assets, including the Facebook Pixel API.
  2. Create a Facebook app: In the Facebook Developer Dashboard, create a Facebook app that will be used to access the Facebook Pixel API. Give your app a name and follow the prompts to create it.
  3. Add the Facebook Pixel API to your app: In the app settings, go to the “Products” section and add the Facebook Pixel API. Follow the prompts to set up the API, including setting up access tokens and permissions.
  4. Configure the Pixel API events: The Facebook Pixel API can track various user events on your website, such as page views, purchases, and form submissions. You can configure these events by defining them in the API code.
  5. Test the Pixel API: Once the API is installed and configured correctly, it’s important to test it to make sure it’s working correctly. You can do this using the Facebook Graph API Explorer, which allows you to test API requests and responses.
  6. Use the Pixel API to optimize your ad campaigns: Once the Pixel API is installed and configured correctly, you can use it to optimize your ad campaigns for specific conversions, create custom audiences, and track the performance of your ads.

There are many Facebook plugins available for WordPress that can be used to add the Meta pixel to a WordPress site, including official plugins from Facebook and third-party plugins developed by other companies or individuals. There are several popular Facebook plugins available for WordPress that can help you configure and integrate the Facebook Pixel with your website. Here are a few examples:

  1. Pixel Caffeine: This plugin allows you to easily set up and manage your Facebook Pixel, create custom audiences, and track specific events on your website.
  2. Facebook for WooCommerce: This plugin is designed specifically for WooCommerce users and allows you to track sales, add-to-cart events, and other important eCommerce events on your website.
  3. Facebook Feed WD: This plugin allows you to display your Facebook feed on your website, track Facebook Page visits, and capture user information for retargeting purposes.
  4. Facebook Like Box: This plugin allows you to display a Facebook Like Box on your website, which can help increase your social media following and capture user information for retargeting.
  5. Custom Facebook Feed: This plugin allows you to display a customizable Facebook feed on your website and track Facebook Page visits.

These are just a few examples of the many Facebook plugins available for WordPress. By using a plugin, you can simplify the process of configuring the Facebook Pixel and ensure that it’s tracking the events that are important for your business.

Whether you use the manual installation, the API, or a plugin, you want to ensure your pixel is firing correctly so you can confidently know that you are capturing the correct variables to target, retarget, capture events for creative targeting and re-segmenting audiences. In order to test your Meta pixel, you will want to add the Pixel helper to your browser. Here is how to install the pixel helper:

  1. Install the Facebook Pixel Helper: The Facebook Pixel Helper is a free Chrome extension that helps you check if your Facebook Pixel is working correctly. You can install it from the Chrome Web Store.
  2. Visit your website: After installing the Facebook Pixel Helper, visit your website and navigate through it to trigger the events you want to track.
  3. Check the Facebook Pixel Helper: Click on the Facebook Pixel Helper icon in your browser toolbar to open it. The tool will show you if the Facebook Pixel is installed on your website and if it’s firing correctly. It will also show you which events are being tracked and if there are any errors or warnings.
  4. Check the Pixel Event Manager: In the Facebook Ads Manager, go to the Pixel Event Manager to see the event data collected by the Facebook Pixel. You can check if the events you triggered on your website are being tracked correctly and see the details of each event, such as the event name, the number of times it was triggered, and the value of the event.
  5. Use the Ads Manager’s Testing Tools: Facebook provides various testing tools in the Ads Manager to verify that your pixel and events are working correctly. These tools include the Ads Preview tool, which allows you to see how your ads will look in different placements, and the Test and Debug tool, which lets you simulate different types of events to check how they’re handled by your pixel.

By following these steps, you can ensure that your Facebook Pixel is working correctly and that it’s tracking the events that are important for your business. If you encounter any issues, Facebook provides extensive documentation and support to help you resolve them.

Now that you have a handle on your pixel, its time to leverage this information for your advertising. Use these tips and tricks to get the most out of your carefully configured Meta pixel.

  1. Create custom audiences: Custom audiences allow you to retarget users who have already engaged with your website or Facebook Page. By creating custom audiences based on specific events, such as add-to-cart or purchase events, you can show ads to users who are more likely to convert. If you have physical locations, you will want local audiences created in addition to your engagement, leads submissions, purchases, product family audiences, and AOV as all of these will help you be a smarter marketer.
  2. Set up dynamic ads: Dynamic ads allow you to show personalized ads to users based on their behavior on your website. By setting up dynamic ads, you can show users ads for products they have viewed or added to their cart, increasing the likelihood that they will convert.
  3. Use Facebook Pixel with Google Analytics: By linking your Facebook Pixel with Google Analytics, you can gain even more insights into user behavior on your website. This allows you to better understand how users are interacting with your website and optimize your ad campaigns accordingly.
  4. Optimize for value: Facebook’s value optimization feature allows you to optimize your ad campaigns based on the value of each conversion. By setting up value optimization, you can prioritize ad delivery to users who are more likely to generate higher revenue for your business.
  5. Regularly review your events and data: It’s important to regularly review your Facebook Pixel events and data to ensure that it’s tracking correctly and providing you with valuable insights. This will help you make informed decisions about your ad campaigns and optimize them for better performance.

By following these tips and tricks, you can make the most of the Facebook Pixel and use it to drive better results for your business.

With the Meta pixel, you can track a variety of user actions on your website, including pageviews, clicks, purchases, sign-ups, and more. This information can then be used to create custom audiences for targeting and retargeting campaigns on Facebook and to measure the effectiveness of your advertising campaigns. Additionally, you can use the pixel to track conversions and optimize your ads for specific actions that you want users to take on your website.

If you need help setting up your Meta Pixel, reach out to Contest Factory and we’re happy to help.

 

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  • Digital Analytics, Digital Marketing, eCommerce, eMail Marketing

50+ eCommerce Statistics You Should Know

Online sales are expected to hit $6.51 trillion this year. It is estimated that by 2040 that 95% of all commerce will occur online. Ensuring you know how to get your piece of the pie is getting even more competitive as the barriers to entry continue to lessen with tools like Woo Commerce and Etsy.

How do you know if your eCommerce business is hitting home runs or producing marginal returns? If you are not networking with like-minded business executives, you are left to wonder and search for benchmarks. And then, do you know which data is important to benchmark?

We’ve made it easy with this guide defining the metrics you should care about and what the standards of these metrics look like in 2023. Use this guide to document your baseline with goals to meet the benchmark or surpass it. This will help you identify your lowest-hanging fruit for growth and build a roadmap to get there.

eCommerce Conversion Rate

Your conversion rate is calculated by dividing your number of transactions by your number of visitors and multiply X 100; (transactions / visitors) X 100 respectively. The industry average for eCommerce conversion rates settles at 2.5-3%. Your goal is to always aim for above 3% – then you know you are doing something right and above average at closing transactions by chance.

Average conversion rate by source

 

Source: Compass E-commerce Conversion Rate Benchmarks (2018)
Note: data collected from over 10,000 online stores – top 25% = 25% of stores with the highest conversion rate.

Order source attribution

You get orders from many different places. Whether it be a friend that sent you online or an ad you saw, a blog you read, and affiliate feed or paid search – there are many ways to get customers. Business owners often wonder what a normal distribution of sources looks like. This is complicated to say the least as each business appeals to consumers differently and no two businesses are identical.

Lifestyle brands will have more affiliate, blog, and advertising break out. Whereas consumables will have more search marketing, marketplaces, and shopping site referrals. The rule of thumb here is that you do not want your orders all coming from one referral source – this is what they would call having all your eggs in one basket. You should have a minimum of 5 healthy sources and always be on the lookout for more.

Below you can see a study that shows global eCommerce averages to give you a benchmark. Note you can look at sources by traffic, by orders, and by revenue. Below you will find sources by traffic and revenue.

eCommerce Statistics: Conversion

Cart abandonment rate

The average cart abandonment rate is 69.80%. This means approximately 70% of shoppers add something to their cart that they do not buy. Talk about emotional buying.  There are many tips and tricks to reduce cart abandonment.

Business owners can use cart abandonment emails to remind the customer of the item in the basket. Some merchants offer a discount – but you have to be careful about shoppers seeking this and using it as a reliable way to get a discount.  You can also text message users to remind them to complete their purchase and get a special gift with the purchase. Or offer a discount on a 2nd item.

Customer retention

This is a very important metric in any business. How many customers buy a 2nd and 3rd time. Getting multiple purchases from the same customer decreases your acquisition cost and increases your lifetime value, providing a more profitable business model.

Customer Retention by Industry

 

Source: https://www.metrilo.com/blog/report-customer-retention-dtc-brands

Advertising Options

There are so many places to spend your money – but where is the best place? Let’s review some averages to see where other folks are advertising. The average online merchant advertises in 3.2 channels.

Top 10 eCommerce Advertising Sources Globally

  1. Google Shopping
  2. Custom Channels
  3. Facebook Product Ads
  4. Amazon
  5. Google Search
  6. Pinterest
  7. Criteo
  8. Bing Ads
  9. eBay
  10. Price Runner

Average Google Ads CTR

Google Ads tend to be a go-to for all brands. They have been around and show in-market / customers searching for products to buy. This means you don’t have to persuade them, so its less media spend to acquire these customers and a great place to find new customers – or have new customers find you. Let’s look at average Google Ad click through rate by percentile in the bell curve.

The bottom 25% of merchants see a 1.91% CTR.

The middle 50% percentile merchants see a 3.23% CTR.

The 3rd quartile at 75% of merchants enjoy a 5.58% CTR.

The top merchants in the 90th percentile enjoy a 9.5% CTR.

Remember that a click is only half the battle – now you have to sell them. This is where you will want your abandoned cart emails, SMS messages, and Google retargeting to get them back to your site.

Average Email Marketing Open Rate and Click Rate

Merchants need to be using email marketing – this is the most affordable source of sales. Once you have someone on your list, it’s practically free to market to them. Simply create a weekly sale and get it front of your subscribers and voila – you’ll see repeat revenue start rolling in. The average email open rate is 15.68%.  The average click rate is 2.01%. with the average unsubscribe rate being .27%.

Average Email list value

As referenced above, there is extreme value in your email marketing list – these are customers who already know you and have requested emails from you. Each recipient can be considered a monetary value based on known average responses. This is measured by average revenue per recipient. Companies that have larger revenue make more money through their email marketing by nature of being more mature and having more subscribers.

Merchants that earn less than $100K can expect an average return of $.06 per subscriber.

Merchants that earn between $100K – $1M can expect an average return of $.06 per subscriber.

Merchants that earn between $1M – $10M can expect an average return of $.11 per subscriber.

Merchants that earn above $10M can expect an average return of $.21 per subscriber.

Now that you are armed with benchmarks and averages across the globe, you are ready to compare your own results and set goals. Each of these benchmarks come with tips and tricks to leverage opportunity for improvement. Read our guide on Omnichannel Marketing.>>

Wishing all merchants a very healthy 2023. Reach out to Contest Factory if you need any customer engagement solutions.

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  • Advertising, Digital Marketing, Promotion

The Importance of Target Market Research in Native Campaigns

While using native campaigns as a marketing strategy is just beginning to gain attention, it is a robust option to diversify marketing budgets. Native advertising and target market research are a powerful combination. Incorporating these strategies can help your business connect with your ideal customer base in a more personal manner than other marketing efforts.

Native advertising  is an innovative way to reach your customers. Because native campaigns are fairly new to the scene, there is less competition, and they command a high level of engagement. Target market research and understanding your ideal customer are key factors to its success, and with a bit of know-how from native marketing experts, you can stake your claim and tap into this cutting-edge marketing strategy.

What Is Native Advertising?

Native advertising refers to advertising initiatives that happen within other niche publications or news publications that are reporting on similar topics. The term originated as a description for promoted content paired with, placed next to, or positioned below published articles that feel and are related to the subject you are promoting – thus NATIVE.

Native ads position your content with news like lead ins that mimic the UI on the similar content site you are advertising on. Since you can place these ads on other sites, native ads can garner up to four billion impressions daily. These results show the promise and impact native ads have and why more businesses are adopting these methods.

Positioning Your Native Ads for Success

The success of your native ads comes down to how you position them, and narrowing down your target market is a key factor. Target market research is essential, as this helps you determine your ideal customer, what they need, and how to reach them. Consider who benefits from your products or services, why they need them, and what makes your products and services different from competitors.

Creating and running ad campaigns is an investment, so it’s important to make sure your ads are seen by your target demographic, who you expect to purchase your goods or services. Understanding your target market ensures that you don’t waste time or money on ad campaigns that won’t connect with your audience.

Defining Your Target Market

Native ads rely on clear, well-researched market data to determine the ideal target audience. Target market research is the best starting point for defining your target market.

Various methods exist for defining your target market. Keeping tabs on your competitors is one of the most promising methods, as it provides a clear view of what they are doing to appeal to the market. Other methods include hosting focus groups and surveying your existing customers.

General ads are less specific and personalized; they don’t hit your customers’ pain points, so they’re less likely to catch the attention of the market you want to target. Native ads work so well because they are specifically structured to reach designated markets.

Instead of casting a wide net to catch many, wide-reaching audiences, native ads reach a smaller, more focused target market that is more likely to take the next step.

Using Target Market Segmentation to Customize Your Native Ads

The first step when using native ads is to define very clear, specific goals. Native ad platforms typically allow you to select your campaign objectives, which can include:

  • Increasing brand awareness
  • Generating new leads
  • Growing online purchases
  • Increasing app installations
  • Driving traffic growth

Whatever your goal, target market segmentation is the best way to customize your marketing messaging and marketing strategies according to demographics. Specific demographics for ads include generation, age, religion, ethnicity, marital status, income level, and geographic location.

Using these segments provides greater personalization for your ads. Additionally, as you develop native ad campaigns, applying customer pain points throughout your content can help provoke customers to take small actions during their journey, like clicking your ad or signing up for emails.

Native Campaigns Research Conclusion

Target market research is an essential component of marketing with native ads. Be sure to understand your target market, their needs, and what they are seeking in thought leadership content.  Be prepared to share statistics on the subject matter as to position yourself as a thought leader and intrigue with data. These points should get your native campaign ads receiving lots of engagement with lower funnel conversions as you go.

For more information on native campaigns, check out our Ultimate Guide to Native Advertising.>>

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  • Digital Marketing, Direct Marketing, Marketing, Marketing Communications, Sales

2023 Marketing Initiatives: Adapting to the Changing Values of Customers

2023 Marketing Initiatives: Adapting to the Changing Values of Customers

When you consider what marketing covers, you often don’t recognize how far the marketing reach is. It is everything that influences a customer – it reaches far beyond advertising. It’s the entire experience of brand, pricing, customer service, engaging experience, and more. After the most recent years of transactions, consumer behavior as well as merchant services has taken a real dive into how to pivot while facing extreme challenge. Most businesses worked hard to meet the demands to stay in business – fairly remarkable. And during the pandemic, while consumers and businesses learned the new normal, plenty of families also re-evaluated their needs and changed. There are significantly fewer 2nd income earners in families today than 2020. Getting back to basics and priorities really hit home during this global challenge for obvious reasons. And it’s here to stay. This is why 2023 marketing priorities look different than most years.

One of the many changes in behavior over the pandemic led to the customer demand of having customer service employees that are knowledgeable and supportive for the service being offered.  While many people have decided not to go back to work, it leaves the business in the lurch – and now customers are more demanding, wanting the people present to really care for their job, service, and brand they support. Bad employee attitude is the number one, unacceptable behavior for what drives customer to leave a brand. This is a testimony to personality testing, and really spending time getting to know your potential front-line team in an interview – it can cost the business much more than employee turnover as the customer acquisition cost gets lumped on top of that. This reason is closely followed by 3 other similar issues:

  • Unfriendly service
  • Untrusted company
  • Unknowledgeable employees

It looks like consumers did some looking inside during the pandemic to decide what really matters to them; getting back to human basics really were revealed. Consumers want service folks to be committed to their job, try hard, and deliver good service based on these principles. After all, these are founding principles of the American dream of opportunity – hard work pays off.  73% of people say that customer experience is an important factor in their buying decisions, but currently only 49% of US consumers say that today’s companies provide a good experience.

 

Visual Learning

Visual Learning is another trend that has staying power. We have learned a lot from infographics – it’s a communication tool that combines images and data to tell a story; women prefer reading and men prefer, images; therefore you are capturing 100% of your audience while providing data and content that is easy to consumer.  Visual storytelling also can use color which elicits positive emotions from people. Impacting emotion during your storytelling is the very basics of marketing – impact your consumer. Visual assets can be delivered in many formats, from slideshows to infographics, to sell sheets, and video story telling. Research shows that consumers are 85% more likely to buy your product after watching a video about it. That’s a compelling stat.

 

Personalization

Personalization is another trend that gets more interesting as technology evolves. It started with merely using a customer’s name and offering them a birthday gift. Now technology is enabling a lot more with personalization. From buying history and artificial intelligence in eCommerce to in-person, AI – the ability here is growing vastly. Users expect that brands know who they are and that they treat them as this same person across platforms, from ecommerce, to in store, and kiosk locations. Quick service restaurants are leveraging kiosks to enable service while there’s employee shortages. The kiosks have proven to be a very successful option from both the merchant side and the consumer side. Consumers have claimed they prefer kiosks so they may keep control of their order, understand all the personalization options, and ensure their order is accurate. Kiosks also offer up-sells and cross sells reliably, whereas humans do their best but ultimately are not as reliable as computers. Additional AI being used enables the kiosk to recognize the consumer using a camera and retrieve their past order, offer additional items that consumers also enjoy with this selection, and show their loyalty points and offer. This experience is being widely appreciated by consumers and adding to the average ticket by up to 40% in some QSR locations.

 

Conversational Marketing

Conversational Marketing is another trend that consumers are demanding – they want to have conversations and not be talked at. The idea that they are a part of the conversation gives the consumer the acknowledgement they want. Years ago, sales folks addressed consumers as sir or mam and now they are chatting with them at the sales counter asking about their kids – and when online they are chatting with them about how they can help and adding the friendly touch of how are you today, what will you be using this product for? This informal approach makes the brand human and shows how they care for the buyer and actually engage. Data gathered here is also valuable as consumers will disclose more when having a conversation versus processing a transaction.  These learnings can be used in future opportunities with the consumers. Tracking and saving this data in your CRM is key.

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Copyright © 2000–2026 Contest Factory. All Rights Reserved.

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Engage. Capture. Convert.

Your Partner from Concept to Completion.

End-to-end promotional marketing solutions that bring strategy, creative, technology, compliance, administration, and fulfillment together.

Explore
Company
Popular Products
Get Started

Have a promotion in mind? Tell us what you’re trying to accomplish.

Let's Talk

Protected by U.S. Patent numbers 7,162,433, 8,019,641, 8,655,715 B2, 10,891,642 and pending applications.

Copyright © 2000–2026 Contest Factory. All Rights Reserved.

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