Email Marketing Levels of Permissions and Consent

The foundation of any effective email marketing program relies on permission. Legally, you have a few different options of how you want to obtain permission from your list, but it’s important to understand these different permission types and how they play a large role in how you increase deliverability and response rates. Today we’ll talk about a few email best practices for permission and consent, ultimately giving you higher delivery/open/response rates, a better customer experience, and increased retention and brand affinity.

The following permission acquisition methods are acceptable, but the use of each method requires attention to detail and careful execution to comply with industry regulations and best practices.

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Industry Experts Charged After False Reports of SEO’s Death

We all hear the false reports of SEO being dead — perhaps we should all listen, follow suit, pack our bags, and go home. Or, maybe we could continue our jobs, hoping that our clients won’t realize that the money they spend on SEO is a complete waste. Nevertheless, the ones who report SEO’s death are still pursuing the work; they’re doing exactly what they deem as “dead.”

I suggest looking beyond the subject of SEO as being something that evolves over time. Professionals in the space need to understand that SEO is changing for the better, with more attention being focused on how your site looks, how you’re producing content, and how you’re getting links.

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Who Else Wants to See the Tables Turn for Startups?

It’s no wonder that startups are such a large part of the American dream - a way to disobey authority while risking it all for exponential growth. As Steve Wozniak once said, “All the best things that I did at Apple came from (a) not having money and (b) not having done it before, ever. Every single thing that we came out with that was really great, I’d never once done that thing in my life.” 

Today I want to talk about something a little different - something I find intriguing and helpful to SMBs looking to do it big. That said, we’ll be talking about startups and their relationship with corporations.

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Using Reciprocity as a Weapon in Digital Marketing

Introduction

At the young age of 10, I was the victim of reciprocity in the retail environment. The occurrence remains in my memory because I wanted to try the newest soda on the market - Surge. This “Mountain Dew Killer” of a soda gave a heart-pounding, cardiac arrest-ish experience to anyone who consumed the green syrup. Moreso, they pushed the product down the throats of consumers, specifically that day when people in Surge garb gave me a free 2 liter of the stuff. Little did I know, they were using reciprocity in the form of a concession to make my ten-year-old-self an advocate of the product.

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5 Mad Scientist Experiments for Digital Advertising

Introduction

Not all mad scientists are villains or evil in nature. In fact, some may have good spirited intentions, even if their actions are dangerous or questionable, which can make them accidental villains. Some are even protagonists, such as Dexter in the animated series Dexter’s Laboratory, for those who remember the zany, boy genius who had an endless collection of inventions. Nonetheless, digital advertising involves a lot of experimentation, especially with images, colors, and fonts. If you’re invested in digital advertising, you should feel more comfortable about experimenting with your digital ads often, continuously refining certain elements to maximize performance. We wanted to brief you on some experiments to get the best performance out of your digital ads, and we’ll go ahead and get started.

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4 Less Direct Email Marketing Acquisition Tactics

Introduction

Third party email providers - “advocates” and “affiliates” - require additional diligence when it comes to the acquisition side of your email marketing efforts. This is mainly due to the variety of tactics they may use, from simple forward-to-a-friend mechanisms, to digital advertisements, to full-scale promotional email campaigns. Third party arrangements are especially troublesome due to the lack of brand control and lack of data about where email addresses are really coming from. Nowadays, too few marketers and SMBs actively monitor their affiliates’ email programs, putting their company’s bottom line and digital marketing strategy at risk.

We decided to compile a list of four common examples of third-party tactics used for email acquisition. These tactics are effective when used at the right time, for the right audience, but it’s important to understand how they work in getting you more email subscribers. Thing is, the third-party will not be held responsible for any CAN-SPAM or legal violations - you will.

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Landing Page Optimization Forces Consumer Commitment

We introduced the concept of landing page optimization (LPO) to y’all at the beginning of this year. If you remember, it was a two-parter (Search Marketing Special: Landing Page Optimization; and Pt. 2) on LPO and how it plays a significant role in search marketing, specifically to drive direct response from consumers who clicked on your search marketing advertisement. You also learned a few ways to improve the effectiveness of your landing pages, like adjusting the transparency of CTAs or the navigation of your website. Today, we’ll be extending the subject matter into how LPO drives direct response and ultimately increases the ROI of your website. 

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