Email Marketing Archives

Email Marketing

Social Media Case Study: SmartPak Equine

July 4, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Equestrian products is not the first category to come to mind when one thinks of social media case study, but SmartPak Equine proved that a proper strategy can work anywhere.

SmartPak Equine – an equestrian products company – uses triggered emails to drive sales, and though it may not be the most conventional use of the platform, they have seen some tremendous success.

Before getting into the campaigns that make up this social media case study, it is important to understand what triggered emails are. Unlike conventional automated “Welcome” or “Thank You” emails, event-triggered emails are sent out when an action or event prompts the email. For example, if I have an account, am loading products into my cart for an order and get distracted by a phone call causing me to abandon the order, an email will be sent to me that allows me to return top my cart and complete the order.

This is not always a preferred method by consumers – some find it a little too aggressive. However, SmartPak Equine noticed that their audience was responding well to these emails. Specifically, they were seeing a high level of engagement and conversion with three types of event-triggered emails: shipping reminders, product review reminders and abandoned cart reminders. (For full details on each of these three campaigns, read a breakdown here.)

These three types of triggered emails prompt further engagement with the brand’s website, encourage additional purchases and maintain brand awareness with customers to increase loyalty.

The results of this potentially risky approach has been a 28% open rate, a 5-6% clickthrough rate, a surprisingly high 11% conversion rate and a revenue per email nearly three times higher than conventional, manual email marketing.

So what can marketers learn from these event-triggered campaigns and the successes SmartPak Equine has garnered?

Understand Your Audience

This is not an email strategy that will work with every type of industry. SmartPak took the time to understand their audience, realize how niche they were and create a strategy that would appeal specifically to them.

It is crucial that you understand what your audience wants and how they interact with your brand before putting together a campaign – particularly one as aggressive as this.

Keep Your Audience Coming Back

Of the three most popular campaigns described above, two focus heavily on maintaining brand awareness with existing customers. Retaining clients and maintaining a relationship with them in order to keep them coming back is important to the long-term success of your brand. In order to ensure that this happens, you cannot rely entirely on the customer; you need to take some initiative.

Talk to your audience and customers (however and wherever possible) in order to keep your brand in mind next time they are looking to buy.

Don’t Pretend You Are Not a Business

The goal of every event-triggered email sent by SmartPak is sales. The results? 175% more revenue and 83% higher conversion rates. Social media is about being social and talking to your audience, that’s true. But a conversation will not keep you in business unless it leads to sales.

Make yourself human, talk to your audience and engage wherever you can, but use these conversations as a means of driving business.

SmartPak implemented all of these strategies and their efforts paid off handsomely.

Which of these tips do you think is most important to generating success with social media or email marketing? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter and have a happy 4th of July!

Instagram Video or Vine? Which Social Video Tool is Better for Business?

June 26, 2013/by Corey Padveen

To Instagram or to Vine? That is the question. Which social video tool is better for business?

The newest video feature on Instagram is one of the hottest topics in the world of social media, and rightfully so. This newly integrated social video tool means that Facebook (which owns Instagram) has taken yet another step further in controlling the social world.

A few months ago, Twitter introduced their social video tool, Vine. This was a big deal then and now everyone wants to know: which of these two platforms has more advantages for business?

Though they both possess some strong characteristics, when it comes to business, Instagram video has the edge. Below is a comparative justification for the advantages of Instagram for business.

Quality

One word: Cinema. This is the feature on Instagram’s video service that allows users to stabilize videos. This may not seem like much, but for businesses, it means the ability to create videos that appear somewhat more professional. Users can also edit videos on Instagram instead of scrapping them entirely and having to start over (which is a downside to Vine).

Second, as with it’s pictures, Instagram Video allows users to apply over a dozen filters to videos whereas Vine is a what-you-see-is-what-you-get platform (for now).

Length

You can do a lot of creative stuff on Vine in only six seconds, but imagine what you could do with twice that much (and a little bit more).

Videos made with Instagram can be up to 15 seconds long, lending businesses the opportunity to convey their message with a little more clarity. It also allows for a call-to-action to appear for an extra second or two. And in the online world, a second or two is a lifetime.

Embedding

Vine certainly has the edge here, and it is a big one.

Videos on Vine can be easily embedded while Instagram still has yet to include this feature. That’s a big plus for Vine, because it allows businesses to share their videos on different platforms, including their WordPress blog with the plugin, Embedly.

This is not unexpected. Facebook has been notoriously streamlining all of their efforts in order to, as we mentioned earlier, take over the Internet. Although it should not be long before we see some version of embedding capable with Instagram videos.

The same cannot be said for sharing, however.

Sharing

Videos on Instagram can be shared to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Foursquare, Flickr and via email. With Vine, your videos can only go as far as Facebook and Twitter.

Audience

Finally, the biggest difference of them all: the audience.

Vine currently has about 13 million users. Instagram’s user-base is ten times that! With such a vast audience on Instagram, you have to wonder if Vine is still a relevant and viable option for businesses on social media.

Vine is an intriguing tool, and can be a lot of fun. (Just look at comedian Will Sasso’s Lemon Compilation on Vine.) But when it comes to the benefits of a social video tool for business, Instagram certainly has the edge.

Have you used Instagram Video or Vine for business? Which one do you think is more beneficial? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Social Media Case Study: Sony

June 13, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Sony is not the first brand to come to mind when you think of Pinterest, but they managed to make themselves a powerful force on the network.

The logic was simple: everybody’s doing it, why don’t we? In 2011, Sony noticed the persuasion Pinterest had on purchasing mentality and decided to leverage the power of the network to increase traffic and, ideally, drive new sales.

Using a carefully coordinated strategy, Sony managed to garner 2,500 followers in the first six months of their activity on Pinterest, increase referral traffic from Pinterest to the Sony Store website by 800%, and collect more than 4 million brand impressions!

You can argue that Sony’s success came from their status as a brand on the market, but the reality is that Sony succeeded on Pinterest because of the course of action taken. The five lessons below detail what Sony did both before and after launching their Pinterest account and what marketers can learn from the strategy applied by Sony.

Do Some Research

While Sony had the added advantage of a brand that people were already talking about, it is important to do as much research as possible on your brand, competitors, industry leaders and, most importantly, your industry. Find out what people are already sharing and join an existing conversation instead of trying to start a new one. You might find it a lot easier to gain momentum.

Jump Right In

To truly succeed on social media – Pinterest or otherwise – you need to commit yourself and your team to the execution fully. Sony involved a huge part of their team when they started pinning. They did not want to ease their way into the community, they wanted to come in strong and get noticed. There are billions of conversations taking place and you need to find a way to get yourself noticed.

Mix It Up

After doing their research, Sony determined what topics were most relevant, most popular and most engaging, and created boards that fit into all of those categories. Do not limit yourself only to posts about your brand.

On the t2 Pinterest page, we share plenty of content about marketing, but we also share animal pictures, motivational quotes and healthy recipes! Be as broad as possible, because at the end of the day you want to reach as many people as you can. You never know where you might find new business!

Cross Promote Pinterest

Share your pins and promote your Pinterest page wherever you can. Sony posted their Pinterest account and their pins to other social networks, included links in email blasts and added links on their blog to drive new traffic to Pinterest. The more accessible your content is, the faster you will see eyes landing on it.

Pin It!

For Sony, the Pin It! button generated 10 times the number of clicks from the Sony Store than the Tweet This button. That means 10 times the number of links being generated on Pinterest than on Twitter and leading back to the store. Make your website Pinterest-friendly and your visitors will take care of the rest.

While we can’t all be Sony-sized brands, we can all develop strategies that lead to the same degree of success that Sony experienced. Whether your brand is big or small, your strategy is what will determine the value of your social media program.

What strategy do you incorporate into your Pinterest marketing? Has it worked? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

5 Tips to Optimize Landing Pages for Conversion

May 20, 2013/by Corey Padveen

If you properly optimize landing pages for conversion, then you can expect higher clicks, results and engagement!

Social media is a great referral source for landing pages, and with every landing page we are hoping for some form of conversion. Whether that is a sign-up, a download or a purchase, we want visitors to take that next step.

In order for a landing page to work in your favor and lead to that next step, you need to properly optimize landing pages for conversion. There are several ways you can go about doing this – after all, optimizing a site or a page may differ depending on who you are trying to target. But when it comes to surefire ways to effectively optimize landing pages for conversion, there are 5 main items that should always be on your checklist.

Is there a clear Call-to-Action (CTA)?

When I get to your landing page, do I know what to do next? Is it clear how I am supposed to proceed? This is going to be the most important element to any optimized page – you need a clear Call-to-Action.

According to the inbound marketing experts at HubSpot, you’ll want to avoid negative action phrases like “Submit” and focus more on phrases like “Download Now”, “Get Your Free Trial”, “Speak to an Expert” or “Buy Now”. This reduces anxiety and friction for the visitor.

Do You Convey Who You Are?

When I get to your landing page, do I know who you are? Be sure to brand your page. Consistency is everything when it comes to online marketing; you are creating a personality with which people are interacting, and that personality needs to be as apparent on your landing pages as it is on your social networks.

Is It Simple?

Am I going to be turned off by your landing page? Using flash, too many colors and varying fonts is going to turn people off and result in lower conversion rates. You are going to want to keep it simple, to the point and clean. The easier it is for the visitor to find and click on your CTA, the higher those rates are going to be.

(Extra Tip: The only area where there should be a contrasting color on your landing page is in the CTA button.)

Is Your Page Properly Formatted?

Headlines, images, and forms are just a few examples of professionalism when it comes to landing pages. And professionalism is key. If your page is all over the place and I don’t feel like it was put together with professionalism in mind, I am, in all likelihood, going to leave the page without asking for more information, buying now, or downloading your e-book. Proper formatting goes a long way.

Here are some examples of stunning, effective landing pages.

Can Your Content be Shared?

I love what I see. I not only want to get more information for myself, but for my colleagues and friends. Is there a simple way for me to do it?

Make sure your content is shareable. I shouldn’t have to copy your link, go to my Outlook, create an email and do the work for you; the more steps there are, the lower the conversion will be. With the click of a button (using ShareThis, for example) I should be able to share your content to every one of my social networks and my entire email address book.

While you are going to want to configure some landing pages differently based on the audience you are looking to target, these elements should remain consistent across every one of your landing page campaigns.

Have you seen success with landing pages? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Social Media Case Study: Harley-Davidson

April 18, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Harley-Davidson is known to have one of the most active social media programs of any major brand, but the use of mobile marketing by Route 66 Harley-Davidson was exceptionally impressive.

At Christmas time in 2011, the local Oklahoma Harley-Davidson dealership, Route 66 Harley-Davidson, decided to launch a social media campaign, designed by 7 Media Group, that took advantage of the growing number of mobile users. The holidays are always a time for marketing innovation and that has been especially true with social media. And the 12 Days of Christmas campaign by Route 66 is a perfect example of that.

The Campaign and Goals

Route 66 had a very specific goal in mind: they wanted to maintain visibility with current customers and generate increased revenue by attracting a new customer base during the holiday season. Sounds simple enough. After all, the holidays are a great time for promoting your products since consumers are out looking to buy. But when every brand from Wal-Mart to Microsoft is promoting holiday specials, and your brand is known as a luxury item that not everyone can afford, you need to find a way to compete.

Route 66 decided they would take advantage of social media and promote a 12-day SMS campaign to their fans, followers and customers. Essentially, Route 66 created a Call-to-Action (CTA) encouraging users both in-store and online to text RT66 to a designated number. If they did, they would receive twelve days of discounts, whereby the dealership offered a 20% discount on different items each day.

For Route 66, the holidays were typically slower. People seemed to forget that there is so much more to the Harley-Davidson brand than just motorcycles. So Route 66 decided to do the most obvious thing with a social media twist: remind them!

The results were outstanding. For the items being promoted in the campaign, sales skyrocketed. For example, one of the promotions was for T-shirts. On that particular day, sales were 250% more than a normal day of business. On Helmet Day, the single-day sales equaled the previous week’s in their entirety. Furthermore, there was an increase in dealership traffic as a result, and that could easily turn into new customers down the road.

The Lessons

There are a few important takeaways from the social media and mobile marketing techniques used by Route 66.

Always Use a Call-to-Action

For Route 66, it was simply encouraging social media users and customers to opt-in. Where was the incentive? They were receiving discounts. Your CTA’s should be direct, clear and require little from the customer, regardless of what your campaign is.

Campaigns, emails, posts, and anything else you can think of with CTA’s often see at least twice as much engagement as those without. Don’t rely on people to take that next step on their own – help them out!

Cover All Your Bases

Route 66 engaged customers and fans both in-store and on social media. Why? Because choosing one or the other no longer applies when you want to have a successful campaign. As the promotion approached, Route 66 needed to ensure that every avenue through which they could engage with their audience was covered and covered thoroughly. So next time you are putting together a campaign – regardless of its nature – be sure you reach out to your leads on every avenue and do it often.

Keep Them Coming Back

Route 66 had twelve promotions over twelve days leading up to Christmas. (The campaign ran from December 12-24.) Users could opt-in at any time, and the campaign was promoted simultaneously with the live event. Don’t stop promoting your campaigns once they have started. People hate the idea of feeling like they missed out, and if you can put together a longer campaign that gives people a chance to take advantage of your offer, you stand to generate a much greater return than if you create a campaign that is somewhat exclusive.

Keep It Simple

Sure, a fancy, multi-layered campaign might wow your audience, but what it has in flash it lacks in simplicity. Simple is good. People like the idea of taking one step and reaching the finish line. Making your clients jump through hoops creates a disincentive to participate. Do you think Route 66 would have seen the same success if customers had to go online, create an account, fill out a survey, print coupons and, after all that, be in the store on the right day to redeem it? Probably not. This is a method that deters a lot of people and can be much more expensive. So, put yourself in the customer’s shoes and ask yourself, really, if you would participate in the promotion.

By engaging an audience on social media and creating a simple, straightforward campaign, Route 66 was able to do exactly what they set out to do. The goals were clear from the start and the methods were easy for both Route 66 and the customer. The results speak for themselves.

Have you tried your hand at a mobile marketing campaign? Was it successful? Why or why not? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

6 Blogging Tips for Maximum Engagement

April 17, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Blogging can be a huge asset to your website and business, but only if it engages your readers.

Web logs (blogs) were around long before Facebook or Twitter, and along with email, blogging was one of the first forms of social networking. When it comes to online marketing, few things can be as beneficial to your business as blogging. That said, there are a few important things marketers need to know before jumping into the world of blogging.

Engagement is crucial if you want your blog to succeed. Indexing thousands of blog posts is great, but only if there are people showing up to read and share them. So, how do you go about optimizing your blog for maximum engagement?

Below are 6 helpful blogging tips that you can use to increase engagement with your audience.

1. Write What You Know

This may seem like a given. After all, if you know about wine, you’re not necessarily going to start a blog about brain surgery. (Unless you’re a brain surgeon with a phenomenal palate.) And as long as you write about what you know, it will not be long before your audience perceives you as an expert and begins to engage with your content.

On the other hand, writing ignorantly will turn your audience off, and you’ll have a tough time getting them to stick around or come back for more.

2. Integrate Your Social Channels

It should be easy for your audience to share your content. If they like what they see, they should be able to easily share it with their friends. This is the viral effect and it is one of the fastest ways to build your audience (and clout). So when you build your blog, make it social friendly. Each post should have the ability to be shared right from the page. (ShareThis and Shareaholic are great integrations for this.)

3. Write for Your Audience

Be sure you know who you are writing for and use a rhetoric appropriate for them. Going back to the example of the brain surgeon, the doctor surely knows a lot of technical jargon, and that would be great if he or she is writing for the medical community. But if the posts are intended for you average patient audience, then using latin phrases and medical terminology may not be the best option. You want to be sure that the audience you are writing for is able to relate to the content. Otherwise, how could they be engaged? They don’t understand!

4. Address Important Issues

When people read blogs, they are looking for a few specific things. The overall theme of these things: value. If I am going to take time out of my day to read your blog, I need to know that I am getting something out of it. So when you start blogging, consider writing about a few of the following:

Addressing common problems, issues, questions.
Focus on industry-specific keywords.
Lists (Top 6 Blogging Tips, 5 Best Social Media Tools, etc.)
Pros and Cons (product comparison/review articles).

These are just a few of the hottest topics to cover when writing a blog. These types of posts see much higher engagement and are typically what people are looking for when they stumble upon your post organically.

5. Be Original

There are billions of indexed pages on the web and hundreds of millions of blogs. Chances are, unless you are a Nobel Prize-winning theorist, other people are talking about the same topic you are. So think carefully about what angle you want to use when approaching your topic, and emphasize what will make you stand out from the crowd. You might be saying the same thing as a lot of others, but your idea isn’t just X, it’s X plus Y. When people see something they haven’t seen before, or even see something familiar in a different light, they are going to be intrigued.

6. Close with a Call-to-Action

Whether it’s a request to sign up, a question or asking your readers to share the article, you want to close out every post with a call-to-action (CTA). CTA’s are statistically proven to increase engagement for one simple reason: people respond to them. The best way to engage with your audience is to get the process started for them, and when it comes to blogging, the best way to do that is to incite a second step at the end of your post.

These are just a few helpful pointers that you can apply to your blogging to increase engagement. There is plenty more that can be done, but each of these methods is shown to give engagement a boost.

Which of these tips do you think is most beneficial to increasing blogging engagement? Can you think of others? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Twitter Marketing: 7 Tools to Maximize Your Success

March 25, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Twitter marketing is greatly improved with the help of certain tools, but it is important to remember that your strategy is what drives your overall success.

Twitter celebrated their seventh anniversary late last week, and we thought it would be fitting to open this week with a discussion of Twitter marketing tools, and what seven of the best tools are when it comes to your success with regards to Twitter marketing.

Before we delve in to the list, however, it is important to note that Twitter marketing tools are great when you have a strategy in place, but you cannot expect your efforts to succeed with the tools alone. These are complimentary tools to simplify the Twitter marketing process and help you maximize your success on Twitter in the most efficient way possible. What is important to keep in mind is that you need to utilize the information that these tools provide and incorporate that into your strategy in order to reap the most benefits. Now, with that disclaimer in place, here are seven of the best tools to help you optimize your Twitter marketing.

1. Followerwonk

Followerwonk is Twitter lists on steroids. Imagine the ability to delve deep into Twitter profiles, analyze leads and segment those leads based on the information you extrapolate. That is the Followerwonk specialty. Furthermore, you have the ability to track followers and watch ongoing statistics and insights as they are gathered in order to keep your Twitter marketing efforts up to date.

With Followerwonk, you can compare, analyze, track and sort your followers in order to keep your Twitter profile as organized as possible and increase the efficiency of your marketing.

2. Tweriod

We recently posted an article detailing some of the best times to post to social networks. Tweriod is all about your best time to post on Twitter. It takes a sample of your followers, analyzes their activity and provides you with a detailed report on when to post to your Twitter feed to maximize your exposure.

3. SocialBro

SocialBro, in similar fashion to Tweriod, produces reports to help you optimize your Twitter marketing. Where SocialBro differs, however, is in the depth of these reports. The pro version of SocialBro provides detailed insights about your followers, your community, your lists – you name it, SocialBro has reports for it.

The in-depth analysis in the SocialBro reports also tell you about your influencers and whom you are influencing. Using this feature, you can monitor your Twitter clout and see where your efforts to build up your reputation are paying off.

4. Twitonomy

Twitonomy is a Twitter analytics tool to help you analyze and modify your internal Twitter strategy. The tool breaks down your activity on the social network and provides you with insights to help you increase the efficiency and appearance of your profile.

Furthermore, it is a great tool when it comes to cleaning out your profile and keeping your following list as professional and targeted as possible.

5. TwileShare

Ever wanted to share more on Twitter? Sure, you can upload photos and now, with Vine, some short videos, but to get the most out of sharing on Twitter, TwileShare is your go-to.

With TwileShare, you can share plenty of content (e.g. photos, PDFs, ebooks, documents, etc.) and monitor statistics to see how that content is being shared and viewed on the network.

This is a great tool for those looking to look deeper into their viral exposure on Twitter.

6. Twilert

Social listening is crucial for brands looking to manage their reputation using social media. Twilert allows you to monitor mentions of your brand, service, competitors, etc. and receive a digest email letting you know what those mentions are. For those looking for a simple, easy-to-use and free listening tool, Twilert is one of the best ones around.

7. Twitter Counter

Twitter Counter has a free version and a pro version. For all things Twitter profile-related, Twitter Counter is an amazing tool. It shows you the growth of your account, insights into your activity, the average activity on your account and your place on Twitter relative to others.

Of course, the pro version of Twitter Counter has plenty more to offer as far as in-depth insights into your account.

These are just a few of the great tools that exist when it comes to maximizing your internal Twitter marketing efforts. As we noted above, Twitter marketing is all about strategy. These tools are intended to add to your existing efforts, not replace them entirely. Understanding Twitter and how to approach the network from a marketing perspective is worth much more than any tool can give you. But with this knowledge, these tools will make the job that much easier.

What tools do you use when it comes to Twitter marketing? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Email Marketing: Tips to Your Success

March 5, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Email marketing is still one of the most popular forms of online engagement with potential clients, so how can you maximize the success of your email marketing campaigns?

We all know about the power of email marketing. E-blasts continue to be one of the top choices for online marketing when it comes to engaging with an audience of either existing or potential clients. The only problem with email marketing is that returns are low, and it takes at least six blasts before you start to see some engagement.

Below, we have featured a few great tips to help you boost your email marketing to increase opens, decrease conversion time and optimize your time spent on A-B testing in order to turn your email marketing into a winning strategy.

When Should You Send Your Email?

This is one of the most frequently asked questions when it comes to email marketing. When is the best day or time to be sending an email? Now, of course, every experience is going to be different. Statistics may suggest one thing, but it would be irresponsible to say, point blank, that, “Tuesdays at noon are the best time of the week to send an email.” However, that is not to say that with the use of some of these statistics we can determine a formula that is very close.

Let’s start with the best time of day. Statistics collected in a study conducted by GetResponse show that there are two time periods throughout the day that have higher open rates than any other: early in the day between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. and later in the afternoon between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. Average open rates and click through rates (CTRs) can increase by 6% at these times during the day.

With regards to the best day of the week to send an e-blast, you should be looking towards the middle. Contrary to what some may think, the weekends are notoriously quiet for email activity, and thus weekend campaigns are largely ignored and unsuccessful. The beginning of the week (i.e. Monday) has people feeling down and catching up on what was missed over the weekend. Therefore, your promotional e-blast will likely be tossed in the virtual trash. So. the middle of the week is your best bet, particularly Tuesday and Wednesday.

Now as for that blanket statement as to when you should be scheduling your email marketing, the numbers suggest that late afternoon in the middle of the week would be your optimal point of success.

When Are Emails Read?

It may be nice to think that weeks after you send out your email campaign someone may click through to your page, but realistically, the likelihood of that falls somewhere in the realm of rare to never. The truth of the matter is your email has a shorter lifespan than you might think.

Now, when compared to the shelf life of a Facebook post (experts argue that it is relevant for up to three hours) or a tweet (anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour at most) an email can live for an eternity. But with each passing minute, the likelihood of an open or a click shrinks considerably. According to the GetResponse study, 23.63% of all email opens will occur in the first hour. 9.52% in the second, 6.33% in the third and downward from there. This is why the timing of your message is important. Scheduling an email campaign for midnight so that it is the “first thing they’ll see in the morning!” will get you nowhere.

Pay Attention to Time Zones

Where is your audience? Are they primarily on the East Coast? Are they living on Pacific Time? Maybe they all work out of Hong Kong. Regardless of where they are, if they are not in the same time zone as you, they are not going to be getting the email at the same time. So while you might think that an email marketing campaign going out on a Tuesday at 3 p.m. will generate the best results, if half of your audience is based on Hong Kong and you haven’t factored that in, you’re dead wrong.

Luckily, many mailing services (such as MailChimp) offer the option of setting time zone fluctuation so that your emails are sent at the same time in every city in the world. Some of these features are for premium members, but that’s a small price to pay for increased conversions.

TEST!

While these might be some helpful tips backed by some strong numbers, that still does not mean that you are guaranteed success. Make sure you test your campaigns from a variety of angles before making a decision as to the best avenue for your future success in email marketing. At the end of the day, this is the only way to truly see what your best options are!

Where have you found success when it comes to email marketing? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

YouTube Marketing Optimization

February 18, 2013/by Corey Padveen

YouTube marketing is one of the best resources we have as marketers, but how can we measure if our efforts are paying off?

YouTube is a search engine, and like any search engine, a marketer’s goal is to rank highly for specified keywords and drive traffic and business from our YouTube marketing efforts. But, like any social media program, we need to be able to measure our campaigns and the success of our YouTube marketing efforts. Behind the channel there is an entire set of statistics and measurable data that we can use to see exactly where our YouTube marketing efforts are paying off, and where we need to improve them.

Below is a set of tips that you can use when it comes to YouTube marketing to measure exactly how effective your strategies are. You might be surprised to find just how much information you can pull directly from the backend of your YouTube channel.

Look Into Your Analytics

First of all, where can we find all of this stored information about our videos? In the top search bar of a YouTube account, there is a small dropdown menu where you can select your analytics.

It is in this analytics section where you can begin evaluating the success of your YouTube marketing. The YouTube analytics dashboard allows users to both measure basic information, such as viewer demographics and traffic sources, as well as engagement statistics, which allow you to measure how your videos are performing with your audience. These data are very helpful when it comes to modifying your YouTube marketing campaigns, as they indicate where your work needs improvement and where you are finding the most success with your video marketing. Paying attention to these figures will help you optimize your YouTube marketing to ensure that you are not losing anything (from time to audience engagement) with each of your videos.

Your Most Important Data

There is plenty of information to look through in the backend of your YouTube channel. It can become almost overwhelming. What is important? What should you focus on? These are not the easiest questions to answer when you have so much to sift through.

Perhaps the two most important areas of focus in your Reports section are your Traffic Sources and your Audience Retention. (In the menu on the right.) Let’s have a look at those a little more closely.

Your Traffic Sources are going to be one of the most important elements to look at when evaluating your YouTube marketing efforts. These tell you exactly where your viewers are coming from. This will help you structure future campaigns outside of YouTube to drive the most traffic from your most popular sources. Are your email campaigns driving the most viewers to your videos? Maybe it is your social media efforts on other networks, like Facebook or Twitter, that are bringing in the most views. This is where you can find out.

Knowing where your traffic is coming from will allow you to cut out the time you spend marketing on networks that are not driving any traffic to your YouTube channel and focus entirely on areas where you are seeing success. This increases the efficiency of your YouTube marketing and helps maximize your return on investment (time, in this case).

Audience Retention is another crucial focal point of these statistics. Say, for example, you put together a video campaign with a call to action at the end of a video. Then you put together another one with a call to action at the beginning. Which one is driving conversions? You can see this with your Audience Retention tool. Note in the image below that there is a drop off at a certain point in your videos. People have an inherently short attention span when it comes to YouTube, and the longer your video, the less likely it is that people will stay to the very end. We have found that the optimal length of a YouTube video is somewhere in the ballpark of two minutes. After that, audiences tend to move on to something else. So, when it comes to YouTube, a video search engine with billions of options to choose from, the shorter the better. And all of this is available in the Audience Retention report of your YouTube analytics dashboard.

How Are You Engaging?

Engagement is a cornerstone of any successful social media marketing campaign. And contrary to what a conventional understanding of the term ‘engagement’ might suggest, engagement on social media is more about your brand and your audience. It is not solely about how you are engaging with your audience, but also about how your audience is engaging with you. The engagement reports in YouTube focus on your audience’s engagement with your brand on YouTube.

This section is wonderful for tailoring your YouTube marketing to the preferences of your audience. You can find out what videos people like best, where they are commenting most and when your engagement is taking place. Again, this is an area that will help you maximize the efficiency of a campaign and your return on investment.

These are just a few of the great analytics tools available in the backend of YouTube. Of course, like anything, the best way to learn is by doing. So have a look at the analytics dashboard of your YouTube channel and find out where your efforts are paying off. Then tell us how you use the YouTube analytics dashboard in the comments below or on Twitter!

Email Marketing

t2Marketing International

Marketing Rundown

Insights

Books, white papers and more

Specialized Expertise