advertising, Email Marketing, Internet Marketing

Why Email Segmentation is So Effective

Segmentation is one of the most useful strategies that marketers still fail to apply.

There are often times when email marketers will search for advice on how they can improve their open rates and click through rates when running their campaigns. Most of the time, they’ll overlook the one factor that will help increase conversions – segmentation.

Piquing the Customer’s Interest

If you aren’t aware of email segmentation, it’s basically a way of catering an individual email to a certain consumer. For instance, if you were the consumer signing up for a clothing company, you’d browse around at the type of clothing styles you’d be interested in – like jeans for example. The following emails that will be sent to you will show the newest jeans that have come out. This will entice you, as the consumer, to check through their store and possibly purchase one.

The power of segmentation can not only increase your overall conversion rate, but it will also make your marketing campaign feel less robotic. This means, your customer might appreciate the fact that you are taking the time to personalize their emails and it may even garner more interest for your business. It’s also proven that segmentation leads to higher conversion rates, which is one of the main reasons why you should include this within your marketing campaign.

The Bottom Line

Email segmentation is one of the many tactics that a marketer can implement within their campaign. It’s useful, effective, and can generate a business more leads – if done correctly. With all the competition out there, you’ll want to take advantage of every type of strategy available to you.

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eTargetMedia can help you with all your marketing needs. From targeted email lists to postal lists, eTargetMedia is ready and willing to help you succeed.

advertising

Behavioral Targeting and Retargeting on Mobile

When you try to target a consumer on a desktop device, you are considering what they may be browsing for at a particular time of day. You need to consider concepts like income level and geographic location too, but the intent of a desktop user is more about seeking information.

A mobile user has very different habits, often driven by their location, which influence their buying preferences. Before you attempt your first mobile campaign, you’ll need to rethink the intent of your audience if you want to continue effectively targeting them while they are on-the-go.

Prime Desktop and Mobile Differences

Prominent websites and services may utilize an application to present the browsing experience a user seeks in a format that is smoother to work with. Apps present ads embedded within the application, often at the bottom or even on a separate screen. A mobile website may present ads in the margin or as an overlay to an existing article or page.

When consumers do online searches, advertisers have much greater screen real estate to work with on desktop than mobile. That means certain text-heavy ads may work better on desktop than mobile.

Working with Mobile Traffic

Mobile should be one of many segments of traffic you’re working with, unless you see the potential for rapid growth. So the approach to mobile should be like an onion– testing and growing its many layers of strategies. . Many people begin by targeting the type of device, iPhone or Android, and then expand to other options like carrier or location.

Mobile also changes behavior. Customers are not searching for the same terms on mobile because they are more likely to be in a store or out comparison shopping. A consumer on a mobile device might be more apt to make a purchase elsewhere if the advertiser can compete on price or quality, or if they read reviews that steer them toward a different product altogether. It also depends on goods too, so certain offers will work on desktop and not as well on mobile. Refinance and mortgage offers might be a good example of something that works on desktop, where the user is reading about the home buying process, but not so much on mobile where the user is probably more focused on particular characteristics of a house they are interested in. The impulse, or lack thereof, changes the urgency in your copy and everything else about your ad.

Bio: Ted Dhanik is an expert in digital advertising on mobile and desktop devices. Since the early 2000s, Ted Dhanik has worked to improve business growth using display advertising. Ted Dhanik is the CEO of engage:BDR, based out of Los Angeles.

advertising

Viewable Impressions Offer a New Standard in Advertising

Nearly every advertiser, regardless of size, comes face to face with click-fraud. The problem causes rates for ineffective keywords to rise, and conversions and engagement to tank. It’s a major problem that the industry has been wrestling with for some time. It’s also costing advertisers and networks billions of dollars.

Fortunately, ad networks have a new weapon against bot traffic, a way to identify an impression and certify it as an impression that came from a real human. The new standards for viewable impressions could protect advertisers, offer guaranteed rates of engagement and open up new opportunities for online advertising.

What Makes an Impression Viewable?

Analytics software records impressions, and offers the time spent metrics. Together, those two stats give some clarity to what a user does on your website. Bounce rate also tells a story, but not the whole story. Bounce rate tells an advertiser when a user has left the page without action , and it used to be that the answer was “the ad wasn’t working.” Bot traffic obscured results. It could be the ad’s performance, but it could also be fraudulent clicks and for a long while there wasn’t an easy way to distinguish. Ad networks can easily spot click fraud today, which creates a more secure bidding environment.

That’s where viewable impressions come into play. They refer to a page view, but they have some special designations attached to that. For one, a viewable impression can have a specific time spent, like ten seconds. Viewable impressions also track how much of an ad is shown, so users must be able to see at least 50 pixels of an ad, for example, for the impression to count. Timed ads also make a difference, as the user is likely to stay engaged with something like a video pre-roll if it means the content they want is only fifteen seconds away.

As it stands, networks are measuring for bots so the infrastructure already exists to track human interaction.

Buying Viewable Impressions

The demand for viewable impressions has risen steadily as a result. Although the process is new, the potential for human-verified interaction is huge. Buy traffic from companies who have been certified to measure against the 3MS standard. Make sure that you are buying ads that will show for an extended period of time (longer than a few seconds at least) and that your ads are shown to the user. Without guaranteed pixels, you don’t know how much of the ad is visible to the user.

Bio: Ted Dhanik is an advertising and marketing professional, and the CEO of engage:BDR. Ted Dhanik has extensive experience in direct advertising since the early 2000s. Ted Dhanik blogs frequently, and his writing has been featured on Venture Beat and Ad Age.

advertising, Internet, Internet Marketing, Marketing

Three Common Mistakes When A/B Testing Emails

Written by eTargetMedia.

By now, you are likely aware of the need to perform A/B testing on your email campaigns. Making changes to your emails — whether major or subtle — can have a significant impact on your email’s effectiveness so it’s important to test potential changes and monitor their effectiveness. But in order to get the most out of your A/B testing you need to do it correctly.

Here are three common mistakes which eTargetMedia has found that even experienced digital marketers make when performing A/B testing on their emails:

Drawing Conclusions From Early Results: With email marketing, you can see the results of your A/B testing in real time as recipients open their emails and click through to your site. This is powerful information but it can also be misleading. People who open your emails right away are likely to respond differently than people who take their time. Wait at least 24 hours before doing any serious analysis of your results.

Testing One-Off Emails: If your company has a one-time Valentine’s Day sale, chances are you are going to send an email about it. But you aren’t going to learn a lot that will help your business long-term by testing the Valentine’s Day specific content in that email (such as the size and shape of a heart). Save your A/B testing for elements that can apply to all of your emails.

Altering Too Many Elements: It’s tempting to test multiple elements in one A/B email campaign. The problem is that this makes it impossible to determine which changes led to which results in your testing. You should only change one element at a time during your A/B testing.

eTargetMedia is a leading provider of targeted email and postal mailing lists. The company also provides creative services that can help businesses of all sizes with their digital marketing needs.

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How Real Estate Agents can Use Blogging Effectively

Blogging is all the rage, but a lot of businesses fail to devote much time to their blogs. If you approach your blog with the intention of increasing readership, you will have a much easier time finding an audience. Blogging isn’t something you need to do every day, so lift that weight from your shoulders, but you will still need to focus. Here are some thoughts on how to blog effectively.

Guest Blogging

A guest blog is your chance to reach someone new. The World Wide Web has a surprisingly local focus these days, and if you look for local blogs you’ll find a ton that would be willing to share your opinion as a post. You’ll reach segments of your city that weren’t possible with your photo on a bench. Even if that person isn’t in your area, you’ll soon see how branding yourself online has huge benefits.

Personal Blogs

A personal blog isn’t your space to share your meal plan and exercise routine, although you could work that into a fun post that shows off the virtues of your local city. It’s your space to discuss the things that interest you, and hopefully your audience. Share the road trips your job takes you on, and the homes that you see. Share the fun parts of your city, so that when you entice others to pack and move they think of your name first.

Alternate Income

Blogging can also become an alternate source of income. Mind you, not one that will pay your bills. Blogging might cover small expenses for you over time, like covering the costs of office supplies or coffee. Running ads on your blogs, and doing public endorsements of sponsored products, are great ways to make a bit of extra cash on the side.

Stay focused on what makes your blogging interesting, and you’ll find that it pays off in the long run.

 

Source: Kuba Jewgieniew blogs on behalf of Realty ONE Group, a lifestyle brand that was named one of Inc. Magazine’s fastest growing companies for six years. Kuba Jewgieniew is an experienced, data-driven professional interested in bettering communities.

advertising

Best Practices for Video Ads

Video advertising is not a new concept. Streaming video content is now the norm in some parts of the nation, and it’s common for users to catch their favorite TV shows or sporting events through ad-supported venues. If you are looking to expand into video advertising, take a moment to read through these best practices.

Types of Ads

Before you get started with video advertising, you should know the types of ads that you can purchase. The practice is a lot different from standard display advertising, especially as new ad formats are added to video reels. There are three common types of advertising for videos:

• In-Stream ads are also called “pre-roll ads” and they generally occur before the video starts. These ads generally take over the entire consumer experience, and may appear at any point in the video itself.
• In-Banner ads are the same as most banner ad units, and usually appear in margins surrounded by content. These ads cause a video to play as the user hovers near them.
• In-Text video usually takes the form of a small text message triggered by certain words. As the user mouses over something, the video ad pops up in a small window that seems to emerge from the keyword on the site.

The type of ad you choose will be based heavily on what your publisher allows.

Efficiency

If you plan to run video ads, there are a few guidelines to keep in mind for added efficiency. For instance, the preferred resolution for desktop videos is 640×480 with a minimum of 400×300. Color depth should be 32-bit at least, and bit rates should be at least 2 mbps. You should also talk with your publisher to see if the ad scales, or becomes larger, for any reason. You will need to make adjustments to your video accordingly to better fit the dimensions, or you may need two versions of the same video.

Ad Formats

Much like banner advertising, there are certain formats that are accepted by a publisher. It’s best to try and accommodate both 4:3 and 16:9 ratios if you can. Also be sure that the file format is right for the sight. Ask your ad network if they prefer Flash files or Silverlight. These formats make a difference in who can see your ads as well.

Bio: Ted Dhanik is the co-founder and CEO of engage:BDR. Ted Dhanik has 15 years of experience in direct marketing and brand stewardship. Visit Ted Dhanik online at his blog for more tips on converting leads with display advertising.

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Crafting an Effective Call to Action

This article was written by Ted Dhanik

An effective call to action can drive a user toward your intended goal. There are several important aspects to keep in mind when you’re writing a call to action for display advertising. The CTA, as it’s called, is usually accompanied by a button, so in a banner ad, the call is aided by some visual aspects. The call to action is a powerful tool that can extend to all avenues of your marketing. Here are some tips to help you write a good one.

Definition

The call to action is like a set of instructions you give to your audience that motivates them to click something or to do something. If you want your audience to retrieve a report, you might use “Click for a Free Report.” It tells the user both what he should do, and the expected outcome. A call to action is only effective if it motivates a user to click, so it must be compelling and use urgent language to communicate its point.

Examples

The following examples are fictional, but are based on real website copy you can view online in a variety of top selling avenues:

• Try it today, you’ll love it!
• No obligation
• Click “Subscribe Now” for Your Free Edition
• This offer may not last long, so order now

Long form copy is also used in some banner advertising, but usually the main idea is conveyed on the banner or in the ad. Headlines are a good example, where the headline helps to talk about some of the perceived benefits. For example, “Build Wealth, Protect Assets, and Guard Privacy.”

Tips

The best piece of advice is to lead strong. The CTA should lead the user to believe the solution is easy; in fact, the work should be done for the user in most cases. Avoid “Click Here,” which is vague and uninspiring. Instead, package your CTA with something impactful that tells the user what he will be doing. If he will download something, tell him to “Download Now.” If the user wants a quote, he can “Get Rates.” Good CTAs also have a strong sense of urgency that accompanies them. The client should feel that this deal won’t wait for them, and that they stand to gain immensely by taking advantage now. The implied message is, “you will pay more if you wait.”

You should also use vibrant colors that the user can’t miss. Something like a green or a bright red will suffice in some cases, but be careful that your colors don’t clash.

Bio: Ted Dhanik has worked with brands online for fifteen years. As the president and co-founder of engage:BDR, Ted Dhanik grows businesses through aggressive lead generation strategies. Find out how Ted Dhanik manages display advertising with tips from engage:BDR.

advertising

Top Reasons Why Banner Ads Work

This article was written by Ted Dhanik

Banner advertising continues to be effective on major news outlets and websites, year after year. New money continues to pour into these campaigns, bidding on placement and segmentation. The reasons why banners continue to be successful can vary. For some marketers, it’s a question of paying for the most relevant possible page views. For others, it begins at the campaign selection phase. Here are some of the top reasons why banners continue to be effective.

Engagement

Even though the audience is focused on the article or the video that is showing on the webpage, banner advertising continues to be effective at enticing users. This has the potential for long-term engagement between the customer and the company, keeping them apprised of sales and changes to inventory through aggressive advertising aimed at those already familiar with the brand. Retargeting is another way to boost customer engagement by showing your ads to people who have already seen them.

Exposure

Display advertising, especially when purchased through a network, is often cheaper than bidding for the top spot in search marketing. It also requires a significantly smaller time investment to get good exposure. Advertisers are paying for space “above the fold” on highly popular websites. Their ads are on pages that are trafficked by thousands, and sometimes millions of eyes. That kind of exposure is significantly cheaper than advertising on a billboard, and it is easier to correlate user behavior to sales in the digital realm.

Targeting

The ability to focus your marketing on a precise group of people might cost you more per click, but less over all. When you know specifics about your market, and which people are most likely to convert to a sale or lead, you can focus your ad spend on that group. There is also retargeting, which shows your ads to people who have already seen them. This increases your branding potential and allows you reach out to customers with specific offers meant to entice them to return.

Final Thoughts

Banner ads are still an important part of the web marketing landscape and the affiliate industry is likely to be worth billions in just a few years. Targeting is crucial, especially if you want exposure for your campaigns, but exposure and engagement are equally important. If you understand why banner ads work, and what advantages they bring to your campaigns, you can capitalize on this abundant source of premium traffic.

Bio: Ted Dhanik is a direct marketing professional with over 15 years of direct marketing experience. Ted Dhanik is also the co-founder of engage:BDR, a display advertising network. Ted Dhanik has helped businesses optimize their advertising through targeted promotions.

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Landing Page Optimization that Really Works

This article was written by Ted Dhanik

The landing page is arguably the most important element of your campaign. By clicking on your ads, a customer has already shown some willingness to listen to your messaging. If your landing page isn’t doing a good job of following through with that message, you might lose the customer in the process. There are several changes you can make to your landing page that will make a big difference in what the customer sees, perhaps bringing more bounces closer to conversion. If you want optimization tactics that really work, read on for tips on banner advertising.

Tracking Code

The tracking code is the first part of the ad that you should implement. The tracking code will look at what the customer does on your landing page, and give some rudimentary ideas about where he came from. Many display advertising networks include a piece of code that carries a certain URL parameter with it. This parameter can be used to identify which campaign your traffic came from, helping you to narrow down exactly what triggered a conversion, and helping to cut down on bounces.

Targeting

Once you have tracking set up, it’s time to set the targeting for your campaign. Targeting refers to the demographics that you want your campaign to hit, like single moms with a certain income or families that own property versus families who rent. The more specific you can get about the age of your ideal market, their interests and their hopes, the better off your campaign will be. It’s the difference between advertising insurance rates on a site like Bankrate rather than advertising on a site like CNet. There is a chance the CNet viewer might also be interested in insurance, but it is much more likely that the Bankrate visitor will buy.

Goal Funnels

It’s also important to examine your goal funnels, and look for ways to improve upon the flow a customer takes towards a goal. In regards to this funnel, a goal refers to a conversion. It’s when the customer reaches the “Thank You” page, and it usually means you’ve closed a deal. You should try to decrease the steps between the landing page and the thank you page, showing the customer only in-between pages that are relevant to their interests. The most common example is a multi-stage signup form, which walks a customer through several steps to complete the goal. You could shorten the flow by placing all of those steps on one or two larger fields that take less time to click through.

Bio: Ted Dhanik provides insightful opinions of the online media industry through his personal blog. Ted Dhanik has over fifteen years of experience in direct marketing, and is the co-founder of engage:BDR. To find out how to launch your business with banners, contact Ted Dhanik.

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4 Types of Popular Social Media Content

Publishing content over the web, especially on social media sites, can prove to be very profitable for your business. The more number of likes, shares, +1s or tweets your published content can get, the greater your reach will be along with the traffic to your website, search engine optimization and lead generation.

Seeing how important this aspect is, here are 4 popular types of quality social media content:

#1: Newsjacked Content

A combination of the latest industry news combined with your thoughts tends to do well, and for obvious reasons too. What you need to make sure is that you pick up on this content as soon as possible so as to benefit from its current popularity to get a large number of views and generate leads as a result.

#2: Statistical Content

People crave statistical content in the form of numbers and facts. Not only will statistics make your content credible but it will also make it all that more authoritative and relevant. However, just providing lists of statistics will not do. Add context and your own unique insights to these statistics to craft a wonderful story.

#3: Infographics

With infographics being colorful and just as informative about events, processes and information, it is fast becoming one of the most popular ways to create compelling content. In fact, it is one of the most common types of  content created specifically for social media sites namely Pinterest.

#4: Visual Content

Visual content is probably very popular considering how much easier it is watch a video as opposed to reading text. The best part is that it entertains as well as informs us as well making it easy to digest as well. This is why even compelling presentations such as SlideShare presentations are an excellent way to present information about your company.