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Tag: Email Marketing

  • 5 Simple Tweaks for Better Email Deliverability | Entrepreneur

    5 Simple Tweaks for Better Email Deliverability | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    More than 4.6 billion people will be using email by 2025. For businesses like yours, email remains a critical communication channel. Not only is it most reliable for transactional messages, but it also allows you to boost revenue through newsletters and marketing campaigns.

    So many pieces make up the puzzle of effective email marketing. Compelling copy and beautiful design help you stand out. But first, you have to make sure your emails are going to the inbox. Email deliverability isn’t guaranteed — your campaigns can easily go to spam.

    Related: 8 Simple Email Marketing Tips to Improve Your Open and Click-Through Rates

    To boost email deliverability, improve your sender reputation

    So, why do certain emails land in the inbox while others go to spam? It boils down to your sender reputation, a score that allows Internet service providers (ISPs) to determine whether you’re a legitimate sender. From the types of emails you send to the engagement they get, your entire behavior as a sender influences your score.

    Here are five simple tweaks to consider for your email marketing strategy to give your score — and inbox reach — a quick boost.

    1. Prune your email database

    Outdated and unengaged contacts hurt your email deliverability. When you email fake or non-existent addresses, you’re very much acting like a spammer, so don’t be surprised if your emails land in spam.

    A good rule of thumb is to pay close attention to your metrics, especially your bounce rate. When more than 2% of your emails bounce back, it’s a sign that your database needs pruning. Another good practice is to run your contacts through an email verifier every quarter. Keep in mind that about 23% of the average email list deteriorates yearly. Email decay is natural, but it isn’t something you can ignore if you want your emails to arrive in the inbox.

    Related: 3 Simple Things You Can Do to Build A Healthy, Thriving Email List

    2. Segment your audience

    As your engagement plays such an important role in your sender score, increasing your metrics is essential to your email deliverability. Email list segmentation will help you do just that, allowing you to target subscribers with campaigns that matter to them.

    Many business owners are intimidated by list segmentation. It entails going through your system and splitting your customers and prospects into specific groups. Using filters such as location, gender, interests or past purchases, segmentation allows you to see where each person is in their buyer’s journey – and send them content that pushes them forward.

    Although email list segmentation can take a lot of work to set up, it pays off. On average, open rates are 14.31% higher for segmented, personalized campaigns. This key metric, along with better click rates, fosters healthy email deliverability.

    3. Ask questions

    Marketers ask questions in their emails because they want to strengthen their relationship with their audience. But asking questions and getting people to reply to your messages also helps your email deliverability. Inbox providers see it as a sign of trust. If someone writes you back, they’re encouraging further communication. Hence, your emails should be in that person’s inbox — and in other inboxes — in the future.

    So, in your next email, how can you spark conversations with your subscribers? The best questions come from genuine curiosity, so think about a topic both you and your audience care about. Ask a question and don’t forget to tell people to hit reply and answer it.

    4. Get on a schedule

    Having a set email-sending schedule is another simple change you can make that has multiple benefits. First, being present in your prospects’ inboxes builds awareness and familiarity for your brand. When they need your product, those prospects will be more likely to buy it from you, simply because they’ve been hearing from you regularly.

    On top of that, sending emails on a schedule helps your reputation. Unlike spammers, who send emails erratically, you have ongoing communication with your audience. While your marketing approach can be surprising in order to stand out, your schedule should be predictable.

    Establishing a sending schedule doesn’t have to entail writing more emails. However, if you send a weekly or monthly newsletter, try to send it on the same day and even at the same time. You’ll be helping both your engagement and email deliverability.

    Related: 4 Ways to Stop Your Emails From Going to Spam

    5. Scan every email for potential spam triggers

    A spammy word in your subject line, too many images and too little text, link shorteners or broken links can result in your email landing in your recipient’s spam folder. So, before you hit send, scan your email to make sure it doesn’t look like spam. Ask your team to take a look, too.

    You can go a step further and test your email deliverability with the help of an inbox tester. Reliable inbox testers pinpoint potential deliverability issues so you can fix them before it’s too late. It takes only minutes to test your email and get access to these insights. Sometimes, a simple tweak will pull your campaign out of spam and ensure it lands in the inbox.

    Liviu Tanase

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  • 5 Things You Can Do Now to Improve Email Marketing | Entrepreneur

    5 Things You Can Do Now to Improve Email Marketing | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Is your email clickthrough rate not what it used to be? The reason could be poor email deliverability.

    The average click rate, across all industries, is 2.62% according to Mailchimp. If your rate is way below this benchmark, it’s worth taking another look at your email marketing strategy.

    While reaching the inbox entails a whole set of best practices, there are a few simple tweaks you can make to avoid the dreaded spam or junk folder.

    What is email deliverability?

    Email deliverability comes down to the number of emails that reach the inbox successfully. As opposed to strict email delivery, the deliverability benchmark doesn’t count the emails that land in spam.

    To connect with their audience and increase revenue, email marketers focus on helping their emails get to the inbox. That’s where they have a chance to connect with customers and prospects — and also boost conversions.

    Let’s examine some of the best practices successful email marketers use to get their emails into the inbox.

    Let go of prospects who never click

    A big email list equals a big ROI, right? This is one of the most common email myths out there, and it’s hurting many companies. Of course, as your list grows, you may see more purchases coming in. However, that’s only true if your database is healthy and engaged.

    Holding on to subscribers who never click on your emails sabotages your email deliverability. The message they send to mailbox providers is that your content is irrelevant, so why should it be in the inbox?

    Every three to six months, reassess your engagement rates and segment dormant subscribers. Next, try to re-engage them with a powerful offer or remove them from your list entirely.

    Related: How to Build Your Email List the Right Way

    Fix your bounce rate

    Bounces are one of the most common reasons that emails get filtered as spam. A high bounce rate makes you look careless, even unlawful and will send you down the spam route in an instant. What’s more, ignoring bounces can cause your email service provider (ESP) to suspend your account. ESPs (like Mailchimp, Constant Contact or AWeber) don’t want a tainted reputation, so these companies will enforce rules against spam-like behavior.

    If more than 2% of your campaigns bounce back, it’s time to re-evaluate your email list. There’s no point in keeping outdated contacts in your systems — delete them and your email deliverability will see a boost. Then, to prevent another increase in bounces, consider cleaning your list regularly.

    Identify other bad data you may be using

    Invalid contacts are the most prevalent types of emails lurking in databases and affecting email deliverability. They’re not the only ones, though.

    In 2022, ZeroBounce identified more than five million disposable email addresses across all the databases it processed. Disposable emails have a high bounce risk; many of them self-destruct within a short time.

    Also, email lists can acquire many role-based email addresses that are also risky to your email deliverability. Role-based contacts, such as contact@companyname.com, belong to a group of people within an organization. Some of these people may mass delete emails and even report them as spam, so it’s not a good idea to keep them in your list. Instead, use an email verifier to detect and remove them (and other undesirable data, too).

    Stick to the content you promised

    When trying to fix email deliverability, you might overlook the importance of content. But the content of your emails plays a dramatic role in your engagement — ensuring its relevancy is key.

    First, scan through the emails you’ve sent in the past three months. Are they what you promised upon signup? Also, are you sending them regularly? It’s best to stick to your niche and to a sending schedule. If that’s not the case now, revise your approach.

    Another thought worth pondering: How can you make your content even more compelling? Consider interviewing experts, infusing your copy with more testimonials, embedding videos and GIFs and even tweaking your design. Engagement and deliverability go hand in hand, so anything that gets people to interact is worth pursuing.

    Related: 3 Tricks For Getting More Email Clicks

    Consider a different email service provider

    What you do as an email sender has the most impact on your email deliverability. However, your ESP shares some of the responsibility, too. Once you decide on an ESP, you’ll be sharing its reputation, so make sure you pick a reputable company.

    Before you sign up for a paid plan, consider taking advantage of a free trial. That way, you see what it’s like to run a campaign on the new platform and whether that makes a difference in your metrics. Also, don’t hesitate to ask your new provider what it does to ensure the highest email deliverability. Lastly, reading a few reviews before you commit can help you make the best decision.

    Liviu Tanase

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  • The Ultimate Guide To Building An Effective Digital Branding Strategy | Entrepreneur

    The Ultimate Guide To Building An Effective Digital Branding Strategy | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Have you wondered how leading brands have gained exponential popularity and become household names? It’s no secret that businesses apply various branding techniques to connect with the audience and build a positive image, but what do the industry giants do differently?

    The answer is strategic digital branding. After all, with over 4.57 billion active internet users worldwide, the digital medium offers unparalleled opportunities for brands to reach a wider audience compared to traditional methods. And businesses that have leveraged digital mediums with a clever strategic approach have found great success with branding.

    Sounds interesting? Keep reading to learn how to create and implement the proven digital branding strategies that have earned top brands their place as industry behemoths.

    The importance of a digital branding strategy

    A digital branding strategy is the process of communicating your brand’s identity to consumers online, with the ultimate goal of increasing customer loyalty and sales. A company without a brand is akin to a person lacking a personality — dull and uninspiring. Unsurprisingly, people tend to avoid such entities.

    In contrast, a well-executed digital branding strategy can help you foster trust, which is crucial given that 81% of consumers say trust is the leading factor in their purchasing decisions. A strong digital branding strategy can also increase company value, boost sales, heighten perceived brand quality and reduce employee turnover.

    Related: 5 Mistakes To Avoid in Your Digital Marketing

    How to implement your digital branding strategy

    Let’s discuss the steps to make and use a powerful digital branding strategy that will take your brand image and popularity to the next level.

    1. Assess your brand identity

    Before diving into your digital branding strategy, take the time to define and assess your brand identity. This involves determining your brand’s mission, vision and unique selling proposition (USP). Your brand identity should convey who you are, what you stand for and what you aim to achieve. By clearly understanding your brand identity, you can ensure that all aspects of your digital branding strategy are consistent and aligned with your core values.

    2. Understand your target audience

    An in-depth understanding of your target audience is critical to the success of your digital branding strategy. Conduct thorough research to analyze their demographics, interests and preferences, and use this information to create detailed buyer personas. By having a clear picture of your target audience, you can develop content and messaging that resonates with them, increasing engagement and conversions.

    Related: How Your Business Can Maximize Your Content Strategy and Achieve More Results

    3. Creating a unique value proposition

    Your unique value proposition (UVP) is the reason customers should choose your brand over competitors. It highlights the benefits and features of your products or services that make you stand out. To create a powerful UVP, focus on the aspects of your offerings that differentiate you from others and communicate this message clearly, concisely and compellingly. A strong UVP not only attracts customers but also helps build brand loyalty.

    4. Choose the right platforms for your brand

    Selecting the appropriate platforms for your brand is pivotal in reaching your target audience. Investigate the social media platforms, websites and other digital channels that your audience frequents, and concentrate on establishing a strong presence there. You can connect with your audience, increase brand visibility and foster long-lasting relationships by being active on the right platforms.

    5. Crafting compelling content

    Content is the cornerstone of your digital branding strategy. To craft compelling content, focus on developing engaging, informative and relevant pieces for your target audience. Utilize storytelling to build emotional connections with your audience, making your brand more relatable and memorable.

    Also, consider diversifying your content types, such as blog posts, videos, podcasts and social media posts, to cater to different preferences and consumption habits. Videos are particularly effective, as about 86% of businesses use them effectively as a marketing medium.

    6. Monitor and analyze performance

    Continuously tracking the performance of your digital branding strategy is crucial for its success. Monitor relevant metrics like engagement, conversion rates and website traffic to gauge the effectiveness of your strategy. Analyzing this data will help you identify areas for improvement and optimize your approach for better results. Regularly assessing your digital branding strategy ensures that it remains relevant and impactful over time.

    Examples of an effective digital branding strategy

    Here are three examples of brands that have successfully crafted and implemented a digital branding strategy to grow their popularity and reach-

    Apple’s “Share Your Gifts”

    Apple stands as an excellent example of a brand that has mastered the art of storytelling. Through digital content such as videos, podcasts and social media posts, Apple’s branding experts communicate passion, creativity and relationship-building. Their popular video, “Share Your Gifts,” has garnered over 25 million views on YouTube and demonstrates their ability to prioritize storytelling instead of merely showcasing their products.

    In the video, Apple evokes emotions and builds connections with viewers without explicitly promoting its products. This approach helps the audience relate to the brand personally, enhancing brand recall and loyalty.

    IKEA’s “Oddly IKEA”

    IKEA, a furniture store with affordable pricing, is growing alongside its customer base. This brand is popular among younger demographics and is known for its fun and quirky personality. IKEA’s branding strategists realized the need to stay connected with their buyer personas. They created personalized campaigns using digital content channels such as social media, YouTube and art installations, such as the Oddly IKEA campaign.

    Researchers noticed a trend of ASMR videos among younger demographics, particularly college students. They produced a 25-minute ASMR video featuring IKEA merchandise such as comforters, pillows and sheets to appeal to this trend. The team thought outside the box and used innovative methods to engage with their target audience.

    By thoroughly understanding your brand identity, knowing your target audience, crafting a unique value proposition, choosing the right platforms, creating compelling content and regularly monitoring performance, you can develop a digital branding strategy to help your brand thrive.

    If this sounds complicated, you can always take the support of a competent digital branding agency. So, start working with an experienced digital branding agency to build and implement a proven branding strategy to drive your brand’s growth. All the best!

    Vikas Agrawal

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  • How to Create an Effective Multilingual Email Marketing Campaign | Entrepreneur

    How to Create an Effective Multilingual Email Marketing Campaign | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Today, going multilingual is an integral aspect of powerful email marketing, particularly for businesses operating in global markets. Yet, this is quite a challenging thing to do that requires time and effort.

    So, why make your email marketing multilingual? Indeed, why add new languages to your strategy if you can only run emails in English (or any other language)?

    1. Boost your email performance

    Recipients are more likely to engage with email content in their native language. So, for some companies going multilingual results in the following:

    • conversion rate increased by 30%
    • 56% of the people surveyed said they preferred content in their native language over a price
    • open rate (OR) increased by a whopping 100%

    Related: How to Launch Your First Email Marketing Campaign and Get the Results You Want

    2. Enhance personalization

    At the heart of effective email marketing lies personalization: delivering the right message to the right person at the right moment in time. This is also known as the 3R rule.

    And the “right” message is:

    • right context
    • right data
    • right language

    3. Reach a wider audience

    Simply knowing your customers’ geographical location is not enough. It’s crucial to detect their language preferences or even directly ask them, as they may have diverse cultural roots. For instance, one in five Americans speaks a language other than English, indicating that relying solely on English is not enough to reach the entire US population.

    Related: 3 Quick Steps to Get Your Message Out to a Wider Audience

    4. Comply with local regulations

    In some countries or regions you are entering, there may be specific language requirements for marketing communications.

    In Canada, for instance, the Official Languages Act provide customers the right to receive services in the official language of their choice.

    5. Understand your audience better and stay competitive

    Running email marketing campaigns in a few/many languages can help you gain insights into the preferences of your target audience from different countries, allowing you to optimize your strategies accordingly.

    How to run multilingual campaigns properly

    There are a few core things that businesses need to know to effectively communicate with their global audience.

    1. Align email with other communication channels. Before starting your multilingual email journey, you should make sure your website/product is available in the necessary languages.

    If it’s not, and if you’re just planning on translating your website into these target languages, make sure all the necessary landing pages, like thank you and unsubscribe, are available in them.

    You might also want to run social media and Help Center in all necessary languages.

    2. Ensure accurate and consistent translations. Accurate, high-quality, consistent translations are crucial to avoid miscommunication and ensure the message is well-received. Provide professional translators with your glossary of terminology relevant to your niche and terms used across your website.

    3. Localize emails. You do not just translate emails. You need to localize them. Translation is the process of communicating the meaning of a source-language text by using an equivalent target-language text. Localization is a more in-depth approach that considers the cultural, visual and technological elements of the target audience. It goes beyond word choice and can affect how your email presents information and is designed (colors, pricing, images, etc.).

    Localization requires businesses to consider the following:

    • Cultural differences — as a result, you sometimes need to use different visuals for your emails, stick to different tones of voice for different countries, or even send emails on different dates. For example, most European countries celebrate New Year in December, while Israel celebrates it in September. Another example, Americans prefer an informal tone of voice in communication, whereas French, Germans and Japanese prefer it formal.
    • Units of measurement — in the US, they use ft and lbs, while in Europe, they use meters and kilograms.
    • Currency — converting the prices when reaching people worldwide will be best.
    • Dates — different regions use different time and date formats. Europe uses DD/MM/YYYY, while the US uses MM/DD/YYYY. Convert dates or specify months in letters. (Eg., Fri 5 May 2023.)
    • Time zones — this looks pretty obvious, yet worth mentioning. Consider the time zones of the recipients to ensure emails are delivered at the most appropriate time for the recipients.
    • Technical compatibility — ensure localized emails are compatible with different devices across various regions. This includes dealing with text directions right-to-left (RTL) and left-to-right (LTR) and character encoding.
    • Current situations in countries — adapt your email localization strategy to accommodate the rapidly changing global landscape, such as economic fluctuations, political events or public health crises. These situations may require adjusting your messaging, tone or approach to ensure that your emails remain relevant and sensitive to the needs and concerns of your target audience.
    • Legal regulations — familiarize yourselves with local laws and regulations, such as privacy policies, anti-spam laws and advertising regulations. It will be helpful also to create a glossary of words forbidden in some countries.

    With multilingual email marketing, you acknowledge and respect the diversity of customers, fostering strong connections, building trust and ultimately driving business success.

    Dmitry Kudrenko

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  • Almost 25% of Your Email List Has Gone Bad in the Past Year. Here’s How to Fix It. | Entrepreneur

    Almost 25% of Your Email List Has Gone Bad in the Past Year. Here’s How to Fix It. | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    By 2025, more than 4.5 billion people worldwide will have at least one email address. Email is a profitable marketing channel because it provides a direct and personal line of communication with prospects. But it only works if your emails land in the inbox and allow you to connect with your target audience.

    Many obstacles will prevent an email from reaching the inbox, but the most common one is an outdated email list. And email lists tend to decay quickly. Within just one year, almost 23% of the average database becomes obsolete. The percentage may be higher for B2B companies, with people changing jobs more often in the past three years.

    This rapid degradation of email data causes poor email deliverability, missed opportunities and a decrease in conversions. Let’s see some of the reasons why – and how you can always have a healthy email list.

    Related: 3 Tips and Tricks You Can Use to Drive Email Deliverability During The Holidays

    How the quality of your list affects email deliverability

    Reaching the inbox is closely tied to your sender reputation, also known as your sender score. Internet service providers assign this score to every sender so they can automatically determine whether your emails belong in the inbox or in the spam folder.

    Everything you do as an email sender – from the content you send, to how often you send it and how much people engage with it – builds your sender reputation.

    Your email list quality plays a vital role here. For instance, if you get many bounces (more than 2% per email) or too many spam reports (more than one for every 1,000 emails), your sender score takes a hit. That means your email deliverability is at risk as your behavior begins to resemble that of a spammer.

    While data decays quickly, there are proactive steps you can take to always keep your email list fresh. Here are a few key habits you will benefit from.

    Start by verifying your email list

    With 22.71% of an email list going bad yearly, this is the best place to start. You want to run your database through an email validation service and see how many of your contacts are still safe to use. This may cause your list to decrease in size – but it will increase in effectiveness. Removing potential bounces and other obsolete emails repairs your sender score and gives you an email deliverability boost.

    Prune out dormant subscribers

    Nothing impacts the health of your list like invalid and fake addresses, but dormant subscribers can cause your campaigns to land in spam, too. They affect your engagement rates (opens, clicks, forwards), thus telling inbox providers that your content is irrelevant. Furthermore, some of these subscribers may not even be using those addresses anymore. So not only will they not click, but those emails may start bouncing as they get deactivated. The best way to avoid that is to remove disengaged subscribers every three to six months.

    Related: 8 Simple Email Marketing Tips to Improve Your Open and Click Through Rates

    Handle complainers with care

    Like bounces, spam complaints have a negative impact on your sender score. To Internet service providers, they’re a clear signal that your emails aren’t just irrelevant – they actually bother people. Spam complaints alone can be reason enough for your campaigns to start going to the junk folder.

    To prevent that, make sure to remove complainers right away. Emailing those subscribers again will only make things worse. Additionally, you could use email verification to detect users who have a history of reporting many emails as spam. Taking them off your list allows you to mitigate the risk of spam complaints and protect your sender score.

    Bonus tips to keep your list engaged and boost email deliverability

    A healthy database is key to good email deliverability, but it’s not the only factor that contributes to your sender reputation. To keep your emails landing in the inbox, try to:

    • Send your subscribers the content they signed up for. Whether you promised great discounts or educational emails, keep your promise and strive to over-deliver.
    • Avoid long breaks from sending emails. You’ll see higher engagement when you’re present in people’s inboxes consistently.
    • Invite people to reply to your emails. Replies are the best kind of engagement – to inbox providers, they indicate a highly trustworthy sender.
    • Reassess your email service provider every year. Could there be a better one for you out there? Always go with a reputable company that ensures high deliverability.
    • Install real-time email verification software on your registration and sign-up forms. That way, you block bad data at the source and keep your email list fresh for longer.
    • Be flexible with your copy. Test your subject lines, tone and email length and notice the patterns that tend to get more clicks. The more people react to your content, the more trust you build with inbox providers.

    Email lists degrade fast. To increase your deliverability, make sure to follow these tips and get the most out of the emails you send.

    Liviu Tanase

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  • How to Build Your Email List the Right Way | Entrepreneur

    How to Build Your Email List the Right Way | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Email marketing works. According to Statista, 49% of people say they like to get promotional emails from brands every week. But while checking their inboxes for offers, there’s a chance your customers and prospects won’t find these emails. If your email list is outdated, or if you purchased it, your campaigns may be redirected to the spam section.

    Keeping your database fresh is paramount to your email success. In email marketing, it’s not about how many people you email — it’s about how many you manage to reach.

    How your email list health affects your deliverability

    Emailing invalid, fake and outdated contacts damages your sender reputation. Also known as a “sender score,” this is an indicator internet service providers use to gauge your legitimacy as a sender. The higher your score, the more likely your campaigns and newsletters will go to the inbox.

    That’s why the health of your email list plays such an important role in your email deliverability. Gathering many contacts seems tempting, but what matters more is that those contacts are valid and engaged.

    Related: 5 Mistakes You’re Making With Your Email List

    Build your own email list

    Planning to buy or rent an email list? Think twice. These people have never heard of you, so the most engagement you can get is a bunch of spam complaints. The best-case scenario is that your emails will never get opened, and instead, they’ll get deleted in bulk.

    To prevent wasting your resources, build your own email list. Here are five tips to do it right.

    1. Get permission

    Emailing someone who hasn’t granted permission is another surefire way to sabotage your own deliverability. People who haven’t opted in to receive emails from you are not only unlikely to engage, but they may report you as spam. Get permission before adding someone to your database. Even if it’s a customer, they must express a clear interest in getting marketing emails from you.

    2. Double opt-in should be the standard

    Some companies are still reluctant about using double opt-in. There’s this myth that it slows down your email list growth. In reality, it helps you build a healthier, more active email list. Setting up double opt-in should take minutes in your email marketing platform. It automates sending an email to every new subscriber, asking them to click a confirmation link. This way, you prevent fake signups and ensure you’re emailing only people who are expecting to hear from you.

    3. Check every new email address

    Double opt-in can prevent some fake email signups, but your list can still acquire undesirable contacts. To prevent them from infecting your database, check every new email address yourself. The most prominent email verification platforms allow you to check a few emails for free. It’s a good option if your list is growing slowly. However, at least twice a year, make sure you run your entire list through an email verifier.

    Related: These 3 Strategies Will Grow Your Email List for Free

    4. Use Google’s reCAPTCHA on your sign-up forms

    Any obstacle you can put between your email list and fake sign-ups helps you build a healthier email program. Apart from verifying your database periodically, add another layer of protection against automated bots. A program like Google’s reCAPTCHA uses a variety of algorithms to tell humans and bots apart. While some spammers can bypass even the most advanced anti-spam systems, reCAPTCHA will still help you protect the health of your email list.

    5. Part with dormant subscribers every three months

    If you want to build a vibrant email list, you need people who engage with your emails. Many factors affect your sender reputation, and your overall engagement rate is one of them. Keeping dormant subscribers on your list tells inbox providers that your content isn’t relevant. To avoid the junk folder, remove unengaged contacts every three months. It’s beneficial to your email deliverability. Moreover, you avoid potential bounces as some of those dormant emails may get deactivated.

    Related: How To Start An Email List And Succeed From Day 1

    Bonus tips to grow your email list faster

    Growing your email database isn’t as simple as setting up a couple of sign-up forms on your website. You also have to make sure the emails you gather are real and active. The tactics above are easy to apply, but at times, you may feel that your email list is growing too slowly.

    Here’s how to change that.

    • Add more sign-up forms to your platforms. Have at least two on your website and add one to your blog, as well. Make the process frictionless.
    • Use social media more intentionally. Your social media channels are great for capturing more email addresses. Promote your email list consistently.
    • Include a sign-up link in all of your emails. That way, if one of your emails gets forwarded, the person who receives it has a way to opt in.
    • Encourage word of mouth. Talk to your peers, friends and customers about the great emails you send. Encourage them to not only subscribe but also to share your form with others.

    Finally, and most importantly, send those emails. Be consistent with your schedule so that people come to expect your emails. Whether it’s once a month or three times a week, show up with helpful content. Being present and providing real value to your audience will allow both your subscriptions and engagement to grow.

    Liviu Tanase

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  • Creative Ways to Market Your Business on April Fools’ Day | Entrepreneur

    Creative Ways to Market Your Business on April Fools’ Day | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    April Fools’ Day has been a favorite holiday with pranksters for centuries. Over the past decade or so, some of the world’s biggest brands have embraced the April Fools’ spirit in a bid to connect with their markets.

    April Fools’ Day also offers excellent opportunities for small businesses to launch fun, lighthearted campaigns that connect with their audiences. Sharing a joke is a powerful tool to create exposure and build rapport quicker than straight-faced marketing campaigns.

    Related: 5 Funniest April Fools’ Day Marketing Stunts

    How big brands have embraced April Fools’ Day

    From scratch-and-sniff iPads to the 111th birthday of YouTube, April Fools’ Day has captured the imagination of marketing teams worldwide. In the United States, some of the biggest brands have recently played jokes on their audiences, including Tesla, Google and Burger King.

    1. Google Tulip

    In 2019, Google launched a machine learning-based product allowing users to communicate with plants. Complete with its own website and landing page, the campaign was widely shared on social media and generated a lot of positive feedback from the public.

    2. Teslaquila

    Admire him or not, Tesla founder Elon Musk knows how to generate headlines. In 2018, he used April Fools’ Day to tweet a photo of himself holding a bottle of “Teslaquila,” a fake tequila brand. The tweet went viral and generated a lot of media coverage, which helped to increase Tesla’s brand awareness.

    The story does not end here. Since then, Musk tried to patent the name and launch a real tequila product. The result is Tesla Tequila. As it turns out, the name Teslaquila falls foul of industry regulations.

    3. Burger King’s Chocolate Whopper

    In 2018, Burger King announced the launch of the “Chocolate Whopper.” The burger featured a chocolate patty, raspberry syrup, white chocolate rings, candied oranges and vanilla frosting on a bun. Initially only a joke, the campaign generated a lot of buzz on social media and increased Burger King’s brand awareness.

    In 2021, the company took its idea beyond a joke, launching a Chocolate Whopper in some of its Asian markets. Because the product was launched on April 1, customers took it as a joke at first. But the limited-edition burger made it on the menu.

    Related: Volkswagen’s Name Change and Cauliflower-Flavored Peeps Are Among 2021’s Top April Fool’s Day Jokes

    How small businesses can replicate April Fools’ success

    April Fools’ Day marketing campaigns have great potential to benefit brands. The key to launching a successful April Fools’ marketing bid is to align it with your audience, brand personality, and overall brand messaging.

    Surveys show that April Fools’ jokes are particularly popular among younger consumers. They also tend to be received better by men than women. In addition, April Fools’ campaigns should not deceive or seriously mislead customers.

    So, how can smaller businesses tread this fine line to increase awareness without alienating customers? Here are three ideas any business can try:

    1. Create a “fake” or limited-edition product

    Think of a product that is just close enough to your company’s actual products to make it realistic, yet outlandish enough to get your audiences talking.

    For example, in 2019, T-Mobile launched a “Smartshoephone.” The product pretended to be a shoe that consumers could use as a smartphone. This campaign generated buzz on social media, resulting in shares and comments. Another option is advertising a product that is available for one day only.

    2. Put humor at the heart of your campaign

    April Fools’ Day is all about humor and pranks. Small businesses can use that to their advantage by creating a funny video or meme showing their brand in a lighthearted way. This is a great way to stand out and create memories.

    Netflix achieved that in 2016 by releasing a “docuseries” called John Stamos: A Human, Being. The series simply showed the actor eating various foods. It generated significant buzz on social media.

    3. Launch a contest

    Ask your audience to share their best prank stories or create a funny video related to your brand. With the right prize, this kind of contest can truly drive engagement. Snapchat led the way in 2018 by hosting an April Fools’ Day “Prank Challenge,” which invited users to share their best prank videos. The winner received a $50,000 prize, and the campaign generated significant engagement.

    Related: 2017’s April Fool’s Gags, From LOL to Nope

    Marketing tactics for April Fools’ Day

    Like any other marketing campaign, an April Fools’ Day campaign needs to be well-planned and well-considered to achieve the desired results. While this can be a time to try out new marketing tactics, brands can also choose to rely on the tactics and channels they already prefer. Here is a look at some of the most effective tactics for brands in 2023.

    • Social media marketing: Social media marketing channels are ideal for reaching a wider audience on April Fools’ Day. A fun and engaging post featuring images and videos can quickly go viral. Use hashtags and shareable content to increase the reach of your post.
    • Email marketing: A humorous email that uniquely highlights your brand is another great way to engage audiences. Personalize your email and match it to your audience’s interests to increase the open and click-through rates.
    • Influencer marketing: Identify influencers in your niche who have a large following and a sense of humor and approach them for collaboration. You benefit by increasing your brand’s visibility and credibility.
    • Guerilla marketing: If your brand personality is creative and unconventional, guerilla marketing tactics like a flash mob, a street performance or a creative installation will get people talking.
    • Product placement: Partner with a popular TV show, movie or video game and create a humorous product placement, even if it is just for a day. You will increase your brand’s visibility and credibility among your target audience.

    Be inspired by real life

    In some cases, life writes the best stories, and you do not need to travel far to find inspiration for your company’s April Fools’ Day marketing. The flexible workspace platform Vallist is one such example. The company opened its doors on April 1, 2020, just as the pandemic took hold. While the team may have launched during a time of extreme uncertainty, they could not have picked a better time for their product.

    In fact, their vision turned out to be somewhat prescient. The irony of launching when other businesses were forced to shut down was not lost on Vallist’s founders either. Thanks to sustained growth over the past three years, the company is now expanding and opening another flexible workspace platform in New York City’s Bryant Park on April 1, 2023. No joke, but the pun is fully intended.

    Related: How to Drive Major Sales on Minor Holidays (Like Today’s April Fools’ Day)

    Final thoughts

    April Fools’ Day gives brands a unique opportunity to reach audiences lightheartedly and memorably. Choose these creative marketing tactics to engage with your customers and increase brand visibility and credibility. Remember to keep your messaging aligned with your brand’s values and personality, and have fun with it!

    Jessica Wong

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  • 8 Simple Email Marketing Tips to Improve Your Open and Click Through Rates | Entrepreneur

    8 Simple Email Marketing Tips to Improve Your Open and Click Through Rates | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    More than 4.3 billion people around the world have an email address, Statista shows. For businesses, email is the predominant transactional channel — it’s where we get our invoices, receipts and notifications. Aside from that, email is one of the most lucrative marketing channels, with an average ROI of $43 for every $1 spent.

    Is your ROI not quite there yet? To identify the issue, start with the fundamentals:

    • Make sure you use a reputable email provider. You need a trustworthy way to send emails to ensure their deliverability.
    • Verify your email list, especially if you haven’t checked it in more than six months. Invalid and dormant contacts will prevent you from reaching people.
    • Reassess the relevance of your content. It’s difficult to convert prospects who don’t resonate with what you send.

    Once you ensure you’re in good technical shape and your content is useful to people, the simple tricks below will help you get more out of the emails you send.

    1. Include a subscription link in all your templates

    Just as all your email templates have an Unsubscribe button, they should also have a link people can click to subscribe. Your emails are going out to prospects who’ve already subscribed, but if they decide to forward one of your emails to a friend, make it easy for that person to get on your list. To grow your database, you need to share that subscription link in as many places as you can.

    Related: 8 Tricks to Make Your Emails More Successful

    2. Simplify your template

    Putting a lot of effort into your emails is admirable, but sometimes, marketers can overdo it — and that usually shows in overcrowded templates. A busy template, with too many elements and colors, can discourage people from reading your content and clicking your links. You can include different sections, but make sure they all come together in a cohesive, easy-to-follow style.

    3. Tease your next email on social media

    This tactic is especially effective if your emails contain exclusive content. Before every email you send, post a few teasers on social media to get people to subscribe. Let them know that the content is available only to your email list, and use this incentive long-term to boost your subscriptions.

    4. Link your images

    Are you adding links to every image you include in your emails? If you aren’t, consider changing that. Images stand out in your email and can boost your clicks significantly. For instance, we noticed that an average of 12.50% of the clicks we get on our ZeroBounce newsletter come from images. In one recent campaign, 17.6% of the people who clicked chose to click on the image, not the call-to-action button. Clickable images create a better user experience and foster healthy engagement.

    5. Segment your email data

    Validating your email list is a must before you send another email. But is that email relevant to your entire audience? It’s a question worth asking, as segmentation can boost your open rates by 14.31% Moreover, clicks are 100.95% higher for segmented campaigns, so it’s worth reaching out to people with content made just for them. Use criteria such as gender, location, purchasing history and habits to delight your audience with better emails.

    6. Target only the most active subscribers

    If you want to give your email engagement and sales a boost, consider further segmenting your audience based on activity. With the right tools, you can find out what segment of your email list spends the most time checking their inboxes. Then, you can apply additional segmentation criteria and fine-tune your email so that it speaks to those prospects.

    Related: 8 Proven Strategies to Get People to Open and Read Your Emails

    7. Encourage replies

    It’s easy to do and it benefits your email program in several ways. First, encouraging people to reply to your emails shows how much you care about what they think. It can spark conversations from which you can learn more about your subscribers, so you can always improve your content for them. What’s more, replies support your email deliverability, which means that more of your emails will go to the inbox instead of spam.

    8. Make every email count

    Did you know that Americans spend around five hours every day checking email? However, they open only 53% of the emails they get and deem only 31% of them “useful.”

    So, how can you make every email you send useful to your audience? The Pareto principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, can help you stay on the right path. To keep engagement high, make 80 percent of your emails educational and only 20 percent self-promotional. In time, your prospects will come to see you as a source of helpful information, which will keep them opening your emails.

    Want to make your promotions more compelling? Focus on the benefits instead of the product itself, and your clicks and ROI are likely to increase.

    Liviu Tanase

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  • How to Fix Your Annoying Marketing Emails

    How to Fix Your Annoying Marketing Emails

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    When you open your email inbox in the morning, what do you see?

    If you’re like most people, you probably notice a few dozen new messages related to your job or your business — and dozens more emails that are pure marketing fluff.

    The average person receives more than 100 emails per day. Marketing emails are, occasionally, insightful or valuable in a unique way. But more often than not, they’re a source of unnecessary additional clutter in an inbox that’s already overflowing. In other words, most marketing emails are annoying.

    That might be hard to accept. If most marketing emails are annoying and yours aren’t truly exceptional, the reality is that most of your marketing emails are not serving any real purpose.

    So how can you fix them?

    Related: What Makes Copy Persuasive?

    Why marketing emails are annoying

    Most marketing emails aren’t hitting their target for the following reasons.

    Volume and frequency

    One of the most common reasons for annoyance is the sheer volume and frequency of these emails. Nobody likes to open their inbox to see 75 new messages, especially if most are a waste of space. If you see many emails from the same company, you’re going to be even more annoyed.

    Transparent tactics

    Writing a compelling subject line will boost your open rates. If you keep your message concise, imply some value and pique interest with a little bit of mystery, you can increase open rates and therefore increase the return on your investment for this strategy. The problem is that most marketing strategists have hijacked this concept and others to try and manipulate user behavior with transparently sales-driven tactics. In other words, their subject lines and email positioning strategies are annoying because they’re only devised in pursuit of getting more clicks and conversions.

    Lack of real value

    When marketing emails have substantial value behind them, people aren’t annoyed — in fact, they’re usually pleased. It’s only when the email has little to no measurable value that they begin to get irritated.

    Irrelevant content

    Similarly, people tend to get upset when they’re bombarded with messages full of irrelevant content. For example, teenage girls don’t want to hear about offers for hair regrowth, and middle-aged men don’t want to hear about new makeup tutorials. If the content is a bad fit, almost nothing can redeem it.

    Related: 4 Ways to Stop Your Emails From Going to Spam

    How to fix your marketing emails

    So what steps can you take to fix your email marketing strategy and stop annoying your potential customers?

    Pare down your frequency

    Experts agree that for most email marketing strategies, two emails per month is plenty to start seeing results. Assuming you have substantial value to continue adding, you can email weekly or a couple of times per week. Oftentimes, when marketers notice their email strategies failing to bring results, their intuition is to increase the frequency of messaging. However, it’s sometimes better to increase the quality of your messaging and reduce the number of messages you send.

    Prioritize authenticity and sincerity

    Certain optimization tricks can help you get more opens, clicks and conversions, but for the most part, you should prioritize authenticity and sincerity. If your messages are more authentic and less manipulative, people will appreciate your messages more. This is especially true in an era marked by increased levels of consumer distrust in both mainstream institutions and businesses.

    Provide measurable value

    Every message you send to your audience should provide value in some way. You might be notifying interested customers about an upcoming product. You might be offering a discount or a new package deal. You could even offer entries into a sweepstakes. The point is, people won’t find your emails intrusive or annoying if there’s something valuable in each message.

    Improve audience targeting: Audience targeting and list segmentation should be high priorities in your email marketing strategy, and this is important at several levels. For starters, you should be segmenting your email lists and collecting data on your subscribers so you can refine those lists and better understand your target audience. From there, you should be designing and sending emails that are specifically made for each audience segment. It’s also important to measure the impact of these audience-centric messages so you can get a feel for whether your messages are as relevant for your audience as you think they are.

    Even after you apply all of these tactics, there’s a good chance at least some of your subscribers will still find your emails annoying. There’s simply no way to make everyone happy all of the time. But these unhappy subscribers can unsubscribe at any time, and your remaining subscribers will be much more interested in the emails you send regularly.

    With that in mind, these tips should increase the value and measurable return on investment (ROI) of your email marketing strategy.

    Related: Why So Many Entrepreneurs Don’t Know Their Digital Marketing ROI

    Timothy Carter

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  • 5 Surprising Ways to Increase the Conversion Rate of Your Emails

    5 Surprising Ways to Increase the Conversion Rate of Your Emails

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Did you know that 20% of a brand’s emails will never reach the customer at all? This, coupled with an email provider’s desire to provide the best user experience within the inbox, means that many more are going straight to spam or promotions.

    As email matures as a direct-to-consumer marketing channel, more and more businesses engage in the practice, meaning consumers are more overwhelmed with email marketing than ever before.

    As a natural result, consumers pay less attention to their emails.

    Related: Why Email Marketing Is Better for Your Business Than Social Media

    Marketers and brands work really hard and spend a lot of money to build their email lists, so it’s no big surprise they’re let down when they see open rates between 15% and 25%. Because owning a strong email list can be one of the most important assets for your business, we need to find ways to ensure that emails serve us well.

    Here are five surprising ways you can increase not only your open rates but the conversion rates of your marketing emails as well.

    1. Resend emails to unopens

    For an email to convert, it must first be opened, but most of the emails you send will never be opened.

    In the age of marketing automation, it’s really easy to set up your email sends and then simply let the software do its thing. However, one of the easiest ways to get more opens on your emails is to go in manually and resend them to anyone who didn’t open them at least 24 after the initial send.

    Think about why your email may have been overlooked. Was it sent at an inopportune time of day? Was the subject line less than appealing? Was the sender line too vague?

    The average consumer is inundated with emails spending roughly 5 hours a day in an inbox between work and personal accounts. With all that noise, a great subject line is the best way to capture their attention.

    Very simply, an effective subject line will be short, provide value, express urgency and steer clear of buzzwords. You may not be able to accomplish all this with just a few words, but keep these tips as your north star when crafting a subject line.

    This isn’t something you need to or should be doing for every email you send, but when used strategically, updating and resending your email campaigns will help you to reach more of your list.

    Related: Inbox Zero Is a Fantasy. I’m Trying for Calendar Zero Instead.

    2. Optimize for mobile

    Consumers spend more time on their phones than ever before, which means they’re doing many inbox check-ins on mobile devices. According to Hubspot, most email views (41%) come from mobile devices. Shockingly, 80% of emails being sent are not optimized for mobile.

    Most email providers have a quick and easy function that lets you see how your email will appear on mobile devices as you craft it. You can also send yourself a test email to be sure.

    Use these tools to ensure that your emails look good and load quickly on mobile before you send them.

    Related: 3 Steps to Maximize Your Mobile Email Marketing

    3. Clean your list

    There will come a point when your email list isn’t serving you anymore because a large portion of your audience is either fatigued by your emails or never getting them in the first place. You can expect your email list to depreciate by 22.5% per year.

    Two to four times a year, you should identify the people who never open your emails and remove them from your list to ensure that only those interested in hearing from you are receiving your communications.

    This will dramatically increase your deliverability, open rates and click-through rates. Bonus: It will decrease the cost of your email marketing software.

    4. Build your list

    Because the value of your list is decreasing over time, one of the best ways to increase your emails’ conversion rate is to actively bring in new, engaged leads.

    The most simple and effective way to do this is to create a strong offer, or lead magnet that you know is valuable to your target demographic. Start driving traffic to this offer through paid social ads, brand partnerships and even in-person events.

    Related: How To Start An Email List And Succeed From Day 1

    5. Ask your customers what they want

    As marketers and brand leaders, we often develop our content around what we think our customers should have instead of simply asking them what they want. One of the most simple and effective ways to get more opens and create conversions from your emails is to ask the right questions.

    In addition to asking what kinds of emails they’re most interested in, you can also ask what kind of new product they’d like to see, what their favorite social media platforms and podcasts are, or even what kind of sales they enjoy most.

    All these data points will help inform your product development and marketing strategy in a way that will make a huge difference in your business.

    You can make these customer surveys work for you even further by offering a coupon or discount to anyone who participates — and now you’ve got great data and incentivized your customer to make a new purchase.

    Email marketing has gotten more difficult over the years, but it’s far from ineffective. It’s 40x more effective than social media—and that’s a number no business today can afford to ignore.

    With the right strategies in place, you can use your emails to convert subscribers and generate more revenue for your business.

    Shauna Armitage

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  • What Is Marketing Compliance and Why Should You Care?

    What Is Marketing Compliance and Why Should You Care?

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Marketing compliance is a term used to describe the actions and practices of a company in order to ensure that it is compliant with marketing regulations. These regulations can vary depending on the industry, geography and other factors. Generally speaking, marketing compliance requires a company to exercise due diligence when creating and executing its marketing campaigns. This includes ensuring that all marketing materials are accurate and conform to local laws and regulations.

    Marketing compliance is an important issue for companies of all sizes, as violating these regulations can lead to significant fines and other penalties. In this article, we will explore the basics of marketing compliance and discuss some key considerations businesses should assess when creating their marketing plans.

    Related: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Compliance

    What is marketing compliance?

    Marketing compliance is the process of making sure that your marketing, advertising and sales content abides by all rules and regulations designed to safeguard consumers and their information. One modern example of such regulation is the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR. This regulation requires companies to obtain explicit consent from customers before using their data for marketing purposes and provides consumers with numerous rights related to their personal data.

    The goal of regulatory compliance is to protect consumers from deceptive and unfair practices while promoting fair competition within markets. Companies should always stay up-to-date with the latest regulations, such as GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), in order to ensure their marketing activities are compliant.

    Why should I be compliant?

    Marketing compliance is important for any business, regardless of size. It helps ensure that your company is following the rules and regulations set forth by regulators to protect consumers from deceptive or manipulative practices.

    Additionally, marketing compliance helps promote fair competition within markets, allowing companies of all sizes to compete. Furthermore, it can help keep your company out of legal trouble and protect your reputation.

    Finally, staying compliant can be beneficial for your customers because it ensures that they are getting accurate information about the products or services you offer.

    Different types of compliance

    There are several different types of marketing compliance laws, each with its own set of regulations. Below, I’ve highlighted a few of the most common forms of compliance:

    FTC:

    The Federal Trade Commission is a regulatory agency responsible for preventing unfair, deceptive or anticompetitive business practices within the United States. The FTC takes legal action against businesses engaged in such activity; collaborates with other government agencies both domestically and overseas; conducts policy research through hearings, workshops and conferences; and produces educational materials to share best practices with consumers and businesses alike.

    FDA:

    The FDA is an agency that regulates food and drugs in the U.S. It is responsible for ensuring that all food products, dietary supplements and medications are safe, effective and accurately labeled before being sold to consumers. The FDA also regulates the advertising of food and drug products to ensure that it follows its guidelines and does not mislead consumers. Following FDA guidelines is essential for all companies. If a company promotes off-label use, it could face legal penalties from different government entities. Additionally, many businesses still battle to create internal policies and procedures surrounding allowable off-label communications.

    FCC:

    The Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, is responsible for regulating all forms of communication in the U.S., including television, radio and telephone services, as well as internet access. The FCC works to protect consumers from fraud and other deceptive marketing practices by enforcing its rules regarding truth-in-advertising and consumer protection.

    ADA compliance:

    The Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, is a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities. Companies must comply with the ADA when creating their marketing content by making sure it’s accessible to all users. This includes ensuring that images are descriptive and text can be read using assistive technologies such as screen readers.

    HIPAA:

    HIPAA marketing compliance means doing two key things at once. The first is protecting your patients’ protected health information, or PHI, whether it’s stored on paper or electronically. The second is understanding and carrying out your responsibilities under HIPAA. By doing so, you can be sure that your patients’ PHI is kept private and secure.

    In addition to HIPAA compliance, some states have additional laws that require companies to take extra measures when processing patient information. For example, California has a law known as the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA), which requires businesses to take additional steps to protect patient data.

    Related: Protect Your Business From Regulatory Pitfalls, With ‘Practical Compliance’

    Risks of being non-compliant

    The risks of being non-compliant with marketing regulations are high, and businesses stand to lose a lot if they fail to comply. Below, I have outlined a few marketing compliance risks businesses could face:

    Fines and penalties

    Strict adherence to laws and regulations is essential, as the repercussions of non-compliance can be detrimental. These range from financial penalties imposed by government entities. The following are some of the legal fines that have been enforced in recent years:

    • Fair Labor Standards Act: This act makes it mandatory for an employer to pay the federal minimum wage and overtime compensation when certain criteria are met. Moreover, any violations of this law may result in back pay and penalties (which can reach up to $10,000).

    • GDPR: The GDPR imposes administrative fines of up to €20 million or 4% of the company’s global annual revenue, whichever is higher.

    Loss of trust and brand reputation

    When customers discover that companies are not compliant with marketing regulations, they can lose trust in the brand and move their business elsewhere. This is especially true if businesses fail to comply with GDPR, as customers may hesitate to share their data with companies they don’t fully trust.

    Downtime

    Non-compliance can result in long periods of downtime. If companies fail to maintain compliance, they may be forced to take down their sites or services while they work to fix the issue. This could lead to significant losses in terms of revenue and customer loyalty.

    How to avoid marketing compliance violations

    Here is a brief marketing compliance checklist you can use to ensure you stay compliant:

    Terms of service

    It is critical for companies to be transparent about their terms and conditions in order to maintain customer satisfaction. In particular, SaaS businesses need to be clear about how their services work and what will happen with important factors.

    In the European Union, businesses cannot legally enforce unfair contract terms against consumers. When companies don’t fulfill their consumer rights obligations, they could lose customers and profit. For these reasons, it’s vital that marketing departments work with other areas of their business to make sure that their terms of service are always clear, up-to-date and fair.

    Product specifications and prices

    Businesses face a number of guidelines, both domestically and internationally, that they must follow when sharing product specifications in marketing materials. In the United States, for example, the Federal Trade Commission enforces laws related to truth-in-advertising, which demand businesses share accurate information that is backed up by evidence.

    There are also strict rules and regulations that businesses must follow when it comes to advertising on digital platforms, such as Amazon, Facebook and Google.

    Companies can face hefty fines or other penalties if these rules are not followed. This is where a strong marketing compliance strategy comes in handy.

    Data management

    Marketing compliance is also concerned with how businesses use and manage customer data. In the European Union, GDPR places a responsibility on companies to protect their customers’ personal data. This requires companies to store and securely process customer data and not share it with unauthorized third parties. Companies must also ensure that they are taking steps to comply with the “right to be forgotten” and other GDPR rights granted to customers.

    Marketing channels to monitor for violation

    Monitoring for marketing compliance violations is a crucial part of any successful risk management program.

    Businesses should keep an eye on platforms such as Amazon, Google Ads and Facebook Ads since these popular channels can be used to quickly reach large audiences. Aside from these, email marketing compliance should also be monitored closely, as companies must adhere to the CAN-SPAM Act when sending out promotional emails. Companies should also monitor their own website or app for compliance issues.

    This includes checking how customer data is collected and stored, as well as verifying that all terms and conditions are up to date. Companies should also review marketing material for any potential legal issues. Finally, businesses must ensure that they are regularly monitoring industry-specific regulations and laws to ensure they stay compliant. This involves staying on top of changes in legislation, such as GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act.

    Related: 3 Key Legal Issues Online Marketers Need to Know About

    Marketing and advertising compliance is a complex issue, with many laws and regulations that companies must adhere to in order to protect their customers’ data and ensure fair competition within markets. Companies should consider creating a comprehensive marketing compliance strategy that takes into account all applicable laws and regulations and ensure that their marketing practices are compliant with them.

    If doing things yourself would be too much of a burden, consider hiring compliance professionals or lawyers who are knowledgeable in this area. You could also take advantage of various marketing compliance software in the market. This can ensure that your business not only stays compliant but is also able to grow and expand without fear of legal repercussions.

    Alex Quin

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  • 5 Aspects to Consider When Emailing a Marketing List

    5 Aspects to Consider When Emailing a Marketing List

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Professionals have been arguing for decades over the age-old question of how often to email a marketing list. On one side are those who believe contacting readers more than once a month is a no-no. On the other, we have those who think daily emails are best for maximizing profits.

    Who’s right? Let’s find out by looking at several factors.

    Svetoslav Dimitrov

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  • 5 Ways to Prepare for A Successful Holiday Email Marketing Campaign

    5 Ways to Prepare for A Successful Holiday Email Marketing Campaign

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    If you’re betting on email to boost sales this holiday season, you have the right mindset. Last year, online retail sales grew 11.3% over 2020 to more than $218 billion, according to the National Retail Federation. Although the ease of pandemic restrictions will bring more people to stores, email remains an effective way to drive online revenue.

    How will you use email to boost holiday sales for your business this year? With inflation hitting the highest rate in 41 years, you must make sure your campaigns have the best chance of landing in the inbox — and convert.

    Here are five ways to prepare your email program for the busy shopping season ahead.

    1. Increase your sending rhythm

    Not all businesses send emails all year round. Some show up in their customers’ inboxes only when they run a promotional campaign. If that’s your case, you want to consider ramping up your sending frequency ahead of the holidays. The number of emails you send, and how often you send them, can influence your ability to reach the inbox.

    Mailbox providers consider sudden spikes in email traffic suspicious, as they can indicate spam. So, before launching your holiday email campaigns, begin nurturing your list with relevant, educational content. Keep a steady rhythm, and intensify it gradually before Black Friday to avoid landing in spam.

    2. Check the validity of your contacts

    The quality of your email list is vital to your email deliverability. Several studies show that email databases deteriorate by more than 22% every year. At ZeroBounce, we found that, due to the pandemic, 30% of our email data had gone bad in the past year.

    Removing obsolete email addresses, especially before an important campaign, is a must if you care to arrive in the inbox. Ignoring it can cause significant damage, as bounces and spam complaints can send your emails to spam. One of our customers was even blocked by his email service provider because of a high bounce rate. Only when our customer validated the company email list did the email provider agree to reinstate the account.

    You wouldn’t want to be blocked from sending emails during the holiday season, so check that your list is fresh and valid. Your bounce rate should never exceed 2%.

    Related: Email Validation: A Critical Success Factor in Email Marketing

    3. Use data to decide the best times to send

    A compelling offer that goes out to a healthy email list already puts you ahead of the pack. But to help your campaigns shine, keep past subscriber behavior in mind when scheduling your emails. Thus, you’ll know when your audience is most likely to open your emails.

    So, what are the best days to send emails during the holidays? The top performers are Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Sunday and Thanksgiving, recent data from Oracle shows.

    The Oracle marketing research team also suggests sending campaigns on Thursdays to influence weekend spending. The study demonstrates that click-to-open rates are 54% higher than Fridays.

    Related: The Best Days and Times to Send Your Email (Infographic)

    4. Test your emails on mobile

    In 2021, more than 42% of Black Friday ecommerce revenue came through mobile, an Adobe study shows. Checking how your email renders on smartphones is always important. But during the holidays, it can make a dramatic difference in your revenue.

    Email testing tools allow you to test various aspects of your campaign and identify potential errors. For instance, an email can render correctly in Gmail, but not in Outlook, so pay attention to how your campaigns display with different providers.

    Also, consider running all your emails through a spell checker and make sure all your links are functional and relevant to your audience.

    5. Gather valuable social proof

    If you’re like most businesses, you’re probably going to send many emails in the last two months of the year. One way to avoid repeating your content is to use lots of customer testimonials.

    Ahead of your holiday email campaign, prepare by gathering social proof like stellar reviews, case studies, quotes, and awards worth mentioning. Third-party validation contributes dramatically to how people perceive your product. Oftentimes, it can seal the deal for an indecisive prospect.

    Final tips to make your holiday email campaign a success

    Running an email campaign during the holidays can be nerve-racking. It’s not as simple as scheduling a few emails, so anxiety is high for many business owners and marketers.

    To ease some of the tension, consider starting early. Have a clear plan and strategy in place weeks before you send your first email. Creating a checklist also helps. Include everything you and your team must do, from defining your offers to ensuring you have all the right tools.

    Proper planning will bring you calm and confidence so this holiday season will be successful for your business.

    Liviu Tanase

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  • 9 Types of Lead Magnets That Will Quickly Grow Your Email List

    9 Types of Lead Magnets That Will Quickly Grow Your Email List

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    If you’re anything like most internet users, your email inbox is crammed full of messages from brands you love, brands you’re interested in and brands you’ve never heard of. There’s no way you can read (or even keep up with) all of them. So, how do you make sure your messages stand out and get opened?

    One way is to offer a lead magnet, also known as an opt-in incentive. A lead magnet is a piece of content that’s designed to capture a user’s attention and persuade them to sign up for your email list. There are many different types of lead magnets — from ebooks and white papers to free trials and coupons — and they can be very effective in growing your email list. To help you get started, here’s a list of nine types of lead magnets that you can use to quickly grow your email list:

    Related: Earn More Email Subscribers and Customers with Powerful Lead Magnets

    1. Free trial

    Offering a free trial is a great way to get people to sign up for your email list. It’s an especially effective lead magnet for SaaS products, which can be difficult to understand and use without some guidance.

    This removes the barrier of entry for potential customers and gives them a chance to try out your product before making a commitment. Of course, this has to be done right. Your free trial should be long enough to give people a chance to use your product and see its value, but not so long that they forget about it.

    2. A fun quiz

    From fashion to pop culture, quizzes are popular because they’re fun and relatively easy to take. They can also be very effective in growing your email list. For example, you could create a style quiz for a fashion brand or a celebrity trivia quiz for an entertainment website.

    Even B2B companies can use quizzes as a lead magnet. For example, a company that sells project management software could create a quiz to help users find the right software for their needs. With no-code quiz makers, you can easily create quizzes, polls and other types of content without any tech skills required.

    3. Ebook

    Ebooks are a popular lead magnet because they’re relatively easy to produce and can be very helpful to your target audience. For example, if you sell products for new parents, you could create an ebook with tips on how to get your baby to sleep through the night. In comparison, a B2B software company might create an ebook with tips on how to reduce IT costs.

    The key to creating a successful ebook lead magnet is to make sure it’s relevant and targeted to your audience. It should also be well-written and informative, with a clear call-to-action at the end.

    A white paper is a type of lead magnet that’s more in-depth than an ebook. They’re usually around 2,000 to 5,000 words and cover a specific topic in detail. For example, a company that sells email marketing software might write a white paper on the best ways to improve email open rates.

    4. Case study

    A case study is a type of lead magnet that tells the story of how one of your customers used your product or service to achieve success. For example, if you sell customer relationship management (CRM) software, you could write a case study about how one of your customers used your software to increase sales by a certain percentage.

    Case studies are an effective lead magnet because they provide social proof that your product or service works. They also help to build trust with potential customers by showing that you’re transparent about your successes (and learning experiences).

    Related: 8 Proven Strategies to Get People to Open and Read Your Emails

    5. A contest or giveaway

    People love free stuff, which is why contests and giveaways are such popular lead magnets, whether it’s a free product or even a gift card.

    In order to make sure your contest or giveaway is successful, be sure to promote it across all of your marketing channels, and put some thought into the prize. It should be something that’s relevant and valuable to your target audience.

    6. A downloadable template

    Downloadable templates are another popular type of lead magnet because they’re useful and easy to use. For example, a home decorating website could offer a downloadable room layout template that helps users plan the perfect furniture arrangement. Or a business consulting website could offer a downloadable proposal template that helps users create professional-looking proposals.

    7. Coupons or discounts

    Coupons and discounts are popular lead magnets because they offer a tangible benefit that’s hard to resist. For example, you could offer a 10% discount on your products or services, or you could offer a free shipping coupon for orders over $50.

    To make sure your coupons and discounts are successful, be sure to promote them across all of your marketing channels and make them easy to find on your website. You should also consider putting an expiration date on them to create a sense of urgency.

    8. Access to exclusive content

    People love feeling like they’re part of an exclusive club, which is why offering access to exclusive content is such an effective lead magnet. Entire business models, like Clubhouse and (originally) Tinder, have been built on this concept.

    For example, you could offer exclusive access to blog posts, video content or even physical products. Or you could offer a free membership to your email newsletter for a limited time.

    9. A free consultation

    A free consultation is a great lead magnet for service-based businesses — like consultants, lawyers and financial advisors. It’s an opportunity to show potential clients what you can do for them and build trust and rapport.

    To make sure your free consultation is successful, be sure to promote it across all of your marketing channels, and make it easy to schedule on your website. You should also consider offering a free initial consultation to new clients as a way to increase leads and conversions.

    Related: 7 Things Your Opt-In Forms Need to Do to Gain Email Subscribers

    If you want to make sure your messages stand out, using one or more of these nine types of lead magnets is a great strategy. Make sure your lead magnets are valuable, easy to use and promoted across all of your marketing channels.

    Vlad Gozman

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