Annoying Digital Marketing Tactics We'd Like to See Disappear

I don't think it is a huge surprise for anyone (other than those doing the spamming) that ad blockers have become the norm when browsing the web. There are plenty of irritating digital marketing tactics which led to people using not only pop up blockers, but to discontinue their consumption of content from specific publishers.

What type of tactics may have led to this?  I thin the 5 below are a big reason why we've seen this shift in online behaviour. Hopefully we will see their use drop in favour of more customer-centric tactics:

Pop-ups

Popups may seem as old as the internet, but I am not talking just about overly promotional popups here. According to recent conversion rate statistics, having a popup come up after a certain action was taken on a page (say, scrolling half-way down a blog post) increases the likely hood of a completed action. Generally 2% more conversion than other types of ads.

However, popups have the complete opposite ability as well. They can turn your users off entirely (like me) and interrupt the content consumption process. While I understand that "free" content also comes with the user having to see ads, or provide contact information, there are much better ways to guide me towards an action than to entirely cover your content piece with a popup.

Here is a great policy/mentality from Copybloggers on what popups could do and why they don't use them:

There is no questions popups "work" - but to what end? We're not willing to risk the relationship with our audience for a spike in opt ins.

Precisely my thinking - while getting more people to sign up for your email, or download an ebook might be good short-term, constantly bombarding your audience with popups can have a detrimental long-term effect on your readers.

Take an example example below from Neil Patel's website (online marketing expert):

I use to read some of the blog posts to see how to improve conversion rates, get visitors, etc. There was some good information there (some, everything was taken with a grain of salt). I sometimes shared an article or two with my audience. However, with such invasive ads I got really frustrated. I could not get through the article without having to close down multiple popups...and even when I closed an entire-page popup another smaller popup would come up. Just to the side of the page now:

I get distracted from the actual post. I get frustrated. I leave. As a matter of fact I stopped reading any of the blog posts on that platform, and I have not shared a single thing since. I have slowly begun to eliminate other blogs that use popups from my reading lists as well.

Plus, it looks like Google is going to penalize websites for pop-ups starting in 2017 - so it might be better not to implement this option in the first place!

But, if they have such great conversion rates why should they be dropped? Are there alternatives?

You can incorporate other means of getting people to take an action. A sign up for on the left/right-hand side bars of your blog, permanent bars at the top or bottom of your pages as users scroll, etc. These are non-invasive and allow readers to sign up on their own terms without interrupting their reading or viewing process. Just like this example below from Smart Bug Media (blog I referenced above for the improved conversion rate statistic of popups):

Clickbait Titles

This is one is fairly self explanatory. How many times have you opened up your Facebook feed to see something along the lines of "Dog Gets Rescued from Shelter, You Won't Believe What Happens Next" - only for that next to be a 30 second video of a dog just running around in a backyard, much like any other dog would. Below is an example I came across recently (and have since unfollowed the page entirely):

While clicks usually result in ad revenue for these types of websites, clickbait titles such as this one should be avoided at all costs. It comes from a football club fan page I amwas following. As a matter of fact, similar to Google penalizing pop-up pages, Facebook (potentially other networks as well) will start penalizing clickbaity articles in the near future. Meaning that there will be new algorithms which push any clickbait titles to the bottom of results - making it hard to get attention (which is the actual purpose of clickbait titles). Ironic, isn't it?

Over-promised & Under-delivered Content

Insert one of: Ultimate, Epic, Awesome, Complete, Only

followed by Guide to Something...

Ultimate guides should be exactly that: ultimate. Once a viewer reads/watches/listens they should be able to do something they weren't before able to. Whether it be build a website, a wooden shed or simply power-wash their deck.

Unfortunately, there is quite a bit of "Ultimate" guides which aren't all that ultimate (have you gotten sick of that word yet?). Far too many content publishers slap on these words to get people to download content which ends up being most common sense, or just plain basic knowledge that could be found anywhere.

Let's keep content expectations realistic, not everything has to be "Awesome" or "By Far the Only Thing You Need" - as a matter of fact quick/short guides can be helpful as well. Don't over promise and under deliver! Create content that is of value to your audience.

Opportunistic Trend Chasing

We've all been told that we should be monitoring trending hashtags and topics so that we may join the conversation to potentially increase our reach, right? Absolutely.

However, not every trending topics or hashtag should be used just for the sake of increased reach or performance. The most notable example is DiGionro Pizza's "#WhyIStayed" blunder where the brand's Twitter profile used a hashtag intended to open up a conversation about domestic violence, to promote a pizza:

Following this update, plenty of Twitter users back-lashed. DiGiorno had to backtrack and apologize for not paying more attention to the topic at hand. If you're unsure of the trend at the time, DO NOT USE IT for promotional purposes. As a matter of fact, even if you do know the topic try to steer away from using it as a promotional channel. Instead focus on how your brand can contribute to the conversation. Relevant content? Support? Etc.

Overly Promotional Updates

Come one, come all! Buy this amazing thing for this amazing price!! 

Any of this sound familiar? Yeah, sure does - let's leave it in the past. It doesn't belong online. There are much better ways to get people to buy and none of them have anything to do with multiple exclamation points (not that there is anything wrong with them, but one is usually enough to get the point across). Here is an example I recently came across in one of the marketing subs on reddit: 

What was the first thing that came to your mind from that title? Spam. It's exactly what it is - communicate your content or offers in a more customer-centric way. Think about what it can do for them (other than save or make money). Can it make them smarter? More efficient? Does it make them feel a certain way? Contribute, don't promote.

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Unknown Saturday, October 01, 2016  

Outsourcing vs. In-House Digital Marketing

Small businesses often face a tough choice: try to do all of their digital marketing in house or find a suitable external resource to outsource work to. While digital marketing service providers have exploded over the last few years, it can be hard to find a company or a freelancer that is the right fit for your brand. Not just financially, but understanding of customers, industry knowledge, services/product familiarity, etc.

On the other hand, doing things in-house seems to be more cost effective, but if you do not have the right technical or marketing knowledge, you risk of doing more harm than good in the long-run. Plus time used on building your brand is time that would have been allocated elsewhere.

So, how do you know which route is best?

Like many areas of running a small business, it depends. I have previously put together an infographic covering the differences of hiring an employee vs. a freelancer. Further to that infographic; below are key factors you should consider before making a decision.

Cost 

Most often the first concern of any small business owner: how much will it cost me?

Outsource Option

Depending on the amount of work required, costs can vary. Generally digital marketing consultants and freelancers charge anywhere from $50-$200/hour depending on experience levels, technicality, etc. Projects can also be agreed upon for a one-time fee, or a regular monthly fee. These two options vary greatly depending on how demanding the work is.

Example: if you're looking to build a responsive website with common contact forms, email sign ups, graphics and such the cost may range from $2,000-$6,000. Price will go up with the amount of copy-writing and design necessary to finalize the website. However, a more complex website that includes a CMS (content management system), e-commerce functionalities or databases can cost anywhere from $6,000-$25,000 depending on the features.

In-house Option

Fortunately for the do-it-yourself small businesses, there are numerous website builder services that can help create entire websites from scratch. Popular service providers like Wix offer free (basic feature) website builders and premium services ranging from $12-$25/month (US dollars) on an annual subscription, or $23-$40 US dollars on a monthly plan. While they provide pre-set templates that can be customized, there are hidden costs with these services: your employees time spent on customizing the template, ongoing maintenance, creating updates, imagery and copy creation, training materials/courses, etc.

For someone who may not be familiar with web or graphic design these tasks can be quite time consuming and take away focus from other functions. Unless your small business has a designated web and/or marketing role, it may be beneficial to outsource work. The above example covers only web design, similar cost comparisons can be made for social media management, graphic design, etc.

Skills & Experience

Scheduling social media posts is easy, we do it on our personal profiles. But utilizing social media as a branding or lead generating tool takes someone with a trained skill set in social media marketing.

Looking at the cost numbers mentioned above, most small businesses would opt to do in-house work as the initial numbers favour the do it yourself approach. While this may be true for certain things, other may better left be outsourced. Why?

Certain aspects of digital marketing require proper training or knowledge in order to yield results. One such marketing function, which is constantly evolving, is search engine optimization. SEO requires ongoing training and knowledge in order to properly climb the ranking ladder AND not to get penalized by major search engines. Google regularly penalizes websites which purposely use unfavourable tactics to raise their rankings.

Services such as SEO, graphic design, any complex coding which are usually crucial elements of marketing efforts, should not be left up to chance. Having an already trained employee in these efforts is hard to find, usually employees narrow their focus to their strengths: visual designers, coders, etc.

As an example: if you're looking to initiate an email marketing program but do not have an in-house colleague who is familiar with CASL (Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation) or best practices, it could result in tarnished relationships with customers and potential legal troubles. You do not want to leave your company's brand perception in the hands of inexperience because it could be detrimental in the long run. If costs seem high initially, nothing could be more costly than a dwindling customer base and lack of business!

Timeliness & Knowledge

This is where, in my opinion, the in-house approach may have an advantage over outsourcing. No one is familiar with the products and services as the people who are working with them each day. Certain industries don't require specialized knowledge but if your small business provides software solutions or high-tech products, a freelancer or external agency may have to take the time to get familiar with you and your industry before being able to produce content on your behalf.

Secondly, depending on the type of freelancer, consultant or company you're working with - timeliness may not be their strong suit. Freelancers often work with multiple clients and have simultaneous projects happening which can sometimes lead to prolonged of response times and small projects not receiving the attention they need.

If you have ideas or projects that require time-sensitive work, you should do some research before working with an external organization or individual. Try to get in touch with current or past clients, talk to them about deadlines, etc.

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While there are more factors to consider, I find these to be the most common and crucial ones. If you've come across something yourself feel free to share in the comment section!

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Unknown Wednesday, March 16, 2016  

How to Spot Spam Email Proposals for Online Marketing Services: Dissecting Actual Examples

If you have a website or a social media presence with any sort of contact information (especially a publicly published email) you have, or still do, probably received some sort of email marketing indicating that your website rankings are below the first page of Google. Similarly, the same proposal indicates how the sender can work special online marketing magic at an affordable rate - getting your company visible across social media, Google search, etc. Most of these emails are spam, and spotting real vs. spam is sometimes difficult.

However, there are ways to spot a worth-while email proposal from it's spammy counterpart. Below we take a look at each type of email and it's features that help set them apart:

Spam Email Proposal

Alright, lets start with each of the highlighted sections above:

No Visible Web Presence & Unsupported Self Boasting

The email indicates that this is a "leading firm" in online marketing - which is a fairly bold claim considering I have yet to hear or read anything about "extendyourteam.net" being mentioned within the digital marketing community world wide. Speaking of which, after attempting to open that URL I was unable to load any type of website - meaning that although this email preaches following best-practices and claiming to be a leading firm; it does not have a website of it's own.

How are people supposed to see more information? Perhaps examples of previous work? Other than the information provided in the email, there is no trace of this company on the web. Usually a sign of spam.

Unsupported False Claims Used as a Bait Tactic

If you look at the introduction it simply says "hi" - it is not personalized directly to either the business name or addressed specifically to me as the recipient (keep in mind my name and contact information are accessible across my website, blog and multiple social media websites).

Similarly the paragraph highlighted in blue indicates that my website is not ranked on the first page of Google search results and that the business is no where to be found on social media. There are a number of factors to consider here:

What keywords is the website not ranked on the first page for?
If someone is searching: "digital marketing agency" of course none of the web pages will appear on the first page because that is not the keyword or key-term that is the focus of any of them. Lack of details and vague terminology give this part away.

Who are the competitors "outdoing" me?
Not a single competitor name or detail is included in there - if this was true they would point out that for search term A, competitor A is on the first page while my web pages are not. Is this mentioned anywhere in the email? Absolutely not - simply used as a persuasion attempt to take action.

Which social media websites did you look for, and what were you looking for?
Interestingly enough if I type my business name not only into the different social media platform search options, but in a general Google search, all of my social media profiles come up. More false claims:

1st page results for "nr digital branding" search.

Indicating Spam Intent & Highlighting Outdated Spam Laws

The first sentence of the email indicates that this is a "cold outreach" attempt, in other words spam!It only uses an apology to seem genuine so that the recipient would continue to read further.

Additionally, the inclusion of CAN-Spam Act of 2003 fine print after the signature is another sneaky way of masking legitimacy. Unfortunately most people will get confused by this trick as it gives the perception of following guidelines set out by the Canadian government. The Can-Spam Act of 2003 is no longer valid, it has been replaced by CASL (Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation) in 2014 and has been in full effect since last year!

Inconsistent Details

In the body of the email the person indicates their position as "search engine marketing strategist" while in the signature of the email the title of "offshoring coordinator" is used. If you come across discrepancies such as these it could very well be that your email was simply picked up online, put into a large list of recipients and mass blasted in an attempt to elicit some sort of response.

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Luckily, companies providing actual services and following set guidelines are doing a much more appropriate job. Let's take a look below.

Appropriate Email Proposal

Personal Communication & Reason Email Was Received

Unlike the example above, this legitimate email includes personal information in the subject line and as the first greeting message. What a difference it makes to hear an email sent to a person versus "I apologize for this cold outreach" copy & paste spiel.

In addition to the personal messaging, notice that at the bottom of the email further supports the reason as to why specifically the email was sent to me: I am an existing customer. And as an existing customer of an email marketing service, they are offering me free newsletter templates for Valentine's Day. The message and the focus is spot on - everything aligns.

Plus, did you notice the easy unsubscribe option with no SPAM fine-print? Under the new Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation, that is the appropriate way to provide a communication termination option.

Credibility Through Online Presence & Branding

Send Blaster's URL and logo are both easily searchable. If I go to their website I can clearly see that the logo in the email matches their website. The URL that the email came from works just fine and has further information on the company - giving it credibility as an email marketing solutions provider.

Clear Purpose & Indicated Action in Body of Email

The body of the email is kept short and to the point; it did not talk about how my email designs are bad (like the first email indicating that my website is suffering in SEO rankings), nor how I need to improve my email templates. Why? Because I do not send emails to Send Blaster - they do not know what my emails look like, all they do is provide the means for me to send emails. They are simply offering additional free resources on top of the one I subscribed to. Now that is providing customer value!

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Although these emails do differ in some ways - there are a few similarities which make it hard to distinguish legitimacy of communication.

Similarities That Cause Confusion

1. Adherence to Spam Regulations

The spam email may seem as the more legitimate one due to its fine print of the CAN-SPAM regulations, but in reality this law has been replaced with a new legislation. It is important to point out that emails DO NOT require any fine print of regulations - they need to indicate the following;

• who the sender is
• what software or service they are using to send the email (if not their own)
• a clear unsubscribe option directly in the email

While not part of marketing communication legislation, good email messages will also indicate why you are receiving the email much like Send Blaster in the example above (signed up for newsletter, existing customer, etc.).

2. Credibility via Email Signatures or Branding

Notice that the first email seems perhaps a little more credible because the signature contains an "actual name"? While in most cases true, it is not always a good indication of legitimacy. Send Blaster may not have an actual person's signature but it does have other aspects which make it credible: reason as to why the message was receive, clear cut privacy policy, refers to actual name of recipient in copy, etc.

Many spam emails will place "personas" or make-believe signatures to make them seem real. While we cannot for sure say if the person in the example above is real or not, it sure does not give me confidence knowing that they did not have matching titles (what they indicate in the opening paragraph of the email vs. their actual title in the signature) or any sort of web presence.

3. Personalization of Subject Lines to Encourage Open Rate

One email includes "Re:" as if it were replying to a previous email while the other has the recipient's name. Which one is more legitimate? This would depend; I have never had previous communication with anyone from that first email. Therefore including the "Re:" is clearly a bait tactic to get me to open the message. The second email has my name, which is also a marketing tactic used to make the email look as if it was sent personally to me (not such a bad thing after all).

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Hopefully this will help you distinguish between spam and regular marketing service proposals. We all known even the best filters will let through a few junk emails. The better you are prepared to recognize them in your inbox, the less time you will waste managing proposals.

Now I would love to hear any spam-like communication stories you may have come across from? Feel free to share below in the comment section to help others be more prepared.

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Unknown Wednesday, March 18, 2015  

As a business owner, or a new digital marketer, you may have asked yourself on more than one occasion: what is content marketing?! With what seems to be speed-of-light developments and changes in SEO practices, social media and other online branding outlets it is very difficult to maintain a steady grasp of effective marketing practices that can yield positive results. One thing in all of this hectic change remains consistent - content marketing works, and is here to stay. It feeds into SEO rankings, original content attracts participants and brand ambassadors, it builds a community and most important it encourages interactivity. So how does it work?

What is Content Marketing?

To sum up the big question: content marketing refers to creating original, regular and engaging information that users/viewers/audience will find useful, entertaining, informative or in some way meaningful. This information does not necessarily mean it has to be written, great content can include the following:
- Videos
- Ebooks
- Mobile Applications
- Interactive Games
- Infographics
- Blogs
- Stories
- Presentations
- & much more!

Image courtesy of KROMKRATHOG / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The idea behind original, engaging content is that "sky is the limit" so to speak - if you can imagine it, you can create it. And always - I mean ALWAYS keep in mind what people will find meaningful, no point in boring someone with content it will most certainly not live up to its purpose.

How to Create (Marketing) Content

This is the hard part: creating regular, interesting and engaging information. How do you always create something engaging with limited time? It is not easy by any means - creating great content requires time, planning and constant effort. Something which is not considered with most small business organizations because it is hard to measure the success of great content - it is not tangible per say (at least not clearly, and not yet) as it does not directly correlate to more sales, or increase in revenue. The best way to start is to share ideas or knowledge in which your organization specializes in. But that is not all: you also need to make this knowledge creative, interactive and eye-grabbing.

While I cannot tell you what to create, I can help share some freebies that may help you take your content to the next level. Use the resources below to help you time-manage, and simplify your content creation:

- Infographic Building Tools
- Short Video Snippets (Vine)
- Ebook Tools
- Blogging Platforms
- Creative Presentation Tools

That should be enough to get anyone started on putting in creativity to some great ideas!

Why is it Effective?

Plain and simple answer: because you are creating information that people want or need. You are attracting ("pull strategy") users to your content by catering to their interests as opposed to doing paid advertisements ("push strategy") and interrupting them at some point during their online browsing. After getting a grasp of content marketing the next challenge becomes standing out from the rest of the content out there, there are millions of blogs on millions of different topics - your content has to stand out and grab someone's attention, help them solve a problem, make their life easier, encourage them to read, look, share, interact, comment.

There has to be a purpose to your content, just like there is a purpose to your brand.

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Unknown Tuesday, September 17, 2013