The Holidays Are Approaching; Be Ready!

by | Sep 26, 2018 | Blog, Email Marketing, Facebook, Facebook Ads, Google +, Social Media

The end of the year is fast approaching, and for many small businesses this is the biggest quarter of the year so don’t wait to plan your holiday promotions. Below are a few tips to get you started.

  1. Review a calendar for upcoming important dates, make a quick list for reference. Halloween // Voting // Veteran Day // Thanksgiving // Black Friday // Christmas // NYE
  2. Review past promotions: Look at what promotions you did last year to support the holidays. Did they work? Do you like the collateral you used? Do they need to be updated?
  3. Freshen up past promotions or come up with new ones. No need to be fancy, keep it simple.
  4. Prioritize your promotions
  5. Determine how you will get the word out about your promotions:
    1. Send out Email Blast // How often and When
    2. Promote In Store // List out how you plan to do this 
    3. Social Media Post // How often and on what platforms
    4. Social Media Ads // Consider Budget // Ad Copy // Duration 
  6. Work on the creative: Design and create the flyer, emails, and social media posts.
  7. Mark your calendar with all promotions and when they’ll go out via social media and email marketing.

I know this seems like a lot but the planning stage should only take a few hours to do. Once this is done, designing the promotions and executing these simple steps will keep you on track and focused on your holiday campaigns.  

Why Email Isn’t Dead!

by | May 22, 2018 | Blog, Constant Contact Training Video, Email Marketing

This past week, I pulled stats for clients and noticed the numbers for Facebook had plummeted sharply. With all the news about Facebook changes, it wasn’t too big of a surprise, but because of the decline, I thought it would be a good time to remind you to work on your email list and explain why email marketing isn’t dead!

First, when you take the time to build your email list, you own it! It’s yours; it does not depend on trends, social media, or on what’s popular this week. Without an email list, you are hurting your ability to connect with your customers.

Second, and most simply, emails sell stuff! I promise you, the trick is having a good quality list of people who want to receive your message. I have a great example of a local business in Venice that began sending their email blast out weekly. Within one week they generated 10K in sales, just by spending a little time putting together their weekly email! WOO-HOO! that was music to my ears!!

Third, email helps keep your brand top of mind with your customers! I know you hate that only 20% of your people open your emails, but really, so what? They still see your name in their email box weekly, and that’s where you want to be when they or a friend is ready to make a purchasing decision.

I generally recommend Constant Contact; it’s cheap and effortless to use.  If you are a restaurant or a retail store, Zenreach is a great option as well. This product offers wifi in exchange for an email address which will allow you to build your email list quickly.

 

5 Steps of Successful Email Marketing

by | Sep 27, 2017 | Blog, Email Marketing, Services

If you’re a small business owner, you can’t afford to leave the success of your email marketing to chance. Check out these five key steps below that lead to successful email marketing & click here to download the complete infographic.

1. Plan your email marketing strategy
2. Design an email that drives action
3. Create email content without wasting time
4. Measure the impact of your email marketing
5. Grow your email list from scratch

Need help creating a successful email marketing campaign? We’ve got you covered.