#Facebook Adds #Hashtags

June 18, 2013 By Leave a Comment

On Wednesday, June 14th, Facebook announced on its blog that it’s rolling out hashtags.

Hashtags are Like Snowflakes

Its social cousins have been using this pound sign followed by a word or phrase since their inceptions to add context to a post and indicate its part of a category or larger discussion. Facebook even admits that Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr and Pinterest have been using this feature for a long time to create conversation and connect users.

So why have they decided to release the hashtag feature now?

Because according to Facebook, “to date, there has not been a simple way to see the larger view of what’s happening or what people are talking about.”

The hashtag feature won’t take effect for everyone immediately, as the Facebook rolling out process is slow and steady to make sure it works for everyone, and is among a “series of features” Facebook is releasing that “surface some of the interesting discussions people are having about public figures.”

Not only will you be able to search for a specific hashtag from your Facebook search bar, you’ll be able to click on hashtags that originate from other social media outlets, such as Twitter and Instagram. You can also write posts directly from the hashtag feed.

The ultimate question is, how will users respond?

Facebook may think that people will love the new feature because they use hashtags on almost every other social media outlet. And who know, hashtags may take off on Facebook. But what if they don’t? What if you use hashtags in your posts and the majority of your followers are annoyed? They could hide your post for now, or forever – or worse, they could stop following you altogether. For a business, how well your social media does directly relates to ROI, so losing followers on Facebook is the same as losing money.

There’s no telling what will happen with the hashtag on Facebook, but one thing is for sure – it should shape your ongoing social media strategy. Hashtags may work well with one business’ content on Facebook, but do poorly with another business.’ You won’t know how hashtags affect your company’s Facebook following and interactions until you try it and measure it. Use Facebook Insights and a simple spreadsheet to track followers and interactions based on when you use hashtags. These metrics will tell you whether to keep using hashtags or to vote them off the island.

Tell us what you think about hashtags on Facebook in the comments section below! As always, #opinionswelcome.

Joy Ugi
Digital Marketing Coordinator, WhatCounts
@ugigirl

18 Ways book cover
Audience to Evangelist
Learn 18 different ways to find and grow your email marketing and social media ROI! Promote email with social, social with email, learn how to set up a Facebook Page for email subscriptions, and much more. Download the free eBook now.
 Lifecycle email marketing is one of the hottest buzzwords in digital marketing, but how can you make it work for you? Download our free eBook and learn 5 lifecycle frameworks plus practical applications to your email marketing program.

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Gmail’s New Tabbed Inbox – Sweat It or Forget It?

June 17, 2013 By 1 Comment

A few days ago, Google announced a major change to the Gmail Inbox – the introduction of tabbed sorting for emails. All mail received will now be sorted (automatically) into predefined tabs including Primary, Social, Promotions, and Updates.

Gmail's tabbed inbox

Since the announcement, email senders have been buzzing with speculation over how the changes will affect deliverability. Many feel that promotional messages, now relegated to an out-of-sight tab, will see drops in engagement as they lose focus. Others point to the low adoption rates of features like Priority Inbox and Smart Labels as evidence that most users will likely never see Tabbed Inbox. Whichever viewpoint you take, there are some important things to consider about Gmail’s new interface.

Who will use the tabbed inbox?

It’s true that similar Gmail features have seen low adoption rates in the past. Most people, including Gmail users, are resistant to change and even fewer will actively seek it out. It’s probably a safe bet that most of the current active users of features like Priority Inbox and Smart Labels are very email-savvy and know exactly which emails they want to read – but what about everyone else?

While Gmail hasn’t made an official announcement on how Tabbed Inbox will roll out, their blog post hints that it could eventually be turned on by default for most users. Unlike previous features, Tabbed Inbox would represent a major change to the user’s existing Inbox view. If users are presented with this view by default, most are likely to accept it and adjust their habits instead of actively seeking to disable it. If the feature must be actively enabled, though, it’s likely it will have far less impact.

What does it mean for engagement?

As I mentioned in a recent article on Gmail deliverability, good delivery rates at Gmail rely heavily on recipients engaging with your emails. Upon first glance, Tabbed Inbox seems likely to decrease engagement rates as users are not able to see promotional emails in their primary view. Since this would happen to the majority of marketing emails, the relative impact should be low. If open rates for all promotional emails decrease at similar rates across the board, deliverability should remain fairly constant as well.

However, there’s also a strong possibility this could lead to a different type of engagement. Instead of viewing promotional emails as a distraction in their main email view, Tabbed Inbox could allow users to view the Promotions tab a couple of times a day or week, or only when they are interested in making a purchase. This could eventually shift the focus away from marketing copy that encourages immediate action (limited-time sales, etc) and move toward fostering longer-term engagement.

What about mobile users?

One area getting little attention in the Tabbed Inbox discussion is the mobile Gmail application. Android and iOS versions with the updated interface were rolled out just after the desktop version. The mobile version enables inbox tabs by default but handles them a bit differently, placing them inline at the top of the message list.

mobile version

Users can tap a specific tab to view all emails with that designation, or swipe the notification away to dismiss. If a tab has no new emails, the user must open the menu (by tapping the Gmail icon or swiping from left to right) and select the desired tab to view.

Previously, the Gmail application would generate a notification (alert sound, flashing LED, etc.) for any email that arrived in the inbox. Now, the default is to notify the user only when mail is received to the Primary tab. This can be changed by editing the settings (under Manage Labels), but it’s likely most users will lack both the know-how and the desire to change this. As a marketer, that makes it more important than ever to set proper expectations. Your subscribers should know when to expect your email and notice if it doesn’t show up then. This could also encourage many marketers to migrate towards building relationships and long-term engagement.

It’s too soon to tell exactly how much traction the Tabbed Inbox will gain, or what impact it will have on senders and email deliverability as a whole. In any case, it should serve as a good reminder that senders who set clear expectations, send relevant content, and prioritize user engagement are best equipped to thrive in a constantly-changing email landscape.

Brad Gurley
Director of Deliverability, WhatCounts
@DeliveryCounts

18 Ways book cover
Audience to Evangelist
Learn 18 different ways to find and grow your email marketing and social media ROI! Promote email with social, social with email, learn how to set up a Facebook Page for email subscriptions, and much more. Download the free eBook now.
 Lifecycle email marketing is one of the hottest buzzwords in digital marketing, but how can you make it work for you? Download our free eBook and learn 5 lifecycle frameworks plus practical applications to your email marketing program.

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AOL Spam Filtering Changes

May 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment

coffee filtering

Last week, Lili Crowley updated the AOL Postmaster blog with notification of some recent spam filtering changes for the AOL network. While the post was fairly vague, providing even this much detail is unusual (but welcome!) behavior for an ISP. In most cases, ISPs and email providers give no notification when such a change is made, leaving email senders to find out through trial and error.

The update stated that AOL will be generating more CON:B1 errors in regards to certain spam messages. CON:B1 errors can be either permanent (“hard”) or temporary (“soft”) bounces, and according to AOL this error indicates a “spike in unfavorable email statistics.” Crowley did not specifically identify what types of messages will be affected, but based on the text of the error, you can be sure negative factors such as complaints and hard bounces will continue to play a large part in this filtering.

Crowley’s post also notes that legitimate senders could be affected by this change. If you are seeing problems with delivery to AOL or have questions about these changes, please contact WhatCounts Support for further assistance.

Brad Gurley
Director of Deliverability, WhatCounts

18 Ways book cover
Audience to Evangelist
Learn 18 different ways to find and grow your email marketing and social media ROI! Promote email with social, social with email, learn how to set up a Facebook Page for email subscriptions, and much more. Download the free eBook now.
 Lifecycle email marketing is one of the hottest buzzwords in digital marketing, but how can you make it work for you? Download our free eBook and learn 5 lifecycle frameworks plus practical applications to your email marketing program.

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Latest and Greatest: Industry News

May 14, 2013 By 2 Comments

box officeEmail Marketing: Weekly newsletter sees 400% lift in reactivation of inactive subscribers with personalization

In this industry news article, we just love the way Eventful re-engaged inactive subscribers in this case study. This is an example of a company who is proving not that personalization and Smart Marketing is a way to build relationships with subscribers; it’s the only way. What’s also important about the way this personalization took place was that Eventful took time to identify the specific issue they were facing and plan a strategy to address. They were better able to use the personalization tools that were available to them.

thought cloud

 

Top 10 Things My Generation Likes

Straight from the mouth of Mashable’s Millennial CEO and founder, Pete Cashmore, get the industry news on what kind of marketing works best for Generation Y. What makes them tick? Millennials want to be entertained; they’re drawn to acts of kindness and nostalgia, and want to share their photos, opinions and other falderal in as many digital spaces as possible. You can’t just send Millennials the same email you send their parents; it’s increasingly important to use the right data and advanced segmentation to target them with the specific content that appeals to them.

 

numbers

Meet the Numbers Nerd Bringing Big Data to the Small Screen

Being one of the people who deals with an influx of huge amounts of data on a daily basis, Jake Porway knows -and reminds us of- the importance of finding and using right data. He provides industry news into how companies should be analyzing the problems their data reveals and then creating solutions to those particular issues. Data allows companies “to ask big questions” about what their customers want. If your data is not organized, and you’re not building specific segmentations from that data, then you have no way of addressing your customers wants and needs. Is your data helping you show your customers how they can live “healthier, happier and more successful lives?”
checklist

Path to Social Success in 2013 Infographic

Check out this nifty industry news infographic from Intuit that points you to a successful social media strategy for this year. The information included will help you make sure your email campaigns and social media complement each other throughout the year, as well as boost your social media presence overall. It holds up one of the main tenets we preach at WhatCounts: Plan, plan, plan! Make goals, create actionable ways you’re going to reach those goals, and then carry those actions out. Social media is a must for your business; it’s a key way you can build relationships with your customers.

 

Google Glass Review from ‘Saturday Night Live’

We thought we’d throw this one in here just for fun. Whatever your opinion of Google Glass, we hope you’ll get a chuckle out of this SNL spoof.

Joy Ugi
Digital Marketing Coordinator, WhatCounts

18 Ways book cover
Audience to Evangelist
Learn 18 different ways to find and grow your email marketing and social media ROI! Promote email with social, social with email, learn how to set up a Facebook Page for email subscriptions, and much more. Download the free eBook now.
 Lifecycle email marketing is one of the hottest buzzwords in digital marketing, but how can you make it work for you? Download our free eBook and learn 5 lifecycle frameworks plus practical applications to your email marketing program.

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Part II: Get Smart, eCommerce Marketers!

May 2, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Getting to know your subscribers and personalizing the messages they are sent is important in digital marketing, including in eCommerce. You may have a lot of data on your hands, but you need to properly segment that data and create timely, relevant messages in order to make good use of that data. Automation and combining media channels are other key parts of sending smarter, more personalized eCommerce emails that matter to your customers.

Automation

It’s easy to talk the talk, but harder to walk the walk. The collection and creation of relevant, personalized messages may not be as difficult as you think it is, though. For example, an automated eCommerce welcome message to new subscribers is a simple set up in the WhatCounts Smart Marketing Engine and lets customers know they are valued. Another simple eCommerce email to create and automatically send is a reminder to shopping cart abandoners, (who should have their own segmentation). A quick reminder email that says something to the effect of, “Hey, you haven’t finished buying the cool stuff in your shopping cart” can mean the difference between a lost opportunity and increasing your ROI.

Another important part of automation is bringing in content. In the Smart Marketing Engine, you can insert SmartGET and XSLT GET tags into your messages to automatically pull existing eCommerce content from your website, blog, RSS feed or any other place you store content. Want to learn more about automation? Check out the Automation blog post from a few weeks ago where we explain it in detail.

Combine Channels in eCommerce

You can’t just send your awe-inspiring eCommerce emails and call it a day. Smart Marketing includes sending relevant and timely messages across all channels, not just email. The goal is to build the most complete profile of your customers and prospects in order to reach them with the message they will respond to. Social and mobile are key components to sending Smart Messages in eCommerce.

In the Smart Marketing Engine, you have the capabilities to use social sharing, social posting and social tracking. If a subscriber reads your newsletter and loves the content, he or she can share it on a social network directly from the newsletter. We track this behavior in the system and create a social influencer score based on it and subsequent actions, if applicable. In turn, the social influencer score lets you build better Smart Segments.

Setting up social sharing capabilities in the Smart Marketing Engine:

eCommerce and social sharing

This is what social sharing looks like when it is added. Subscribers simply click on the buttons below to share content from the email on their favorite social networks.
eCommerce social shares visual

Mobile phone use is overwhelming desktop use, and is only predicted to continue on this path in the future (Mashable). Responsive design is one of the factors you need to consider as you create emails, as well as update your website. Different mobile platforms display emails, photos, graphics and links in different ways. Want to learn more about the specifics of designing for mobile? We’ve got a webinar waiting for you to download: How to Create a Winning Mobile Email Marketing Strategy.

Implementing segmentation, content, automation, as well as combining channels, is the way you get to know more about your eCommerce customers, which helps you bring them information they want. Digital marketing is all about developing a brand friendship with your subscribers, and a friendship always starts with asking questions about the other person. You learn what your friend likes – maybe flowers – so you send her flowers on special occasions.

Are you using Smart Marketing to get to know your subscribers and what they like? Are you acting upon the information you know about your subscribers to send them relevant, personalized messages?

For the inside scoop on Smart Marketing and eCommerce, download our free Shopping Made Smarter webinar.

Joy Ugi
Digital Marketing Coordinator, WhatCounts

18 Ways book cover
Audience to Evangelist
Learn 18 different ways to find and grow your email marketing and social media ROI! Promote email with social, social with email, learn how to set up a Facebook Page for email subscriptions, and much more. Download the free eBook now.
 Lifecycle email marketing is one of the hottest buzzwords in digital marketing, but how can you make it work for you? Download our free eBook and learn 5 lifecycle frameworks plus practical applications to your email marketing program.

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Part I: Get Smart, eCommerce Marketers!

May 1, 2013 By Leave a Comment

In the first days of email, the focus was on sending as many messages as possible to as many people for the lowest possible cost. My, how the digital marketing perspective has changed! Soon we began to see that we needed to use segmentation and include content people actually wanted to read, including in eCommerce.

Where are we now on that evolutionary track? We’re collecting more data than ever! While this seems like a plus for eCommerce marketing, all that data is overwhelming. “Use it or lose it” is our mantra, with the preference being the former option. Smart Marketing can help you take the important eCommerce data you’ve gathered about your subscribers and use it to send them relevant, targeted messages they want to see.

Here are two ways to break down the data you have to employ Smart Marketing in eCommerce:

1. Segmentation

eCommerce segmentation list

You need to organize your eCommerce data before you can use it. Smart Segments are created when you leverage client data, enhanced data, system data and third-party analytics. Imagine a sandwich of wonderfully delicious eCommerce data layered one on top of one another, but only including the best of each type of data. That’s how the Smart Marketing Engine can be used to create Smart Segments. The image on the right is an example of some WhatCounts Smart Segments.

Subscriber scoring is another way that you can segment your data: it tracks when people positively and negatively interact with your eCommerce  emails. For example, every time a subscriber opens an email or clicks on an email, it’s segmented as a positive interaction. As a result of this information, you can send highly-targeted eCommerce emails to certain subscribers.

2. eCommerce Content

A misconception that some marketers have is that their messages need to answer the question, “What do I want my readers to know about me?” In reality, we need to be looking at the eCommerce emails we send from the subscriber’s point of view, and use our messages to answer the question, “What’s in it for me?”

Creating and implementing the right content will do a great deal to aid you in retaining customers. One strategy in creating relevant eCommerce content is basket analysis, or looking at what a person has bought recently and suggesting items to go along with it. If someone buys a TV, they may also want surround sound, a DVD player, and some movies to make his or her experience with the TV that much better.
It’s also important to be mindful of the timing of your eCommerce messages. For example, our TV buyer is not going to be interested in the newest models of the same product. However, if he bought the first season of his favorite show along with the TV, send him an email when the second season comes out.

Another eCommerce content strategy is rewarding customers who have been long-time subscribers and buyers. All it takes is a thank-you email with a discount, deal, offer or some other type of reward. This makes sure current customers feel loved and stay engaged.

 

Getting segmentation and content right is how you can start sending smarter messages right now. Tomorrow’s blog post will cover Part II of this series, which will lay out the other two areas where you could be personalizing your eCommerce digital marketing. In the meantime, we want to know the creative ways you are reaching your subscribers by segmenting your data and creating dynamic content. Tell us below, or leave a comment on Twitter and Facebook!

Joy Ugi
Digital Marketing Coordinator, WhatCounts

18 Ways book cover
Audience to Evangelist
Learn 18 different ways to find and grow your email marketing and social media ROI! Promote email with social, social with email, learn how to set up a Facebook Page for email subscriptions, and much more. Download the free eBook now.
 Lifecycle email marketing is one of the hottest buzzwords in digital marketing, but how can you make it work for you? Download our free eBook and learn 5 lifecycle frameworks plus practical applications to your email marketing program.

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WhatCounts Spring 2013 Publicaster Release

April 30, 2013 By Leave a Comment

WhatCounts wants to help you send smarter, more personalized messages, and one way of doing that is by bringing you new features in our latest product releases for Publicaster Edition users. All features of this Publicaster product release are live as of today.

These Publicaster features directly support the Smart Marketing equation, giving you ways to implement the right data, content and automation in your digital marketing. We know you’re chomping at the bit to know exactly what these new, exciting Publicaster features are, and we can’t wait for you to check them out.

A short video about each of the Publicaster features is available on the release announcement page of our website. You can also read short descriptions about each feature and how they will help you market smarter to your customers.

Publicaster Edition Release Announcement

Are you as excited as we are about these new Publicaster releases? Tell us about it below, or you can share on Facebook and Twitter!

18 Ways book cover
Audience to Evangelist
Learn 18 different ways to find and grow your email marketing and social media ROI! Promote email with social, social with email, learn how to set up a Facebook Page for email subscriptions, and much more. Download the free eBook now.
 Lifecycle email marketing is one of the hottest buzzwords in digital marketing, but how can you make it work for you? Download our free eBook and learn 5 lifecycle frameworks plus practical applications to your email marketing program.

Share this page:

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Live from the Summit: Part 2

April 25, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Welcome to the second day of the Summit! We’re so glad you came back to read more about the digital marketing sessions that happened today. It was hard to choose the highlights for today’s blog; we’ve listened to so many dynamic speakers and have seen lots of great presentations. Let’s start with our keynote session:

Making Big Data Small

Tom Webster knows that Big Data is all the rage nowadays. In fact, as the Vice President of Research at Edison Research (the sole provider of exit polling data to global new networks for the 2012 U.S. National Election) he deals with data every day. Tom showed us Big Data from the perspective of a researcher, which brings large amounts of data down to a reasonable size. Big Data only exists because it hasn’t been characterized or applied yet. Once you conquer those two tasks, you can whittle the large amount of data you have into a reasonable, useable size. After this session, we’re definitely thinking differently about data. Curious to learn more? Download the Smart Marketing webinar, which talks about having the right data.

Email Marketing at Alaska Airlines – From Start Up to IPO

Once upon a time there was a part-time digital marketing program at Alaska Airlines that no one noticed. That’s way before Jeanne Jones, Manager of Email Marketing, and WhatCounts stepped into the picture. Now, Alaska Airlines has beefy, revenue-producing email marketing that plays a major role in meeting the company’s goals. Jeanne shared some of the company’s digital marketing strategies, including automated and streamlined reporting, refreshing their creative consistently, reviewing weekly performance, and keeping track of trends. They are also focused on creating and keeping customer relationships through their Welcome Mat and interactive campaigns. Whew! We learned a lot, and you can, too, by downloading the slides.

5 Emerging Social Trends

We couldn’t do the Summit without devoting a session to social media. And who else would be best to present but Eric Boggs, President of Catfoxtail, LLC (and former Founder of Argyle Social). Eric is an expert in the field of social media, and he walked us through the top five trends that are emerging now in this area, which ones he thinks are going to be significant, and why. There’s no doubt that social and email go hand-in-hand with keeping customers engaged with your brand and product. Eric talked about why to watch for social marketing trends and how to determine which ones are going to make the most impact in your industry and for your company. Download the slides!

Hands On Summit Sessions: Google Analytics, Designing for Mobile, Dynamic Content and Articles, A/B Testing

Chris Penn, Vice President of Marketing Technology at Shift Communications, kicked off these sessions by diving right into Google Analytics and getting us ready to put our own analytics to good use. We also need to give a shout-out to the WhatCounts crew who showed everyone how to implement Smart Marketing tactics through our platform. Lindsey McFadden (Manager of Campaign Production Services) and Alex Bardoff (Creative Manager), laid out six things you shouldn’t do – as well as some items you should – when designing email for mobile. Next, Mike Lynch (Vice President of Technical Services) and his handy sidekick Alex Overall (Technical Account Manager) jumped into the WhatCounts Smart Marketing Engine to show us how to pull in content from the web and create Articles to drive personalized messaging. Kristy Barker (Services Account Manager) finished off this series of sessions with an in-depth look at what we may or may not be doing right when it comes to A/B testing.

We enjoyed seeing everyone who came to the WhatCounts 2013 Digital Marketing Summit! If you weren’t able to make it, we hope you were inspired to join us for our next event or webinar. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook, or sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date.

Joy Ugi
Digital Marketing Coordinator, WhatCounts

18 Ways book cover
Audience to Evangelist
Learn 18 different ways to find and grow your email marketing and social media ROI! Promote email with social, social with email, learn how to set up a Facebook Page for email subscriptions, and much more. Download the free eBook now.
 Lifecycle email marketing is one of the hottest buzzwords in digital marketing, but how can you make it work for you? Download our free eBook and learn 5 lifecycle frameworks plus practical applications to your email marketing program.

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Live from the Summit: Part 1

April 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment

For those of you who could not join us for the Summit (sniff, sniff) here’s a reason for you to cheer up: We have summarized a few of the sessions that happened today for your reading pleasure. Even better, you can download the slides to each session to garner more details and view at your convenience. Since you can’t come to the Summit, we’re going to bring the Summit to you!

Summit Customer Case Study: SweetJack

Our CEO and President, Allen Nance, and Dan Caplin from SweetJack rocked the stage this morning as they talked about how this daily-deals company pulls content for its emails through the WhatCounts Smart Marketing Engine. How do they do this? Through the XSLT Translation SmartGET HTML, a tag that is placed in an email that pulls content from the SweetJack blog, as well as its eCommerce system. It may sound hard, but it’s only a matter of identifying where you have content stored, and then pulling it into your email with SmartGET. Want to learn more about the awesome ways in which SweetJack is using Smart Marketing to increase ROI? Download the slides here.

Content Curation

Want to streamline your process of engaging with readers? We thought you might, and that’s why we asked Phil Hill from Flashissue to tell us about content curation. It’s not the same as stealing information, nor is it the same as aggregating piles of information. Content curation has its own special flavor. Content curation consists of finding the content you like and then putting it on display for others to see, with some sort of introduction or commentary attached that gives the reader a perspective about that content. Phil gave us ideas about how to create a fluid process for newsletter marketing through content curation using industry-related articles. Find out more!

Those were just a few of the highlights from today. We’d love to share the food and fun we are having this evening at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, but we just can’t get all of it into this blog post. Look out for more takeaways in tomorrow’s blog post!

Joy Ugi
Digital Marketing Coordinator, WhatCounts

18 Ways book cover
Audience to Evangelist
Learn 18 different ways to find and grow your email marketing and social media ROI! Promote email with social, social with email, learn how to set up a Facebook Page for email subscriptions, and much more. Download the free eBook now.
 Lifecycle email marketing is one of the hottest buzzwords in digital marketing, but how can you make it work for you? Download our free eBook and learn 5 lifecycle frameworks plus practical applications to your email marketing program.

Share this page:

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