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Category: Industry Trends

  • How to Build a Profitable Opt In List

    How to Build a Profitable Opt In List

    The unfortunate truth is that many online marketers are not making any profits, and as more individuals and big companies join the fray, the competition is becoming more cutthroat and novices are finding it harder to stay afloat. Nevertheless, there is a wealth of information on how to succeed in online marketing. If you are constantly searching for new ideas, you may have learned about “opt in” lists. An opt in list is a list of prospects and customers who have joined your email list by signing up using their names or email addresses. If you don’t know how to build a profitable opt in list, however, you won’t be generating nearly as many leads as you could be.

    When you build up your subscriber list, you stand a better chance of generating more revenue. Here are four proven methods on how to build a profitable opt in list:

    Aim at getting your customers to trust you first.

    Simply launching an opt-in list will not suddenly make you a believable seller. You will need to do more. To start, publish articles and other content before you begin building your opt-in list. Write about a topic that you are knowledgeable with. You could begin by publishing your work in online forums to gauge the needs and wants of your customers. Then target those specific areas.

    Focus on providing expert advice and recommendations.

    Once you feel that you can earn the trust of users, create an opt-in list option and build a base on the forum users. Invite them to join your list. Do not neglect your friends. They can be your first customers, so meet with as many of them face-to-face and tell them what your business is about. Remember that you will only start seeing returns if customers and subscribers trust you.

    Create useful products, not just hype.

    There is a misconception that online marketing is primarily about creating hype. While this may work at times, your most important responsibility is to make sure that your customers will find your product or service useful. You need to conduct research on the preferences of buyers so that you can tailor your goods to address these needs. This way, you will be build trust. It is not about what you think will be interesting to your potential customers. Let your production be guided by qualitative research.

    Build relationships with other opt-in list users.

    Find online marketers who have been successful doing this and learn from them. Why repeat the mistakes that have been made by others? Experience is the best teacher, but you do not have to make mistakes to learn.

    Nothing is more important than getting a firsthand account from someone you can trust. Experienced opt-in users will advise you on what to do and how to navigate various obstacles. This can be very helpful, especially when you are starting out.

  • The Five-Step Guide to Mobile Marketing Automation

    The Five-Step Guide to Mobile Marketing Automation

    By Sophorn Chhay

    Your mobile marketing strategy might be watertight, but amazing products won’t sell themselves. If you’ve covered all the bases, and if you’ve anticipated future marketing forecasts, it might be time to consider automation. Mobile marketing automation is extremely important for online marketing because it directly affects the customer’s user experience. Likewise, if a customer has a poor mobile experience, chances are your business will suffer.

    Mobile Marketing Automation

    Firstly, assuming you’ve developed a mobile app, streamline your platform for quick downloads and a seamless UI. Once you’ve created the bare bones, it’s time to automate. Mobile marketing automation engages customers. It drives sales and garners results with custom-tailored options. Your brand and app alike deserve a personalized touch, and your consumers will thank you for automated messages along communication channels. Check out our rundown of mobile marketing automation below, and take advantage of the excellent strategies the world’s professionals have crafted:

    Step One: Target Consumer Segments

    Your consumer population is big, and it deserves a properly mapped-out marketing channel to succeed. You need to segment your users into separate categories before you can automate your mobile strategy, and you need to harness effective campaign plotting before succeeding with an SMS rollout. Segment your users by the following criteria:

    ● Area context, like Location, weather and nearby events
    ● Demographics, like marital status, gender and age
    ● Active time of day, work hours and weekend behavior

    Once you’ve divided your population, you can begin targeting them with specialized messages.

    Step Two: Trigger App Engagement

    Once you’ve created a segment plan, it’s time to impact users with app engagement. While SMS output is “the name of the game,” further engagement via mobile app ensures a rock-solid automated mobile marketing platform.

    Mobile apps are integral to your marketing strategy. In fact, they constitute 89 percent of your consumer’s media time on mobile. While planning your advertisement campaigns, direct users to your app platform via automation. Once you have, automate them further by:

    ● Prompting them to take action
    ● Encouraging them to revisit your app
    ● Assist them with activity completion

    Step Three: Establish Direct Connection

    Mobile automation benefits consumer connection, too. Automated SMS programs, when properly aimed, can direct users to your webmail platform. Moreover, they can institute a series of prompts capable of garnering direct communication channels.

    While an SMS platform is already “direct connection,” it’s still automated. Your key goals should rest in the consumer’s need to connect further. Here, benefits and location-based services are handy. Within the next three to four years, 94 percent of CMOs plan to execute mobile app strategies. Your benefits must extend from your SMS campaign, because a huge disconnect exists between business providers and cross-channel consumers.

    Step Four: Direct Automation Towards Social Media

    Social media is a natural partner of mobile marketing automation. Why? Because it garners big numbers, shares a lot of content and fosters in-depth relationships. Social media is also the home to Millennials. Currently, 50 percent of Millennials utilize their smartphones to research services, products and brand information. They’re a key demographic to your success, and they’re thriving on Facebook and Twitter.

    When possible, direct your consumers from automated SMS campaigns to your social media presence. Furthermore, workbackwards. Social media is a fantastic reverse-op source for cross-platform potential. Your social media presence should link users to your e-commerce site, encourage text communication and invoke direct communication to your brand.

    Step Five: Study the Data, and Provide Benefits

    Consumers like value, and they’ll connect with your brand if you can provide it. Once you’ve automated your platform, discover their preferences with data-gathering analysis. If you can discover their preferences, you won’t need to automate on smaller levels.

    Such smaller levels are vital to your strategy, too, as small consumer segments constitute a huge portion of return brand visitors. The market will change, but loyal followers will stay. Check out performance indicators, and personalize all of your marketing efforts. When possible, gather information from sales participants, and measure which strategies enhance your brand’s perceived value.

    While you’re at it, check out these five tips for effective bulk texting strategies.

    The consumer is always right, and they should be examined for their reasoning. Ironically, mobile marketing automation’s end-game is to reduce the need for automation. Automation providers sheer numbers, but long-lasting brands deliver value and drive consumer behavior. Don’t worry, you’ll always benefit from automation, but your brand’s durability, in the long haul, will carry itself into the newest stages of smartphone and consumer behavior development.

    Author Biography
    Sophorn Chhay
    Sophorn is an inbound marketer specializing in attracting targeted visitors and generating sales qualified leads. Through Trumpia’s mass text messaging automation solution he helps businesses and organizations communicate effectively with their customers or members.

  • Use KPIs To Evaluate Your Business Accomplishments

    A key performance indicator (KPI) is the backbone of any business goal or initiative. KPIs are used to monitor the most important areas of a business and are the basis for deciding whether an initiative is succeeding or failing. It’s important for the leaders of a business to understand what their KPIs are and why they are important to achieving the goal at hand.
     
    Deciding which KPIs to track can be deceiving. The most commonly referred to KPIs for many business owners are revenue or sales. However, revenue and sales are simply metrics and each is not necessarily a KPI. They become KPIs when they are put into the context of a business goal.
     
    Instead of just increasing overall revenue, why not set a goal to increase average revenue per order? By selecting a specific KPI, the business owner has a true percentage to work with. He or she can monitor this over time, chart the progress and make adjustments. Identify a goal that can be measured by a metric and figure out how to transform it into a KPI.
     
    Ratios and percentage tend to make great KPIs. It does not do any good to double your sales volume if the average order price is discounted at 50 percent.
     
    KPIs can include any number of elements and they will vary depending on the goals of the organization. Some common KPIs might include:
     

    •Net Profit
    • Customer Engagement
    • Customer Complaints
    • Market Share
    • Carbon Footprint
    • Employee Satisfaction
    • Return On Investment (Roi)
    • Share Of Voice
    • Newsletter Engagement

     
    One you have identified a business goal or initiative, defining the proper KPIs becomes much easier. If one of my business goals is to increase sales through our newsletter, I would look at KPIs such as the percentage of website visitors that sign up for the newsletter. I would also look at the percentage of people opening the newsletter and the percentage of people who click my website link. Once I have identified which areas provide the most important information for reaching my business goal, I will figure out what adjustments need to be made.
     
    To increase the conversion rate of email sign ups, I might use a special promotion or make the call-to-action button more prominent on the website. To increase the email open rate, I can experiment with different headlines. Again, once the KPIs are identified, the path to success will become much clearer and the goal much more attainable.

  • DigitalParc Is Now A Google Partner!

    Google Partners is Google’s program for advertising agencies, digital marketing professionals and SEO consultants. The program is designed to help agencies stay informed on current trends. In addition, the program offers agencies access to updated educational material related to Google’s vast and ever-growing list of tools and services.

     

    The digital world changes rapidly and it is crucial that you stay ahead of the curve. Having become a Google Partner, the team at DigitalParc will have even more resources to significantly improve the Internet marketing ROI of its clients. Our status gives us access to Google’s newest features, even before they are available to the public. Any project assigned to our team will be completed faster and in a more effective way.

     

    Search engine optimization (SEO), pay per click (PPC), content syndication, social media marketing, and web design are only a few of the many avenues that businesses should take to enhance their reputation and online visibility.

     

    Of course, not every business has the resources needed to make use of every major digital marketing opportunity. Some business employ entire teams to strategize and manage their campaigns and marketing initiatives. Others partner with professional digital marketing agencies – such as DigitalParc – to ensure they remain competitive online. Working with an agency will not only enhance your ROI; it is cost-efficient. DigitalParc offers services at the most competitive rates in the industry, delivering superior results throughout the process.

     

    DigitalParc is an Internet marketing partner that specializes in web design, SEO and paid search. We continue to work passionately to keep our clients ahead of the competition. By becoming a Google Partner, we have made an even stronger commitment to our clients and our craft.

  • 8 Strategies to Increase Online Traffic

    The whole point of having a website is to help people find you in order to buy your product or service. Below are eight marketing techniques to help you increase your online traffic by staying active in the online world.

     

    1. Trade Banners. Find a company that also sells products or services in your market. Contact them to trade a banner ad with them. You can promote their website and they will promote yours.

     

    1. Start Blogging. Blogging keeps your content moving and helps Google see that your site is active. A stagnant site is one that never changes and has no new content. A blog will be a great way to offer information, advice and experience to the people who are looking for it. With active and moving content, it will be much easier to get high rankings in the major search engines.

     

    1. Combine Photos and Text. People like different types of graphics or photos on a blog post. The way to make the photo optimized online is to add text to the photo. This allows search engines to “read” the picture and add it to relevant content on your page. Your photo can be both an eye pleaser and a traffic-driving tool.

     

    1. Guest Post. Write blog posts for other people’s blogs that are in your industry. While doing so, have a link back to your website. This will make both of you look good.

     

    1. Reply to Comments. On any blog post, you could have people reply with comments about the post. Respond to them. Do it in a thoughtful manner where the reader knows that you appreciate them taking the time to read your content. Your responses are public, so be mindful of your words used so that they can’t be misinterpreted.

     

    1. Participate in Industry Talk. Whether it is on industry online forums, blogs, or social media sites, make your presence known. Comment on blog posts about your reaction, add valuable information to online forums, and connect with your customers or industry related folks on twitter and Facebook.

     

    1. Utilize Twitter. Send out tweets on Twitter that are encouraging, informational, or funny. This could be thanking an influencer, or contributing a valuable piece of information. Hashtags and @mentions are everything on Twitter. So know who and what you are connecting yourself with when you use them—but they must be used in order to be seen.

     

    1. Facebook Posting. Facebook is where just about everyone is anyway, so you might as well join the crowd if you want to be heard. Facebook posts can be a great way to get your name out to people. Connecting your business info and website to your Facebook page will help people get to your actual site and see your products.

     

  • A Quick Guide to Social Media Marketing

    Once you have built your website, driving traffic to that website is paramount to the success of your business. We have discussed strategies so far that include SEO and various PPC and online advertising campaigns, but we cannot underscore the amazing power that social media harnesses when it comes to driving traffic to your website. Whenever you or someone else shares a link to your website using a social media account, it builds links for search engines to index, building up your website’s reputation and authority and boosting organic results.

    The utilization of social media networks or channels to promote your website and content can greatly complement an Internet marketing plan and optimize website hits and visits, especially in business to business (B2B) sectors.

    The leading social media networks for promotion of your website that lead to increased traffic and conversion are:

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • Instagram

    Facebook remains the top social media network across the globe. With over one billion active users, this social media giant cannot be overlooked when it comes to driving traffic to your website. Creating a business page, inviting friends to follow and like the page and consistently updating the page with fresh content that links out to your website will drive traffic to your site and increase your rankings within search engines. Facebook also allows businesses to create targeted advertising campaigns that provide powerful results.

    Twitter currently commands the ranking as the second most powerful social media network, especially with regard to microblogging and current events. Its functionality allows businesses to easily follow, promote and engage with each other using hashtags. Hashtags allow you to follow specific social media conversations, while Twitter lists boast your credibility within specific niches or industries. Viral content can drive astounding amounts of traffic to your website very quickly.

    LinkedIn is the leading professional networking social media network and has more than 100 million users (who tend to be very active). LinkedIn can drive traffic to your site by allowing you to create a Company Page where you can share industry insights, connect and network with other professionals and share content. Your content may get re-shared or commented on by a segment that is mostly made up of professionals looking to gain business, connections and credibility within the professional world. Sharing posts that link to your website can increase high-producing traffic. LinkedIn has also recently announced new analytic insights that can assist with determining if your marketing efforts are reaching your desired audience.

    Instagram is by far the leading social media network for photo sharing. While Instagram is a powerful engagement tool that can be used to inspire members of the social network, offering up a social media site that has more than 100 million accounts sharing nearly 40 million images on a daily basis, it is best used for customer interaction and brand building rather than driving traffic to your website.

    The primary concern cited by advertising experts is that Instagram makes it difficult to actually drive traffic to your website. This is because Instagram does not allow traffic to be directed from a particular image to your website. The only live link that directs traffic to your website is the one that you use in your business profile bio. The use of hashtags and following of potential customers and interacting with them is the primary marketing benefit cited for this social media platform.

  • Why A/B Testing is a Valuable Marketing Tool

    When it comes to marketing your product or service, there is much to be said of A/B testing. This is the process of testing two versions of a product or service to see which is more popular among the masses. It is valuable in helping anyone with either a new business or product determine how well it will do. It is also helpful if you have two different website styles that you want to check out against what the crowd likes. This can give you the edge on the competition and allow you to use the one that best fits the market needs.

    What Can A/B Testing Be Used For?

    A/B testing can be used in all market types and is an excellent measuring tool with regard to what your niche market needs or wants the most. Marketing practitioners can perform these tests on a random group to see which product or marketing platform is the most affective for your niche clients. With professional help you can get the most for your money in your ultimate marketing plan and use what is proving to be the best laid plan for your situation.

    A/B split testing is largely used to enhance pay per click (PPC) campaigns, especially in when it comes to testing which alteration to your on-page elements – such as your headings and product images – yield the highest conversion rate and-or sales. In addition, brands that utilize email marketing often apply A/B testing to improve their click-through rates.

    Online marketing may have changed the way that you run your business, but A/B testing is still an important part of running an online marketing campaign. It allows you to truly get an idea of what your potential customers are looking for so that you can allocate your funds to those specific areas. In marketing, wasted time results in wasted money and getting such results will help you save on both. Whether you have a new online product that you want to market or you want to see what marketing platform your customers like the best, A/B testing can help supply you with the answers in an organized manner when you have professionals by your side.

    Learn More:

    If are interested in implementing an A/B testing campaign or would simply like to learn more about it, please contact the digital marketing professionals at DigitalParc. To begin, please fill out our simple contact form or call our staff at 612-845-5590.

  • 3 Advantages of Influencer Relationships

    When it comes to marketing your website and business, one of the oldest means possible is still one of the foundations today. Networking is the key to keeping your business flush with new customers. In terms of internet marketing and networking, building relationships with influencers can make all of the difference. Below are three of the many reasons that you might want to work to build these relationships.

     

    You can increase word-of-mouth. Influencers that you build relationships with have the ability to help move news of your business to others that they know. These individuals tend to have a wide following of people that listen to what they say. This means that if they are able to spread the news of what you have to offer to others, you are likely to gain many new customers.

     

    You can speed up your brand’s exposure. When you build relationships with influencers in your niche or market, you will find that it is much easier to get the exposure your business needs quickly. This means that if you have a new sale, new information or a new topic that you want everyone to know about right away, you are likely to have more success with the help of these influencers. They have large numbers of followers that they can share this information with and these follows look to the influencers as authority on the topics at hand.

     

    An influencer can provide education and mentoring. Building relationships with influencers in your niche can also be beneficial to your business and marketing because you will be able to learn from them. This means that you can pick up on marketing strategies that you could implement into your business efforts. These are likely tested and proven to be effective for helping your business grow. They have the tools to help you learn more and learn fast, bettering your own marketing campaign along the way.

  • 4 Ways Proper Web Design Can Enhance Your Search Engine Optimization

    When designing a website, many amateur web designers place too much focus on the visual appeal of a site instead of its user experience. This is a mistake for two reasons. The first is that – although a website might look pretty – the site’s visitors will not spend much time on the site if they have trouble navigating it. The second is that if your site is not user friendly, it is unlikely that search engines like Google and Bing will recognize its relevance. This will result in your site not being visible to search engine users. The key is to focus on both the visual appeal and the user experience. Your site needs to make a good first impression and grab the user’s attention right away. In addition, your site should be easy to use and interactive so that you keep users interested and enhance your search engine visibility.

    Four web design elements that can enhance the search engine visibility of your website:


    Mobile Optimization.     Search engines are putting more emphasis on mobile friendly websites. If your website is hard to view on a smartphone or tablet, you may be penalized by search engines in the near future and lose your visibility.

    Many designers create a mobile-optimized website separate from the main company website. Today, the best practice is to have one site that is optimized for both mobile and desktop. Not only will this improve your SEO; it will improve your user experience and your overall website success.

    XML Sitemaps. Having an XML sitemap does not directly impact SEO. However, an XML sitemap will help notify Google of any changes you make on your site. This means that your pages will be indexed faster. To put it simply, XML sitemaps make it easier for Google to crawl your site and help it discover pages that may have been neglected. The more pages you have that get indexed, the more visibility your website receives.

    Heading Tags. Using heading tags will enhance the readability of your website’s copy as well as enhance your SEO. By adding an H1 or H2 tag to a bolded header on your site, Google will recognize that copy as being significant. That is why you should place your most important keywords within those tags. If you are a landscaping service, for example, you should place the word “landscaping service” in your H1 tag instead of simply placing your company name. Google will put emphasis on the H1 tag and you will rank higher for the term “landscaping service.”

    Website Load Time. The amount of time it takes for your website to load has a significant impact on your search engine ranking. In order to minimize your site’s load time for mobile and desktop users, a web designer must lessen the use of Javascripts and large images. In addition, enabling compression will improve your site’s load time as well.

    The four web design elements above will have a major impact on your SEO efforts. To truly enhance your search engine marketing strategy, it is important that you consult with a web design professional.

  • 3 Simple and Effective Podcast Ideas for Marketers



    Podcasts are an excellent and fun tool to use in your marketing and management efforts. Podcasting alone may not instantly get you the large fan or customer base that you desire, but you should see positive growth to both your traffic and conversions if you use them on a consistent basis. A major benefit to using podcasts is that there is not much to them. Podcasts are essentially verbal blog articles. They are cheap and easy to make and they can be used for a variety of purposes. Below are three simple podcast ideas to add to any digital marketing strategy.

    Use your podcast for educational purposes.

    If you want to gain the trust of the consumer, do not simply toss advertisements at them. To create verbal or written content that will actually grab people’s attention, you must prove that you are a trusted source for information in your niche.

    It just so happens that podcasting is a great channel for proving that you are an expert in your industry. A good practice would be to record one 30-minute long podcast per week. During the podcast, discuss industry trends or provide tips and advice. Keep the advertising chatter to a minimum. Promote the podcast through other marketing channels (social media, paid promotions, your webpage, email, etc.) and you will start to acquire listeners. Once you have some regular listeners, start taking questions. You can answer a few listener questions at the end of your podcasts. Your listeners will appreciate the interaction. You can then throw in a little advertising talk at the end (for example: “if you need help with _______, feel free to contact me to set up an appointment.”)

    Make a video podcast

    If you have considered podcasting, you are probably thinking of recording audio. Well podcasts can be done via a visual format as well. Film yourself giving the podcast and put it on YouTube. YouTube is a major search engine and adding your podcast to it will extend your reach significantly. You will put a face to your company and that might make viewers eager to contact you. Make your podcast short, fun and informative. Do not go into details about the subject matter but instead offer enough information to get the viewer thinking. If they decide they want more answers on the subject that you discussed, they may reach out to you and become a customer.

    Request interviews with industry leaders.

    Interviewing authority figures in your industry can be incredibly useful if they are established and have a large following. Although you are a marketer, you will act as a journalist in this endeavor. Not only will you spark the interest of your followers, you will get the attention of your interviewee’s fans and followers as well who will learn about your organization.

    The interview itself will prove that you are personable. Ask them relevant industry questions but hold conversations with them as well. Include small talk about light or humorous subjects. Once your listeners see that you are personable, they will begin to trust you and will be more comfortable contacting you.

    Once the interview is over, do not forget to ask your interviewee – an influencer – to promote the podcast as well.

    These three podcast ideas should get you started in podcasting, but what other ways could you make use of a podcast in your marketing strategy?

    For more marketing information or to implement a marketing campaign, feel free to contact our experts.