Dig deeper: Three things ChatGPT needs which only you can provide

Many marketers are using ChatGPT to write subject lines. That’s okay for a starting position. But if that’s all you’re using it for, you’re missing a huge opportunity to solve some of your biggest marketing problems and elevate your marketing team’s role as a revenue and tech leader. 

I know you have a lot on your plate right now, but with AI poised to be a game-changer, you need a voice in implementing AI and its associated technologies. As email marketers, we will work closely with AI in our companies. We can’t afford to wait and see what happens. If we don’t step up, martech could lead us down the wrong path. 

3 steps to shape AI development and use

1. Experiment with AI across platforms

Did your ESP just add an AI-driven subject line generator? Great! But don’t stop there. Boxing AI as a subject line tool can mean you won’t use it to achieve a goal that has a greater downstream impact. 

AI-generated content at scale could modify language to match unique segments or cohorts in your marketing efforts to recognize intent or activity. Subject line generation is a means to that end. It’s not the end. 

Take some time to experiment with other uses for AI and discover how different platforms can deliver different results. With AI and associated technologies in their infancy, it’s important not to get stuck on one or two uses or systems.

In this preliminary stage, you can experiment on different platforms, including ChatGPT (OpenAI), Google’s Bard and Microsoft’s Bing. This will give you a robust idea of what you can do, what you can learn, and where you can apply results. The best way to achieve this is to develop a testing plan focusing on a task or goal that supports a marketing objective. 

Next, get to know the platforms available to you and replicate your testing plan on all of them. Use both the free and paid versions of these platforms. I’ve used all three of the ones I’ve mentioned here, and I’m amazed at how different the answers are. Although it means doing extra work at this preliminary stage, you’ll learn what each platform can offer and develop a realistic vision of the future.

Learn all you can right now, and adapt as you go. This is not about lifting out subject-line or call-to-action alternatives and pasting them into your email template. You know your brand better than these platforms do, so you must use your AI results as a starting point for further testing.

2. Ask your vendors for their visions 

Pull your vendors into conversations about their plans for this technology. Yes, ChatGPT is still in its infancy, but it’s growing up fast even as we try to define it. I am interested in knowing what my vendors are planning. 

Another option: If your vendors have customer advisory boards, ask them if you could join. This will put you right in the middle of the conversation about planning in the most relevant sense. 

If your vendors don’t plan to include AI or focus on a specific use like subject lines, it might be time to start an RFP and talk to other vendors that are farther down the innovation path.

3. Take a seat at the AI table

As an email marketer, you need to be in on the conversations happening at your company. You might even know more than others at the same table, so why not leverage that into a leadership position?

Email delivers the highest ROI of all your marketing channels. If I make the most money in my marketing work, I deserve a seat at the table. I can do content generation at scale. I have more touchable consumers. I have greater functionality and a proactive messaging path directly into the inbox. I don’t have to hope my customers find my emails — they’re right in their inboxes waiting for them.

Bring all the power and authority of email to bear in your AI conversations. The ideas you generated from Step 1 and Step 2 above will flow into this process and inform your discussions. You can use this knowledge to take control without waiting for your vendors or the industry to define the role of AI.

Wrapping up  

For 20 years, we have been talking about dynamically inserting relevant content into messages to increase engagement. AI could get us there. But it will not work if we marketers don’t actively take part in deciding how to use it for its highest goals in marketing. We can’t be passive technology users. We must be active influencers on this path. 

You can participate in this great movement by testing, leading conversations and learning how you can achieve your marketing goals with it and help your company prosper. 

The post 3 steps to make AI work for you appeared first on MarTech.

Customers overwhelmingly rely on a company’s content for purchasing decisions. One survey found that most people prefer content over social media, reviews or contact with a sales rep.

So, how can you ensure your content marketing makes the right impact? 

Dig into the following information to discover the benefit of promoting engagement over pushing sales in your written content. Plus, learn how to combine the two strategies successfully.

Key takeaways:

• Promoting customer engagement is a better long-term content marketing strategy but requires patience and consistency.
• Pushing sales can be good for quick wins but has a lower return on investment.
• Companies often need good data and an outside perspective to create content marketing strategies that strike the right balance of encouraging engagement and asking directly for sales.

1. Realize that good content marketing is like diet and exercising

Staying healthy as a business is similar to taking care of physical health. Most of us recognize that getting healthy (whether losing weight, gaining muscle or something else) requires patience and long-term commitment for lasting success.

Your content marketing is similar. Pushing sales is good for short wins that are rarely sustainable on their own (like a crash diet).

Pushing can be effective when you need a rapid boost or want quick data. However, engagement through “pull marketing” is the way to go if you want enduring success.

You must provide consistent long-form content that educates, informs and entertains your target audience to draw them in and convert them to loyal followers. At the same time, you need intelligent SEO strategies that keep you visible on search engines.

In other words, good content marketing that promotes engagement is a “healthy lifestyle” for your business. Your business needs a steady program of valuable content to attract high-value customers that engage with your brand.

Dig deeper: The art of natural funneling: How to lead your readers without forced CTAs

2. Understand what consumer engagement looks like

Customers have more influence in the modern market. As a result, you have to establish a mutually beneficial relationship with inbound marketing. 

Compelling content that provides real value through actionable information builds trust and loyalty. Real engagement is more than a vote with a customer’s dollars. A client becomes a champion of your brand and increases their customer lifetime value.

Boosting engagement is more valuable than simply getting a brief uptick in sales. When your company receives a notable sales spike, don’t just congratulate yourself for a job well done.

Take time to figure out what worked, why and how to maintain that response with continuous content highlighting your brand’s value to your audience. Determine engagement by tracking how your audience interacts with you through comments, likes, clicks and subscriptions.

Discover how to match your brand strategy with your customer goals. Use content marketing and SEO practices to position yourself as an expert and thought leader that helps clients succeed. 

3. Recognize when you’re pushing sales too much

As a marketing professional, it’s surprising how often experienced business people think they’re providing value in content when they’re really still pushing sales. Anyone can get so deep in the weeds of their own industry that they lose sight of building customer relationships. 

Avoid having “sales breath” in your content by only promoting products. Desperation and self-interest push good leads away. Instead, sincerely look to help people, whether they use your service or not.

Creating the right blend of engagement and pushing sales is difficult and often requires an outside perspective to see where you’re missing the boat. You can do this through surveys or with the help of an experienced consultant or agency.

4. Discover how to push sales correctly

The need to push sales at the right time will never die. Your business requires methods to reach customers who know they need your solution and are ready to buy.

The trick to not wasting your advertising budget on low-return campaigns is constant measurement and good tactics, just like with your engagement strategy. Monitor and figure out who comes in your door (physically or virtually) in response to those campaigns. 

Now, study your ideal customers to find out what they like. Then provide excellent written content that they can respond to and keeps them coming back for more.

5. Use proven strategies for building engagement

Time-tested content marketing strategies continue to get results. Your biggest needs are quality and consistency. What makes that difficult is staying in tune with what your audience wants.

As you create content, ask yourself and your team:

• Do these pieces have an honest and relevant tone?
• Does the subject matter to our intended readers?
• Are we bringing a unique perspective?
• Are we supporting our information with good data?
• Are we giving readers something specific they can use?

To get engagement, always wrap up your content with a clear call to action that tells your readers how to apply what they’ve learned or maximize results with your help. As you build credibility and provide value, clients will take you up on that offer more and more.

Keep working on your content marketing

Devising the right blend of engagement and pushing sales takes time and smart strategizing, just like improving your physical health. 

Create a solid marketing plan that addresses customer concerns and continually refine your methods to create written content that leads to loyal customers.

The post 5 tips for balancing ‘push’ and ‘pull’ in content marketing appeared first on MarTech.

Events have become more accessible in today’s digital world, with multiple channels and platforms available to promote and attract attendees. It’s important to have a solid strategy in place for attracting and engaging qualified attendees to ensure that your virtual event is a success.

Whether you’re hosting a webinar, podcast, metaverse event or a web-based meeting, events provide a unique opportunity to engage with potential leads. However, each type of event also requires a different approach when it comes to generating and following up on those leads.

Webinars and podcasts, for example, are great for delivering thought leadership and establishing your brand as an authority in your space. While metaverse and web-based events offer more interactive engagement opportunities, they may require a more strategic approach to lead generation and follow-up. 

To truly make the most of your events, it’s crucial to understand the nuances of each event type. By doing so, you can tailor your lead-generation activities and follow-up strategies to maximize their effectiveness and drive better results for your company.

Planning any type of event takes a lot of effort, time and resources, especially when it comes to acquiring the right attendees. The following seven-layer approach dips into the framework for crafting your strategy. 

1. Clarify your goals and purpose

Before you start planning your event, ensure you clearly understand your goals and purpose. What do you want to achieve with your event? Do you want to generate leads, build brand awareness or provide valuable insights to your attendees? 

Having a clear goal will help you determine the type of attendees you want to attract and the messaging you need to use to reach them.

2. Get your sales team engaged upfront

Involving your sales team early in the planning cycle can bring several benefits to your company. As sales are the primary customer-facing representatives, they deeply understand the customers’ needs, preferences and behaviors.

As such, they can provide valuable insights into the target audience and help tailor the event to meet their expectations. They can also assist in developing the event’s messaging and positioning, ensuring that it resonates with the target audience and aligns with the company’s sales goals. 

Involving the sales team during this early phase helps create a sense of ownership and investment in the program’s success, translating into increased motivation and commitment to achieving the event’s goals. And, on a side note, tap into your salespeople for their experience in generating leads and closing deals, so they can contribute ideas for marketing activities that promote networking and lead generation. 

3. Focus on audience and attendee profile

Once you have clarified your goals and purpose, it’s time to focus on the attendee profile. Who is your target audience? What are their job titles, industries and interests? 

Leveling is also important, so mix attendees with the right backgrounds and skills. For example, mixing a developer with an executive probably wouldn’t be the right fit. 

Once you have identified your ideal attendee profile, you can start targeting them with personalized messaging. 

Knowing your audience is critical when it comes to event planning. What are their interests, pain points and challenges? What companies and industries are they in? What topics and content do they care about? 

Understanding your audience will help you create a program that is relevant and valuable to them and help you create targeted messaging that resonates with them.

Dig deeper: How to mine data from digital events

4. Double down with partners and media outlets 

Collaborate with your partners and media outlets in your industry to tap into their existing networks and expand your reach. Work with them to invest in high-profile speakers to make the event more engaging and credible. 

Negotiating partnerships and sponsorship and purchasing or bartering for a targeted list with them helps you double down on attracting the right audience. 

5. Leverage all channels

From CRM to social media, ensure that all existing customer and prospect lists are scrubbed for accurate and up-to-date attendee information from at least the past three years. 

Be tactical by promoting it on your website, email blasts and using email signature space to increase visibility. While the tools are fundamental, it helps amplify your message and streamline the registration process. 

6. Consider key metrics

Re-evaluate your key metrics and work with sales to align to pipeline opportunities. This helps with your ROI. In addition, look at the number of touchpoints and post-event activity that occurred, including how many attendees engaged with you online before the event, visited your website after the event, scheduled a meeting, watched a video or downloaded a thought leadership piece. 

Tracking these metrics will help you measure the success of your event and improve your strategy for the next one.

7. Follow through

Rethink following up into following through as it is crucial to keep the funnel moving. Using your data to move things forward and keep your attendees engaged elevates your program dynamics. 

From sending post-event thank you email to providing them with additional resources or asking for feedback sets you up with the opportunity to invite them to future events.

Clarifying your goals, getting sales engaged early, focusing on the attendee, working with partners, leveraging channels, identifying metrics and following through will give you a way to take the lead. 

Dig deeper: What is a digital events platform and how can it help you?

The post How to craft a winning event strategy: A 7-step framework appeared first on MarTech.

When it comes to your work orchestration efforts, how would you rate the work management “maturity” of your business today? 

Businesses with high maturity levels have a competitive advantage along multiple work performance indicators, including capacity, time to market, cost efficiency, work quality, and even employee satisfaction.

Join transformation experts from Adobe and learn five steps for maturing your work management orchestration model.

Register and attend “How You Work Matters: 5 Steps to Get It Right,” presented by Adobe.

Click here to view more MarTech webinars.

The post 5 steps to work smarter and successfully appeared first on MarTech.

Maybe it wasn’t exactly 10 minutes, but it sure felt that way. Since then, I’ve received countless solicitations from companies offering all kinds of AI-generated solutions. 

Will the ability to send better emails/content written more quickly by AI change the lives of B2B marketers for the better? Not yet. In fact, the greatest performance impact will not be seen in creation but in execution. 

The promise of AI’s ability to deliver mass personalization and unique experiences is only realized if we focus on gaining better insight into the audience, specifically their preferences. Here’s why.

Faster doesn’t always mean better

The ability to create more content faster will only result in lower performance. Up to 89% of decision-makers said the content they encountered through the buying process was high quality, according to a 2019 Gartner research.

Buyers were almost at the point of saturation in their cognitive ability to consume more information. Simply put, more content will not result in increased consumption or understanding. The supply of content is at maximum, according to buyers. And that was four years ago. Imagine what they would say now. 

This insight led to the discovery of the “sense-making” seller, a person with the important attributes of connecting the right information to the right person at the right time. They also possess the ability to filter out unnecessary information, giving the decision maker only the information they need in order to take action. 

It’s one thing to have a human listening and understanding buyers’ needs during the sales process, but it’s another when trying to do this at the top of the funnel with marketing assets.  This is where the opportunity for AI in B2B lies. 

AI as the ‘sense maker’ for marketers

We’ve now built ABM stacks that typically encompass dozens of marketing technologies that pump out endless contact and engagement data. Still, the performance of those leads remains poor. Why? Because we don’t have a sense-making filter to align and route the right marketing asset to the right person for the right reason.

AI personality profiling tools represent an opportunity to be the sense maker for marketers. By understanding the distinct behavior of audiences, marketers can better:

• Align content based on individual preferences.
• Understand what intent “signals” are real.
• Create messaging that appeals to specific segments of the market. 

Understanding buyer behavior offers value beyond just outbound marketing. It extends to routing and aligning business development resources. It can help sales managers understand how to align their teams based on prospects’ preferences with their engagement activity. 

Understanding personal motivations and engagement behavior gives insight into what leads hold the most potential to move forward. It can identify which targets to avoid and the most fertile ground to build relationships. 

AI sense making in action

Here’s an example. A professional services firm was getting high attendance for its webinar series, but very few attendees converted into leads. After analyzing the audience, they found that over 50% of their attendees had one dominant personality type. 

Their webinars were rich with data and research, with their content mostly white papers. That was the problem. Their audience was made up of mostly strategists and consultants. Their behavior was to learn the information to inform others. Their content preferences were for “light” content that traveled easily and could stand independently without an explanation. Think infographics and animated videos. 

After they shifted to lighter follow-up content, lead conversion post-webinar increased by 35%. This group had a personality profile of an “influencer,” or those who use the information to inform others. They were not the “lead” but pointed to the opportunity. 

The organization started tracking sharing versus downloads and followed the content to the intended audience. They found that more content was not the answer. It was personalized content aligned with how the audience wanted to use it. The “sense maker,” in this case, was the influencer attendee who was routing the relevant information to the right person at the right time. 

AI tools unlocked the insight into understanding their behaviors and motivations. A better understanding of the audience improved the performance of their outbound efforts. 

And that is where the ROI will be found. If you’re truly interested in impacting performance, find the solutions that will provide insight into buyers. You don’t need more content. Buyers already told you they have what they need four years ago.

The post Why AI will make the greatest impact on B2B audience insight, not on content appeared first on MarTech.

If you need help with CTA samples you can test, language models like ChatGPT or Google’s Bard can be your best new copywriting tools. But you still need to prime the pump with a well-written prompt that recognizes the values of a good CTA.

If you don’t structure your request effectively, you’ll end up with variations on “Submit” and “Click here.” You’ll still be at square one.

Case in point: I asked ChatGPT to give me 10 email calls to action, each with five words or fewer, for a Mother’s Day campaign using an appeal to emotion. I’ll spare you the results, except to say each one included “Click here.”

The journey to effective CTAs

Developing a better CTA begins with understanding what a call to action means and why the quest to create a good one often falls short.

A call to action is like a subject line. There’s an art to writing one that persuades your readers to do what you want them to do. And, just as with subject lines, they often end up being one of the last jobs on a campaign creation to-do list, with little thought or creativity left over for creating a stand-out request.

An effective call to action tells your customers what will happen when they click. That’s one reason why “click here” is a terrible CTA.

Yes, you want them to click. But we don’t have to tell them to do it anymore. They’ve already figured that out. “Click here” focuses on the process of clicking, not the outcome or the benefit.

So instead of stating the obvious, you tell them what will happen when they click and, subtly or not so subtly, how they will benefit by clicking.

Remember that your email message is just the first step to a conversion. Its goal is to persuade customers to visit your website, where the conversion happens. That’s why the call to action is so important. It’s not the only marketing copy in the message, but it’s the nerve center where the action happens.

Dig deeper: The art of natural funneling: How to lead your readers without forced CTAs

4 rules for better calls to action

1. Focus on the relevant next step

This tells customers what will happen when they click on your website and hints why they should take that next step. “Download the whitepaper” is better than “Click here,” but only marginally so. What will they learn when they get your whitepaper? “Streamline your operations” might resonate more with time-pressed customers.

Ditto for “Read more” or “Learn more,” which are popular CTAs for publishers and content marketers who send newsletters with snippets of articles that lead to the full version on the website.

They aren’t awful but they don’t deliver that “oomph” that nudges a casual reader into action. Look for ways to incite your reader’s desire to read more.

2. Experiment with different content styles

Can a CTA be too long? Too short? The point is to write a punchy, attention-getting CTA in a brand-appropriate voice that tells the customer the next step to take on the journey to conversion while subtly conveying why they should do it.

That’s why it’s okay to go off-script sometimes. Call on what you know about your customers to help you write an effective one. 

Consider these two suggestions:

Use sequential CTAs. Who says you can have only one CTA per email message? You can use one action-directed CTA and one benefit-focused one. Or have one CTA flow into the next. This takes the load off a single CTA and allows you to be even more persuasive without making readers read more.

Surround the CTA with an explanatory copy or supporting statements. This can amplify your CTA if your template or button style limits you to a set number of characters or words. Your copy could ask a question, and your CTA could answer it. 

Email on Acid had a nice take on this example in a recent newsletter. The recap to a featured blog post reads, “OK, so your email landing in the Gmail Promotions tab. But is it really that bad?” The CTA below says, “Let’s find out.”

One traditional rule of thumb with a CTA is that it should complete this sentence: “I want to … ” That still applies, although you’ll have to experiment a little to ensure it doesn’t sound forced or artificial.

Should your CTA include a verb? Yes, but this is another copywriting rule that isn’t absolute. The verb can be understood. Or you could skip it if you can replace it with a clever alternative.

3. Be careful what you ask for

Email CTAs differ from those you use on your website because email is a push channel. You can push the messages to your customers without waiting for them to find you. But that also means they might be at the top of the purchase funnel and not as ready to buy as they might be if they came to your website through search.

Email is usually the start of your journey. It plants the seeds or creates or amplifies a desire. That’s why you have to be careful not to put a big ask, like “Buy now,” in your email. Customers who need to read the fine print, search all your available options, and compare prices among different vendors before committing will likely be put off by that.

Give your customer something to anticipate, such as “Discover your best new style.” This invites action and offers a benefit and is front-loaded with a verb — those sexy action words which capture our attention.

You can switch to a variant of “Buy now” after your customers click on your landing page. They’ve self-qualified themselves as prospects, so they’re already farther down the purchase funnel. After reading your well-written product education, asking outright for a commitment makes more sense.

4. Talk to a person, not an audience

The best CTAs sound like you are asking a friend for a favor. Would you hand someone a book and say, “Learn more?”

This is extra important if you are working in B2B, where the “B” in B2B often stands for “boring.” In B2C email, it’s easy to picture the customers we’re talking to. B2B emails, where the human connection can feel more tenuous, often sound more “institution to institution.”

But you’re not emailing a company. You’re speaking to people who requested your email and have needs or challenges you can help with. Speak to them with a CTA that can motivate them. Even if they aren’t the decision-makers, they likely are influencers.

CTA examples to learn from 

Who Gives A Crap: ‘Where can I buy TP?’

That’s the actual name of a consumer brand which supplies bamboo toilet paper and consistently wins the CTA game. Their emails are a joy to read — well designed, completely serious and yet enjoyable insouciant about the wonders of proper loo roll. They take carefully considered licenses with the rules about CTAs. This one is much more interesting than “Find a store.”

Chipotle: ‘Order and earn’ 

The Chipotle brand of quick-serve restaurants uses email to drive online ordering, build engagement with brand storytelling, and promote its rewards program. This CTA on an email promoting a new product accomplishes two goals — telling customers to order and reminding them they will earn a reward if they do.

McDonald’s UK: ‘Sign up and get more,’ ‘Grab it on our app,’ ‘Unlock on our app’

Many of McDonald’s UK’s emails promote their mobile app. This set of sequential emails comes from an email campaign asking non-users to download, install and order on the app. The first CTA focuses on the benefits, while the follow-up CTAs show customers their rewards when they use the app.

Pitch: ‘Start with this template’

I love this CTA because it’s a textbook example of how to ask your customer to take the next step while also explaining the benefit of that next step. This B2B brand leads into the CTA with copy extolling the benefits: the templates are free, have a minimalist design, and help the user “craft the perfect pitch faster than ever.” The CTA is the logical next step.

eMarketer: ‘Read more about Apple’s hold on the market’

eMarketer’s newsletters rely on CTA buttons labeled “Read more” and “Download now” as much as other publications, but occasionally they switch it up with a text link that gives you a reason to click, like this one. This style can give you extra engagement options if you can’t shake the “Read more / Learn more” format.

Sequential CTAs

When my team and I are working on email campaigns for our clients or publishing our twice-monthly newsletter for email marketers, we spend lots of time working on the calls to action.

Our newsletter is a bit of a laboratory for us because we are focused on building our brand along with persuading our readers to read the full versions of the news stories we’ve chosen to keep them up to date on the latest email marketing news and trends. We often use sequential CTAs to nudge readers into clicking, express our brand voice and add interest.

For one newsletter that went out shortly before Christmas, we used a series of three CTAs, each of which was relevant to the article recap that went with it but, when taken in together, added a playful holiday touch:

• “Making a list” — About a list of email experts to follow
• “Checking it twice” — About trend predictions
• “Arose such a clatter” — About an article by fellow MarTech contributor Ryan Phelan that talks about “earth-shattering kabooms.”

Yes, they break the call-to-action rules I mentioned before. But in context, they make sense. 

Testing CTAs: Use a holistic approach

Your CTA should work in concert with all of the elements of your email message to deliver the greatest impact and persuade your customers to click. That’s another reason why “Shop now” or “Read more” are less effective. They cost you an opportunity to amplify your message, even if it’s subtle.

Your email platform likely includes a simple A/B split testing platform or module that pits one element against another. That might give you some insight, but you’ll learn more if you test two campaign variations. For example, one could focus on cost savings and the other on urgency. Your CTA should change to reflect the campaign focus.

The post Beyond ‘click here:’ 4 rules for better email CTAs appeared first on MarTech.

As marketing-oriented professionals, we’re all responsible for contributing ideas, regardless of where we sit on the organizational chart. Further, we are also targeted by our fellow martech practitioners. So, let’s learn from each other, even if we do so indirectly.

You, the consumer

We’re all in the market for a variety of items regardless if it’s in a B2B, B2C or D2C context. Thus, it doesn’t hurt to pay attention to all the various tactics and channels our counterparts employ to persuade us to purchase their goods or services.

For example, when I was involved with A/B testing years ago, I was visiting a website for my personal interests. One day I noticed a significant UX difference from when I was last on the site. For some odd reason, I decided to check the site on another device and it was what I last experienced. I caught that website conducting an A/B test.

Upon realizing this, I could examine what different design elements the organization was trying out. I could also consider my two different devices to surmise how the organization was potentially segmenting audiences, which could’ve involved factors like device type, anonymous/authenticated, referral source, etc. This situational awareness allowed me to develop new ideas for my job.

Broad horizons

When looking for inspiration or conducting “secret shopper” research, consider more organizations than your employer’s obvious competitors. 

For instance, while conducting a shopping cart SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis, my boss challenged me to broaden the definition of competitors. In that case, we explored possibilities for our lead forms and shopping cart journeys. My then-employer wasn’t an ecommerce organization, but she instructed me to consider large companies like Target, Amazon and Priceline. They have shopping carts as well, right?

Although there are apparent differences between sectors and contexts, most organizations have many similarities, especially with martech. Websites, email, social media, SMS texts, databases and lead forms are just a few elements and components of martech-enabled campaigns that a broad swath of organizations employ. Thus, don’t limit yourself to apparent competitors. There’s inspiration in all sorts of places.

Direct competitors

Occasionally, we all find customers of our employer’s direct competitors. This can happen for a whole host of innocent reasons. When you find yourselves in such a situation, remember how your interaction with them proceeds. Look for opportunities to test things out. For instance, instead of directly speaking with a representative in person, why not test communicating via the mobile app, chat or other messaging channel? 

Consider different types of UX decisions. What triggers an automated message? How is that message drafted and delivered? How do your inputs and actions affect your customer journey? It also doesn’t hurt to look to see what vendors they’re using, and sometimes that is easy as paying attention to fine print or looking at available source code (like in browsers).

There are plenty of safe and ethical ways to go about such research. You might also employ them, as any competent competitor is already checking you out.

We should act in good faith when conducting such research. It’s not fair to needlessly fill a database with bogus data. Nor is it fair to give bad ratings to see how an organization will respond or distract a customer-facing employee from their duties for mere research. As the Golden Rule states, do unto others as you would have done unto you.

Keep those eyes and ears open

Inspiration and ideas are out there for the taking. With some awareness, they’re easy to find. However, maintain some work-life boundaries. Not every transaction needs to relate to your day job.

The post Where to find marketing ideas to boost your performance appeared first on MarTech.

Virtual events are great for education, global outreach and strengthening your brand awareness. But what they’re especially fantastic at is lead generation.

In this webinar, you’ll get the perfect cut-and-paste formula for turning your events into lead-generating machines.

Register and attend “Maximize ROI and Lead Gen With This Virtual Events Marketing Formula,” presented by Kaltura.

Click here to view more MarTech webinars.

The post Uncover the ultimate strategy to increase ROI and lead gen appeared first on MarTech.

As a coach to marketing executives and their teams, I’ve been talking with lots of them to understand what they’re struggling with and how they’re overcoming the challenges facing marketers today. These include hiring freezes, budget cuts, unrealistic targets, reduced awareness and increased price sensitivity, to name a few.

Some of these are the same challenges marketers have faced forever. But many are heightened to a new level given the economic difficulties that have disrupted corporations and consumers alike.

The post-pandemic timeframe has been just as volatile and unpredictable as its predecessor. There’s a lot of uncertainty, chaos and confusion around what’s happening, what will happen and what to do about it.

Across all of my conversations and coaching sessions, here are the three common patterns I’ve heard from marketing leaders about what they’re facing right now and how to overcome them.

1. Talk to customers

When times are good, talk to your customers. When times are bad, talk to your customers. You can never talk to your customers enough.

Especially in the current environment, it’s more important than ever to regularly talk to them. They want to give you feedback, share their opinion, feel heard and know you really care about them. Having conversations with customers helps build loyalty, increase retention and can even lead to upselling them on additional products or services.

All of these benefits are important, yet few marketing leaders are actually talking with customers on a regular basis. They don’t actually put any effort into starting conversations. It’s a shame since nothing bad can happen from talking to your customers. 

Dig deeper: B2B marketing budgets stalled out in 2022

I firmly believe in customer proximity: Whoever is closest to the customer wins. And this often comes down to the companies that spend the most time in conversation, connection and community with their customers.

Talking to your customers will also help you identify what’s important to them. It’s your job to listen, synthesize and help translate this to the senior leadership for the company to focus on what really matters.

2. Prioritize ruthlessly

Marketing is like raspberry jam — the more you spread it the thinner it gets. This applies to your team, your budget and your efforts.

If you want to move the needle, you have to focus. It turns out that’s one of the hardest things for marketing leaders to do. Most leaders I spoke with had an overwhelming list of “priorities” and insufficient time or resources to invest in them.

We must accept our limitations and embrace them rather than hoping “it will all work out somehow.” If your budget was cut or your team has been reduced, you can’t continue at the same pace.

This requires a new level of decision-making and commitment, one that I refer to as ruthless prioritization. It prevents wasted time, money and effort and keeps the team on track to achieve their goals. And, most importantly, it’s fairly simple to adopt.

An important first step in this direction is communication. Marketing leaders must communicate these limits and fight to protect themselves and their teams. It’s your responsibility to draw a line in the sand and explain what it means to everyone in the company. If you don’t set boundaries and realistic expectations, no one else will.

You can always do more in the future … when you have more time, a bigger team and a new budget. Until then, you must prioritize ruthlessly.

And most marketing leaders agree that optimizing for conversions is one of the most important things to prioritize right now.

3. Optimize for conversions

Every marketing leader understands the importance of revenue. We must close deals, make sales, generate opportunities and capture leads. All of this comes down to conversions.

Unfortunately, most marketing simply doesn’t convert. Consumer behavior, price sensitivity and increasing competition are just a few of the reasons that driving conversions is hard, especially in today’s environment. 

In addition, most marketing teams are too preoccupied with producing more content or launching the next campaign instead of optimizing for conversions. My conversations revealed that this is partly due to a lack of skills and a team to support it but also because of a lack of ruthless prioritization. We know that optimizing for conversions is essential, yet we ignore it because there are too many other things to focus on.

Instead of launching and moving on to the next campaign, it’s imperative to iterate and improve. To analyze and optimize. To invest in optimizing and improving your conversion rate. 

This allows you to get a better result (and more revenue) with the same or fewer resources. Higher conversion rates lead to greater engagement, more leads, more sales and more revenue. Not to mention higher profit margins.

And, small improvements compound quickly. A slight improvement in the conversion rate of several areas of your marketing can add up to massive gains. Plus, your team will start to understand what works — and why — so they can continue to create marketing that converts from the beginning.

It should come as no surprise that optimizing for conversions relies on talking to your customers and is an effort you must prioritize ruthlessly. Regardless if you have a sizable budget and a sufficient team — or if you don’t — you’ll find the highest ROI from focusing on optimizing for conversions.

All of the marketing leaders expressed a constant challenge of balancing short-term wins versus long-term gains. How can we show results now while also driving future growth? This is where optimizing for conversions is the holy grail of marketing since it delivers both short-term and long-term results from a minimal upfront investment.

Focusing on the fundamentals

Regardless of the economic climate, competitive pressure, or consumer demand, marketing leaders will continue to face the same challenges. Doing more with less seems to be the constant.

It’s important to realize that there is no silver bullet. AI, TikTok and influencers won’t save your marketing. You’ll probably never have enough resources, a big enough team or sufficient support from the top. But don’t let that dissuade you.

Marketing is a job for those who are passionate about their audience, believe in their value proposition and will dive in head-first and face great challenges to achieve even the most ambitious goals.

Despite the limitations and difficulties, remember this: you’re not alone. Every marketing leader is facing a similar set of challenges. And all of us can step back, take a deep breath and revisit the fundamentals. 

By talking to customers, being ruthless with our priorities and optimizing for conversions, marketing can become a bit easier and more manageable.

The post How to overcome marketing budget cuts and hiring freezes appeared first on MarTech.

You walk into Home Depot to buy a rake because you need to do some yard work and then decide to browse the aisles to get ideas for your dream kitchen (that you just started dreaming about and don’t have the time or budget for yet). You glance through the pre-built setups to get a sense of your style and learn what options are available.

As you’re walking away, rake in hand, a sales associate stops you and asks you to sign up today for a free home consultation to start your dream kitchen immediately and the option to sign up for a payment plan. 

You’re immediately struck with anxiety and fear because you didn’t intend to do this today. You were simply browsing and finding out the information available to you so you can decide down the road.

You leave the store feeling rushed and like you’re just a number. You do get your dream kitchen two years later but from Lowe’s.

That sounds like a rough experience, right? Your customers feel this way when you put a demo CTA (call to action) at the end of every content you distribute.

They may have landed on your site to learn more about marketing automation software and are nowhere near the final stretch to the demo request. And when they are ready, they’ll remember that experience and search for other options (aka your competition).

This article explores the importance of a smooth customer journey for readers and explains how a more personalized marketing approach can help you achieve it. 

Key takeaways: 

• Understanding the three marketing funnel stages is crucial for creating a smooth user journey.
• Incorporating both hard and soft CTAs into your content is essential.
• Email marketing is a powerful tool for nurturing leads. 
• Leading readers down the marketing funnel naturally is crucial for creating a seamless user journey and boosting conversions.

Understanding the marketing funnel

Let’s talk about the marketing funnel. It’s the journey that potential customers take from first hearing about your brand to purchasing. There are three stages to this funnel: 

• Awareness.
• Consideration.
• Decision.

Awareness

At the awareness stage, you want to create content, like blogs that educate your audience on the benefits of your product or service without being too salesy. An active blog is one of the most favored ways to share content, with 79% of companies using it reporting a positive ROI ROI. Within your blog, you can add CTAs to things like newsletters, social media channels and other engagement-focused CTAs.

Lavender.AI does this throughout their blog, guiding readers to more relevant content after reading the article, naturally moving them through the funnel. No demo. No hard pitch.

Consideration

In the consideration stage, potential customers are weighing up their options, so you must provide detailed information to help them make an informed decision. This is the perfect time to offer additional resources like white papers and case studies to help build trust and showcase your expertise.

In the example below, Demandbase ends their article with social proof — inspiring readers to read a case study about the topic from the article, giving context and value to the information. 

Decision

Finally, in the decision stage, you want to make it easy for potential customers to convert without being too pushy or aggressive. A clear and compelling CTA is crucial, but creating a seamless user experience that doesn’t feel forced is important.

ClickUp uses a free demo CTA in an article on the best ClickUp templates. The placement feels relative and fitting because the reader would likely want to use the templates they just read about.

More than 40% of the evaluated B2B SaaS websites had a “Get a demo” CTA, according to the State of the Interactive Product Demo 2023 report. So while these CTAs are often used, their placement can make or break a conversion.

Your CTAs should speak to where customers are and what they are looking for and should never feel pushy or forced. The key to conversions is creating a nurturing flow that gives buyers the valuable information they need to make a purchasing decision. 

Dig deeper: How to optimize your content for each step of the buyer’s journey

Incorporating CTAs into content

Just like tacos, there are two types of CTAs: hard and soft.

A hard CTA is a more aggressive call-to-action, like asking potential customers to schedule a demo or sign up for a free trial. These types of CTAs are often used in the decision stage of the funnel when the customer is ready to take action.

On the other hand, a soft CTA is a more subtle approach, like asking readers to download a free resource or learn more about your product. Soft CTAs are often used earlier in the funnel, during the awareness or consideration stages, to build trust and credibility with potential customers.

But here’s the thing: not every article needs a hard CTA. Sometimes a soft CTA can be just as effective, if not more so. By offering valuable resources or information, you can build relationships with potential customers and guide them naturally down the funnel without being too pushy.

For example, if you’re writing an article about the benefits of project management software, a soft CTA could be to offer a free guide on how to improve team productivity. This type of CTA provides value to the reader and helps establish your brand as a thought leader in the space.

Another effective soft CTA is to invite readers to engage with your brand on social media. By asking them to follow your company page or join a relevant group, you can build a community around your brand and keep potential customers engaged with your content.

Ultimately, the key to incorporating CTAs into your content is to provide value to the reader and guide them naturally down the funnel. So, don’t be afraid to mix it up and experiment with different types of CTAs to see what works best for your audience.

Nurturing leads with email marketing

Now that we’ve discussed CTAs, let’s dive into email marketing and how it can help nurture leads.

Email marketing is a powerful tool for guiding potential customers down the funnel and building strong relationships. By sending personalized and relevant content to your audience, you can keep them engaged with your brand and encourage them to take action. Some marketers refer to this as one-to-one content marketing.

So, how can you create effective email campaigns that naturally lead readers down the funnel? Here are a few tips:

Segment your audience

Instead of sending the same email to everyone on your list, segment your audience based on their interests, behaviors and where they are in the funnel. This allows you to send more personalized and relevant content that resonates with your audience and encourages them to take action.

Provide value

Just like with CTAs, it’s important to provide value to your readers in your email campaigns. This could be through offering exclusive content, discounts, or helpful tips and advice. By providing value, you establish yourself as a trusted source and keep potential customers engaged with your brand.

Use engaging subject lines

Your subject line is the first thing your reader sees, so it’s important to make it engaging and relevant. A good subject line should be clear, concise and encourage the reader to open the email.

Include clear CTAs

Just like with your content, your emails should include clear and relevant CTAs that guide the reader down the funnel. Whether it’s inviting them to download a resource or sign up for a free trial, make sure your CTAs are easy to find and align with your overall marketing strategy.

Measure success

To know if your email campaigns are effective at driving sales, you need to measure their success. Track metrics like open rates, click-through rates and conversion rates to see what’s working and what’s not. Use this information to refine your campaigns and improve their effectiveness over time.

Dig deeper: 6 tactics to create recession-proof email marketing

Meet your buyers where they are

Leading readers down the marketing funnel naturally is crucial for creating a smooth and enjoyable user journey while boosting conversions. With a solid understanding of the marketing funnel, effective use of CTAs and well-crafted email campaigns, you can guide readers through each stage without being too aggressive. 

Remember, hard CTAs aren’t always necessary — soft CTAs can be just as powerful in nurturing leads. By tracking and analyzing the success of your efforts, you can continuously improve your strategy and achieve even better results. So, put these tips into action and watch your marketing efforts thrive.

The post The art of natural funneling: How to lead your readers without forced CTAs appeared first on MarTech.