Life's A Pitch

If, like me, you were pushed in at the deep end, you end up learning pretty quickly how to swim in agency life.

In this article I am going to give you 3 tips to pitch perfect.

First, Let's Talk Relationships
Depending on how you initially got the lead, the way you pitch to each potential client will differ.  So adapt and adjust accordingly.

An example: if a prospective client reached out and contacted you, they did so for a reason - Build on it.
If they were referred to you, then they are familiar with a piece of work.  Which one? - Build on it.
Once done, you have already established what it is they liked about your agency.
The most difficult relationship to strike up is those ones that came through a network, or cold calling route.  This is you when have to quickly establish yourself as a trusted firm or trusted figure.  Build it.

Make them sick.  Make them well  
This is a popular and very old adland tactic.  You first identify their problems and what is it that is causing their brand or website issues.
Sometimes it could be as simple as the features or lack of.  Our creative can be more minimalistic than what the client expected, but once you have identified this, use your creative to make the negatives a positive again.

It's Not Just About First Impressions
Granted, it is a well-known fact that a person’s perception can be created within the first 20 seconds of meeting you.  So it is equally as important to create a strong lasting impression as it is with the first.

I know from first hand experience that pitch presentations can be daunting, but don’t let that dampen your creative spirit!  Have fun with it.  Something I always wanted to try was to end a presentation by passing out small bags of gum balls with a tag that something along the lines of " Let's chew on some great ideas together".   

So next time you pitch at a creative agency, consider one of these three ideas and see how you get on.

Good Luck!  And remember.  Life is one big pitch. 

#Dear21YearOldMe

#Dear21YearOldMe

There is a profound lesson here for anyone who is about to enter their first work place, agency, environment.  We all fall, We all stumble. Some of us get demented by it. Some us enjoy the trek. Make sure its the right path, and keep picking yourself up. The choices are yours.  I wish I had known that at 21. 

“Work hard, Play hard”  goes without saying, though getting the balance right can be a bit of a challenge, particularly when the holiday season arrives. Seasonal work loads equal seasonal work entertainment. Culture is everything.  It’s where you spend most of your time during the day.  Your colleagues (if you so wish to choose) will be closer to you than your own family. 

Little brother who? nope, that intern is now your new little brother. 

No matter how hard your day has been at work the only person it comes down to; you.  The power of this is enormous. 

You can’t control if your client gives you briefs with 24 hour deadlines, what you can control is the way in which you decide to handle it. 

Above all, Don't be afraid to make mistakes. 

That's what your 20's are for! 

Office Musical Chairs

Hot desking is a term that is used when a desk has no specific owner, and is shared by a system 'first come first served'. This article underlines both pro's and con's to hot desking, as we explore which....

Office Musical Chairs- Hot or Not 

Pros':

With the term "Hot Desking" branded mainly in and around the creative industry, this term has now been adopted across a wide variety of sectors.
With the new and approved Internet and phone signals the fade of the permanent desk area. Increase in flexible hours, combined with the tightening of company belts see's this as having a positive impact, as it results in staff working remotely or from home; Less heads equals less over heads. 

Cons:

Of course you will have them rare day's when too many staff will decide to work from within the office, and the demand for desks will be too high. Not just that, but if you have an organisation that doesn't have the best telephone system, it can prove to be a real headache transferring through calls- Trust us we know form experience!

A more recent example was the BBC in Media City UK HQ, were employees were told to hot desk and clear paper work in preparation for the next occupants. What upset all the staff was the fact there was nowhere to keep their work safe, perhaps the BBC could have avoided this- if only they had lockers of some sort?

A good compromise of this is Coca Cola, as they moved London offices in April 2014. They decided against desk-hopping, and instead opted to alternative working environments encouraging flexibility.  

Of course for some, office space can be spared, but for many, this isn't possible. With the help of a good planning and design manager, pitfalls can be prematurely avoided.
For instance, breakout areas can also be doubled as work stations, if the right furniture is fitted then this would be work wonders for a happy workplace!

Of course it depends on the type of business and infrastructure you have; however, with the right modifications and design work, hot desking can work.

Conclusion:

The practise can certainly make up part of the solution for instance, if a colleague is at home sick, then it would make sense to replace another team member at their desk, enforcing at the same time 'Team Engagement', as it forces colleagues to speak to a member of the team they perhaps wouldn't normally.
This has the power to spark conversation and inspiration in one another, as well as build a stronger office team. 

Hot desking should definitely not be viewed as a one size fits all.

What will the future of the staff environment in years to come? will the traditional office cease to exist at all?
Perhaps the modern office will become a lot more flexible by making the best use of available technology and space? Although the transition will take many years, the future adoption of collaborations and communication will bee in essence what provokes the movement. 

Privacy In the Digital Age

Is Privacy Dead?

We find ourselves in the same predicament that we were in nearly 200 years ago, with the invention of the photograph and telecommunications. We have privacy issue laws with social media giants such as Facebook regarding how much information a company can collect on us, and for what reason.  Soon there will come a day when marketers will need to take a degree in law in order to proceed with digital marketing!

A recent court case in the US really caught my attention as it highlights this issue perfectly. The question is, do you think the right verdict was reached?

Riley V. California and United States V. Wurie.

Two famous U.S court cases were recently brought to the Supreme Courts, and the amicus briefs were filed in ‘Riley vs. California’ and ‘United States vs. Wurie’. In both cases, after the arrest of a suspect, law enforcement officers searched the arrestee’s cell phone without obtaining a warrant from a judge. Unsurprisingly, the suspect argued that examining the content of the phone without obtaining a warrant, had violated his constitutional rights. The Police argued that they had the right to search at the time of the arrest for their officers’ safety (in case suspects could potentially use their phone to detonate a bomb, or summon for accomplices).

Ultimately, the Supreme Judges had to determine if the constitution ‘protects’ the contents of a mobile phone from a search warrant arrest. They had to go right back to 1^st March 1792 when the fourth amendment was adopted. In June 2014, Supreme judges unanimously ruled (9-0) that the search incident to arrest exception does not extend to a cell phone, and that the police force will still need to obtain a search warrant in order to search an arrestee’s phone after the arrest has been made.

Here in the UK, it seems the Police have the right to search mobile devices, by copying everything off the device and processing it at a later date.

Here is an article from the Independent explaining more on the UK Police laws.

Undoubtedly at some point, the US Supreme Court’s decision will result in a UK debate over whether or not the same laws should be applied here.

What lawsuits such as these illustrate is that some laws of the horse and cart era have to be urgently reviewed in order to be relevant to our modern day digital society. Especially as the cracks of the old laws are now starting to show, and Internet ‘Privacy leaks’ become the norm that people have to deal with.

As always, we’d love to hear from you. Do privacy laws mean anything nowadays? Has technology evolved too fast to keep up with our own human rights?

Deck the halls with employee engagement!

What better time to promote employee engagement, than the jolly holiday season!

What some organisations don't know is just how valuable the week's that follow up to Christmas really is.
To ask the right questions, means the new year can be tackled head on, and have a positive impact for the future.

Re-engage: Being social with employee's from departments of the company you wouldn't normally speak to, is a great way to engage with colleagues. There's nothing more de-valuing than feeling invisible at a Christmas party.
Poor communication is one of the top key factors in employee dissatisfaction; Plus, it's always good to speak to the higher management.

Take Note: We all like to feel like we are being heard in our company, many organisations ask for employee feedback after a festive party, to see areas where they can better, and what they can do to change in the New Year. If your organisation currently does this, it would be great to hear what you do.

Finally, Celebrate! it's everyone's way of congratulating each other on getting through the year together, and successfully. A team that can celebrate together, stay's together.

Have a great Christmas, and an even happier New Year from us all at Rapport Agency!

4 Ways You Can Increase Sales This Festive Holiday 2014

I honestly believe that it is easy to adopt to a new email marketing campaign for the holiday season.
However "make it easy" doesn't mean take the minimalist approach to your campaigns. Here in this article on I will be informing you of, 4 simple ways you can increase conversion rates with your Holiday campaigns. Simple & Merry.

RESPOND!
If you want your customers to respond to your campaigns make sure you respond to them first, by making it readable on various devices. (Responsive).
(You only have to hear how well the android/smart phone industry are doing in order to realize the importance of responsive emails/websites).

BE SOCIAL THIS CHRISTMAS!
Make a social presence, If a customer likes or shares an article/product automatically enrich that prospects profile. Many vendors can do all this nowadays, and segment them in to a genre/field that will help emails that are sent out be more relevant and increase engagement.

LEAD SCORE!
Having just the data doesn't mean you will be automatically relevant, you will have to personalise your messages to your prospects/customers, but you could still risk the worry of being deemed irrelevant.
How to avoid this?

Combining data to interact in a more intelligent way will help increase how relevant you are to each customer. But you it is impossible to sit there and research what all your customers like individually, so why not let us help?

The score can be calculated from many aspects of a customers journey, their purchases, how complete their profiles are, interactions on social media and impressions they have made on emails.
Based on an individuals score we can then initiate 1-2-1 campaigns by being more relevant and appealing, remember no one-two people are the same. You yourself are unique.

Result: Increase in conversions.

SHINE BRIGHT!
Remember to highlight what makes you stand out, many people will be comparing their online shopping to many of your competitors, so ensure you stand out from the rest and apply the abandoned shopping cart & Lead Generation campaigns at least! T'is the season to be successful!
If all of the above has not be implemented then this could be a snippet of your customers this Christmas.

If you enjoyed this article, please share, or add me on LinkedIn or Twitter! 

3 Examples, Laughter is the best medicine

Life can be too serious sometimes, with a workplace or industry that can be too stern, can laughter be the best medicine? This article will briefly go through three examples across a wide industry spectrum, to showcase three positive companies that incorporate laughter in to their business ethics, and what impact it has on social engagement.

Why is light hearted laughter important in a work place? because, one of the major contributors to workplace stress, is fear of not being taken seriously, or thought of as "the joker". Stress is a common work place problem, and cause of long-term sickness absence in the UK to date, (Reference CIPD), resulting around £8 billion every year on the UK economy.

We have a fear of being seen as “the joker” which will threaten our professional position and career progression?
In history, the workplace has been seen as a place ‘to get the job done’; with employers and employees taking the view that if work isn’t a toil we simply aren’t working hard enough. What do you think?

The Productivity of laughter

"Surveys in the past have shown 98% of CEO's would much rather hire a candidate with a good sense of humour than a person without one. (Goodman, n.d).

That said, laughter is much more than a tonic to reduce stress. In fact, having humour in the workplace creates a positive environment that builds bonds between colleagues. encourages innovative and positive thinking, resulting in better communication between staff.

"Companies and agencies like Deloitte & Touche, IBM, Kodak, Monsanto, Honda and the internal revenue service have periodically hired humour consultants and organisations to infuse humour into their business (Nilsen & Nilsen 2000).

Here are three examples of how the world's largest organisations have embraced laughter & humour into their workplace:

1) Ben & Jerry's

We have all heard of Ben & Jerry's ice-cream, and they too have set up monthly incentives to reinforce the value of humour at work. "The company feels that employees are more motivated and productivity is higher when they are satisfied with their work". (As cited in Partel, 2001, p.14).

An example of they implement it, is in their production area, employees can listen to music, which rotates the radio stations, broadcasted in that area, "Actually, the joy gang bought our stereo. We listen to music and enjoy our work," says one of the plant employees (as cited in Labbs, 1996, P55).

2) South West Airlines

Have reported a profit every quarter since 1973, the US airline strongly endorses the importance of fun at work.

"The most important attribute for a southwest employee is a sense of humour"(as cited in Adair, 1995, p 47).

How they implement humour in the work place, is by finding it in prospective employees, and presenting organisational results via a rap and music videos. Here are Rapport, we also did something similar to this with Capital One, and 1000+ of their employees, to see the case study click here.Another way Southwest airlines introduce humour, is by having their flight attendants reinvent their safety announcements. "There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but there are only six ways to leave this airplane". Pilots get in on the fun too. "We've reached our cruising altitude now, and I'm not turning the 'off seat belt' sign. I'm switching to autopilot, too, so I can come back there and visit with you all for the rest of the flight"(Freiberg, 1996, P. 211).

3) Deloitte & Touche

Believe too many hours are spent at work for it not to be fun. This company encourages laughter initiatives, as they understand the importance to collaborate, and see the results which include a more inclusive, supportive working environments to work in for their staff.

Creating a culture that is about enjoying each other, being passionate about what you do, and have fun doing it.

For humour to blossom, so does the environment in which it grows in. It is important for your staff to feel relaxed, welcomed and comfortable, this will then naturally inspire people to express themselves.

We don't always have to act serious in order to be taken seriously, or do we?

Perhaps you work in a fun environment just like the previous companies, if so, what do they implement?

it would be great to hear from you, to follow me just click here!

That which is measured is improved: Progressive Profiling,

That which is measured is improved: Progressive Profiling,:   We all know the importance of asking questions, however, if you think about it like dating, you will see why asking too many questions in...

Progressive Profiling,

 We all know the importance of asking questions, however, if you think about it like dating, you will see why asking too many questions in one go can make the other person switch off to you.

In order to decrease the amount of forms abandoned, and increase the engagement you receive, the best practice is only ask 2 or 3 questions at a time.
Don't worry about asking all the questions at once, get the key information first, i.e. 'Email address' and 'name'. Then the next time they visit, ask 'job position' & 'telephone'. 

It is important to take advantage of the fact that each return of a prospect is an opportunity to understand them better.SO DON'T WASTE IT!

• Increased conversion rate. Progressive profiling lets you dole out questions over time, rather than hitting someone with, for example, 20 questions on their first visit (which will likely send them running the other way!). Which results in less form abandonment's.
• Better experience. Dynamic forms mean your leads only see the fields, and questions that pertain to them. Forms stay small, tidy, and unobtrusive.
• Time Saver. Rather than having to create multiple forms and associated landing pages, progressive profiling allows you to create one "master" form that dynamically responds to each lead based on their previous actions and information.
• Improved targeting. Progressive profiling allows you to craft and hone nurturing campaigns that are more closely tailored to your leads and produce better results. Relevance is key!
• Shortened sales cycle. The dynamic nature of progressive profiling helps marketers more quickly, and uncover which leads are qualified and which need more nurturing. In turn, sales can spend more time focused on the hot opportunities. And ensuring ways to convert cold leads to warm.

 If this article interested you, follow me on Twitter @SarahLouiseTalb.

Good luck in your projects!

3 Holiday Strategies For Your Business

It's that time of year again, for some it's joy, for others it's chaos.
There is nothing worse to kill the holiday spirit, like the panic of last minute shopping. This is where you swoop in, here are 3 holiday strategies you can offer your customers this year, to ensure their traumatic experience is minimal. Here are a few cart and browse abandonment strategies you can implement in plenty of time for Christmas.

Browsing Leads To Buying

 Browsing doesn't always lead to abandonment, so long as there is a campaign to win back them shopping carts left. With cart abandonment, you can capture these browsers' behaviors, notice patterns, and trigger emails based on category browsed/interests.

Here is an  example as to how this can benefit your company this Christmas.
If a customer is looking at dolls house October/November, there is a good chance it is research prep for Father Christmas.
As long as you have their email address, you can send a list of best selling toys in regards to the appropriate age/gender groups. To find out more ways you can capture and obtain email addresses, click here to see a previous article.  


Personalisation is the key for this holiday, to be relevant and targeted with the messages, images and product categories sent.

 Don't Fold Too Quickly

If your  customers don't respond quickly to your first attempt at cart recovery, don't worry. It could be because the price is too high, or they are waiting to see if there is a better deal elsewhere. The way to get around this, is by setting up a trigger campaign based on abandoned items, sales, or better yet "stock is getting low" campaigns.

Sweet & Simple

When it comes down to it, adding a sense of urgency by offering a limited-time discount/ limited stock/ or free shipping if they complete a purchase soon. This could be the considering factors necessary for them to purchase with you. 

With these winning strategies, you'll help customers avoid the Christmas Chaos, and hopefully gain their trust and loyalty for life. 

If you liked this article, then feel free to follow me on Twitter @SarahLouiseTalb and

That which is measured is improved: Whatis a Landing page? Before we talk about landi...

That which is measured is improved: Whatis a Landing page?
Before we talk about landi...: What is a Landing page? Before we talk about landing pages, first, let’s discuss which what one is.  A landing page, is a standalone...

That which is measured is improved: Why Are People Unsubscribing From You?

That which is measured is improved: Why Are People Unsubscribing From You?: Marketers usually jump to the assumption that when people attempt to unsubscribe, they are breaking up from your brand. That isn't alway...

That which is measured is improved: 3 Ways To Make PPC Work For You.

That which is measured is improved: 3 Ways To Make PPC Work For You.: Like all things, if planned and executed right, PPC can prove to be one of your more successful campaigns. However, easy mistakes can be m...

3 Ways To Make PPC Work For You.

Like all things, if planned and executed right, PPC can prove to be one of your more successful campaigns.

However, easy mistakes can be made, and if not corrected now can become bad habits.

1) Choose Wisely 

It is important to not only try and bid for your competitors top spots, but also be creative with your own. The only way to to win the top spot, is to bid more.
However I'm aware not everyone has a budget to do this, which is why it is important to come up with some better keywords.

Before you try and save money on obscure key words to try and cut costs, please remember why you are doing this, and focus on your customers. What would they click? what segment are you targeting? you may want to select long-tail keywords, but not select broad terms.

Another common mistake to avoid, are situations where people will click your ads even though you're not what they have put into their search. This commonly happens when you don't use negative words, and use the default broad match keywords, this will increase the number of clicks as buyers find your website after searching something similar, Once they realise you wasn't what they was originally searching for, they will bounce from your site, and you are still left with the bill.

What are negative keywords? will help you filter out those looking for something specific. For instance, if your site sells fake flowers, your negative word would be "real", because you wouldn't have real roses to sell to someone.
Every click drives up your price, so you need the most relevant possible visitors.

2) Relevance is key

Nothing frustrates your audience than a buyer searching for one thing, and being directed to the complete opposite. If someone is searching for a cashmere jumper, make sure the link directs them straight to the item, and not just the homepage of your website.

If you are not linking to the landing page from your PPC campaign, you're most likely annoying and loosing a lot of potential customers.

Remember the reason your customers are on Google, is for the convenience.

3) Check it real good

There is no point setting up a PPC campaign, and then forgetting about it. This will ensure you get the most out of your keywords, you spend less on the ones that don't work. Also, to analyse how much traffic is being driven to your site. 

You don't need to spend every hour of the day on your AdWords account, but you should take enough time to look through where your traffic is coming from, how you can create more, and if you can afford to increase your bid.

A big part of marketing is the planning, execution and analysis of the campaigns.

If you like this article, RT and follow me on Twitter: @SarahLouiseTalb

4 Strategies For Staying Ahead Of The Marketing Trends

Marketing is one of the biggest, fastest changing industries around, and we have the pleasure of working in it!

Between technology and techniques, are always changing, especially how buyers behave and have evolved over the years.

Staying ahead of trends, technologies and your competitors can feel very daunting.
This article, offers 4 strategies to help you get ahead of the rest- if not, lap the field.

1) Introduce themes.

Draw out a strategy each month, with an informative skill set. For instance, Octobers theme can be- Lead scoring, Novembers theme can be- abandoned shopping carts, and an obvious December- Festive campaigns for the holiday seasons.

2) Knowledge is Power

There are some great conferences, round tables and trade shows happening all around the UK. See which conferences are of relevance to your industry, or, even better depending on the budget, budget yourself to speak as a professional speaker.

However, if it isn't in your budget as an agency to attend as a speaker, consider finding local events that wouldn't include travel costs for example.
Perhaps nominate yourself as a speaker at an event you'd like such as @McrDig business and trade shows are on a continuous look out for new and insightful speakers. This gives you and your brand great exposure, as well as the ability to network.

3) Make your presence known

Elaborating from the previous strategy, it helps to have a few topic of ideas to present. Depending on the event, the most popular types of presentations I've seen are the case study types. My key tip for you, is to make sure you plan ahead- if you leave it a few weeks prior it will prove difficult to even book a speakers slot.

Work with your communications team on getting a speakers slot on next years conferences, usually, more luck is had if the conference organizer is contacted four to six month in advance.

Why Are People Unsubscribing From You?

Marketers usually jump to the assumption that when people attempt to unsubscribe, they are breaking up from your brand. That isn't always the case, remember knowledge is power, so use this to your advantage, and see why they are unsubscribing.

Relevance + Frequency 

No-one likes too many emails, just like no-one likes to be talked at too much. It's the number 1 root cause of unsubscribe, so automate your responses/ campaigns to co-inside with others, you could save money on not wasting emails also.

Number 2 cause of unsubscribe, of course, is the lack of relevance. It is important to consider that relevance and frequency are interconnected, in that if emails are deemed very relevant then subscribers will accept a higher frequency of mailings. So frequency itself is not the only concept of it being the problem.

A famous saying, is in order to catch a criminal, one must think like one. Even though we are not catching criminals, we are trying to catch the crime committed, before they hit the unsubscribe button.

"I like my emails, but it is blocking up my inbox".
"I like the company/brand, but can't stand the topics".
"I don't check my emails enough for it to be of any use to me."
"I've changed my buying behavior, and you no longer fit to my needs".

There can be a next step put in place with certain email vendors, that can provide your subscriber with an incentive/survey or option to ensure something is either learnt/gained before they leave.

Know your loses

It doesn't matter if you are getting more subscribers than unsubscribes, to get a handle on what unsubscribing is costing your email program, you need to understand two key things: your unsubscribe rate, and number of new subscribers.

it can be hard to estimate how many new people you need to sign up, in order to grow your list, but lets work it out like this, and if you need any help, drop me an email.  Lets say you've been given a mandate to grow your database to a whopping 1 Million. that means you will have to add 200,000 new people, plus the 260,000 you are currently loosing each year. Growth isn't impossible, but brushing the problems under the carpet will prove unnecessarily hard for your business.

If you would like to follow me on Twitter @SarahLouiseTalb I regularly post new articles.

What is a Landing page?

Before we talk about landing pages, first, let’s discuss which what one is. 

A landing page, is a standalone web page, which is in relation to your main website, but created for a single focused objective in mind.

The goal would be to get users to sign up for a petition or competition, in exchange for their name and email address.

How can we create effective landing pages?

There are many elements that make up the anatomy of a landing page, and here are four.

Headline

You are competing for your eyes’ gaze, it must stand out, and it must be relevant to your target audience. Your mission is to communicate your core value proposition, as clearly as possible.

*Tip :

·        Use language that is simple. Don’t over complicate things.

·        Write in second person, as this will help captivate your reader’s attention.

·        Be consistent. Make sure headlines match the rest of your campaign, imagine it is a story you are telling, make it obvious they are in the right place by creating a landing page that is in keeping of your ad copy, headline and copy consistent, as it is important for your Google AdWords quality score too).

Copy & format
The body of your language page should further describe what you offer is and why visitors should download or sign up for it- your goal is to make clear the benefits of completing the form and answer the question “what’s in it for me?”.

*Tip :

·        Content should never be longer than five lines.

·        Write in a way that tells the viewer how your charity will bring benefit to your cause.

·        Proofread- Make sure there are no grammatical or spelling errors.

 Image

A picture can paint a thousand words, your goal is to use a relevant and captivating images that reinforces the benefit of your offer.

*Tip :

·         When possible, it is always better to create an original photo or video, instead of using a stock photo.

·         Video can also be used to explain your cause, or give additional information as another way to convince your visitors to fill out your form, you could also use video to communicate the results your current donors have helped the charity accomplish.

Form
The form is crucial to your landing page, since this is where the conversation takes place. The main questions to answer are what to include and how to make it- your goal should be to collect enough information from your donor to enable you to contact and qualify the lead.

*Tips :

·         Form Headline- Clearly state what action the viewer can accomplish on this page.

·         Make the form stand on the page- Surrounding it with a coloured box helps isolate it from the rest of the content.

Thank you page

This is the part that users are directed to, after completing the form. While you have your viewers’ attention, take advantage. An example, ask them to sign up for all the latest updates, or join you on social networks.

Now you’re armed and ready to create compelling and effective landing pages- get started and get the most out of Google Grants by turning visitors into active donors.

If you have any questions, or interests in Copernica marketing system, feel free to call us on 0161 822 2558, or email sarah.talbot@copernica.com and we will be sure to get back to you as soon as we can.

Do's and Don'ts for Non-Profit Tweets

Although tweeting can sound daunting, it can be an amazing way for your organisation to participate in conversations on various issues. The more brand awareness you can get for your charity, the likelihood more people will donate, and that is what really matters.

DO

1. ·         When organising an event, encourage your attendees to say hello. When you’re at the event, invite those who have interacted with you on Twitter to meet you in person.
2. ·         Track down the official hashtag, and use it in every tweet related to your event/charity.
3. ·         If you or someone from your organisation is speaking or presenting at an event, share the time, date and place of the event.
4. ·         Use live tweeting to your advantage, encourage people to tweet during your presentation, and ask any questions they might have.
5. ·         Re tweet any quotes or information that could be of interest or relation to your event, be sure to include the correct twitter handles of people and organisations mentioned in your tweets. There are a lot of copy cats in the industry.

Don’t

1. ·         Ignore questions posed in the feed, it is important to engage with your followers, and spark conversation. The more people talk about you, the more exposure it gives your charity.
2. ·         Share random links or information about your organisation. This will disengage with people, and switch them off to you. Remember relevancy is key.
3. ·         Create #hashtagsthataretoolong for your event panel. It should be simple yet catching.
4. ·         Only promote your own content. You are attending the event in order to network, and learn from people, remember when you share content, you are sharing the love.

5 Tips for Lead Nurturing Your Donors, Non-Profit Organisations.

Introduction

With today’s advancement on technology, it seems all we do is spend our time online. The results of this can be seen in our everyday habits- once we used to take the high streets word, that we was getting the best deal, but now we search online to double check. We would hammer up and down the high street on a busy Saturday morning, but now we shop online from our beds.
For marketers, the challenge is figuring out ways to fill in the customer life-cycle gaps, and come up with ways we can personalise each of their engagements, through marketing automation, and analyse more in depth into their purchasing behavior.
Unfortunately, many marketers continue to rely too heavily on generic blast email campaigns- one size fits all approach, which does not cut it in this day and age, so here are some well thought out tips to incorporate in to the way you can nurture your donors through digital marketing, and how you can increase both donations and ROI.

 1)      Get ready & started
You don’t have to create the perfect complex nurture programme right from the start. Some marketers choose to focus on personalisation, the rest, on content and which channels to choose. Instead of thinking big, start small!
 

2)      The Right Data = The right start
If you want to add sophistication, you’ll need to collect the relevant data to drive it.
B2B- Company Size/ Industry etc.
B2C- Age, location, interests. Rather than asking for all the information up front, there are progressive ways to gaining information, for example- using a web form builder. This allows you to prioritize the list of questions you wish to ask your prospects and customers. In addition to this, you would benefit greatly if web tracking was captured, so you could monitor where in the process your donors drop off, and what their behavior is throughout the cycle.To put it another way, whether a contact clicked through on an email, visited a specific Web page, or did both multiple times within a week can speak volumes about their intent- and how best to nurture them.
 

3)      Use Personalisation and Content Now that you've collected the important demographic and behavioral data, it’s time for the fun to begin!
You are not limited to one data element, so fell free to use first name/last name/ company name etc.
·         Provide content based on browsing behavior- Build in content blocks that can have rules attached to, show the recipient relevant information based on what pages were browsed. (TIP: This method is strongly advised for all whom wish to advance their marketing strategies, to become relevant, timely, and increase donations).
·         Showcase replenishment trials or renewal campaigns- Ensure you keep your donors updated with current news and information, regarding your non-profit organisation- in the process increasing donations made.

4) Consider going multi-channelNurturing your donors via email, is a powerful way to engage, but you can drive effectiveness even more by reflecting today’s multi-channel world in to your nurture campaigns. 

Consider incorporating traditional “snail mail,” SMS “Thank-you for donating” messages, landing pages, web forms, etc, this will increase the audience you reach.

this will entice donors to learn more about your charity, and what your main aims and  objectives are for your cause.
Conversely, you build a set of rules that would trigger a campaign, based on how a donor has interacted with you emails/ Web site previously.
So if an email has been failed to be opened, for any reason, after a period of time, a trigger message might automatically print and be sent to that donors address.

5-Take a more personal approachfirst, establish who your target donors are, what might their journey be? Ensure you have the correct, relevant resources for each step in the communication process.
To make sure you are connecting with each of these personas with the right content and time, analyse your top donors segment. Determine the contacts that are involved in the donation process. 

What is their area of interest? What is the best way to contact them? You’ll have the data points needed to form a basis on how best to personalise the nurture process. 

 If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me sarah.talbot@copernica.com
I hope you enjoyed this article, and look forward to hearing from you. 

Abandoned Shopping Cart & Browser Campaign Ideas 2014

Introduction

We have all been distracted at one point or another, while browsing the web. Mostly from other means of advertising, Social media alerts, text messages, phone calls, TV and radio programs.
I could go on, however the list of the various communication channels are growing every day.

It would be naive to think it is just the everyday distractions, keeping your customers from filling out surveys and completing abandoned shopping carts. Of course it should be considered, that perhaps the prospect was displeased with the shipping costs, daunted by long-term forms, uncertain about next step to the purchasing process, or are just there to create a simple wish-list.

Whatever the reason, it is important to find out the reason, as it is a last chance for engagement and revenue. Many businesses lose interest at this point, and move on to the next prospect/customer. Big mistake, unless the problem has been identified this problem will consist, and loss of revenue will continue to be on an increase.

Copernica studies have shown, a healthy 20% on average is recovered from abandoned shopping cart campaigns. By spending such a small amount on re-engagement campaigns, a lot can be gained from that one simple action.

Tip:
Just because a prospect has jumped ship, does not mean you have to let them go. Throw them a line and give them a chance to climb back on to the “brand wagon”.

Cause for abandonment: First-Step

As previously stated, it could be the hustle and bustle of everyday life, or perhaps they found a better deal elsewhere, or they are just not ready to make the purchase.
For whatever reason it may be, between 60%-70% of shopping carts are abandoned before checkout. I think we have all been guilty of this.
In many cases, it should not be a worry, as recovery of these sales can be made back with very little effort.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

If you’re considering building an abandoned shopping cart campaign, these questions should be first answered.

·         Your average order.

·         Your expected conversion.

·         How many of these abandoners email addresses do you have.

·         Your abandonment rate.

You can then make an easy estimate of how much you’ll generate, if you was to deploy the recovery programme. If this was an option, then it would be highly recommended, that a triggered email programme should be set-up, this would make good business sense, and would save on time and resources.

One last thing to consider, is which integrated system you will choose to pull data in. You will need an integrated system that will enable you to identify browsing-based events, such as an abandoned shopping carts. This will then communicate to your platform, and then send out highly targeted and personalised triggered messages.

Coals2u saw a 21% conversion rate, from successful automated email campaigns. Abandoned basket campaigns was implemented with, 15 min, 24 hour and 72 hour emails being sent to customers who failed to complete the checkout process.

If you are worried about people who will “play the system”, and try and abandon their shopping cart in order to receive an incentive/discount, don’t. The number of people in reality who do try and cheat the system is so few, it is insignificant. In fact, many people don’t know about the incentives on offer.

However, if you are really worried about this, and wish to choose incentives as a part of your recovery campaigns, you could always run reports down the line, tracking frequent abandoners.
Then suppress them from receiving cart abandonment's emails in the future.

Once an agreement with the necessary parties have been made, regarding the set-up of abandoned shopping carts, a creative strategy will then need to be developed. While taking a sophisticated approach is best for maximizing revenue, remember, you don’t have to boil the ocean if you are just starting out.

Sending an abandoned shopping cart email every two days isn't advised, however it is better than doing nothing. When building a recovery campaign, it is advised to take into account these contributing factors:

·         Number of times you wish to contact your prospects - remember, don’t bombard them.

·         Trigger Rules - What is the cause to action which sets off the campaign?

·         Perfect timing - Always act fast. Average 30 min after shopping cart has been abandoned.

·         Tone of voice - Either sales, or service orientated?

·         Discount or incentive - Your choice.

Rules and Timing

Some businesses may opt to send an email to everyone, for some, it would make sense to have rules in place.
Companies have certain triggers, for instance, a recovery cart will only be sent to those whose shopping carts are valued over £50. Discounts should not always be used, and in some cases incentives such as “free shipping to all orders over £100”, would work well too.

Don’t make the mistake most companies do, and put into place rules in which your customer does not receive offers for products they have just purchased. There is nothing more annoying, than a thoughtless campaign, Put some humanization into your trigger actions, and see your customer loyalty increase.

“From” Names and Subject Lines

Like all your campaign “from” addresses, this will be an important decision you will make. Simply because it is the first aspect your prospect will either, chose to ignore, delete or open your message.

Some of the more popular subject lines:

·         Good news! Your shopping cart is still available.

·         Don’t go yet! Come back & save!

·         Items in your shopping cart are still available.

·         Only 24 hours left to use your cart!

·         Hurry! You have items in your cart, get them before they’re gone.

If you are sending series of messages, there’s room to be more creative and test different subject-lines. Perhaps incorporating humor, personality or a soft-sell approach.

Browse Abandonment

A relation of cart abandonment, browse abandonment, Is a scenario in which a customer visits a certain selection of pages on your website, however, do not make a purchase. Let’s assume you have their email address, you can then set-up rules to trigger browse abandonment emails.

The main difference between cart abandonment, is that it will trigger a campaign based on product, whereas browse abandonment, will send out a campaign based on product category.

Personalisation will be your biggest weapon when it comes to standing out from your competition, how best to do this, is by personalising not just the content, but the images also.
Include customer reviews, and reinforce why you are better than competitors.

White papers- are strongly recommended (if applicable), for those who are of the browse abandonment segment. People who are just browsing through your website, may not have a strong intent to purchase, this may help your prospect achieve a further step in the customer cycle.

“Second Step” Abandoned

Occasionally, some companies are faced with scenarios in which customers or prospects complete one desired action- but fail to complete the next step. Here are a few examples.

·         Prospects uses ROI or mortgage calculator but does not ask for salespersons help:
In this case you might send a follow-up email with multiple service-related calls to action. These might include asking if the contact needs help offering more info (white-papers), or asking if the contact would like to watch a product demo, with a link to “view now”.

·         Prospect registers for trial offer, but doesn't sign up for full service: Set up an automated message that’s triggered when a prospects account has expired, or it has passed a trigger date, and they have still not signed up to a full account, this will help capture the opportunity.

·         Prospect watched short demo, but has not scheduled a live demo: If a prospect watched a 10 minute demo, but has still not signed up for a live demo, consider sending a trigger message to be sent within 24 hours, from the assigned rep, and see how they found the demo, what interested them?- possibly offering an incentive this time.

·         Customer uses your online tool, but still hasn't purchased: Consider sending service-orientated emails, combing additional information/resources and promotional information that may suede the prospects into becoming a customer.

Other Types of Cart Abandonment Emails

In Most traditional cart abandonment scenarios, recency is the driving factor: A customer leaves your cart with items still in it, and you send an automated message (or messages) to that person after a designated time. There are more scenarios, which a marketer can take in to account.

1.       Product availability: If a prospect has left their cart, it would make for a good incentive, if you was to inform them of limited stock. Time is of the essence approach will help them speed up their decision making.

2.       Cart Expiration: If your system clears out carts at a certain period of time, then consider setting up automated campaigns that are sent to the customer to alert them of just that.

3.       Price Change: If you have lowered the price of an item, consider setting up rules that would be triggered, and inform your prospect of this. Note: this is one case in which including the price in an abandonment message, is probably the right play.

Cart Abandonment Success Story

Coals2U were wanting to ensure repeat purchases from their customers, and maintain their position as the UK’s leading supplier of coal. They had also noticed that during peak periods there was a significant increase in order quantities, for example over Christmas or during periods of prolonged cold weather, putting a strain on delivery and depot services during these times.

The goal was to ensure that all purchasers became regular customers, and to spread demand during peak times to reduce the impact of large spikes in order quantities.

Solution:

In order to create a streamlined shopping experience, Livelink introduced a brand new ecommerce website fully integrated with

Copernica, to provide a complete marketing automation solution and ensure that customer behaviors could be tracked and as a result, highly targeted emails could be sent. Customers were segmented into twenty seven distinct segments ranging from highly engaged loyal customers to infrequent purchasers. This then enabled us to deliver an appropriate proposition to the right customers at the right time. An abandoned basket campaign was implemented with 15min, 24hour and 72hour emails being sent to customers who failed to complete the checkout process, encouraging customers to return to the site and complete their purchases. Additional email campaigns were set up to help balance demand throughout the year, including a re-engagement campaign sent to customers who had not purchased from the site for a longer period of time, and a re-purchase campaign to remind customers of the need to place an order to replenish their supplies.

Results:

Email marketing is now the highest revenue source of traffic to website even beating google. Individual campaigns saw open rates as high as 50% and conversion rates of over 20%. We are now seeing a shift in the users from the lower engaged segments to more engaged, which in the long term means more purchases and higher values per sale.

Conclusion

If someone makes an abandonment on your site, don’t despair. On the bright side, they were on your site, and have shown an interest. The important thing to do now, is to send the right message, to the right person, at the right time, using the right channel.

Like all behaviour-driven messages, process abandonment emails are inherently relevant because they’re based on specific actions a person took. By sending a follow-up series of messages, you can overcome whatever obstacles led to the abandonment, and ensure the right message is being sent to the recipient. 

 If you would like anymore information regarding abandoned shopping cart campaigns, and how best to set them up, feel free to contact me- Sarah Talbot: 0161 822 2558.