Reaching Customers Through Social Media & Email MarketingMid America Horticultural Trade Show 2013

Welcome!

Overview

• Introduction

• Social Media Strategies

– Getting started with the primary social media venues

– Open discussion about your existing/future tactics

• Email Marketing

– Building and Managing Quality Lists

– Developing Effective Messages

– Measuring Campaign Results

Top Floor Technologies

• Website Design & Development

• Search Engine Marketing

• Social Media

• Email Marketing

• Web Analytics & Conversion Improvement

Maximizing Online Marketing Resultsfor Hundreds of Businesses Since 1999

Social MediaStrategies

Where to begin?

6

Communications in a Connected World

• Communications has changed from a monologue to a dialogue

• Consumers trust reviews more than corporate advertising – 91% say consumer reviews are the #1 aid to buying decisions.

• Social media facilitates word of mouth, which is the most powerful advertising medium

• More than 845 million active users globally• Over 50% of the United States population• Over 425 million mobile users

Potential Business Benefits

• Branding and Word of Mouth

• Customer Engagement and Loyalty

• Customer Feedback

• Targeted Advertising

Create Your Facebook Business

Page

facebook.com/business/

Build Loyalty with Customersand let them spread the word!

• Over 465 million accounts• While over 50% of Americans use

Facebook, about 15% use Twitter.

Starting Strategies

• Sign up and reserve an account in the name of your business

• Spend time searching on Twitter for:

– Products/services you offer

– Competitors

– Your own company

• Follow people and companies of interest

• Find potential clients, service providers, subject experts, and partners who come recommended

• Be found for business opportunities

• Post and distribute job listings

• Get introduced to other professionals through the people you know

Basic Strategies

• Reserve your business name

• Research competition

• Look up customers and connect with them

• Encourage customers and vendors to recommend/endorse you

• 250 million accounts• Actual use is lower than this

Basic Strategies

• Reserve your business name and setup your page

• Use keywords in your text

• Encourage people tofollow you and +1your page

Tools to HelpManage Your

Social Presence

Basic Strategies

• Sign up and claim your business name

• Create specials

• Offer incentives for repeat check-ins and “mayors”

Millions of reviews of local businesses posted by users.

Basic Strategies

• Set up your business on Yelp (free)

• Add information about your business

• Announce special promotions

• Encourage positive reviews from customers

Closing Social Media Suggestions

• Identify your goals and how you will measure results.

• If you are new to social media, begin by observing.

• Don’t forget Marketing 101.

• Social media is not a substitute for having an effective Website and search strategy.

What Social tactics have you engaged in?

Any success stories to share?

Email Marketing

Email Usage

210 billion emails sent per day

2 million emails sent every second

1.3 billion email users

516 million business email inboxes worldwide

Globally, mobile users have surpassed desktop users

Marketers Using Email

92% of all marketers employ some type of email marketing

65% of marketers planned to increase email marketing spending in 2012, while only 3% planned to decrease1

1MarketingSherpa 2012 Email Marketing Benchmark Report

Key Benefits

Highly targeted and immediate(dynamic, personalized content)

Measurable and Cost effective

Drive sales and up sell current clients

Build customer loyalty

The Results

66% of email marketers surveyed agreed that email is the most cost effective marketing tool at their company.1

Marketers said they enjoy an ROI two to three times greater with email than any other direct marketing.1

Email marketing delivered a $40.56 return for each $1 spent in 2011 (Direct Marketing Association).2

1Forrester Research, 2Direct Marketing Association

Building & Managing Quality Lists

Build Your List Organically

Existing Customers

Sales Leads

Trade Shows & Events

Sign Up Link in Email Signature

Social Media

Leverage Your Website Traffic with Sign Up Boxes on Your Website

Sign Up Form Examples

Tip: Keep sign up forms simple and offer meaningful value to your target audience. Let them know what to expect and when to expect it.

List Segmentation

Reach segments of your list with relevant messages

Segmentation of your list can yield an increase in open rates of approximately 14%

Possible segmentation methods

Demographics – gender, age, geography, company size, etc.

Behavior – email response, purchase history, browsing history, etc.

Customer Lifecycle – buyer vs. prospect, stage of customer journey,

products/services purchased, etc.

Purchasing Lists?

Not recommended … but if you must:

Make sure your landing pages are aligned to your list’s interests.

Don’t mention the fact that it’s a rented/purchased list.

Test results against your other lists.

Don’t sacrifice quantity for quality.

Instead of using large list collectors, consider specialty lists (from trade publications, associations, trade shows, etc.)

Source: B2B Magazine, E-Mail Marketer Insight

CANSPAM Compliance

Put your contact info in footer of emails.

Use a current email address.

Have consent to contact your list.

Offer immediate un-subscribe action.

When asked why recipients stopped subscribing to opt-in emails, more than half said the content was no longer relevant, and 40% said they were getting too many offers.

- Forrester Research

Developing Effective Messages

Attributes of Successful Messages

Timely and relevant to the reader

Not over-selling

Clear and compelling calls to action

Formatted to look good in multiple email clients

Effective landing pages

Topics to Consider

Upcoming events

Special promotions

Product reviews

Insider information

Free tips, expert advice

Information that will help your readers

Email Message Examples

Landing Pages

Clearly related to message content

Simple call to action

Less information is more

Mobile friendly

Subject Lines

Keep it simple

Don’t be overly flashy or pushy

Clearly and concisely describes the purpose/content of your email

Directly relates to expectations you set with subscribers during the opt-in process

Designing for Readability

Keep width to 600-650 pixels

Test for compatibility with various email clients

Consider responsive design for mobile devices

Leverage the preview pane

Responsive Design for Mobile

Responsive Design Tips

Source: Campaign Monitor

Single-column layouts that are no wider than 500 to 600 pixels work best on mobile devices.

Links and buttons should have a minimum target area of 44 × 44 pixels.

Keep your message concise, and place important design elements in the upper section of the message.

Source: Campaign Monitor

Run Design and Spam

Testing

Measuring Campaign Results

Basic Metrics to Track

How many people you sent the email to

How many opened it, how many times

How many unsubscribed

How many forwarded the email

What links they clicked

What they did after clicking a link

Overall U.S. Industry Averages

Email Open Rate – 19.9%

Email Click Through Rate – 5.4%

Remember, the best benchmark is your own results. Analyze your results and pursue continual improvement.

Source: 2012 Silverpop Email Marketing Metrics Benchmark Study

Getting Started

Hundreds of Vendors

Good list of vendors at http://www.marketingprofs.com/bg/

Important Closing Considerations

Running a campaign takes more than just having a platform. Ensure that you are managing your list well and developing great messages.

Don’t forget marketing 101 – understand your target market and plan your campaigns with them in mind.

Integrate your email marketing with other efforts.

What Email tactics have you engaged in?

Any success stories to share?

Thank You

Shane FellTop Floor Technologies262.364.0010 ext. 241

sfell@topfloortech.com