Posts by: Lana Kropyvna

Our campaigns of the month: May 2017

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Want more loyalty from returning customers or hoping to convert a new visitor? Take a look at some of our favourite client work this month!

Improving email lead generation with Brissi

Luxury homewares brand Brissi was looking to capture more emails on its website in order to build their client base and more lifetime value. We designed a bespoke double overlay campaign that offered new visitors a promo code once their email was submitted, ensuring there was a return for Brissi’s incentive.

Decreasing cart abandonment with Science in Sport

Nutrition and supplement brand Science in Sport (also stylised as SiS), is an industry-leading vendor in performance assisting products. Using our campaign to target abandoning visitors, an overlay was shown encouraging conversion with a USP of free shipping.

How to Hire a Marketer: 5 Steps to Smart Marketing Hiring

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Being a marketer seems to require new skills every day, so what steps should you take to make your next hire your best hire? The Yieldify People team sets out 5 key steps to ensure that you find the perfect match.

Hiring a marketer is one of the most important decisions you can make as a marketing lead – get it right and you can find not just bandwidth and productivity, but inspiration too. But get it wrong, and you’ve landed yourself with an expensive way to waste time and energy.

The particular challenge for marketing is how quickly the profession has shifted and the breadth of the skillset required as a result. Far from being the ‘let’s come up with a cool campaign’ creative maelstrom, marketing is now just as data-driven as it is design-driven, as quant as it is qual. It explains the increasing number of consultancies shaking up marketing as technology and competition both demand and enable an approach as analytical as it is inspired.

Marketing hiring appears to be on the up, with 31% of marketers reporting signaling positive expectations for growing their teams following a dip at the end of 2016. So regardless of whether you’re looking for a new grad or a seasoned senior manager, you’ll be far from alone in peering into the talent pool.

Here are five steps to help you hire a marketer fast, efficiently – and most importantly, well.

1. Start with YOU

The average recruitment agency spend is £4,500 per hire in the UK. Avoiding this route requires building a strong employer brand – and as a marketer, you’re conveniently positioned to make that happen.

As the custodian of your brand when it comes to marketing to your customers, you need to take a similar approach when it comes to marketing to your potential employees. Building a strong brand identity is the bedrock of everything that you’ll execute in terms of recruitment, so think about how you want to define and represent yourself in terms of your culture.

To start with, create one unified pitch of what your company can offer to potential employees: personal and professional development, perks, mentoring and other non-monetary benefits.

Next, define why your company is an exciting place to work. Speak to your sales team – they pitch your company every day, and your pitch to prospective employees should be in line with that.

The most effective (but also the most expensive) way to then express this brand through content is to make a video about your company culture. Here are two of our favourite company culture video examples: 

‘This Is Zendesk’: 

‘Inside Hubspot’:

For smaller budgets, posting regular updates about life at your company on LinkedIn and Twitter can have a big impact.

As with all things in protecting your brand reputation, keep an eye out for negative feedback and if you come across it, don’t hate the haters! Make sure you monitor your Glassdoor profile and reply to any dissatisfied posts to show future candidates that you’re always open to feedback and take it on board.

2. Get creative advertising the role

Job descriptions

Remember that you need to advertise your role just as you would advertise your product. A lot of companies use internal job descriptions to advertise the role externally – but you want to sound exciting and appealing to those who may know little about the company.

Think about who your ideal candidate is – what would they want to hear? What makes you stand out? Don’t be afraid to shy away from buzzwords and show some personality in your job adverts!

This advert for an Editor by First Round, back in 2012, is a great example. The role gives a great overview of the company, their role and the type of person they are looking for.

First Round recruitment ad

Job advertisements

Draw in potential candidates from the very start, highlighting your company values and originality within the employer pool with your adverts. Here are two great examples:

  • McDonald’s Sweden recruitment campaign from 2008
McDonalds recruitment ad

The fine print says “Nor Swedes, South Koreans, or Norwegians. We hire individuals. We don’t care what your surname is. Because ambition and determination have nothing to do with your nationality. McDonald’s is one of the most integrated companies in Sweden, with as many as ninety-five nationalities working for us. Join us at mcdonalds.se”.

  • Horizon FCB recruiting a Graphic Designer:

You can even use the job advert to test skills, which works to both show the creativity and stand-out nature of your company and highlight the best candidates based on their responses.

FCB recruitment ad

3. Network and invest in talent

Don’t wait for your dream marketing candidates to come to you, go out there and find them!

  • Go to events
  • Talk to your connections
  • Do a LinkedIn search
  • Tap into the resources your colleagues may have – offer a referral bonus
  • Encourage your team to write LinkedIn articles and extend the company reach. If more people know of you, more will apply.

In the current market, the majority of candidates are passive rather than active, so posting a job is often not enough to find top talent. Your reputation as an employer and work culture can have an impact on your profits, so it pays to shout about how great an employer you are.

Start creating a network effect around your business: there are lots of groups of marketing professionals who meet up regularly in cities around the globe for networking and knowledge-sharing. Offer them your office space or meeting room to hold an event, maybe throw in a few pizzas at the end. This will help to promote your company, allow you to meet new talent, and show how you support development.

Finally, invest in young talent. Enlist recruitment agencies who fill their books with students – or even better – go direct to university careers departments. Hire apprentices and interns.

4. Inspire creativity in the application process

Traditional hiring processes often take the human out of the process. You forget that you’re hiring people and not just an endless list of skills and requirements, especially in the early stages. Why stick to just a CV? Allow candidates to submit their application in any way they choose. After all, a marketer at any stage has to be able to think creatively about how to pitch something, so what better way to test that aptitude in how they pitch themselves.

Here’s a great example of letting candidates apply in their own unique way – Leah Bowman applying for an internship at a creative ad agency:

Lego recruitment

5. Try people-centric assessments 

To get a well-rounded idea of the candidate, give them a task to complete. For many of our roles at Yieldify we set our candidates a task that enables them to showcase the skills they would use if they were successful in the role.

You can test multiple skillsets with one task. For junior marketers, this often starts with a writing test that stretches their attention to detail, ability to craft a message and tailor their language to different channels without asking too much in terms of experience. When hiring a more senior marketer, asking them to prepare a plan to solve a problem not only explores their experience and technical knowledge, but gives them the opportunity to show off presentation skills.

Don’t be afraid to give a candidate a do-over – in our sales roles, we ask candidates to complete a task, give them feedback and then ask them to complete the task again! Here we are testing their coachability as well as their core skillset.

When it comes to interviewing, involve your peers and a range of people from around the business. Give them peer-specific competencies or skills to test, to find out whether they’d be a good lunch buddy! At the end of the day, your new hire is going to become part of the fabric of the team; so how well they fit in is just as important as how competent they’ll be in the role.

Introducing Pages Visited Targeting

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At Yieldify, we’re on a mission to help you sell more stuff, more often on your website. To help you do this, we’re excited to launch Pages Visited Targeting on The Yieldify Conversion Platform.

It’s hard to deliver a digital experience that compares to the personal approach of the in-store experience.

If a visitor was browsing your wares on the high street, a switched-on sales rep could step in at the perfect moment to incentivise them or recommend other items based on what they’d just been looking at. That’s the kind of personal touch that drives conversions.

With Pages Visited Targeting – newly-launched on the Yieldify Conversion Platform – you can now serve targeted messages based on the pages visitors have been viewing on your website. By setting up campaigns in this way, you can tie promotions to specific products or product categories, recommend relevant complementary items or direct visitors to high-converting pages that they haven’t yet seen.

By using this powerful targeting option, you’re making the equivalent of a top sales assistant available to all of your website visitors – and that’s going to impact your bottom line.

Pages Visited targeting is the latest addition to our Advanced Targeting rules, all designed to empower our customers using the Yieldify Conversion Platform.

Check out the video to see how Pages Visited Targeting works and learn more about how it can help you increase conversions and boost average spend:

Not a Yieldify Conversion Platform user yet? Discover more here or go ahead and request a demo.

#FollowFriday: 20 of the best tech trends accounts to follow today

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The tech industry is tastemaker for what we wear, want and use in our day to day. As a marketer, it’s essential to stay one step ahead and adapt to the many exciting changes ahead. Check out our favourite accounts to keep you on trend…

@beijingdou

Director of Global Marketing and Communications at Clean Master shares his infomative, and often comical, articles:

[tweet https://twitter.com/beijingdou/status/835164890037956609]

@BarrettAll 

The seasoned journalist and CEO of digital branding agency Barrett Digital, shares how to stay on-trend but true to your brand:

[tweet https://twitter.com/BarrettAll/status/858013194681561088]

@Bryan_phc

The speaker and author shares his industry insight and latest articles:

[tweet https://twitter.com/Bryan_phc/status/861560089412603904]

@jeff_haden

The Inc Contributing Editor shares the latest articles and tips for business success:

[tweet https://twitter.com/jeff_haden/status/857959453286699008]

@iRowan

The WiRED editor-at-large shares clips of his celebrated talks and industry hot topics:

[tweet https://twitter.com/iRowan/status/838746233774682112]

@emilychangtv

Host of Bloomberg Technology shares interviews with the latest online influencers:

[tweet https://twitter.com/emilychangtv/status/808520556488163328]

@CaseyNewton

The Verge editor shares his favourite articles (and memes):

[tweet https://twitter.com/CaseyNewton/status/861974134095589377]

@prsarahevans

Updates and content on the latest trends and consumer habits:

[tweet https://twitter.com/prsarahevans/status/852560215115407360]

@nitashatiku

Articles from women in tech and the news as it happens:

[tweet https://twitter.com/nitashatiku/status/854794230174175232]

@LaurenGoode

The Verge Editor shares video content and articles to inspire out-of-the-box ways to communicate:

[tweet https://twitter.com/LaurenGoode/status/861990828561924096]

@LeenaRao

Follow for tech articles and the latest business news:

[tweet https://twitter.com/LeenaRao/status/798564759553441792]

@JoshConstine

Must follow for social media-led content and video updates:

[tweet https://twitter.com/TechCrunch/status/860975887537262592]

@jackschofield

The seasoned journalist shares his favourite news posts and industry forecasts:

[tweet https://twitter.com/jackschofield/status/858750538476814336]

@BridgetCarey 

Follow for the newest (and weirdest) trends in tech:

[tweet https://twitter.com/BridgetCarey/status/845631710402367488]

@HLPlost

Apple’s Chief Digital Officer shares the must-reads as they happen:

[tweet https://twitter.com/HLPlost/status/861650938297057281]

@jessicanazri 

Voted Inc’s #1 Woman to Watch in Tech, great follow for news and women in STEM:

[tweet https://twitter.com/jessicanaziri/status/842816382735536128]

@CNET

The tech publication favourites shares its most recent videos and reviews:

[tweet https://twitter.com/CNET/status/862797400762613761]

@Recode

Constantly working to demystify the tech world, a must-follow for the latest news and gadgets:

[tweet https://twitter.com/Recode/status/862049207422558208]

@BradStone

The Bloomberg Tech journalist shares his most recent articles:

[tweet https://twitter.com/BradStone/status/854480833696202752]

@DavidKirkpatrick 

Great follow for easy-to-read tech op-eds and the latest news:

[tweet https://twitter.com/DavidKirkpatric/status/842455644263350272]

Don’t see your fave on here? Let us know! Drop us a line on marketing@yieldify.com or Tweet us @yieldify.

How to Get More Marketing Budget Allocation

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Getting more marketing budget depends on understanding the motivations of the budget-holder. So who better than our CEO Jay Radia to explain the five key steps to convincing your boss to invest more in marketing?

I can imagine this title has got many marketers interested – not least our very own Hannah (who runs Marketing at Yieldify). It was her idea for me to write this blog post, so not sure if this is just her way of subtly hinting that she wants more budget herself…

Anyway, onto the subject at hand: every marketer wants a bigger marketing budget allocation. And looking at market trends, many of them are getting them: marketing budgets are expected to remain level or increase in 2017 – which is a great sign.

However, not all CEOs and MDs (or CFOs) instinctively ‘get it’ when it comes to marketing and that’s often little to do with any skepticism of marketing as a whole – they just have different ways of seeing things. And that’s the key to winning them over – you have to think like a CEO to get budget from a CEO.

So what are they thinking? No matter what business you’re in – whether it’s fashion, home and garden or insurance – there are generally five key things that your CEO or MD will have front-of-mind:

  1. Their thoughts circulate around these buckets: customers, team, product, brand, cash or growth 
  2. They’re focusing on the long-term company goals as well as the short-term goals 
  3. ROI is the name of the game; any investment or decision has to show return 
  4. They’re time-poor; information always has to be delivered succinctly and quickly 
  5. They’re eagle-eyed for any sign of time-wasting

Now you know what they’re thinking, you’re better placed to come up with an approach that pushes the right buttons. The good news is that if you’re reading this blog, you’re presumably already in place and already have some budget – that’s an indicator that your CEO understands that marketing has a place in the business. It’s now time to take our learnings and apply them.

So here are the 5 key steps to securing more marketing budget: 

1. Keep it to one page

Remembering that your CEO is pressed for time and is juggling dozens of priorities, people and projects, brevity is crucial to getting heard and being understood.

One-pagers are a way of doing this that stands the test of time – if your project stretches over that, it probably needs shortening. And if you open up with a 15-slide deck, you run the risk of your CEO thinking that you’ve been spending too much time on a project rather than executing to drive results.

Here are some tips:

1. Summarise what your project is, why you think it’s important and how you plan to execute it

2. Back it up with research that focuses on examples of how this can drive ROI; these are the proof-points they’ll be looking for

3. Road-test it with other stakeholders first; you’ll be securing their buy-in at the same time as validating your assumptions.

2. Start with a face-to-face meeting

CEOs make decisions quickly: that’s their job. The upside is that if your initiative lands well, you can move fast – but the downside is that they can dismiss new ideas too quickly and scupper your proposal before you’ve had the chance to really show its value.

That’s why you should start your quest for marketing budget softly, by bringing it up in a short meeting.

Assuming that your meeting has gone well, at the end of it ask your CEO directly and confirm he’s interested in you investing more time in delivering a proposal. At this point, you should ask for clarification that there’s definitely more budget available (CEOs may have to speak to the CFO or Board, who may push back).

Don’t show your hand too quickly by sending your one-pager before you’ve had an initial discussion. Take the time to have a conversation about it first, then send your one-pager as a follow-up that incorporates any feedback you’ve had during the meeting.

3. Create a business plan

Congratulations, you’ve made it past the initial meeting!

If you’ve got the green light to pursue the proposal, now’s the time to start putting together a bigger presentation in 2-3 weeks’ time. Make sure to not leave it too long, or you may have to re-sell the idea to your CEO, who may since have moved on to the next project.

Your plan needs to take your one-pager to the next level, incorporating more data (maybe you can see a pattern here – we love numbers) and clear expectations on ROI. Here’s where you should start adding in timelines too. Timelines and expectations. Make your presentation is engaging – your CEO has shown interest – if you were a salesperson, you’d be treating this as closing.

4. Get full buy-in

Presentation ready? Good. You then need to meet your CEO and confirm the expectations of the project and its goals. By this point, you should ensure you have all other stakeholders agreed on your plan to back you up.

At this stage, you may have more than one meeting in order to deliver your presentation, take feedback and iterate. Just keep your message clear, be patient and above all, be persistent. And if you succeed, you’ll find yourself with a green-light and budget with which to carry out your project. Congratulations!

5. Execute!

But…it’s not over yet. Strictly speaking, this step isn’t actually a part of the process of securing budget, but it’s just as important. When you’re executing, your CEO and your stakeholders will be watching, and what you deliver will have bearing on whether you get a budget in the future. So it’s time to make it happen.

While you do, make sure you’re constantly sharing your achievements and shouting about it (you’re your own best PR); and for maximum impact, keep it heavy on the metrics and demonstration of return.

If the project or initiative fails, that’s OK – it happens. Just make sure you share what you’ve learned and the next steps from the project. Marketing has many wins and many failures and that’s what makes it exciting! The only real failure is in not learning from the lesson.

Like what you see here? Visit our Resources page to read more e-books and blog posts with advice and tips for multi-tasking marketers.

#FollowFriday: 20 of the best marketing strategy blogs to follow today

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Marketing continues to broaden and adapt using more digitally-led and innovative practices than ever to reach customers. Check out these marketing strategy blogs to keep you in the loop….

Industry, media news and data

@DigiDay 

Brilliant source for industry analysis, marketing updates and media.

[tweet https://twitter.com/Digiday/status/857183766506336257]

@eMarketer

Follow for data on most recent digital trends and practices.

[tweet https://twitter.com/eMarketer/status/855495859835940865]

@TheDrum

Follow for transatlantic updates on marketing, advertising and media.

[tweet https://twitter.com/TheDrum/status/857183736064090112]

@dorieclark

The Forbes and Harvard Business columnist shares marketing strategies and the latest industry media content.

[tweet https://twitter.com/dorieclark/status/857292710985715712]

@GeorgeSlefo

His words are usually seen in the Tech section of AdAge and his Twitter is just as great a source of information.

[tweet https://twitter.com/GeorgeSlefo/status/857271709086470144]

@asharma

Bureau Chief at WSJ shares the latest in media and marketing news.

[tweet https://twitter.com/asharma/status/855173277165244416]

Social Media

@MarshaCollier 

Great advice for social media, e-commerce and customer service. (Plus she has her book feature in the upcoming Netflix show ‘Girl Boss’).

[tweet https://twitter.com/MarshaCollier/status/856922769417744384]

@Jenerationy

VP of Marketing at TUNE, follow for tweets on mobile marketing.

[tweet https://twitter.com/Jenerationy/status/849393832856834053]

@kevanlee

The Marketing Head at Buffer shares stats and tips on how to maximise social media engagement.

[tweet https://twitter.com/kevanlee/status/849654973134626816]

@Brian_G_Peters

Posts on strengthening your digital marketing and best practices for social media.

[tweet https://twitter.com/Brian_G_Peters/status/853248051481374723]

@MarketingProfs

The best selling writer “waging a war” against mediocre content marketing keeps you up to date with the latest copywriting techniques.

[tweet https://twitter.com/MarketingProfs/status/856889307482775552]

@PamMktgNut

The self-professed marketing geek, giving social media marketing advice and the best metrics to measure online engagement success.

[tweet https://twitter.com/PamMktgNut/status/857332021898731523]

@RebekahRadice

Tips on social media marketing and content blogging.

[tweet https://twitter.com/RebekahRadice/status/857467355148013568]

Content Marketing

@neilpatel

Having written for Forbes, Inc and HuffPost, Neil uses his content skills to share the best practises for improving both SEO and CRO for marketers.

[tweet https://twitter.com/neilpatel/status/857255226981720065]

@dmscott

The marketing and sales strategist shares best practice alongside excerpts from his bestselling book “The New Rules of Marketing and PR”.

[tweet https://twitter.com/dmscott/status/853311630884691970]

@JoePulizzi

Follow for content strategy tips and best practise.

[tweet https://twitter.com/JoePulizzi/status/842015961666445312]

@iconiContent

The Forbes-listed influencer shares tidbits of advice on how to better your content and shares his opinion on the latest techniques.

[tweet https://twitter.com/iconiContent/status/857069247545184256]

@DrewNeisser

Advice on how to stand out with your online campaigns and excerpts from his book, ‘The CMO’s Periodic Table’.

[tweet https://twitter.com/DrewNeisser/status/856581126609027072]

@rohitbhargava 

Follow for posts sharing “non-obvious insights” in marketing and making your copy “more human”.

[tweet https://twitter.com/rohitbhargava/status/738726599042834432]

@Robert_Rose

Tips on making memorable content and the most effective marketing for your customer base.

[tweet https://twitter.com/Robert_Rose/status/857328506136612868]

Don’t see your fave on here? Let us know! Drop us a line on marketing@yieldify.com or Tweet us @yieldify.

Increase Conversions with Advanced Targeting and ESP Integrations

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Targeted messages drive more conversions. With new Advanced Targeting on the Yieldify Conversion Platform, we’ve made it easier for you to deliver the right message to the right user and the perfect moment.

Every visitor to your website is different. And this presents a challenge to marketers striving to create personalised customer experiences to better engage each one. To help our customers to create great experiences onsite, we’re please to roll out three Advanced Targeting features on the Yieldify Conversion Platform.

Referral Source targeting

Target campaigns to visitors arriving from social media or an affiliated website. Targeting visitors by referral source is a great way to increase conversionsby ensuring the relevance of your message to visitors based on what you know about how they’ve arrived on your website.

Referral Source targeting helps make sure all that budget allocated to social ads and partnerships doesn’t go to waste when a visitor arrives from these channels. It allows you to keep the experience coherent for visitors, whether they’ve been referred to the site from a Facebook promotion, or need to remind them of their voucher code from an affiliated site.

Customer Type targeting

Target campaigns based on whether a visitor has purchased from your website before. Here’s an example in action:

Customer Type Targeting example

By targeting visitors based on whether they are already customers, you can help encourage returning customers to spend a little more while pursuading first-timers to join your newsletter so you can keep them up-to-date with your latest news and offers to motivate follow-up purchases.

Or you can even inspire follow-up purchases by giving customers that just made a purchase a great reason to come back and buy again.

User Lead Type targeting

Target campaigns based on whether a visitor has submitted their email address before. A campaign with this targeting could run like this:

User Lead Type targeting

The key thing here is customer experience. With User Lead Type targeting, you can make sure that you don’t ask for an email more than once by only displaying your lead generation campaigns to visitors who haven’t yet submitted their email in a campaign.

On the other hand, if a visitor has already submitted their email, they’ve shown brand engagement; you can engage them with relevant messages directing them to your best sellers, loyalty programme or affirming their interest in your brand by highlighting USPs.

Integrate with Campaign Monitor and MailChimp

Also from today, you can now send email addresses collected by Yieldify campaigns into two leading Email Service Providers: Campaign Monitor or MailChimp.

Campaign Monitor and Mailchimp integrations

With this new capability you can now join up the experience from onsite to email to drive more value from your marketing activity, using simple automation.

#FollowFriday: 20 of the best design blogs to follow today

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No smart marketer would underestimate the importance of design in marketing; it’s integral to your branding, your conversion rates and your customer experience. Discover our top design blogs to keep you inspired…

There are few terms that cover as wide a spectrum of specialisms and disciplines than ‘design’; we’ve grouped up some of the best Design design blogs for you to follow to stay up-to-date.

Don’t forget that most of these also have great Instagram accounts – so if you’re not already following them there, you should be!

General inspiration blogs

Design Boom

Prolific posting on architecture, design and technology.

Muzli

Inspiration in every aspect of design and art, with useful news round-ups hitting the blog weekly.

Pentagram

The world’s largest independent design consultancy covers everything from print to web (and all the stuff in between).

iGNANT

For inspiration that includes the quirky and offbeat as well as the more mainstream, check out the design and photography showcases.

Eye on Design

Not just design inspiration, but the backstories of the creators behind them and the issues they care about.

Design Taxi

One of Time magazine’s top 140 Twitter feeds for a good reason – packed with art, photography, design and technology.

Visuelle

Mostly graphic design, but not short on other inspiring examples of creativity from the work of art and product design.

It’s Nice That

Prolific output on every kind of design, with news and long-form articles as well as a showcase of work.

Colossal

‘Art, design and visual culture’; pioneering and inspiring stuff from the Colossal blog.

Graphic design blogs

How Design

Packed with inspiration but also tips and career advice for designers looking to develop their skills and expand their networks.

PRINT

Dedicated to graphic design, technology, culture, and how it all fits together.

Under Consideration

A graphic design firm mostly taking on its own projects.

Hey

Great work examples from a leading studio in Barcelona (these guys are actually much better on Instagram, so make sure to follow them there).

Web design blogs

Awwwwards

Submit your own site to this awards programme for web designers or developers, or simply check out all the other amazing submissions.

Web Design Ledger

Written by web designers, for web designer.

Webdesigner depot

Very marketer-friendly design angles on everything from email to UX and the tools you need to work on them.

Packaging and brand design blogs

The Dieline

Truly drool-worthy example of packaging from all over the world.

Product design blogs

Design Milk

Beautiful products and interior design inspiration from all over the world.

Typography blogs

Typewolf

Yep, this one’s all about type, type, type.

Don’t see your fave on here? Let us know! Drop us a line on marketing@yieldify.com or Tweet us @yieldify.

#FollowFriday: 22 of the best retail Twitter accounts to follow today

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Looking for the hottest news and best insights into the world of retail? Here are the influencers to start following today to stay informed on all things e-commerce and more.

In the great spirit of #followfriday, we’re sharing some of the best places to start when it comes to turning your Twitter feed into a hive of news and insights on retail. Follow these accounts to fill your commute with the latest news and insights to stay ahead of the curve.

Thought leaders

Whether they’re talking about conversion rate optimisation, digital experience or even POS technology, these industry movers and shakers will give you informed insights and opinions to chew over.

Chris H Petersen

Particularly great thoughts on millennials in e-commerce from this high-profile consultant

[tweet https://twitter.com/chrishpetersen/status/847584356256423936]

Linda Bustos

Blogger, entrepreneur and all-round e-commerce veteran serves up great questions and insights

[tweet https://twitter.com/edgacentlinda/status/842409691720310784]

Tommy Walker

Formerly of ConversionXL, currently of Shopify – posting great content every day

[tweet https://twitter.com/tommyismyname/status/847450590875574272]

Bryan Roberts

TCC Global’s Insights Director tweets about a lot of retail topics – and about Haribo. A lot.

[tweet https://twitter.com/BryanRoberts72/status/847414448155271171]

The Retail Doctor

Quality content and RTs from author Bob Phibbs

[tweet https://twitter.com/TheRetailDoctor/status/847510394168070144]

Jason Goldberg

Great content and opinion-sharing from SapientRazorfish’s SVP of Commerce.

[tweet https://twitter.com/retailgeek/status/847827828179599361]

Jason Del Rey

Covers the e-commerce beat for ReCode; a great source for the latest on new Silicon Valley retail innovations and trends

[tweet https://twitter.com/DelRey/status/847506795266416640]

Paul Greenberg

Australia-based retail entrepreneur and speaker offers a different perspective from UK or US-centric commentary

 

Ecommerce Boy

Just very, very good at sharing content

[tweet https://twitter.com/EcommerceBoy/status/847130487235756032]

Stuart McMillan

Fresh from giving a great talk at this year’s Internet Retailing Expo, Schuh’s Deputy Head of Ecommerce has pithy insights and RTs to share.

[tweet https://twitter.com/mcmillanstu/status/808265185127464960]

Publishers and brands

Great blogs and channels that offer more than just news.

Ecomchat

Tune in every Monday at 1pm-2pm UK time to post your questions an e-commerce live chat, or simply check out some of what other marketers are asking.

[tweet https://twitter.com/ecomchat/status/844901300584271877]

Practical Ecommerce

Independent commentary and articles aggregated into a couple of deep-dive articles posted every day (worth subscribing to the newsletter too).

[tweet https://twitter.com/PracticalEcomm/status/846760638059872257]

Yieldify

Well, it would be remiss to not mention ourselves. Follow us for the fast-track to our blogposts and best practice examples from clients around the world.

[tweet https://twitter.com/Yieldify/status/846405934180188161]

For quick-fire news in the UK

Here are the Twitter accounts that will mean your commute is full of the latest breaking news for the UK market

Retail Week: the articles here sit behind a paywall, but the headlines alone are useful information

Econsultancy: you almost certainly already follow these guys already…

Drapers: fashion-specific, but great content for any retailer

Retail Gazette: news in high volume

Internet Retailing: Europe-wide news, stats and opinion pieces

For quick-fire news in the US

No matter what coast you’re waking up on, here are the Twitter accounts that will have you up-to-date by the end of breakfast

Retail Wire: on-the-hour news from the East Coast

Ecommerce: posting several times a day

National Retail Federation: lots of policy news and stats

Shop.org: more news, stats and shares

Don’t see your favourite on here? Let us know! Drop us a line on marketing@yieldify.com or Tweet us @yieldify.

 

Our campaigns of the month: March 2017

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Every month, we take a look at some of the most creative and successful campaigns that Yieldify clients have created to increase conversion rates, decrease cart abandonment and much more…

Dynamic Promotions with Market Porter 

Independent food retailer Market Porter has a free delivery policy once customers spend a certain amount; to encourage their customers to spend a little more to reach it, the brand launched an overlay campaign using Dynamic Promotions on the Yieldify Conversion Platform to show exactly how much the user needed to spend to qualify.

Smart Notifications with Happy Dog 

Pet food retailer Happy Dog’s wide range of products mean that its customers sometimes need extra help and advice in order to make a decision. The brand therefore launched a subtle Notification on the product pages to indicate that advisors were available on the phone.

Generating competition entries with L’Oréal Canada

New customer acquisition is a big part of the battle for any e-commerce site; L’Oréal Canada’s sites for Essie and Maybelline therefore incentivising new visitors to sign-up with the chance to win products. The call-to-action appeared as the visitor browsed, opening up as an overlay on click.

Using video campaigns with M6 Boutique

M6 Boutique is a home shopping pioneer in France, where it leveraged its TV heritage on its e-commerce site in order to deliver the digital experience that helped increase conversions. The video campaign reminded visitors of the presenters and shows that they know and trust, encouraging them to keep shopping. You can read the full case study here.

Like what you see here? Visit our Resources page to read more case studies and e-books that showcase more of our client work.

Sport Relief Case Study: How the UK’s Biggest Charity Increased Lead Generation by 27%

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Sport Relief is one of the UK’s biggest charity events; Yieldify worked with them to help their website generate leads and sign-ups that led to over £55 million raised in 2016.

Sport Relief is where the Great British public get active and have fun to help change lives, raising money to help vulnerable people in both the UK and the world’s poorest countries. (Yieldify watches from the sidelines because PE teachers didn’t like us very much).

Like any charity, Sport Relief’s website is the hub for all its communications and fundraising – it’s therefore crucial to get it right. We sat down with Matthew McMahon, Senior Digital Marketing Executive, to understand how they did it:

Introducing Dynamic Promotions

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More personal, more powerful; our exciting new feature helps increase conversions and spend with targeted messages that change to reflect your visitor’s exact cart value

Personalising your website experience to your individual user and their actions is a powerful way of getting results – whether that’s collecting leads, driving conversions or increasing your average order value.

Our brand new feature on the Yieldify Conversion Platform allows you to take that a step further.

Dynamic Promotions allow you to deliver smart and simple triggered messages that automatically change to reflect your user’s unique cart value. Showing the exact amount a user needs to spend to reach a promotion makes your engagement more personal, encouraging them to take the next step – helping you increase conversions and order value.

Here’s how it works:

Harrys of London Case Study: How Yieldify Generated £60,000 Increase In Revenue

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Learn how Harrys of London used Yieldify to help deliver a £60,000 increase in revenue.

Harrys of London is a luxury men’s fashion brand that sells worldwide; its challenge was to make its digital experience meet the high standards its customers are used to in its bricks-and-mortar stores. And that’s where the Yieldify Conversion Platform came in.

Harrys of London was one of the first customers to use the Yieldify Conversion Platform and immediately got to work solving the problem of needing to deliver a digital experience as sophisticated and tailored as the shoes it sells.

Three short months later, its e-commerce team had delivered personalisation campaigns on a new website that served customers worldwide, helping deliver over £61,000 in revenue.

Click the preview below to download the case study and discover how: 

  • luxury retailers can engage in conversion rate optimisation without compromising on their brand values
  • how Harrys personalised their customer journey depending on where the visitor was browsing from
  • how Harrys acquired new customers and helped increase conversions without offering discounts

Want to learn more about the Yieldify Conversion Platform? Check out our latest blog post for more details or go ahead and request a demo.

5 Ways to Win Customer Referrals

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Let’s get straight to the point. There’s a ton of advice out there focusing on your consumers and highlighting how everything you do needs to pander to their desires.

How improving customer service fosters long-term loyalty and improving customer relationships is the goal we should all aspire to.

But we both know the truth. That underneath all the talk of treating customers well and gaining positive social proof, the main goal is to increase revenue.

There’s still a peculiar stigma attached to talking about cold hard cash. Even for those, like you, who are running a business. But come on, nice thoughts and positive social proof aren’t going to keep the lights on.

Everything you do as a business is to keep the cash flowing in and customers heading your way.

There are myriad ways you can achieve this, but as we recently covered, one of the most effective methods is to focus on your most profitable segment; current customers.

They have the highest levels of customer loyalty and, as a result, are likely to spend more and purchase numerous times. They are, in short, a potential goldmine.

However, focusing solely on your current customers is a recipe for consumer neglect and cash-flow stagnation. After a while, you’re going to hit a revenue plateau with them and when that happens, there’s only one way for you to continue to grow your brand.

Find more customers.

But hold on. The decision was made to focus on your current customers because finding new customers can be time-consuming and costly.

So, what can a smart brand do to attract new business at minimum cost?

Ask your most lucrative, engaged and loyal segment for a little help. Use current customers and their love for your brand to help win cheap and easy customer referrals.

Why customer referrals?

More traffic is not the answer to all your woes.

Increasing your PPC spend, running new Facebook ads and focusing on your SEO are great at getting eyes on your products, but they’re the opening battle of a long and arduous war.

These brand new prospects barely register on the customer loyalty scale. They don’t know you from Adam, they don’t owe you anything and they’re definitely not going to hand over their card details without good reason.

But a good customer referral not only brings new traffic to your door, it brings engaged, interested traffic:

  • 74% of consumers identify word-of-mouth as a key influencer (source)
  • Word-of-mouth marketing has been shown to improve marketing effectiveness by up to 54% (source)
  • 84% of consumers reported always or sometimes taking action based on personal recommendations (source)

Your current customers aren’t just your most profitable segment, they’re also the most useful bargaining chip you have and are key to helping you win customer referrals.

But they won’t do it if not prompted, so here are a few pointers on eliciting those super valuable referrals.

Start with a solid plan

Referrals can and do happen naturally. But just as with anything else in marketing, a helpful push in the right direction is going to do wonders.

You need to figure out what it is you can do for your customers to elicit a referral from them.

Before you start thinking about interesting incentives or compelling campaigns make sure you’re hitting the below key achievements:

  • Offer a great service – Even with a great referral incentive no one is going to refer a friend if your service or product is lacking.
  • Understand the kind of referral you’re after. Are you looking for a quick introduction? Perhaps you want a current customer to refer a potential customer to a purchase page? Or maybe you’re looking for a simple social media shout out. Whatever it is, you first need to understand what you’re asking of your customers in order to offer a reasonable reason to do so.
  • Understand the right timing of asking for a referral. Different referrals will need to be requested at different times. You want to make sure you’re asking for a referral at the most optimal time.
  • Don’t flog a dead horse. If, after a few requests, you’re getting nothing back from your customer, cut your losses. If you don’t, you risk annoying them. Not only will you forfeit a future referral opportunity, but you could lose a paying consumer.

Once you’ve pulled together a plan of what you want to achieve and when precisely to approach customers, it’s time to get into the actual implementation of your campaign.

Make it easy for users

People are getting busier. The quicker and easier you can make referral actions, the more likely they are to be completed.

Numerous brands manage to increase their conversion rates by reducing the amount of information consumers need to enter into online forms.

Source

Your users don’t want to have to jump through numerous hoops for you. They’ve got their own things they need to be doing so focus on how you can make the path to action as simple as possible.

If you’re looking to win customer referrals, then make it so customers can invite friends in as few steps as possible.

For example: If you’re looking for a social media referral, pre-plan messages and link them to social sharing buttons. Your user presses the button and your pre-planned message is shared with the world.

Here’s how Airstory is doing it for those who sign up to the wait list. Their site visitors click the correct button for their preferred network and the message is already written for them.

The same tactic should be employed if you want users to share an email with friends. Write out what it should say, all your customer then has to do is click the referral button and select their friend.

Make it easy, and more people will do what you need them to.

Bribe them

Nothing get’s people to take the action you want them to like offering a reward.

What you offer doesn’t have to be amazing. You don’t even need to make it an immediate monetary incentive.

In fact, lots of smart brands ensure their referral incentive actually solicits a repeat purchase thus increasing overall sales.

Greats Sneakers do this very well. If a customer notifies a friend about the brand, they both get 20% off their next order. Greats Sneakers lose 20% off their next sale, but that’s a next sale that likely wouldn’t have happened without the referral.

Initiate a referral program

One referral is good. Two are better.

Rather than asking only once for a referral, encourage those who love your brand to sign up for a referral program. Doing so gives you multiple opportunities to solicit referrals.

Of course, you may have to incentivise the process. Popular approaches include increasing the value of the incentive for numerous referrals or simply adding a threshold that has to be hit before an incentive is achieved.

Blush Hair Salon offers a flat referral fee for each person referred along with a larger reward for the top referrers at the end of the year.

Whereas RhinoShield will offer a 15% discount, but only after you’ve successfully referred three friends.

Setting up an evergreen referral platform will also help you take advantage of large seasonal interest. You can implement new campaigns at key times of year such as Black Friday or in the run up to Christmas.

Follow it up

There’s nothing as deflating as helping someone out only to get nothing in return. Sure, you’re offering your prospects a cash off incentive or something in the way of a reward, but sometimes, all people really want is a simple thank-you.

Thank-you’s should always be included whether or not you’re incentivising your referrals. It’s a simple thing which can go a long way into fostering customer loyalty, making them feel valued and improving customer retention.

We’re not saying you need to do anything crazy for a thanks. A simple email will more than suffice.

Keeping your customers happy will not only keep them coming back for more, but will also help gain more referrals further down the line.

Referrals are a great way to build your brand

Focusing on current customers is an easy way to increase revenue. It’s faster, effective and proven to increase sales.

However, you should never stop attracting new business. Thankfully, those same current customers who are willing to spend more cash could also be willing to forward new customers to your brand.

All you have to do is ask in the right way and you’ll not only delight those who are currently fans of your brand, you can also attract and convert tomorrow’s most loyal and profitable customer base.

How to Perfect the Post-Purchase Experience

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Can you really increase revenue by optimizing the post-purchase experience? We have, and we’ll show you how.

Months of planning, weeks of hard work and days spent biting your fingernails. All to make your new streamlined, customer-centric purchase journey a reality. You’ve followed the guides, listened to expert opinion and created a more efficient purchase journey. One which seamlessly ushers your prospects down the purchase path until they’re ready to click the big button saying “buy”.

Your hard work pays off and you see a healthy uplift in conversions. Success!

You’re now the proud owner of an effective sales funnel. All that’s left is to continue driving traffic to the top of your funnel; then it’s sit back and watch as they glide through to become paying customers. Sound a little too good to be true? That’s because it is.

You know it’s not that easy. A streamlined purchase journey is an integral part of any online brand. But it’s not the beginning and end of your marketing campaigns. Sure, optimising the purchase journey will help a higher percentage of consumers complete a purchase, but smart brands understand that the real money making opportunities come after a consumer has clicked buy.

It might sound a little weird, but the truth is smart brands can earn more and cut costs by optimising the post-purchase experience.

Why post-purchase experience is important

The post purchase experience is usually talked about in terms of customer service.

How poor after sales care leads to bad reviews and negative social proof. It’s an important element of customer interaction and highlighting your brand as one who cares about their consumer base.

But that post-purchase window can be about so much more than customer interaction and positive experiences. When well optimised you can use good customer relationships to increase average order value, solicit repeat business, and reduce outgoing costs.

  • 7 times more expensive to attract new business than retain current customers (source)
  • Increasing retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25% – 95% (source)
  • The probability of a sale from a new customer is 5-20%, but from existing customers, it’s 60%-70% (source)

That initial conversion that turns a browser into a customer is not your end goal. Yes, it is the end of the purchase journey, but it’s also the start of the customer journey.

When someone clicks that big purchase button they’re no longer a stranger to you and your brand. They’re part of your tribe. The tribe that pays your bills, keeps a roof over your head and ensures the lights stay on. And you need to reciprocate.

You’ve got to listen to customer feedback and optimise your processes so you’re treating them with the same respect they’re offering to you. Create a well-optimised post-purchase experience for customers and they’ll not only purchase from you again, but you’ll be able to cut costs on attracting new business.

Post-purchase service

Purchasing is simultaneously the final step as a prospect and the first step as a customer. It’s here that perception shifts. You no longer have a prospect searching for a solution to a problem, you now have a consumer who needs to understand how to get the most value out of your brand and its products.

You’ve got to foster customer loyalty, and the best way to do that is to show them you care. Help them get the most out of their purchase, listen to what they have to say and show them you can be trusted.

Fostering customer loyalty is a long-term strategy. It’s rare for brands to turn first time buyers into fervent fans overnight. However, the sooner you start, the quicker you’ll see results.

  • 74.4% of users expect a welcome email (source)
  • Welcome emails have 320% more revenue per email than other promotional emails (source)
  • 48 hours after initial conversion is the optimal time to initiate a positive customer interaction.

The majority of the 59% of brands who do focus on a post-purchase experience do so with a single confirmation email. It’s often very dry and generic, listing only the price, description of the product, and maybe a delivery estimate.

It’s key information the customer needs to know, but it’s hardly offering real, tangible value.

You have to go above and beyond with your customer communications. Think about the primary questions a consumer has and the fears they experience after purchasing. Then, use a post-purchase email to allay those fears.

The fears you address will be individual to your business but as an example, you’ll want to think about:

  • Delivery times
  • How to change delivery times if the one listed isn’t convenient
  • Your returns policy
  • Explicitly stating when a free trial ends
  • Link to an FAQ section on site
  • Identify the biggest fears and questions your consumers have and immediately solve them.

Domino’s has a great example of this. They allow delivery customers to track their order. You know its exact position in the production queue giving an indication of delivery time. A godsend when hungry or hosting a party and waiting for food.

Source

Your post-purchase service doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be incredibly simple, but it has to address a major concern of your customers.

Post-purchase conversions

The psychological principle of successive approximations states that after a person has taken one action, they’re more likely to perform additional actions. After completing an initial conversion, users are more likely to respond to a subsequent offer. Something which you can use to grow your brand in other ways.

For instance, if you’re initial conversion solicits a list sign-up then consider implementing the below on your thank you page:

  • A follow us on social media link
  • Sign up to loyalty program button
  • Or request more information to help better segment your audience

In the above example, Aweber has not only added social share buttons but also provided extra value by allowing you to add the date and time of the webinar to your calendar ensuring you don’t miss it. If a user has just purchased a product, then you might want to experiment with the following in post-purchase emails or thank you pages:

  • A cross-sell recommendation
  • An upsell page highlighting benefits of doing so
  • Discount on secondary purchase to bring them back on site and elicit a repeat purchase

Leadpages offer this example for a thank you page that informs the user of an upcoming sale with the aim of bringing them back to the store. Successive approximations can be a great way to increase revenue and offer a better service to your consumers.

Offer targeted help

There’s nothing worse than getting a brand new product only to find you have no idea how it works. Sure, you could work your way through the dry, boring technical manual that ships with the product, but who reads those anymore?

Make understanding how to get the most out of your product easy for your consumers. Time a post-purchase email campaign so they receive key information on basic features, advanced functions and general usage tips at the time they’re most likely to need them. The below is an example post conversion email series that focuses on providing the consumer with information to get the most out of the product before soliciting a cross-sell and social proof review:

Source

Gather new info

Your marketing campaign is only as good as the information driving action. If you know nothing about your audience then you can’t help them. The more information you have, the more targeted your campaigns and relevant your communications. Gather customer feedback during the post-purchase experience to understand more about who you’re targeting. You can do this either on the thank you page or through an automated post-purchase email.

The key is to act fast and make the most of the successive approximations. Floppi offers a great example, immediately after submitting an email you’re presented with the below box to let them know exactly what was that drove you to sign up.

Obtain extra social proof

Consumers will always trust their peers more than you. You stand to gain from their purchase so all your claims to greatness will be met with a healthy deal of scepticism.

However, claims made by other customers are generally believed, to be honest, and true.

It will benefit you to optimise your post-purchase experience to gain as much positive social proof as possible. Derek Halpern of Social Triggers is a master of social media and has a great example of how to gather great social proof immediately after a conversion.

Derek begins by giving you the lead magnet you requested. However, just after he’s given you something for free, he asks for something in return.

Asking for a social like, share and comment after giving you your free eBook plays on both successive approximations and the idea of reciprocity. Both great at driving customer interaction. Users will likely feel obliged to help as Derek is offering them something for free and clicking a like button is a very small conversion compared to submitting an email address.

A sale is not the finish line

Just because a customer has clicked buy, it doesn’t mean your relationship with them is finishing. In many ways, it’s just beginning. Those who have helped you out by clicking purchase are the people you need to focus your attention on. They’re the people who come back and spend more on your brand. Optimize your post-purchase experience to focus on providing a better service to those who have purchased and you’ll not only see them spending more, you’ll also attract others just like them.

Post Purchase FAQs

?️ What is post purchase experience?

Once a customer has purchased your product or service they enter the post purchase phase. This presents you with a chance to build customer loyalty and build a positive impression. Send them a personalized thank you email, ask them how you can improve or if they will leave a review.

? Why is post purchase evaluation important?

Post-purchase evaluation is important because it offers you the chance to get feedback on your products or service. Ultimately this feedback can be used to improve your customer experience by highlighting areas you are underperforming and not meeting customer expectations.

? What causes post purchase dissonance?

Post-purchase dissonance occurs when a customer is unsatisfied with a product or service they have purchased. There are many causes for this such as, unrealistic expectations, buyers’ remorse, poor quality product, poor service levels, bad customer service are but a few.

Google’s ‘Intrusive’ Interstitial Penalty: The Facts

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Google recently announced changes to its mobile search algorithm that will be effective from the 10th of January 2017.

Their actions to improve the mobile user experience and make finding content easier was expected, especially considering that more than half of all searches are carried out on mobile devices. The update to remove the mobile-friendly labels is fairly tame, however their aim to help users find the content they’re looking for has caused a bit of a hoo-ha.

Google has changed its attitude towards certain ‘interstitials’ that display on mobile websites, chalking them up as being intrusive and damaging user experience. They have determined that if an interstitial makes content less accessible, they will penalise those pages in search rankings.

What does Google count as an ‘Intrusive Interstitial’?

Google interstitial penalties

Less accessible means any interstitial that covers the main content of a page, whether it’s when the page is first visited or whilst content is being consumed.

Interstitials that are considered acceptable include ones of a legal nature, such as age verification, login dialogue for gated content and easily dismissible banners.

What about my Yieldify conversion campaigns?

Naturally there are a lot of people unhappy with these changes. Notably marketing professionals, who are harnessing the considerable conversion results that interstitials can yield.

With interstitials being our bread and butter, and countless businesses caught up in the confusion, we’ve reached out to our contacts at Google to find out how this development affects onsite remarketing campaigns and mobile devices.

Exit-intent overlays are allowed

In a video released shortly after the announcement John Mueller, a webmaster trends analyst for Google, reassured that exit-intent popups would be exempt from their disallowed list. We can corroborate that exit intent-trigger overlays on landing pages will not have an impact on search rankings, as this serves an overlay when a user switches between tabs or leaves their browser app and then returns to the web page. Any mobile overlay format that triggers via exit intent can therefore stay in place on landing pages.

Google have also stated that the ranking penalty will only apply to campaigns that display on landing pages. This means that mobile overlays on a timer or scroll trigger deeper into the site are absolutely fine to continue using. This covers pages such as the basket and checkout.

What Yieldify recommends

In regards to interstitials on landing pages, we don’t recommend displaying standard-sized mobile overlays that trigger based on a timer or when the user scrolls. Instead we suggest that you use small or expandable formats on landing pages, such as bottom bars. These formats are fine to use on a timer or scroll trigger as they don’t cover large areas of the screen whilst in an unexpanded state.

Since the announcement was made our Product Team have been working tirelessly, developing new overlay formats for mobile campaigns that will provide users with more options in the next year. Yieldify clients will continue to enjoy the benefit of high performing campaigns without worrying about any business impact.

Google are not against conversion tactics. They merely want to continue creating and achieving exceptional user experiences which you can also benefit from.

If you are a current client of Yieldify, please direct any extra questions you may have to your account manager.

If you are not a client but are concerned about how Google’s new stance will affect your conversion campaigns, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with one of our optimisation experts to discuss your needs and options.

What Exactly Is an Omnichannel Experience?

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We take a look at what an omnichannel experience is all about right now along with how things are shaping up across the eCommerce landscape for the future.

Tweak this, amend that color, change that word, enlarge the CTA, and BOOM – you’ve just increased your sales.

That’s the extent of much of the marketing advice now littering the web. All of these little tweaks, amendments and changes can help increase conversions, but often they’re nothing more than a band-aid covering a far larger problem.

A poorly optimized customer experience.

Your customers are the lifeblood of your business. Offer a more pleasurable, intuitive purchase journey and they’ll thank you for it with repeat purchases, positive reviews, and numerous referrals.

The problem many brands face is understanding how to optimize the customer experience in the modern digital era. With numerous devices and an always-connected mentality, there’s never been more opportunity to connect with consumers, which at the same time offers a higher potential of a terrible experience.

Technology has become so ingrained in our day to day activities we’d struggle to survive without it, we’ve even progressed to the stage of having social media enabled fridges.

Your customers are using myriad devices at every stage of the customer journey to find brands, research products, and commit to a purchase. A great customer experience streamlines the journey across all devices, offers the highest level of value to the user but doesn’t abuse the always-connected consumer with constant promotions.

What is an Integrated Experience?

Multichannel and omnichannel are not the same.

Despite being bandied around in the same circles these two methodologies are startlingly different.

An omnichannel experience integrates multiple channels but a multichannel approach is not integrated.

Savvy brands understand the importance of optimising each and every channel. Having a comprehensive social media campaign, optimising your mobile site and providing a great in-store experience are all par for the course.

However, these campaigns are often siloed and independent of one another. There’s nothing to link them. No way of creating a seamless journey between each channel. This is multichannel and, whilst it provides well optimised independent campaigns, doesn’t contribute to the wider customer experience.

There’s no continuity in multichannel. It’s a series of well optimised but disconnected experiences. Omnichannel connects each individual channel to create one comprehensive, intuitive consumer journey.

It creates a seamless journey regardless of the device used or path taken. It seamlessly integrates experiences across channels.

For instance, you find a pair of sneakers you want on the Nike online store. you’re at the mall later that day so decided to pick up a pair whilst there.

However, there’s nothing to bring your online search in store. You have to move back to the search phase to find the sneakers before you’re able to try them on, see how they feel and make a decision.

With an omnichannel experience, you could reserve a pair on mobile to pick up in store or thanks to beacons technology, use your mobile as an in-store map to find where they’re displayed.

Omnichannel experience isn’t the latest buzzword. It’s what your users want, need and are asking for;

  • 98% of consumers believe returns, purchases and delivery should be available across multiple channels (Forbes)
  • Brands with an integrated, omnichannel experience retain average 89% of their customers, compared to 33% for brands with weak omnichannel customer engagement. (Aberdeen Group)
  • Shoppers that buy across multiple channels have a 30% higher lifetime value than their single-channel counterparts (IDC)

Omnichannel is a necessity for brands who want to stay on top over the coming years, the question is how you can best implement an omnichannel experience.

The Key is Customer Centricity

Everything you do revolves around the customer. Omnichannel is not about pushing your products through several channels simultaneously. It depends on streamlining the customer journey and offering as much value to them as possible.

Yes, the goal for you is to increase revenue, but the best way to encourage users to convert, return and promote your brand is to offer them a service they simply cannot forget.

  • Brands who offer good customer service are 3X more likely to receive recommendations (Harvard Business Review)
  • 59% of 25-34 year-olds share poor customer service online (New Voice Media)
  • 95% of dissatisfied customers tell others about their experience (Zendesk)

Putting the customer first isn’t a meaningless action, it’s imperative for the future of your business.

At its core, an omnichannel experience is nothing more than great customer service. When you’re planning your omnichannel strategy be sure to look at everything you do through the eyes of your target market and ask yourself if you’re offering more value or a better service.

Collect and Collate as much Data as Possible

Personalization and segmentation are key to providing higher value, better-targeted service.

Brands in every industry have come to rely on audience personae and segmentation to better target their marketing. But knowing 30% of your audience is 21-30-year-old males isn’t going to help with an omnichannel experience.

Effective omnichannel experiences depend on vast amounts of data.

You have to know how your users interact with your brand across different channels and the thoughts and feelings they have for your brand. For instance:

  • Do they start on mobile before moving to a desktop to purchase?
  • At what stage do they switch devices?
  • Do they prefer to pick up items in-store?
  • What are their overall impressions of your business and, most importantly, are there any areas where you are not meeting expectations?

But tracking these items independently isn’t enough. You’ve got to pull it all together into one place. Poor data quality is the biggest reason brands fail in their omnichannel strategy. However, the quality of data often isn’t the problem, it’s that brands haven’t collated their various data sources.

In a Periscope study of omnichannel marketing, most brands cited poor data quality as the primary challenge. However, nearly all of the data references were specific to how users interacted across channels.

  • Lack of customer analytics across channels (67%)
  • Silo’d organization (48%)
  • Poor data quality (45%)
  • Inability to identify customers across shopping trips (45%)

Smart brands already have a wealth of data at their fingertips. But it’s often siloed, independent and specific to a single channel.

Having lots of data is great, but you need to collate it all in one place. You’ve got to bring everything together so you can create a unified view of each customer across channels, visits and purchases.

Integrate All Channels

Optimisation for most modern marketers revolves around digital channels.

We focus on optimising websites, email marketing and social media accounts. With omnichannel we examine how users move between these digital channels because we all believe digital is the future.

And with current consumer trends, that’s the most logical step. But it overlooks one very profitable channel.

Digital channels are rising in popularity but they’re yet to take over. Shoppers still love seeing products in person. They want to hold a new iPad to feel the weight, they need to try on a new pair of sneakers and want to check the picture clarity on that new 4K TV.

Christmas and Black Friday are testaments to the continued power of in-person shopping. Brick-and-mortar-stores need to be included in your omnichannel campaign for the highest possible returns.

Macy’s and Oasis have implemented great examples of how to include in store in an omnichannel experience.

Macy’s has joined their mobile search with their online stores. If a user searches for a particular item, Macy’s use the mobile’s GPS information to inform the shopper of the closest store which has that product in stock. It immediately gives the shopper what they want and also directs them toward an immediate purchase.

Oasis has also provided a digital in-store experience. Taking a leaf out of Apple’s book Oasis staff are now equipped with in-store iPads. These iPads are used during busy times to minimise checkout queues by offering mobile payments and are able to order out of stock items direct to the shopper’s home.

Both are great examples of how digital channels are being used to improve upon the in-store service.

Focus on Creating an Experience

Sales, conversions, revenue. Whatever name you give it, there’s one goal all business aspire to achieve – to increase the amount of money made.

However, in their pursuit of this goal, many brands fail in providing the key differentiator that actually drives sales – an enjoyable customer experience.

Brands who focus on the customer first are the brands that succeed. They achieve their revenue goals through creating an incredible user experience.

Take Apple as an example; everything it does from the operating system on their devices to device design and customer service is created to shine a favourable light on the brand.

As soon as you pick up an Apple product or walk into an Apple store you know what the brand is and the products it offers. Its sleek image spreads to their customer service. In-store, you can try products, use iPads to purchase from any location and even attend training courses for products and software –  for free.

Apple has built one of the most successful brands in the world by focusing on the customer. Its entire brand is fuelled by the unforgettable irresistible experiences it creates.

While achieving the same success as Apple will be a difficult task, you can definitely follow its lead and build a tribe of fervent fans through offering an intuitive, superior omnichannel experience that is entirely consumer-centric.

5 Techniques to Measure and Improve Customer Experience

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Our top 5 techniques to measure and improve customer experience and keep your visitors coming back for more.

Good service is the linchpin upon which your business’s success depends.

Get it right and you’ll have hundreds or thousands of repeat purchases, countless referrals and a very healthy revenue stream. Get it wrong and you’ll see your brand disappear into obscurity with nothing but bad reviews and angry customers for company.

But how hard can providing good customer service be?

All you have to do is find a consumer problem and present the solution. That’s it, right? Nothing else really matters. If you can solve a consumer’s problem then that’s the best customer experience imaginable.

Not exactly.

There are 28,000,000 small businesses in the US alone. To think that at least one of those businesses doesn’t offer a similar product or solution to you is arrogant, an arrogance which could sink your brand.

The differentiator for success is not just about the product or service you provide. It’s the journey you create for consumers. If you could measure your customer experience, would it be one that makes interacting with your brand not only easy, but pleasurable?

If not, then you could be leaving thousands on the table.

Why is customer experience important?

Most brands build their key performance indicators around tweaking web copy, optimising UX design and improving PPC campaigns.

They’re great ways to bring more traffic and potential leads to your site. And sure, optimised in the correct way the content of your site will help positively influence consumers.

But they’re all focused on acquiring new customers. On driving new leads to your site and convincing those who haven’t heard of your brand to take a chance and purchase from you. Which is pretty damn hard.

These top of funnel methods might seem like the best way to facilitate business growth, but they’re far from the most effective revenue driving methods.

What most businesses fail to understand is that the most lucrative target audience they have are their current consumers.

– Existing customers are 50% more likely to try new products and spend an average 31% more

– Current customers, if happy with your service, are likely to become advocates and promote your brand for you

– Customer acquisition is 7 times more costly than customer retention

– They’ll leave favourable reviews. Extremely important when 61% of consumers read online reviews before purchasing

– Those reviews also help with an average 18% lift in conversions

The most profitable brands continually measure customer experience and implement iterative improvements, such as customer experience software. Improvements that bring one time customers back time and again. They don’t just throw a product out there and hope for the best, they identify their customer’s expectations and exceed them.

They do whatever they can to improve the customer experience because they know it leads to more reviews, better referrals and a higher percentage of repeat purchases.

And the first step to optimising your customer experience is to switch up your key performance indicators from quantitative to qualitative. Stop focusing on how many customers view your product, and start examining how you can improve their purchase experience.

Ask them directly

Sometimes understanding your consumers is as simple as asking them how they feel.

Customer satisfaction surveys often fall into one of two types. Customer satisfaction (CSAT) or net promoter score (NPS).

Customer satisfaction surveys

CSAT are simple questionnaires that measure the short term satisfaction of your consumers. They most often take the form of a survey or questionnaire sent directly to the consumer immediately after their purchase or interaction with a company is complete.

You’ll probably have received text messages or emails that follow the format of the below.

They’re great at getting a quick understanding of how consumers feel about your brand and can give some actionable insights on how best to optimise the customer experience. But they aren’t great at analysing long term happiness or customer loyalty.

Net Promoter Score

To get a better understanding of long term loyalty, brands use an NPS methodology. This is a test that measures how likely a customer is to return to your brand.

Again this test is administered through a survey question but focuses on how likely your customer is to recommend your service to others.

Net Promoter Systems has created a great guide on how the responses relate to a customer’s long term loyalty.

0 – 6 = Unhappy customers who account for 80% of negative word of mouth and have high rates of churn and defection.

7 – 8 = The passively satisfied group. They’re happy for now but have a referral rate 50% lower than promoters and are likely to defect.

9 – 10 = Your promoters. Loyal, enthusiastic fans who are happy to tell their friends about you and account for 80% of referrals.

Both methods are important for gaining a better understanding of your client base and measuring overall customer experience. However, unless using highly specific questions they can be difficult to help identify how to improve your service.

Identifying where you’re not meeting expectations

Jay Baer, author of Hug Your Haters offers a slight change to the NPS method which could be the difference in improving your brand. He says;

“Customer experience is all about expectation management. Great customer experience occurs when you exceed customer expectations in a palpable way. Poor customer experience occurs when you fail to meet customer expectations.

Thus, the best way to measure customer experience is to mine that expectation gap. Ask every customer (or a random sample) a simple question: ‘On a scale of 1-10 how much better (or worse) was your experience with our company compared to what you expected?’

It’s Net Promoter Score methodology adjusted for the realities of customer experience.”

This slight shift in methodology changes your survey results from “I’m not satisfied” to “I thought X (the service) would be Y (measurable metric)”.

Knowing how your service is failing to meet customer expectations is a more targeted method for understanding exactly what you need to improve.

Map their actions

Asking your customers directly is a great way to understand how they feel, but really, what people say and what they do are two different things.

A study by MarketingSherpa discovered the vast majority of users prefer to receive promotional emails monthly.

However, in stark contrast to this there’s numerous studies that have seen an increase in engagement, conversions and sales from an increase in email frequency.

Aviva, after increasing their frequency, saw an increase of:

48% in requested insurance quotes

45% more email revenue

According to Zettasphere 6 emails per week is the sweet spot.

Of course this doesn’t take into consideration the quality and value of the emails, but the point stands that sometimes what your users say is not what they will respond to.

You shouldn’t just follow exactly what your users say. Your key performance indicators should not solely be based on audience responses, but should be used in conjunction with usage statistics.

Bolster the information and feedback customers provide with statistics from their engagement and actions. Look at how many repeat purchases you see, what your churn rate is, the average value of a customer over the entire customer lifecycle and how many referrals you receive.

Your customers might say you’re failing to meet expectations in a certain area, but if that area is bringing in a much higher percentage of referrals should you listen to them?

Problem resolution time

Most customer journeys are uneventful. The customer finds what they need, continues to purchase, leaves the store and receives their item a few days later.

However, most problems affecting customer satisfaction in a negative way occur after the purchase has been made. A great customer journey can be ruined by a botched delivery or terrible post sales care. And it’s in this stage that customers are more likely to complain.

You’ve taken their money so a customer will have no problem publicly complaining if you fail to deliver on your promise. Just look at the Twitter feeds for large brands to see how a terrible post purchase experience can lead to negative reviews and poor social proof.

Enough to put most new consumers off the brand for good!

However, these bad experiences can be turned to your advantage.

Mistakes happen. Deliveries can be delayed, products are sometimes damaged in transit and a customer service representative for your brand could say something inflammatory.

You’re never going to escape from these issues, but a quick resolution can turn a disgruntled customer into a brand advocate. People are, by and large, reasonable and if you help them quickly solve the problem they will thank you for it.

According to Zendesk, 69% of consumers attribute good customer service to a quick resolution of a problem.

Convergys UK Customer Score Card study into customer service shows that the top attributes for a good customer experience are as a result of first contact resolution.

Measure your customer response and resolution time and do what you can to reduce it. If it’s too long, your customers will complain about the service you provide.

Just ensure that the speed of your customer service doesn’t come at the cost of efficiency. No one wants a quick service that doesn’t solve their problem.

Customer experience is of paramount importance

Customer experience is one of the most important elements of your wider marketing campaign. If you can get consumers on your side and raving about your brand, then they will handle most of the marketing for you.

These advocates will help bring new customers and provide reviews that will help plaster over any small gaps in your marketing campaign. But just like any marketing campaign, it requires continual, iterative improvement.

If you don’t already have a comprehensive method of measuring customer experience, introduce one now. Amend the performance indicators for the success of your brand to include qualitative customer experience statistics along with your quantitative site metrics. To build stronger relationships with your customers, consider using CRM software for ecommerce.

What’s the Best Way to Reach your Target Audience?

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You can reach your target audience through a plethora of channels, but you may be surprised at the one where you should still be focusing most of your attention.

Social media, content marketing, email campaigns, SMS messages and even good old fashioned audio chats via phone calls.

The channels through which you can reach your target audience are numerous and varied. But in the last few years, nearly every brand has started to favour digital channels, particularly content marketing and social media.

There’s been an explosion in online advice, “specialists”, and of course the various services that optimise and maintain your content and social campaigns.

Marketing managers the world over have shifted attention to these newer channels. And that’s great because they are key components of an effective marketing strategy.

But this new focus takes attention away from a channel that needs your attention. Email marketing.

You might have heard that email is dead. That the new kids on the block are where millennials hang out and thus, the place to reach your audience. That you’ve got to evolve with the times to stay relevant and profitable.

This is, in a word, BS. And here’s why.

Email vs ‘the new kids on the block’

ROI.

That’s the key metric every business should be focusing on. Shares, likes and retweets are marvellous for brand awareness, but let’s face it, money makes the world go round.

And when it comes to both ROI and revenue, email is the undisputed king – as proven below:

Email statistics


If we round those statistics to the nearest whole and apply it to an audience of 1000 followers/subscribers you would have the following number of people viewing each message.

Facebook – 60
Twitter – 20
Email – 200

Big difference, right? But email isn’t just better at reaching your audience.

2015's most effective online marketing tactics

However, just because email is far and away the most effective marketing channel doesn’t mean you can blast emails to every address you’ve collected.

Email marketing is a complicated beast and requires a well thought-out campaign to really get the best results. And we’ve got a few tips to get your email campaign off to the best start.

Quality over quantity

This nugget of wisdom applies in two different areas of your email campaign.

First it refers to your list. It’s better to have a smaller list of qualified prospects over a large list of uninterested subscribers. An interested list of subscribers will serve you far better in the long run. They’re more likely to become repeat purchasers and recommend you to their friends.

A low-quality list often results in low open rates, numerous bounced messages and a large number of spam reports. All of which will ruin your sender reputation and negatively affect future campaign deliverability – making it harder to reach your audience.

Quality over quantity also refers to what you send your subscribers. In examining email effectiveness Campaign Monitor discovered; “If you start sending too many emails that are low-value, the most common effect is that you’ll see open and click-through rates drop.”

Campaign Monitor report on email marketing

TechnologyAdvice.com surveyed consumers and discovered that most users believe that email campaigns can be improved by sending fewer emails.

In every area of email marketing, quality should be at the forefront of your mind. It’s about targeting fewer users with relevant content, not trying to make up shortcomings with sheer numbers.

Create a dialogue

You want to talk with your audience, not at them.

Users don’t want to receive countless emails that push for the sale. They want to feel valued. Too many emails saying “hey, buy this from us now” annoy subscribers. According to MarketingSherpa most recipients prefer weekly or monthly emails.

Regularity of email preferred by consumers


Most users will under report the frequency they best respond to, but the fact remains they don’t want to be bombarded with sales pitches. You’ve got to put the customer first and also use email to provide valuable advice so they look forward to hearing from you.

It’s a difficult goal to achieve, but it’s something transactional emails do incredibly well because they offer high-value information based on certain actions a user has taken:

  • A guide on getting the most out of particular product after a purchase
  • A quick FAQ guide explaining a product after viewing its product page more than twice
  • A welcome series after an initial subscription that asks questions so you can offer relevant advice

To effectively reach your target audience you have to listen to their needs. You should respond to their actions and habits rather than just talking at them.

Follow basic UX design principles

UX design is an important part of creating a streamlined customer journey across all marketing channels, including email.

As one of the most effective marketing channels email should be top of the optimisation list when it comes to UX design.

Our previously published article on UX design outlines the major trends and actions you should be using, but as a short summary make sure your emails are:

  • As simple as they can be
  • Utilise good images
  • Pair colours so key actions and CTAs stand out from content
  • Have a clear CTA that focuses on the benefits

It’s all about timing

Reaching your target audience is half the battle. You also have to get the timing right. Sending a sales pitch to someone who has already purchased is a good way to annoy recipients.

Getting the timing right relies on understanding your audience and the actions they take. Transactional emails can help segment your audience by action and testing will help understand the most effective frequency, but when do you send emails?

Is 08:00 on Monday the best time? Or should you wait until 17:00 on Wednesday?

There are numerous studies on the time of day and day of week that see the best open and engagement rates, which will serve as a good starting point:

The best time to send emails


But they should only be a starting point. As soon as you start sending your own emails, track your opens and engagement rates to understand when your audience are most receptive to your emails.

Test everything with your emails from frequency to time of day to understand what resonates best with your audience.

Mobile optimisation

Mobile has overtaken desktop as the primary device for web users. 66% of all emails are opened on a mobile device:

The effectiveness of any campaign relies on how well it’s optimised for a specific audience. That includes everything from segmented, targeted content to ensuring that the content is presented in the most accessible way.

Of course, following the general design and UX practices will help, but you’ve also got to take into consideration how user engagement differs on the smaller screens.

We’ve put together a whole eBook on mobile optimisation, but to sum up the main points, when optimising your email campaign remember to:

  • Keep the subject line to 50 characters
  • Add in pre-subject text to catch attention
dotmailer visualisation
  • Use white space within the email body so it’s easier to read and click on the small screen
  • Test, test and test again

Mobile is already your users’ favoured device. Take advantage of user habits and optimise your content for the highest possible conversions.

Email’s still the king

Email is still the undisputed king of ROI and a proven way to reach your audience. Social media may seem like the sexier option but until it, or any other channel, can drive the kind of sales email does then it should be a secondary focus when you’re trying to reach your target audience.

Once you reach your target audience and entice them to your site, you need to give them a customer experience worth staying for. Our Customer Journey Optimization guide has all the tips you need to bring your site up to speed.

40 Headlines That Generate Interest, Clicks, and Conversions

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We’ve put together 40 types of headlines that will help you grab your audience’s attention, elicit that all-important click and then increase your conversions.

Before you can think about increasing conversions through your content, you’ve got to do one thing first. Get readers to click through to your content from search engines, email campaign, Facebook link or tweet.

So what gets your audience to make that all important click through?

Short answer, a kick-ass headline.

Headlines are the most influential element of any copy. Those short five to ten word sentences have the power to grab attention or turn readers off your content and your brand. Advertising legend David Ogilvy said that once you’ve written your headline, you’ve spent 80 cents of your dollar.

David Ogilvy quote

It’s a discovery which, even today, holds true. In tracking the open rates of emails Mailchimp have recorded averages hovering around the 20% mark. That means 80% of the people who read your email subject line never click through to read your email content.

The effectiveness of headlines has never been in question. What is up for debate is how to ensure the types of headlines you use not only elicit that initial click, but also help increase conversions.

To help get the most out of your content marketing we’ve put a list of 40 types of headlines together to get you off to a great start.

The ‘always effective’

The below template from Koozai is always a good option. It’s accurate, informative and succinct. The only problem you might have is finding which combinations work best together.

[Number] + [Adjective] + [Keyword] + [Promise]

7 Cheap Coffee Beans for an Incredible Cup of Joe

Curiosity gap

Curiosity is a powerful motivator. If you can make users think they have a gap in their knowledge, they’ll feel compelled to click. Joanna Wiebe of Copyhackers used a curiosity gap subject line to achieve a 104% email open rate. It was so good, readers opened the email numerous times!

[A statement that makes the reader ask how/why/who etc]

Why Kim Kardashian Loves the New iPhone

Curiosity gap + explanation

The problem with curiosity gaps is they tread a fine line between useful and annoying clickbait. To ensure you don’t overstep that line, add a detail oriented subhead to really ensure you’re not only building curiosity, but also providing value.

[A statement that makes the reader ask how/why/who etc] + [detail oriented sub heading]

How to Get Your Children to Eat More Vitamins: Five Sweet, Healthy Foods Kids Love

Negative angle

Search results and email inboxes are full of headlines focusing on the positive. Stand out from the crowd by repackaging the same message in a negatively worded headline.

[Negative modifier] + [common benefit]

Never write a terrible headline again!

Testimonial

Consumers trust the word of their peers over that of brands. That makes testimonial focused types of headlines a great way to build trust with other consumers and increase conversions.

[Quote from happy customer/summary of review/excerpt from testimonial]

How Yieldify Helped M&S Gather 4000 New Subscribers

The secret

We’re back playing on your reader’s curiosity. Who doesn’t want to know a secret?!

[Number] + Secrets + [Benefit]

5 Secrets to Selling like Amazon

Problem solving

Most people click because they’re searching for a solution to a problem. Feature that problem and hint at a solution in your headline to get their attention.

[Problem] + [Solution]

Why Your eCommerce Store is Failing and What You Can Do About it

Have your cake and eat it

The only thing better than one benefit? Two benefits of course!

Now you can [benefit 1] and [benefit 2]

Now You Can Work From Home and Earn Even More Money!

How to X without Y

Similar to the above, but instead of two benefits it provides one benefit whilst negating a common negative.

How to [achieve benefit] without [negative repercussion]

How to increase sales without spending a penny

The vanity headline

Nothing sells products like speaking to a reader’s ego. It’s why brands use world renowned athletes to sell their products, “buy these football boots and you could start playing like Cristiano Ronaldo”.

[Do something] like [world renowned person]

How to Bend it Like Beckham

To the point

Sometimes a product or offer just isn’t sexy. In these cases, simply stating the offer is a good approach..

[Simple statement of what’s on offer]

Egyptian Cotton Sheets – 20% Off!

Big benefit

Focus on the key benefit and really drive it home.

[Highlight the main benefit]

Buy one watch, get the second free!

How to

“How to” headlines litter the web for a reason. They work. People want the solution to problems and how to is a great way to show them how to solve them.

How to [achieve something desirable] + [specific quantifier]

How to train your puppy to sit in two weeks

The surprise

Similar to the curiosity gap but this headline alludes to a uprising statement or discovery.

[Surprising negative statement] + [curiosity gap]

The new iPhone isn’t the best smartphone ever (but it could have been)

Make my life easier

Isn’t this what we’re all looking for?

[Expression of ease] to [achieve goal]

The quick and easy way to make your bed

If I were uou

If people subscribe to your email they likely trust what you have to say. Leverage that trust to your advantage

Why you should [shocking statement]

Why you need to stop using non biological fabric softener

Proof

Users want to know, without a doubt, that what they read will help them succeed. Use the word proof in your headlines to build a little extra trust, just make sure you’re telling the truth.

[Number] + [proof modifier] = [desirable outcome]

10 proven ways to write headlines that convert

Shocking revelation

One of those shock horror types of headlines that you see on the front of celeb magazines. Grab attention by offering a shocking discovery

Why [reputable brand] does/doesn’t [use product/advocate service etc]

Why Daniel Craig hates Omega watches

Don’t be stupid

Sometimes readers make mistakes without realising. Highlight the mistake in your headline and they’ll have to click

[Mistake] + [cost to them/their business]

10 optimisation mistakes that cause revenue loss

Play on a fear

One of the most effective types of headlines. Everyone’s afraid of something and will do whatever they can to make sure they don’t experience their fear.

[Pronoun/item in question] + [undesirable outcome]

Is your resume sabotaging your career?

Social proof

As previously mentioned, people trust the word of their peers over that of brands. Show, don’t tell, that your product is the best in class.

[Social proof] + [benefit]

The smartwatch that’s helped 14,000 people lose weight

The achievement

Readers are looking for an effective solution to a problem. Highlight how someone else achieved an outstanding result to capture attention.

How [someone/business] + [achieved desirable result] + [optional quantifier/timeframe]

How Amazon increased sales by 33% in six months

The data-driven headline

If you’ve conducted research into a topic, show it off in your headline. People love proven statistics.

We analysed [analysis topic] and found [discovery/curiosity gap]

We analysed 40,000 email campaigns and discovered the greatest subject line template

The gut punch

Sometimes tough love is just what your readers need.

[A claim that hones in on a reader’s worst fear]

Why you’ll never find love

The dream

Most readers have a dream they desperately want to achieve. List that dream in your headline and you’ll definitely grab attention.

Imagine/what would you do with [desired outcome]

Imagine launching a multi million dollar product

The intrigue headline

Allude to something that’s often overlooked.

What no-one tells you about [industry specific action/benefit]

What no-one tells you about weight loss programs

The straight question

Don’t beat around the bush, get straight to the heart of what’s bothering your readers with a direct question.

[A straight question]

Should you splash out on a new pair of shoes?

The comparison

81% of consumers thoroughly research a product or service before purchasing. Take advantage of the need for research with a comparison headline.

[Item one] vs [item two]: [primary difference to measure]

iPhone 7 vs Galaxy S7: Battle of the Mobile Cameras!

Breaking news

Show your readers that this piece of content really is on the cutting edge of discovery in your industry.

[Breaking news]: + [statement]

Breaking news: Quinoa could contribute to cancer

Short and sweet

Sometimes you don’t need any trickery, just a short, sweet headline that gets right to the heart of the matter.

[Four or five word headline]

How sugar affects children

The supportive headline

Sometimes readers just want to feel reassured. They’re looking for support during a difficult time and you could be the one to give it to them.

[Supportive statement centred around key problem]

Failure does not make you a loser

The SEO headline

Make use of those keywords to stand out in the SERPs.

[Keyword] +[ Supplementary keywords]

Headline Hacks: 101 Types of Headlines that Will Increase Conversions

The urgency headline

You can go one of two ways with this. Either attempt to elicit action today, or allude to how a lack of action is damaging the customer’s goals

[Action] + [urgency element]

Get Your Brand New Nike Air’s Today!

Or

Fix your sales funnel leaks NOW!

The scarcity headline

Scarcity goes hand in hand with urgency. They force people to take immediate action through FOMO and can be extremely powerful motivators.

[Action] + [scarcity element]

Get your new watch today. Only 37 left!

Lessons learned

Proof can take many forms. One of which is showing what you or a customer learned through taking an action or using a product.

[Number] + lessons/things learned/beneficial discoveries + [particular action/place]

9 things learned at this years social media conference

Common mistakes

This combines the benefits of the problem solving headline and adds a little social proof so readers don’t feel so alone.

[Number] + [mistake]

7 mistakes first time parents make

The Big Ol’ List

Who doesn’t love a list of solutions that lead to a great big benefit?

[Number of list items] + [big old benefit]

45 delicious, easy chicken recipes

Sensationalist

Nothing grabs attention like a claim dramatically opposed to popular opinion.

[Find a common belief and claim the opposite]

Why the British really do despise tea

The fear-buster

Sometimes you know exactly what fear a user is feeling and the question they’ll ask before they even say it. This headline pre-empts their fear and gives you a direct line to their attention.

[Negate reader question] + [highlight key benefit]

No, you don’t have to be a mathematical genius to win at poker

Clickbait

Click bait headlines are universally disliked. But they work. People might say they dislike click-bait headlines, but they still garner huge numbers of clicks.

[Unusual benefit] +[timeframe] + [curiosity modifier]

Domino’s tripled their conversion rate in only 3 months! Here’s how they did it…