Mail Chimp is the most robust, closely followed by Campaign Monitor. Both of these products have a diverse set of tools available to meet the client’s needs: templates with easy-to-edit content fields make using these systems friendly to even the most novice users. For the more savvy user or the client with a more specific branding need, html/css import options are available to deliver a completely branded email experience to the clients’ mail recipients. Testing in the most popular email clients ensures that all users receive the same experience, a nice feature.

Mail Chimp offers some super snazzy features like mobile management of your lists, reports and scheduling, as well as some interesting features like commenting and social media integrations. All the options within this tool are intuitive to implement making this solution a great one for a client-managed email newsletter solution.

Campaign Monitor offers similar features, with the additional ability to manage multiple clients within the same dash, making CM a great solution for content and brand managers that are doing work for multiple clients or products.

Constant Contact, with its slick drag & drop content implementation system and website RSS feature is by far the most common tool I see being used. Its got a great reputation, but in terms of form and function, its the least robust of the tools I assessed for this blog. Constant Contact lacks lots of the the bells and whistles featured by the other two tools, but the ones that really ax it from the list, in my opinion, are, the inability to fully customize its templates and its lack of an online archive for past issues. These missing features make the similar price point unjustified.  

Image courtesy of: paidcontent.org

Pay per click (PPC) advertising can be tough. There are many moving parts to an account like keywords, ad copy and network settings –  it can be difficult to keep everything in good order.

Despite the complexity, a PPC account  like Google AdWords or Microsoft AdCenter should have one overarching goal: to increase relevant conversions on a website. Your PPC account should improve the number of transactions, leads, or sales on your website. One of the best ways to improve conversions is with conversion-focused ad copy. Here are 5 ways to do that:

1) Qualify Traffic with Headlines

After you establish a decent click thru rate or CTR (1.0% or better), start looking to qualify your traffic with a better headline. You want a headline that speaks directly to the person who will convert on your website. For instance, if you’re trying to get leads for a niche cruise ship to Alaska, you could try these headlines:

A Unique Alaskan Cruise

OR

Yacht Cruise To Alaska

These examples talk to people looking for a different experience on their Alaskan cruise, not to the first-timers looking for the cheapest cabins. Avoid generic headlines like “Alaska Cruise Specials”. That headline won’t help qualify your website traffic and will bring fewer conversions for your niche offering.

 2) Use Benefit-Focused Descriptions

What are the reasons your prospects buy from you?

Highlight those elements in your top description line. There are two description lines in AdWords, both allowing for 35 characters. However, you’ll need your 2^nd description line for a call to action. That doesn’t leave a lot of space to showcase the benefits of your product. Going back to the example of the niche cruise ship, try this:

Luxury cruise by glaciers, wildlife.

OR

5-Star dining & ship excursions.

In this instance, appealing to the lowest-common traveler won’t do. The goal is to speak to your best prospects. Using qualifying headlines and specific benefits will further cement positive feelings toward your offering before the click. That’s the visitor you want on your website – and that’s the visitor more likely to convert.

3) Implement Call To Action

The previous lines in your PPC ad qualify your traffic and further explain your offering. However, the last line should almost always be used for a “call to action” – your desired response from prospects. Don’t be shy. Tell prospects what to do:

Download colorful brochure now!

OR

Get brochure and $500 discount!

This final description line should focus on the next step in your buying cycle. Avoid using more generic language – or even benefits for this line. CTR and conversion rates will suffer when you don’t tell prospects what to do.

4) Split-Test Ads For Optimal Conversion Rates

The fact is, nobody knows which ads will do well and which ones will falter. That’s why we split test. Compose 2-3 ads in the account. Next, setup your campaign to rotate ads evenly to ensure a fair split test. You can do that under the Campaign Settings Tab > Advanced Settings. Select the Rotate ads feature.

Let things run. Allow for enough clicks (100+) to get statistical relevance and pause the lower conversion rate ads while keeping the winning ads. Repeat the process until your CTR and conversion rates are acceptable.

5) Implement Best Practices on Image/Display Ads

One of the goals of text ads in PPC is to find good ad copy for your image and display ads. After you find that perfect combination of headlines, description, call to action, and conversion rate, roll-out the winning ads to new networks.

If you’re bidding on the Display Network in Google AdWords or buying banner ads, use the best ad copy for those creatives. This helps to spread your successful ads throughout the internet and improves overall conversions in your PPC efforts.

Small Business Shamen Logo

Today we launch the official website for the Small Business Shamen Conference, April 4, 2012 at the Ice House. As we get going with a new business venture for VIA Studio I wanted to take a second and explain what the heck this thing is.

A quick overview.

The Small Business Shamen is a day of presentations and networking, centered around the changing world of small business. We feature both national and local speakers, intended to share stories, experiences and training designed to make you an more effective agent of change. Whether you own a business or want to make yourself more valuable in the workforce, this day is for you. Our keynote speaker is NY Times bestselling author, business consultant and social media guru, Chris Brogan!

Why are we promoting a conference?

As a business owner, I see the value in continuing education and professional development. I give my employees a stipend every year to spend how they see fit to attend conferences and seminars, and it’s proven infinitely valuable to VIA’s morale and knowledge base. Every time someone comes back from An Event Apart, there’s a gleam in their eyes that stays at least as long as the next soul-crushing client project (just kidding, we love our clients!).

I’m jealous.

The Shamen

That’s what this conference is all about. Jealousy. As someone who also wants to do a better job at leading my company I’ve been searching for worthwhile events. I’ve attended a few that I thought might help. Hell, I’ve even considered going back to school to pursue an MBA. At the end of the day, I’m jealous of my staff. They are amazing and I want to keep learning and growing along with them.

Unfortunately I don’t think it’s that easy anymore. The formula for success has changed. Real people running real businesses are dealing with unprecedented changes in all aspects of business, especially marketing & technology (VIA Studio’s specialty, hint hint). These days our work is not only the work of an interactive agency. We help with business process and efficiency, internal communication, and using innovations in technology and cloud computing to save our clients money and seriously impact their bottom line. We should also discuss the recession and how that affects business. Opportunity is knocking if your mind is open to change.

All this might be a hard pill to swallow from a company like VIA Studio. Not many people are going to hire us to restructure their entire organization. I’ll also be the first to admit we don’t have all the answers.

But gosh darn, I bet we can all figure it out along the way. Or at least help each other figure it out.

That’s the point of Small Business Shamen. You may be one or you might want to learn from one. Either way, come join us on April 4 and let’s get this bus moving again.

Check out the website to see what the day has to offer. It’ll be fun, informative, insightful, and educational.

~jason

PS – I want to thank all the people that are already working behind the scenes to make this happen. My staff, the speakers, the sponsors, and the others that volunteered their time on this because they also think this is a good idea and a needed experience.

Meet Elliot. A fake search engine dreamed up by the writers of the Showtime series Dexter.

Although we complain about the writing on Dexter quite a bit, for some reason it’s impossible for Kim and I not to watch it every week. Serial killers have their attraction I guess. It was quite entertaining this week to hear the intern ragging on Google and “sneaky SEO bullshit”.

Watch the clip, provided by searchengineland.com:

Although we provide search engine optimization as a service, we’re always fighting the “black hat” SEOs out there who pull the “sneaky SEO bullshit”. There are a few specific keywords we rank well for (ourselves and our clients), but continuously battle the cheats who use link spam and other shady tactics to game the system.

How do YOU feel about “sneaky SEO bullshit”?

Mobile Marketing Tactics & Barriers to Entry

This is the second in a series of posts from a presentation I am currently giving to advertising & marketing organizations. Contact us if you’d like us to speak to your organization or group.

In my last post on Mobile Marketing, I discussed why you need to and how to get started. In this post, we’ll introduce a few tactics and their barriers to entry. Then I’ll discuss the lowest barrier to entry, Social Media and Email Marketing.

Barriers to Entry Chart.

From lowest to highest, here are some Mobile Marketing tactics. I’ll be discussing the first in this post.

• Social Networks and Email Marketing
• Mobile Advertising
• Mobile Search Results
• Mobile Optimized Websites & Landing Pages
• Mobile Applications

The biggest takeaway here is that you don’t need a massive budget to get started. Remember Mobile Marketing is Social, Local, Mobile. If you don’t have the money or skills to build a mobile app, guess what? You can get started immediately anyway. Here’s how.

Lowest barrier to entry: Social Networks & Email Marketing

This is the low hanging fruit. It’s always prudent to go where your audience is going. Recent studies have estimated that before we get out of bed, 24% of smartphone users check their email and 18% check their Facebook account. That’s HUGE! You should be engaging your audience where they are on their mobile phones first.

Here are some concepts to get used to with Social and Email:

Go where the people go: Ridiculous amounts of people are addicted to social media right now. They are engaging not only with their friends and family, but with companies and brands. There are new and innovative ways for any ethical company to have conversations with their audience, which leads to the next concept.

Brand Journalism: There’s a saying now in our industry that “Content is the new Advertising“. It’s true. People connect to stories. People connect to other people. If you are not telling a story that connects to people, you are losing an opportunity.

Brand Ambassadors: The companies that I most believe in are companies that I will mention in my networks and go to bat for any day. Create incentives for your “fans” to help tell your story. Word of mouth will always be the most effective marketing.

Don’t be a fake: Committing to what’s being called “social media” implies that you are creating a dialog between your brand and your audience. The internet audience is skeptical and savvy now. They’ll call out a fake in a heartbeat. If you’re in, go all the way. Respond to comments. Retweet and reply. “Like” your customers just as much as they like you. Gary Vaynerchuk said it best when he said that “Saying thank you is the next killer business strategy.” But if you don’t mean it, it doesn’t count, and may even do you harm.

Email Marketing

At this point in time, email marketing can be considered mobile marketing. All smartphone users are checking email on their phones now. The fact that a lot of us are checking before we get out of bed hints at the times that you should be sending your email campaigns. If you audience is paying attention and less likely to be annoyed while they’re checking their email in the morning, time your emails for that time. A tertiary win is that users are less likely to unsubscribe from an email list through their mobile phone.

Some other email marketing tips:

• Design your email template with mobile in mind. A 600 pixel header won’t look good on mobile.
• Create your callouts with mobile phones in mind. Links should be nice and big, and the email should be easy to scan. Get right to the point and encourage a call to action.

I hope this series helps your efforts. My next post will discuss Mobile Advertising, so look out for it soon!

~jason