Does Your Design Convey Your Message? A Simple Test

February 28, 2012 – 4:15 am

In any visual medium – be it an ad, catalog page, web page, HTML email, brochure, sell sheet or anything else – there’s one element that’s critical to ensuring your message is conveyed: visual hierarchy, or the order in which the eye perceives what it sees.

In an effective design, the eye is naturally drawn to the most important point first. If all elements are of equal weight, the eye doesn’t know where to “land” – and most likely, will just move on to the next thing.

Note also that “most important” means most important to the reader – i.e., a benefit. “Most important” is not likely to be your company name, unless your company name is a benefit.

Size, location, images, color and contrast all play a role in determining what’s most prominent in any design. One easy way to check the visual hierarchy of a design is the “squint test.” Take a look at the page with squinted eyes, and see what draws your attention. If the main point isn’t clear without further reading, your designer has some more work to do.

 

By Val Gosset | Posted in Advertising, Website design | Tagged , | Leave a Comment

Welcome, Paradise Garden!

February 17, 2012 – 4:15 am

We’re pleased to welcome Paradise Garden of Corryton, TN as a new client. Paradise Garden offers exceptionally large, healthy plants via their comprehensive website. They place special emphasis on new and hard-to-find clematis, daylilies, hosta, iris, peonies, ornamental grasses, perennials, bulbs and ornamental shrubs. We’re looking forward to helping them grow!

By Val Gosset | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

Frontload Your Email Subject Line For Best Results

February 7, 2012 – 4:15 am

The optimum length for an email subject line is a topic of much controversy. A wide variety of variables affects how your subject line displays in any given instance: what email reader the recipient is using, whether they’re using a preview pane, and what type of device they’re reading your email on.

Indeed, the exponential growth of smartphones is putting increased pressure on marketers to shorten their subject lines. According to eDialog, 34% of all consumers now check their email on a mobile device at least once per day. If that mobile device is a smartphone, only about five words of the subject line will be visible.

That doesn’t mean you must truncate all your subject lines right away. Plenty of subscribers will still see more than the first five words. But more and more readers will only see the beginning of your subject line, so be sure to frontload it with your most important message in the first few words.

By Val Gosset | Posted in Email marketing | Tagged | Leave a Comment

Why Average Online Conversion Rates Don’t Mean Anything

February 3, 2012 – 4:15 am

At the recent Direct Gardening Association conference, I heard a lot of attendees asking each other, “What’s your website conversion rate? What percentage of visitors to your website buy from you?” It reminded me of all the times I’ve been asked, “What’s your average response rate?” about the direct mail campaigns I’ve managed.

The answer is completely meaningless, and here’s why:

A company selling greenhouses for $500 to $2,000 will have a completely different conversion rate than one selling hand tools for $50 to $100. A company selling tillers will have a vastly different conversion rate than one selling seeds. Average conversion rates are composed of such widespread variables that they’re meaningless.

At the end of the day, what’s important is not how your conversion rate compares to anyone else, but whether your website is profitable. Measure the cost of generating traffic to your site – from search engine optimization, paid search programs, catalog mailings and other any means – and determine whether the return on investment for each effort is worthwhile. Concentrate on your ROI and keep trying to improve your own conversion rate. Knowing what anyone else’s key performance indicators are provides little to no measure of how you’re doing.

 

By Val Gosset | Posted in Ecommerce | Tagged | Leave a Comment

The Only Thing You Must Do About Mobile Marketing Right Now

January 31, 2012 – 4:15 am

Mobile marketing might not be a factor in your business today, but consider: Google searches on mobile devices have increased 400% in just two years. According to eDialog, 34% of consumers now check email on a mobile device at least once per day.

Mobile isn’t likely to replace desktop computing, but it’s projected to at least equal it within the next three years.

If you’ve been ignoring mobile marketing, you have lots of company. But there is one thing you should do today: register your mobile domain – the one that ends in .mobi.

Remember in the early days of ecommerce, when many companies were late to claim the most logical URL for their business?  They ultimately either had to settle for the next best choice, or pay a high price to buy their preferred URL from someone else. Those who wait too long risk having the same thing happen with mobile URLs.

You may be able to ignore mobile for a little while longer without ill effect. But it’s clearly not a passing fad, so take five minutes and register your .mobi domain now. You’ll be using it sooner than you think.

By Val Gosset | Posted in Mobile marketing | Leave a Comment

The Biggest Mistake In Marketing With QR Codes

January 27, 2012 – 4:15 am

At last week’s Direct Gardening Association conference, marketing with QR codes was once again a hot topic of conversation. Not only are they easy to use, but they can be of great assistance to customers when done well. What’s more, they may save you money. Rumor has it that the USPS is planning to run another sale, as they did last summer, offering a postage discount to companies that incorporate QR codes in their catalogs.

Dave Waterman of Ink-It Digital, speaking at the DGA conference on QR Codes Demystified, remarked that the single biggest mistake companies make when marketing with QR codes is not using a mobile-friendly landing page.

Anyone who is reaching your site with a QR code is viewing it on a smartphone. Keep it mind that the screen is small and scrolling is a pain … loading times can be slow … and tiny navigational links and drop-down menus can be a real problem to maneuver.  If you’re going to use QR codes, make sure you help, not frustrate, your visitors.

One of best ways to use QR codes is to link to a short sales or instructional video. For some other pointers, read A Brief Overview of Marketing With QR Codes, from our September issue of Let’s Grow newsletter.

By Val Gosset | Posted in Mobile marketing | Tagged | Leave a Comment

How To Grow Your Email List, Part 2

January 24, 2012 – 4:15 am

In our last post, we discussed some best practices for maximizing email sign-ups on your website. Today, we have suggestions for 10 more places to promote email list growth.

1. Email signature. You can provide a signup box right in your email signature, or link to past enewsletter issues.

2. Packing slips. There’s usually free space on packing slips. Why not use it to advertise your enewsletter and grow your email list?

3. Facebook tab. Add a custom tab highlighting the benefits of joining your email list, with a signup box right on the page.

4. Facebook wall. You can also post links to published newsletters on your Facebook wall, as well as mention what topics will be covered in future newsletters.

5. Blog. It’s likely that many blog readers found you through search, and may not be aware of your enewsletter or email promotions. Periodically link to your enewsletter and encourage subscriptions in your blog.

6. Catalog. Encourage email signups in your catalog. It’s likely to reach more prospective buyers than any other vehicle with the possible exception of your website.

7. Inbound calls. When you have a happy customer on the phone, invite them to receive your gardening tips and/or special offers.

8. In store. If you have a retail store, make sure visitors are aware of your email list. Place sign-up cards at the counter, and pass them out at events.

9. Word of mouth. Ask readers to forward your emails to friends. Place social sharing links on every email to encourage links on Facebook, Twitter and the like.

10. Reciprocal mentions. Partner with non-competitive companies who sell to the same market. Highlight the other company in your enewsletter and have them do the same for you.

There are a myriad of ways to grow your email list, most costing little to nothing. The larger your list, the more income you can generate from each mailing, so why not make the most of it?

These are only a sampling of the possibilities. What other methods have worked for you?

By Val Gosset | Posted in Email marketing, Enewsletters | Tagged | Comments (1)

How to Grow Your Email List, Part 1

January 17, 2012 – 4:15 am

Recently, a lot of companies have been asking about growing their email list. It’s one of the best ways to leverage your marketing efforts, as it costs virtually no more to email 100,000 subscribers as it does 1,000.

Astonishingly, most companies miss one opportunity after another to increase their email list. In this two-part series, we’ll offer some suggestions for changing that. We’ll start by focusing on small website modificaitons that can boost your email signups.

Make Sign-Up Prominent. It’s common sense: the more prominent you make your email signup box, the more subscribers you’ll get. A colorful signup box is far easier to spot than a subtle link. Place it above the fold, and include it on every page.

Offer Benefits. It’s amazing how often companies ask website visitors to sign up for emails without giving them any reason to do so. Always offer benefits, perhaps even a discount or a free gift. For some examples, have a look at our posts on Email Signup Best Practices: A Great Example and An Email Opt-in With Finesse.

Set Expectations. Will subscribers receive useful information, discounts and offers, or both? How often will they receive emails? Letting people know what to expect will reduce their hesitation. If possible, allow them to adjust their preferences.

Archive Past Newsletters. If you’re publishing an enewsletter, don’t just tell subscribers what they’ll receive. Show them! Archiving past issues on your site will boost not only subscriptions, but search engine rankings as well.

Keep Signup Simple. If your goal is to maximize the size of your list, a sign-up box that requires only an email address is best. Keep other questions to a minimum, and don’t make answers mandatory.

Of course, websites are only one of many places to solicit email subscriptions. In our next post, we’ll suggest a number of others.

By Val Gosset | Posted in Email marketing, Enewsletters | Tagged | Leave a Comment

What’s Your Breakeven Advertising Budget?

January 12, 2012 – 4:15 am

Most companies think of advertising as a means of growing sales. That’s all well and good, but prospecting is necessary just to stay in place. To determine your breakeven advertising budget, you must answer two critical questions:

1. What’s your attrition rate? Count all the people who bought from you in 2010. How many of those same people bought again in 2011? The percentage difference is your attrition rate. You need to make up those lost buyers just to stay in place, before any growth can occur.

2. How much does it cost you to acquire a new customer? Using historical data, determine what it costs you on average to acquire a new customer.

Multiply the number of people who have bought from you over the last twelve months times your attrition rate times the average cost to acquire a customer, and there you go: The resulting number is how much need to spend in order to simply stay even with last year.

Too many companies think that they can save money in a down economy by eliminating prospecting. What many don’t realize is how important it is to keep prospecting simply to stay in place. Strong buyer files are the lifeblood of every company, and letting those drop too low can send you into a death spiral from which it’s difficult to recover.

By Val Gosset | Posted in Advertising, Marketing | Tagged , | Leave a Comment

Welcome, WamBam Fence!

January 10, 2012 – 4:15 am

We’re pleased to welcome WamBam Fence of Cornelius, NC as a new client. Their clever digless fence system, available in both vinyl and aluminum, provides an affordable solution for pool and yard fencing. With free shipping, superb customer service, flexible design options, and professional quality fencing, they offer a remarkable combination of advantages. We’re looking forward to helping them grow!

By Val Gosset | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
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