What Baseball and Customer Marketing Programs Have in Common

Many marketers consider the holiday season to be their very own version of the playoffs. It takes months (sometimes even years) of preparation and it all comes down to a few critical weeks that can determine how successful you are for the entire year. In order to win, your strategy must be sound and your execution must be flawless.

Now that the weather is heating up and that baseball season is in full swing, it’s a great time to apply proven strategies for success to your own marketing programs to ensure a great 2016 and beyond. There aren’t many blueprints for success out there that are better than that of the reigning National League Champions, the New York Mets.  

Let’s breakdown the key elements of the Mets game plan and apply them to customer marketing programs:

1. Develop Prospects

The Mets were patient with their young pitchers and took time to develop them instead of rushing them to the majors when there was an injury or someone who wasn’t performing. This helped ensure that their young pitchers like Noah Syndergaard and Steve Matz were prepared to make the lead and succeed. It gave them a better chance at long and successful careers instead of just getting quick impact with potential for stunted development by demoting them if they were not ready.

The same principle applies to developing your email lists over time. Lots of communications early—especially filled with sales content—can lead to early sales but disengagement over time. Instead, try providing a warm welcome to newcomers with an emphasis on brand values and editorial content to help build great affinity with your brand and more engagement in the channel for the long term.

2. Stay Agile

The Mets understood the value of staying flexible across the baseball diamond. Whether they faced a right-handed pitcher or a left-handed one—utility players like Wilmer Flores and Juan Uribe were able to play multiple positions, allowing the Mets to field a formidable lineup and defensive scheme no matter what flavor of pitching they faced.

Marketers can leverage the same principles by ensuring that their campaigns are coded with responsive design. This way, the communications can achieve business goals by rendering properly regardless of the device or platform while ensuring that customers receive the best experience possible.

3. Test and Optimize Based On Results

The Mets tried dozens of lineups in 2015 until they settled on the best ones for their playoff run. Along the way they experimented with some bold moves like playing Yoenis Cespedes in center field, even though he was primarily a corner outfielder. By the time the playoffs came, the Mets were able to defeat formidable teams like the Chicago Cubs as a result of all of all of their in-season optimization.

The same applies to your email program. There should be testing each and every week—as testing becomes part of the DNA of your strategy. This includes testing both the “small things” like subject lines as well as the “larger things" like template design. These little wins really add up over time and after a full year of weekly testing those 52 learnings gained can mean much higher engagement metrics and revenue—regardless of your vertical!

4. Orchestration

While it’s true that heretofore unheralded and unsung role player Daniel Murphy carried the Mets on his back during the early post-season with 7 home runs, the majority of the Mets' offense during the season was the result of the team playing well together. Terry Collins, the Mets manager, deployed a large number of hit-and-run plays, sacrifice flies, and pitchers bunting to keep the offense rolling together even during its lowest production months.

Marketers who rely on just one channel such as email are missing out on the benefits of communicating with their customers across channels. The more they leverage impactful channels like SMS and Push to augment their email programs, the better chance they have at reinforcing key messages to customers at the right time. When all the channels are working together in unison, the marketer's likelihood to succeed is far greater than just having one channel alone, or multiple channels without coordination.

5. Get Outside Help When Needed

The Mets realized on July 23rd that fielding a lineup with John Mayberry Jr. at the all-important #4 in the batting order wasn’t going to get them to the next level. They acquired outside help to bolster their lineup as well as bullpen throughout the season. Players like Addison Reed and Yoenis Cespedes were essential parts of their World Series run, though both of them were not on the opening day roster.

You are not alone! There are plenty of outside resources available that can help you drive your program further. Educate yourself by reading blogs, making time for webinars, and attending top industry conferences such as Modern Marketing Experience. Sign up for your competitors' programs as well as those run by some of the biggest brands out there. Identify elements that you can incorporate into your own program, as well as things your competitors are not currently offering that can give you competitive advantage. The more you look outside your own organization for help, the more likely your program will be a real home-run!

The best part? Unlike the Mets, you won’t have to trade away any prospects to improve mid-season. (We’ll miss you, Michael Fulmer!)

Is your marketing program ready for the big leagues? Download the Modern Marketing Essentials Guide to Cross-Channel Marketing for a little spring training.

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Rainmaker Rewind: When to Shift Your Side Hustle Into Your Main Thing

As Brian has previously discussed on Unemployable, everyone at every level usually has a side hustle going on. It’s the process by which we leverage what we’re doing now to do the next, bigger, and more gratifying thing.

This week, Brian welcomes Nathan Barry to the show to discuss how he turned his side project into his main thing.

Sometimes the signals are clear that the side project is ready to become the main thing (or at least part of your ever-expanding main thing). Other times, it takes a serious gut check and a leap of faith in the direction you truly want to go.

Nathan Barry created a remarkable business for himself at a young age. And now he’s becoming seriously well-known thanks to the success of ConvertKit — an email service for professional bloggers.

You probably don’t know, however, that not long ago ConvertKit was a languishing side project to Nathan’s main business.

Hear the advice, and the leap of faith, that brought this SaaS project to the forefront — with stunning results.

Here are two more episodes you shouldn’t miss this week:

Author and entrepreneur-hacker, Jonny Nastor, chats with host Kelton Reid about the transition from podcast to bestselling book and how he helps digital entrepreneurs and creatives find shortcuts to success.

The Writer Files:
How Punk Rock Entrepreneur Jonny Nastor Writes, Part One

Entrepreneurial legend Gary Vaynerchuk joins host Chris Ducker for the third time to chat about social media, marketing, and his latest best-seller #AskGaryVee.

Youpreneur:
How Influence Drives Change and Innovation, with Gary Vaynerchuk

And one more thing …

If you want to get my Rainmaker Rewind pick of the week sent straight to your favorite podcast player, subscribe right here on Rainmaker FM.

See you next week.

The post Rainmaker Rewind: When to Shift Your Side Hustle Into Your Main Thing appeared first on Copyblogger.

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7 Cross-Channel Apps of Highly Effective Modern Marketers

In today’s hyper-connected world, it’s important to have a rock-solid cross-channel marketing strategy, and one of the easiest ways to execute that strategy is through your marketing automation system. As we share in our new eBook, Visions From the Future of Marketing Automation: An Explorer’s Guide to Cross-Channel Marketing, there are lots of ways to get creative in reaching your customers. Below, we’ve outlined seven types of apps that you can plug into your marketing automation system to help make your cross-channel campaigns more efficient, engaging and effective.  

1. SMS/MMS Apps

In our smart-phone co-dependent society, customers are constantly checking their phones, and sending a quick text or picture message is a great way to get in front of them with timely offers, information, announcements, and more. SMS and MMS are also great for reconnecting with “hard-to-get” people on your target list.

Tip: Make sure your messages are short, simple and focused on one point.

2. Calling Apps

Instead of sending contacts to CRMs or routing them through sales execution tools, try using a calling app that enables your team to talk to customers directly. A good calling app will enhance your workflow efficiency and enable you to identify the conversations that are delivering the best return, so you can adjust your approach accordingly.

Tip: Use talking points instead of a script to ensure you come across as authentic, not robotic.

3. Voice Message Apps

In the event you need to leave customers and prospects a message, voice messaging apps can alleviate the stress of speaking on the fly by enabling you to pre-record a personalized message based on insights and information from your contact list. Some apps even allow you to use voice prompts to make messages interactive.

Tip: Whatever you’ve got to say, do it in 30 seconds or less.

4. Payment Apps

Once customers are ready to show you the money, you can help them help you by hooking up your forms and landing pages with a secure payment app. These apps enable you to process credit card payments and track transactions for products, services, events, online stores, and more.

Tip: Always let customers choose how they want to receive their receipt (email, text, paper).

5. Geo-Targeting Apps

One of the best ways to make sure your campaigns are in the right place at the right time is to use a geo-targeting app to search and segment your contacts. Geo-targeting empowers you to personalize content for your target audience based on their location, which is especially handy when you want to make sure an event is well-attended by locals.

Tip: Start with a small radius when segmenting your target and increase it incrementally.

6. Direct Mail Apps

Sometimes our digitally dominated world leaves customers longing for something real. When that happens, use a direct mail/print-fulfillment app to send customers a physical reminder of your company that they can touch, like a postcard, catalog, or even gift items.

Tip: Sending personalized thank you notes to customers is a smart way to build brand loyalty.

7. Validation Apps

People move on, move up and make mistakes — all of which impact your database, your sales, and ultimately your bottom line. To make sure your lists are clean, use e-mail and address validation apps. Most of these apps enable you to validate emails and addresses on your landing page, before they clutter your database with misinformation. They also normalize and standardize data throughout your ecosystem, which not only makes everything look professional, it helps eliminate and consolidate duplicate addresses.

Tip: Information is constantly changing, so validate all contacts often. 

Every part of your marketing needs to go mobile, especially your marketing automation activities. The Modern Marketing Essentials Guide to Mobile Marketing will make sure that mobile is always top of mind.

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How Emotional Targeting Converts More Leads

A study found “that websites with a stronger emotional impact produced a greater intent to buy.”

Appealing to your audience’s emotions creates a connection. Whether you’re designing product descriptions or landing pages, your team must aim to evoke emotion into your messaging.

That’s why storytelling works so well. It’s a powerful way to engage your customers.

Research by Pringle & Field found that “emotional campaigns outperform on almost every metric,” including revenue, profit, and share gain.

Emotional targeting produces authentic content that speaks the consumer’s language. It’s those irresistible stories that touch people’s hearts and propels them to purchase your products.

Ready for a challenge? Learn how to convert more leads with high-impact emotional messages.

1. Psychological Triggers

Emotions determine our everyday decision-making. We buy when we’re sad. We buy when we’re happy.

However, most brands miss the opportunity to develop an emotional link with shoppers. They focus on product features, rather than understanding the feelings behind the purchase.

In 2014, Facebook “revealed that it had manipulated the news feeds of over half a million randomly selected users to change the number of positive and negative posts they saw.”

This controversial psychological study found that people mimic the emotions expressed in online content. So, if people read a positive post, they are more likely to respond positively.

With that in mind, prepare your SaaS to develop digital marketing campaigns ingrained with psychological triggers. For instance, happiness induces people to share.

Serial entrepreneur Neil Patel says, “When your content drives people to a state of happiness or joy, they will automatically respond to your offers, feel obliged to share your content, and will stop at nothing to tell others about you.”

Here’s an example from Moz. Their Whiteboard Friday videos express excitement as experts teach SEO and online marketing skills, and they receive thousands of YouTube views.

Also, A/B test your campaigns based on behavioral and emotional marketing, not tactical elements.

Talia Wolf, the Founder and CEO of Conversioner, states, “Great marketing campaigns look at the entire product as an ecosystem. Rather than just changing the headline, or the colors of individual elements, they approach the product as a whole.”

There is real value in tapping into people’s emotions. Work with your team to develop digital content that connects to your shoppers’ sentiments. It will help maximize your lead conversions.

2. Memorable Experiences

Memories are precious moments in our lives.

We remember graduating from high school, breaking up with our first romantic partner, or even that embarrassing moment when we flopped a presentation. These experiences evoke us to think about how we felt at that particular time.

To harness the power of memorable experiences, associate your brand’s shopping experience with your customer’s life events. For example, transfer the same emotions customers felt when they got married or bought their first home.

For instance, chocolate is usually associated with joy. Hershey’s is keeping that alive with its #HelloHappy campaign.

Stacie Stauffer, senior brand manager at Hershey’s, told AdFreak the following:

“The second you say ‘Hershey,’ the most amazing thing happens. This giant flood of emotions and memories happens—when I made s’mores camping, or stirred up chocolate milk with my mom. That solidified that we should be speaking more as [one] brand, and from a much more emotional place.”

This type of emotional targeting makes consumers feel subconsciously connected to your brand. They are compelled to read more, click on your offer, and even purchase your services.

Chris Dalton recommends offering value without expectations.

He said, “Sometimes, the best sales pitch is no pitch at all. Consumers have become savvy to ignoring direct sales tactics or sleazy methods. If you offer information relating to your products with honesty and transparency, your customers will notice.”

Buffer does an effective job by giving its customers an inside peek at their operations. Check out their BufferOpen blog about their “journey to greater productivity, more transparency and a happier work culture.”

Map out a path to connect your customers’ memories with your brand. And sometimes that means not selling, just providing value.

3. Visual Storytelling

DemandGen Reports noted that video content for B2B marketing increased by 8% to 54%, and infographics jumped 9% to 52% in 2014. It’s becoming a necessity to use visuals as part of your marketing strategy.

A good visual stimulates people’s senses. It can create fear, elicit pity, or showcase friendship. Font styles make a difference, too. People consider clear, readable font as trustworthy.

But you can’t just plop any picture on your website or Instagram account. Freelance writer Dawn Papandrea agrees:

“To make visual storytelling work, however, you can’t simply slap a few stock photos onto your blog or social media posts. Just as headlines and calls to action must be crafted carefully, your visual content deserves more than a second thought.”

From screenshots to actual photographs, think about how to convey emotion to your audience. Do you need a wide-angle shot? Will a big red arrow show more impact for the viewer?

In the above picture, Nike displays the endless possibilities customers can experience with their apparel. It’s all about the adventure and the limitless options the brand offers its consumers.

In addition, be aware of diversity in your visuals. Cultural shifts happen within our society.

Not everyone will be on board with your company’s inclusiveness. But don’t let that stop your eCommerce store’s progression.

General Mills faced negative backlash for featuring an interracial couple in their 2014 Cheerios Super Bowl commercial ad. Despite some disapproval, there was also an overwhelming positive response applauding their diversity efforts.

Use visual storytelling to communicate emotion to your customers. From infographics to videos, give your shoppers a better understanding of your brand’s culture.

4. Social Proof

We’re humans. We want to belong.

Social proof in marketing activates those desires to be affiliated with a specific group of people or worthwhile cause.

Social media strategist Michael Sherman, says, “For many, a proven testimonial or example is the emotional trigger a person needs to say yes on buying your products and using your services.”

Old Navy appeals to shoppers’ sense of belonging. They focus on offering trendy clothes at affordable prices.

In the tweet below, the retailer implies that if you want to get ready for spring and be happy with your friends, purchase from their wide-selection of clothes.

Here comes spring…
Nab thousands of items from $5: https://t.co/nGQ9Pji1pN http://pic.twitter.com/XX7nIsfyXs

— Old Navy Official (@OldNavy) March 5, 2016

For social proof to work well, your brand must truly understand your consumers’ motivations and intentions.

For example, expert social proof may emotionally influence your consumers to take action. This happens when an industry influencer or well-known blogger publicly approves a product. Those endorsements look like a basic quote or a video testimonial.

Rent the Runway experienced a 200% higher conversion rate from mentions by a fashion magazine or blogger than paid search.

Learn what riles up your consumers. Identify experts that appeal to your audience and coincide with your brand’s values. Give people the social proof they need to buy your products.

Target Emotions

Strive to build an emotional connection with your buyers. As a result, customers will feel connected with your brand and purchase more.

Strategize on how to add psychological triggers. Ditch transactional relationships for memorable experiences. And invest in visual storytelling to express your brand better.

Target people’s emotions to convert more leads.

About the Author: Shayla Price lives at the intersection of digital marketing, technology and social responsibility. Connect with her on Twitter @shaylaprice.

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Two Thirds of Marketers Cannot Measure Mobile

It's Friday Five time. This week's topic: Mobile Marketing. 

Study: Few Marketers Using Mobile Marketing Strategies

Although marketers know mobile is a strategic imperative, the vast majority still fail to strategically integrate it into their marketing mix, according to fresh findings from Forrester. Only 13% of marketers say they strategically integrate mobile systematically. Not surprisingly, therefore, only 27% of marketers surveyed by Forrester said the ROI of their mobile marketing campaigns was profitable, while a staggering 67% said they simply cannot measure it.

Read the full story on Media Post. 

How ad blocking will affect mobile marketing

Ad-blocking has been dominating headlines, most recently with the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s D.E.A.L., The New York Times’ ad blocking approach and at Mobile World Congress last month in Barcelona, Spain, where news broke about Israeli startup Shine partnering with Three Telecom to block mobile ads on its network.

Read the full story on Mobile Commerce Daily.

Report: Apple Pay moving to the mobile web, could give big boost to m-commerce

According to a report yesterday, fingerprint-enabled Apple Pay is coming to mobile websites. One popular angle on this news is that the move will potentially cut into PayPal’s leadership position; however, the more important potential impact is the acceleration of mobile commerce more broadly.

Read the full story on Marketing Land.

What the Data Says About Your B2B Mobile Marketing

We’ve been hearing for the last few years about the growing importance of mobile. As smartphone penetration grew, cross-device marketing became an increasingly important B2C strategy. And as consumers continued to become more comfortable with their phones and as phones grew to more computing-friendly sizes, mobile was supposed to become a big factor in B2B marketing as well.

Read the full story on Business2Community. 

Social Media Marketing Trends Point To Increased Mobile Marketing Campaigns To Meet Customer Needs

With five times as many mobile devices as computers, marketers have to adapt their marketing strategies, particularly their social media marketing strategies, to meet the demands of potential customers. Not only is it necessary to understand how to adapt advertising to be seen on mobile devices, but mobile apps add a new challenge as they offer a new way to stay in contact with potential customers and require an additional understanding in how to use the current technology.

Read the full story on Inquisitr. 

Download the Modern Marketing Essentials Guide to Mobile Marketing and get 5 quick tips on how to optimize your marketing campaigns for the mobile world.

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Okay … Here’s the Real Reason to Attend Digital Commerce Summit in Denver

You may have noticed that Copyblogger founder and Rainmaker Digital CEO Brian Clark lives in Colorado. I do, too, as do some of our wonderful virtual team.

And those of us in Colorado can’t help but notice a sharp shift in the tourists who visit our state every year.

Once, it was smiling families from around the world looking for superb skiing.

So yesterday.

Now … it’s heavy-lidded boys in hoodies, with snowboards on their backs and vapes in their pockets.

Cannabis enthusiasts are flocking to the state, creating a new era of what I like to call “freakotourism.” And we’ve decided to go all in on the trend for our live event this October.

After a certain amount of legal wrangling (and a decision not to think too hard about that inconvenient federal law stuff), Colorado, along with our baked sister state Washington, voted to quit pretending that two-thirds of the population was in chronic pain, and just declare that weed is legal.

Four years later, we have more dispensaries in Colorado — our euphemism for pot dealers — than we do Starbucks and McDonald’s combined.

I didn’t fact-check that, because, you know, it didn’t seem to be in the spirit of the thing. But it sounds awesome.

Never one to let a passing trend go, we’ll be adding some brand-new events to our live event this October.

Sure, sure, we’ll still have all of the action-oriented education, the carefully constructed curriculum, the opportunities to network with extremely smart people who are not, at that moment, high.

Blah blah blah.

But we will also have CAKE. <-- No fooling. And nothing goes better with CAKE than the appropriate appetizer, right?

In the spirit of this new era in our literal (in more ways than one) mile-high city, here are a few of the additional events we’re adding to the October lineup:

#1: The Ganjapreneur track

Are you looking to start a dispensary or head shop? Looking for the latest in cannabis-friendly business models?

This track will teach you what you need to know to get out of commodity marketing and unearth the unique smoking proposition of your cannabis establishment.

We’ll spark your thinking on positioning, content strategy, funnels, search and social media strategy, and conversion techniques.

Okay, we’re actually just going to watch Weeds on Netflix. Because that show was awesome and Mary-Louise Parker was totally good at marketing her MILF weed strain. Lots to learn, people.

#2: The Blunt Truth panel

You’ve always wanted to see your entrepreneurial heroes giggle uncontrollably while making jokes no one else thinks are funny, right?

We haven’t figured out who we can rope into this will be invited to attend yet, but my money’s on a Rand Fishkin/Laura Roeder/Jeff Walker bake off. I think we can probably slip Brian Clark some edibles when he’s not paying attention, too.

Epic.

And, of course …

#3: Expanded breaks at 4:20

We’ll be taking a looooong break at 4:20 each afternoon.

Because … tradition.

Okay, for real for real …

I hope you noticed today’s date and aren’t too worried. The first day of April is always so much fun, even if you’re not high.

Actually, our Digital Commerce Summit in October is going to be a laser-sharp, focused event that will measurably move you toward your goals.

This is a new iteration of our beloved annual live conference, with a focus on digital entrepreneurs and marketers. The theme of the event isn’t Dazed and Confused, but instead digital commerce with a bias for action.

So, show up with a clear head and the willingness to take significant steps forward on your business or project. We’ll walk you through a flexible, robust action framework over our two days together. In fact, our goal is to get you significant wins before you even get on the plane home.

But if you want to show up a day early or stay over the weekend and experience more of what our fine state has to offer … hey, the life of a digital entrepreneur is all about freedom. What you do on your own time is your own business.

Whichever option you’re going for, the pricing for the event is still sweet — and you can get an entire year of our Digital Commerce Academy packaged with it for free.

Click here to get the details and get signed up.

The post Okay … Here’s the Real Reason to Attend Digital Commerce Summit in Denver appeared first on Copyblogger.

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Help! I Make a Good Product but I Hate Pushy Marketing (FS156)

“I just want to make my site and my products and not reach out or communicate as a marketer except minimally…”

This was in a note we received recently. It was from a Fizzler who was considering giving up.

She felt like she had realized that “active marketing” was required in order to succeed… and she wasn’t willing to do that.

I loved this question. It felt so human, so natural.

So on the show today we talk about how active you really need to be in marketing your product, service, content or website.

We also talk about how to get into a new mindset about marketing so you don’t build a wall between you and your customers.

Your product might be good, your podcast or blog or service may be literally the best available, but people may not know WHY it’s good.

So, click play and let’s learn about the difference between PUSHY marketing and PERSUASIVE story telling and give people a truly compelling reason to buy. Enjoy!

It’s better to listen on the go!    Subscribe on iTunes 

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Show Notes

The Sock Queen of Alabama – The New York Times

Our Story | Lamon Luther

Bucketfeet | Artist Designed Footwear

Cozy Cama

Sponsor: FreshBooks — FreshBooks is the #1 cloud accounting solution designed for small business owners.

How to Knock Off a Bag:

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