Tuesday, October 31, 2017

13 Email Examples That Totally Nailed Personalization

If you're anything like most people, you can probably rattle off 100 different things you'd rather do than dig through your inbox.

It starts to feel like a chore, because what's in there isn't very interesting. In fact, only 21% of consumers reported that they've received a memorable promotional email in the past two months, according to a study by Litmus.

To overcome that, many brands are using email personalization as a strategy for creating more engaging email experiences -- ones that feel less like a robot, and more like a friend.

The best part? Email personalization doesn't need to be insanely complicated to resonate with recipients. To see what I mean, check out these 13 great email examples that cleverly use personalization.

13 Personalized Email Examples You Can't Help but Click

1) OpenTable

As you may have gathered from my bio, there are few things in life that bring me as much joy as a remarkable meal. That's why OpenTable is one of my favorite brands. Not only does it easy to make reservations online, but it also remembers my favorite restaurants, and helps me discover new ones based on my reviews and reservation behavior.

One way OpenTable encourages me to leave reviews is by sending me an email with a personalized subject line asking me how my most recent meal was that I booked through this platform.

Because these reviews help OpenTable figure out which restaurant recommendations to make for me, I'm already encouraged -- but a personalized, specific subject line with a reminder of where my last reservation was, helps to boost my engagement.

2) JetBlue

Oh, JetBlue. You shouldn't have.

This anniversary email highlights a creative example of a brand using something as simple as a date to provide a standout experience. Much like a birthday shout out, JetBlue used my colleague's account creation date to trigger a personalized email to celebrate the fact that they've been "emailing for 365 days now."

If you're a HubSpot customer, this is an easy email to replicate for your contacts through a fixed date or property-based workflows. It allows you to base your workflow on a calendar or contact property date, so you can send anniversary emails, digital birthday cards, renewal reminders, and more. And if your business is sending a high volume of these emails, we also offer the Transactional Email Add-On.

3) Spotify

Here's another great personalized email example that leverages a user's interests to provide a relevant, value-packed message.

The copy in this email from Spotify is particularly effective because it frames the personalization in a way that makes the recipient feel like they're being rewarded for their usage. Phrases like "top listener" and "be the first to get access" lend themselves to a sense of exclusivity -- making the user feel important.

The email also closes with a written call-to-action that encourages the recipient to listen to Charles Kelley's new song -- specifically on Spotify. Again, this push helps to ensure that the user is actively using the streaming service, and therefore continuously reminded of the value.

4) Amazon

A few Halloweens ago, HubSpot's blogging team dressed as the dancing pumpkin man from this viral video. (And, in case you're wondering, we dressed as a bunch of bananas last year.) But before opting to DIY our own orange masks, my colleague, Lindsay Kolowich, set out on an Amazon search to find us the real deal.

Within just a couple of days, she received this personalized email from Amazon featuring "products similar to 'full face plastic pumpkin masks'." (Some of them are quite scary, aren't they?)

This email serves as a great example of how to use a contact's search behavior to re-engage them with your company, and hopefully move them closer to a sale.

5) LinkedIn

Once upon a time, before I worked for HubSpot -- practically another lifetime, it feels like -- I was about to graduate from business school and actively applying for jobs.

I often used LinkedIn for my search -- a business-focused social network that was paying attention the type of listings I responded to. Each day, LinkedIn sent me a roundup jobs it thought would pique my interest.

LinkedIn

What's interesting about this email is that LinkedIn wasn't using it to earn my paid business. Rather, LinkedIn seemed to be keeping a close eye, algorithmically, to the locations and type of work I was seeking. While some of the listings were more applicable than others, all of them were clickable.

Did you catch that? Clickable. And even if none of these jobs piqued my interest, I had about 250 classmates who might have considered them, driving even more traffic to LinkedIn's website.

So think about what's going to make your content clickable, and how you can use personalized emails to drive traffic to your site. Then, set up workflows that remind subscribers how to continue taking advantage of these specially-tailored messages.

6) The Bowery Presents

I received this email back when I was living in New York address, but it still serves as a great example of how to use location information to provide a customized email experience.

In the email, The Bowery Presents pulled shows from New York venues -- where I purchased tickets for many events when I lived there -- for artists similar to the ones I saw live.

The Bowery Presents

And when I finally purchased tickets to see one of these artists in Boston? It re-personalized my emails to let me know about shows here.

By making it easy for me to quickly visualize what's headed to the area and when, The Bowery Presents is able to lower the barrier between me and the point of purchase.

This type of personalization could be extremely beneficial for a company looking to deliver more relevant messages to international leads or existing customers.

7) Twitter

After following one of her favorite brunch spots on Twitter, my colleague Corey Wainwright received this email from the social network with suggestions for similar accounts to follow.

What's more is that the suggestions were actually super relevant -- turns out, a couple of them were just right around the corner from her. (Hello, new grub options.)

twitter email mkt resized 600

When companies have as much data as Twitter does, they usually go one of two ways with personalization: They totally hit the nail on the head, or they have too much data to sift out what's important. This is an example of accurately identifying what Corey would actually care about, and delivering it to her.

8) Hawaiian Airlines

There are few places on the planet that I love more than Hawaii. I'm constantly thinking about my next trip there, but for a while, could never quite commit to booking it.

That is, until I received this special birthday email from Hawaiian Airlines. In keeping with the Hawaiian tradition of presenting someone with a lei on his or her birthday, the airline instead chose to present me with 500 bonus miles, just for booking a trip within the next year. Aloha, indeed.

Hawaiian Airlines

There's more than one noteworthy thing about this email. First, the only reason I received it is that I'm enrolled in the Hawaiian Airlines mileage program, and getting emails like these is just one of the "rewards" of membership. Plus, the airline understands that I joined for a reason -- because at some point, I planned to visit Hawaii again.

With that in mind, Hawaiian Airlines used this personalized email to give me an incentive to finally book that trip, with a birthday greeting to boot. That's a great way for brands to achieve customer reactivation -- by using a fixed date, like a birthday or anniversary, to remind people what it was that they loved about your business in the first place. By offering something special from your brand to commemorate the occasion, you're giving your audience the motivation to take action and making a purchase.

9) HubSpot Academy

There's a thing about licenses and certifications. They're valuable. They help you master knowledge and become an expert. Having them makes you look good. But they also have to be kept up-to-date, and unless you're reminded, letting them expire can be all too easy.

If you have any HubSpot certifications, you know that doesn't have to be the case. Our Academy team creates personalized emails to let certification-holders know which ones they currently possess, which ones need to be renewed, which ones might be helpful to add to their credentials, and when new certifications are available.

HubSpot Mail - A new certification course by HubSpot Academy

Eric Peters, the senior growth marketing manager with HubSpot Academy, explained the technology that makes emails like these work. Each certification box in the above email is made "smart," to show users which certifications are available to them.

"All nine certifications are available to partners. Eight are available to customers, and four to non-customers," Peters says. "Each one of those certifications has a Smart CTA that appears as a different color, depending on whether the user is actively certified -- which means they passed within the last 395 days -- expired, or incomplete."

"In other words," he explains, "it's a bunch of Smart CTAs embedded in a smart rich text box. The CTAs point to the splash page describing the certification."

(HubSpot Professional and Enterprise customers: You can create Smart CTAs like these in your own emails with your HubSpot CTA tool.)

10) Netflix

Am I the only one that spends more time looking for a movie on Netflix than I do actually watching it?

Aware that its database can be overwhelming, Netflix regularly sends out these personalized emails that suggest movies for its users. (If you want to learn more about the science behind the Netflix algorithms, you can brush up on it here.)

By providing a custom recommendation, Netflix helps ensure that users are actively seeing the value of their subscription. In other words, it keeps them watching, which ultimately keeps them paying.

This approach could be applied to a number of marketing materials -- ebooks, webinars, and blog articles, to name a few. For example, if you find that someone downloaded an ebook on social media tips, you may want to set up a workflow to trigger a follow-up email that suggests they check out your social media guide on SlideShare.

11) Pinterest

In an effort to keep my friend Ginny Mineo pinning, Pinterest sent her this personalized email. Based on her past activity on the site, the social network provided some suggestions for other topics she may want to explore. (Butter, Lauren Conrad, and cheese -- I like your style, Ginny.)

And given that, at the time, she was planning a yellow-themed wedding, I'd say the results were pretty accurate.

What we love most about the email is its simplicity. It offers up just six topics, which is enough to interest the recipient without overwhelming her. Plus, the copy is quick, friendly, and clear.

12) WeddingWire

In other wedding-related news, Mineo also received this email example from WeddingWire, an online marketplace for venues, cakes, dresses, and other wedding-planning items.

While the copy was clever in and of itself, what really struck us was the personalization used in the subject line. After all, your recipients aren't going to see the content unless you persuade them to click first, right?

By using a witty, custom hashtag -- #GinnysLastHurrah -- in the subject line, WeddingWire inspired her to click on the email, check out their tool for creating hashtags, and forward the email to the rest of us.

If you want to boost the word-of-mouth influence behind your product or service, you should consider how personalization can help propel your message.

13) Birchbox

Birchbox is a company that's fixated on personalization in all the right ways -- and all it takes is one glance at the header of this email to see why it's effective.

Birchbox transparently admitted that they took a peek at my colleague Carly Stec's sample and purchase history before crafting this email. That gave her the sense that what came next would likely be relevant to her -- and it was.

These little, personalized messages always reinforce why Carly continues to subscribe to the Birchbox service -- they strengthen her loyalty.

Let's Get Personal

With 62% of millennials feeling that online content drives their loyalty to a brand, and 46% of U.S. consumers admitting that they’re more likely to switch providers than they were 10 years ago -- it's clear that fostering loyalty through personalization should be a priority.

It may seem like a big undertaking, but by observing, understanding, and investing in the behavior of your customers, you can help to ensure that they'll stay customers. So start getting personal -- and building loyalty.

Measuring mobile site speed with Google Lighthouse

20 Creative Agencies You Should Follow on Instagram

Instagram has evolved into a perfect visual platform for agencies, filled with photos of office parties, company outings, and creatives hard at work behind their Macs. And while there were more than a few pictures of agency pups and craft beers, Instagram has also become a place where agencies can share behind-the-scenes shots of their latest work and highlight their accomplishments.

While there probably aren't that many CMOs who troll Instagram looking for their next agency partner, there is little competition and even more opportunity to make it your agency's platform of choice for attracting new talent and clients -- a differentiator when it comes to that next visual campaign.

If you are looking for some inspiration or just want some "inside" looks at a few agencies, then check out this ultimate -- yet not exhaustive -- list of ad agencies to follow on Instagram:

20 Creative Agencies To Follow on Instagram

1) Huge: @hugeinc

This meticulously curated Instagram from Huge is chock full of high-quality photography, graphic design inspiration, and quirky snaps of daily office antics. A must-follow if you want a glimpse of what life is like at a top agency.

 

Friday!

A post shared by Huge (@hugeinc) on May 1, 2015 at 4:05pm PDT

 

2) Motherlondon: @motherlondon

Mother London, the world's leading independent creative agency network, has a unique approach to Instagram. Each week, they hand over the reins to a different creative, allowing them to showcase their work and highlight their unique design perspective. The result is a truly inspiring feed that's sure to inject a little inspiration into your daily life.

 

3) ustwo: @ustwo

Even though ustwo, a digital product studio, has worked with major brands like Google, Adidas, and Ford, their Instagram presence is surprisingly personal. Take a scroll through their gallery and you'll find colorful photos of office events, team outings, and even birthdays alongside glimpses of their latest work.

 

4) Wolff Olins: @wolffolins

Wolff Olins' Instagram gives followers a glimpse at the agency's work-hard-play-hard approach to creative strategy, including design inspiration and behind-the-scenes snaps.

 

Inspiring speakers + specialty cocktails = an engaged audience #WO50

A post shared by Wolff Olins (@wolffolins) on Oct 14, 2016 at 9:14am PDT

 

5) Carrot Creative: @carrotcreative

If you subscribe to the notion that you can never see too many pictures of adorable dogs or awesome events, then Carrot Creative's Instagram is for you. VICE's full service digital agency serves up plenty of both in their frequent updates, along with photos of their team and their traveling flag.

 

6) Red Antler: @redantler

Brooklyn-based agency Red Antler is the epitome of cool and inventive New York charm, and their Instagram reflects this identity. Follow along for design inspiration, office culture, and photos of their work with startups.

 

Oh hey new @casper πŸ‘€ Have you found us on the subway yet? πŸ”Ž

A post shared by Red Antler (@redantler) on Apr 21, 2017 at 1:55pm PDT

 

7) Skirt PR: @skirtpr

The folks at Skirt PR know their way around a glamorous party. Whether it's a cool boutique opening, a cozy cafe gathering, or a champagne celebration, you can follow along with the action on their Instagram. Their feed is also a colorful source of design inspiration -- perfect for a mid-week pick-me-up.

 

Squeezing in as many summer rooftop happy hours as we can. ☀️

A post shared by Skirt PR (@skirtpr) on Aug 11, 2017 at 3:02pm PDT

 

8) Agency V CPH: @agencyvcph

If you ever feel like your life could use more Scandinavian minimalism, then you should add Agency V CPH to your list of accounts to follow. The Copenhagen-based agency shares pictures of sleek interiors, style inspiration from their clients, and city snapshots from the rainy streets of Copenhagen.

 

9) SPARK: @sparkbrand

SPARK's creative team takes followers behind the scenes and on location as they shoot and edit ads for brands like Hilton, Visit Florida, and The DalΓ­ Museum. Their account is also worth a follow for the illustrations and other design work they regularly share.

 

10) BBDO San Francisco: @bbdosf

As their Instagram bio proudly declares, BBDO San Francisco is "all about The Work The Work The Work." Their account showcases their recent campaigns, high-profile events (such as Cannes), and their team's creative process -- which involves bowling nights.

 

Senior producer Whitney, creating. πŸ”₯#thewoodworkthewoodworkthewoodwork #winniethepooh #bbdo #artist

A post shared by BBDO San Francisco (@bbdosf) on Oct 13, 2016 at 12:01pm PDT

 

11) Anomaly: @anomaly

AdAge named Los Angeles-based shop Anomaly Agency of the Year in 2017, and we think their Instagram account is also a winner. With colorful snaps of daily office life, upcoming campaigns for clients, and scenic shots from their seven global locations, Anomaly is worth a follow. 

 

12) Martin Agency: @martinagency

You've seen Martin Agency's impressive work for Geico, Chevrolet, and Oreos, but you probably didn't know they have an affinity for flannel shirts and a love of street art. Martin Agency's Instagram is an intimate look at how employees at one of the world's most influential agencies work day-to-day.

 

13) Salted Stone: @saltedstone

This agency's Instagram following may be small in comparison to some of the other accounts features here, but the quality of their content speaks for itself. Salted Stone, a California-based digital agency, uses Instagram to share behind-the-scenes peeks at their latest projects, industry events (like INBOUND), and favorite lunch spots.

 

14) Talk Shop Media: @talkshopmedia

No, your eyes don't deceive you -- that's really Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge chowing down on some treats from one of Talk Shop Media's clients. This digital marketing agency specializes in influencer relations, and their Instagram is like having a free pass to all the coolest events.

 

15) Goodby Silverstein & Partners: @goodby_silverstein

Margaret Johnson, chief creative officer at Goodby Silverstein & Partners, was recently honored on Business Insider's 30 Most Creative People in Advertising list. Her agency's Instagram account gives followers the opportunity to see how Johnson and her team produce major global campaigns.

 

16) RPA Advertising: @rpa_advertising

RPA Advertising's Instagram account makes the daily office grind look pretty darn fun. The Santa Monica-based agency recently hosted a summer concert series, and -- based on their feed -- they keep the office kitchen stocked with plenty of healthy snacks.

 

Partial eclipse, full party out here in Santa Monica. πŸ“·: @jackieebird

A post shared by RPA Advertising (@rpa_advertising) on Aug 21, 2017 at 12:46pm PDT

 

17) Colle + McVoy: @collemcvoy

Dogs and design? Count us in. Colle + McVoy's Instagram account puts the spotlight on their design work and company culture.

 

Just taking a few notes at a very important meeting. #agencylife #dogsofinstgram #dogstagram

A post shared by Colle McVoy (@collemcvoy) on Mar 17, 2017 at 8:20am PDT

 

18) hzdg: @hzdg

hzdg's Instagram account is a veritable treasure trove of design inspiration, ranging from their own work to the work of designers and artists their team admires. They even recently took followers on a virtual tour of the world's most colorful places.

 

Monday mood, via @splendid_rags. #orange

A post shared by @hzdg on Aug 15, 2016 at 5:53am PDT

 

19) Social Distillery: @socialdistillery

Social Distillery is an Austin, Texas-based social media agency specializing in digital communications and consumer engagement. They might be a relatively small agency, but their Instagram account makes a big impression with snapshots of their energetic team and latest work.

 

In no particular order, of course. Happy #EmployeeAppreciationDay from our office to yours!

A post shared by Social Distillery (@socialdistillery) on Mar 3, 2017 at 7:17am PST

 

20) st8mnt: @st8mnt

Last but certainly not least is st8mt, a Nashville-based branding agency that boasts powerful design chops and a laid-back company culture. Their Instagram is full of their recent work and company events. You could say it really makes, well, a statement

 

We're really on top of things today. πŸ•΄πŸ½

A post shared by ST8MNT (@st8mnt) on Aug 1, 2017 at 2:16pm PDT

How does your agency use Instagram? Share your account with us in the comments.

social-media-kit

What Makes People Distrust Your Business? [Infographic]

Here's the thing: Many, many businesses are perfectly trustworthy -- including yours, we hope. 

But in a world of events like headline-making data breaches, how do you get customers to see you that way?

Let's have a look at microbusinesses as a starting point. While most of them don't account for major, household names, according to Paychex, they comprise over 75% of private-sector employers in the U.S. -- and more than one in every 10 U.S. jobs. In other words: These small-to-midsize businesses are, if you'll excuse the schmaltz, at the very core of a major economy.

But the term "bootstrapping" is used so frequently within their world for a reason. When microbusinesses are first starting out, and if they maintain smaller teams, resources can be limited. There might not be a major PR firm to construct professional messaging, for example -- the messaging that screams, "We are a trustworthy brand!"

In that case, how do these businesses build trust among their target audiences -- and what gets in the way of it?

These infographics from Paychex tell a very interesting story and incorporate easy-to-digest data from its survey of over 1,000 relevant customers to gain insight on the above questions. Have a look to discover that story, and see how you can apply it to your own business efforts.

microbusiness_7-compressor.png
microbusiness_6-compressor
microbusiness_5
microbusiness_4
microbusiness_3
microbusiness_2-compressor

Unfiltered: How to Show Up in Local Search Results

Posted by sherrybonelli

If you're having trouble getting your local business' website to show up in the Google local 3-pack or local search results in general, you're not alone. The first page of Google's search results seems to have gotten smaller over the years – the top and bottom of the page are often filled with ads, the local 7-pack was trimmed to a slim 3-pack, and online directories often take up the rest of page one. There is very little room for small local businesses to rank on the first page of Google.

To make matters worse, Google has a local "filter" that can strike a business, causing their listing to drop out of local search results for seemingly no reason – often, literally, overnight. Google's local filter has been around for a while, but it became more noticeable after the Possum algorithm update, which began filtering out even more businesses from local search results.

If you think about it, this filter is not much different than websites ranking organically in search results: In an ideal world, the best sites win the top spots. However, the Google filter can have a significantly negative impact on local businesses that often rely on showing up in local search results to get customers to their doors.

What causes a business to get filtered?

Just like the multitude of factors that go into ranking high organically, there are a variety of factors that go into ranking in the local 3-pack and the Local Finder.

https://d2eeipcrcdle6.cloudfront.net/learn/seo/Algo-update-pages/Google-Possum1.png?mtime=20170612120640

Here are a few situations that might cause you to get filtered and what you can do if that happens.

Proximity matters

With mobile search becoming more and more popular, Google takes into consideration where the mobile searcher is physically located when they're performing a search. This means that local search results can also depend on where the business is physically located when the search is being done.

A few years ago, if your business wasn't located in the large city in your area, you were at a significant disadvantage. It was difficult to rank when someone searched for "business category + large city" – simply because your business wasn't physically located in the "large city." Things have changed slightly in your favor – which is great for all the businesses who have a physical address in the suburbs.

According to Ben Fisher, Co-Founder of SteadyDemand.com and a Google Top Contributor, "Proximity and Google My Business data play an important role in the Possum filter. Before the Hawk Update, this was exaggerated and now the radius has been greatly reduced." This means there's hope for you to show up in the local search results – even if your business isn't located in a big city.

Google My Business categories

When you're selecting a Google My Business category for your listing, select the most specific category that's appropriate for your business.

However, if you see a competitor is outranking you, find out what category they are using and select the same category for your business (but only if it makes sense.) Then look at all the other things they are doing online to increase their organic ranking and emulate and outdo them.

If your category selections don't work, it's possible you've selected too many categories. Too many categories can confuse Google to the point where it's not sure what your company's specialty is. Try deleting some of the less-specific categories and see if that helps you show up.

Your physical address

If you can help it, don't have the same physical address as your competitors. Yes, this means if you're located in an office building (or worse, a "virtual office" or a UPS Store address) and competing companies are also in your building, your listing may not show up in local search results.

When it comes to sharing an address with a competitor, Ben Fisher recommends, "Ensure that you do not have the same primary category as your competitor if you are in the same building. Their listing may have more trust by Google and you would have a higher chance of being filtered."

Also, many people think that simply adding a suite number to your address will differentiate your address enough from a competitor at the same location — it won't. This is one of the biggest myths in local SEO. According to Fisher, "Google doesn't factor in suite numbers."

Additionally, if competing businesses are located physically close to you, that, too, can impact whether you show up in local search results. So if you have a competitor a block or two down from your company, that can lead to one of you being filtered.

Practitioners

If you're a doctor, attorney, accountant or are in some other industry with multiple professionals working in the same office location, Google may filter out some of your practitioners' listings. Why? Google doesn't want one business dominating the first page of Google local search results. This means that all of the practitioners in your company are essentially competing with one another.

To offset this, each practitioner's Google My Business listing should have a different category (if possible) and should be directed to different URLs (either a page about the practitioner or a page about the specialty – they should not all point to the site's home page).

For instance, at a medical practice, one doctor could select the family practice category and another the pediatrician category. Ideally you would want to change those doctors' landing pages to reflect those categories, too:

Doctorsoffice.com/dr-mathew-family-practice
Doctorsoffice.com/dr-smith-pediatrician

Another thing you can do to differentiate the practitioners and help curtail being filtered is to have unique local phone numbers for each of them.

Evaluate what your competitors are doing right

If your listing is getting filtered out, look at the businesses that are being displayed and see what they're doing right on Google Maps, Google+, Google My Business, on-site, off-site, and in any other areas you can think of. If possible, do an SEO site audit on their site to see what they're doing right that perhaps you should do to overtake them in the rankings.

When you're evaluating your competition, make sure you focus on the signals that help sites rank organically. Do they have a better Google+ description? Is their GMB listing completely filled out but yours is missing some information? Do they have more 5-star reviews? Do they have more backlinks? What is their business category? Start doing what they're doing – only better.

In general Google wants to show the best businesses first. Compete toe-to-toe with the competitors that are ranking higher than you with the goal of eventually taking over their highly-coveted spot.

Other factors that can help you show up in local search results

As mentioned earlier, Google considers a variety of data points when it determines which local listings to display in search results and which ones to filter out. Here are a few other signals to pay attention to when optimizing for local search results:

Reviews

If everything else is equal, do you have more 5-star reviews than your competition? If so, you will probably show up in the local search results instead of your competitors. Google is one of the few review sites that encourages businesses to proactively ask customers to leave reviews. Take that as a clue to ask customers to give you great reviews not only on your Google My Business listing but also on third-party review sites like Facebook, Yelp, and others.

Posts

Are you interacting with your visitors by offering something special to those who see your business listing? Engaging with your potential customers by creating a Post lets Google know that you are paying attention and giving its users a special deal. Having more "transactions and interactions" with your potential customers is a good metric and can help you show up in local search results.

Google+

Despite what the critics say, Google+ is not dead. Whenever you make a Facebook or Twitter post, go ahead and post to Google+, too. Write semantic posts that are relevant to your business and relevant to your potential customers. Try to write Google+ posts that are approximately 300 words in length and be sure to keyword optimize the first 100 words of each post. You can often see some minor increases in rankings due to well-optimized Google+ posts, properly optimized Collections, and an engaged audience.

Here's one important thing to keep in mind: Google+ is not the place to post content just to try and rank higher in local search. (That's called spam and that is a no-no.) Ensure that any post you make to Google+ is valuable to your end-users.

Keep your Google My Business listing current

Adding photos, updating your business hours for holidays, utilizing the Q&A or booking features, etc. can help you show off in rankings. However, don't add content just to try and rank higher. (Your Google My Business listing is not the place for spammy content.) Make sure the content you add to your GMB listing is both timely and high-quality content. By updating/adding content, Google knows that your information is likely accurate and that your business is engaged. Speaking of which...

Be engaged

Interacting with your customers online is not only beneficial for customer relations, but it can also be a signal to Google that can positively impact your local search ranking results. David Mihm, founder of Tidings, feels that by 2020, the difference-making local ranking factor will be engagement.

engagement-ranking-factor.jpg

(Source: The Difference-Making Local Ranking Factor of 2020)

According to Mihm, "Engagement is simply a much more accurate signal of the quality of local businesses than the traditional ranking factors of links, directory citations, and even reviews." This means you need to start preparing now and begin interacting with potential customers by using GMB's Q&A and booking features, instant messaging, Google+ posts, responding to Google and third-party reviews, ensure your website's phone number is "click-to-call" enabled, etc.

Consolidate any duplicate listings

Some business owners go overboard and create multiple Google My Business listings with the thought that more has to be better. This is one instance where having more can actually hurt you. If you discover that for whatever reason your business has more than one GMB listing, it's important that you properly consolidate your listings into one.

Other sources linking to your website

If verified data sources, like the Better Business Bureau, professional organizations and associations, chambers of commerce, online directories, etc. link to your website, that can have an impact on whether or not you show up on Google's radar. Make sure that your business is listed on as many high-quality and authoritative online directories as possible – and ensure that the information about your business – especially your company's Name, Address and Phone Number (NAP) -- is consistent and accurate.

So there you have it! Hopefully you found some ideas on what to do if your listing is being filtered on Google local results.

What are some tips that you have for keeping your business "unfiltered"?


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Monday, October 30, 2017

High-speed keyword research

How to Write Absolutely Addictive Articles

This is a longer article.

If you’re feeling noncommittal at the moment, don’t read it. Save it. Bookmark this page for later, when you have more time.

You’ll be glad you did, especially if your goal is to write articles of your own. Articles that lure readers in slowly, carefully, inching them down the page, sentence by sentence, until the words run out. Articles people can’t stop reading.

Joe Sugarman wrote articles like this. In fact, he was behind some of the most addictive and profitable articles ever created. Except he called them “print ads.”

Meet Joe.

In 1986, Joe Sugarman, a direct response copywriter, wrote a print ad for BluBlocker Sunglasses. The ad helped an iconic brand take root. It also made him rich:

 

 

He distributed his ad the old-fashioned way, in the mail, asking readers to call in with their credit cards. The response was enormous. The glasses sold out in a day. And he did this again and again with an assortment of products: calculators and speakers, smoke detectors and thermostats, even jets and mansions.

His success stemmed from his ability to keep people reading.

Sugarman knew that prospects who finished an ad were far more likely to buy the product than those who only read the beginning. So he used every engagement tactic he knew to keep people glued to the page, addicted.

How to Write Addictive Articles

Towards the end of his career, Sugarman started divulging his copywriting secrets in expensive seminars. To communicate his vast knowledge, he organized it into axioms.

Some of his axioms are philosophical truths, intended to help business owners arrive at a unique selling angle:

  • “Never sell a product or service. Always sell a concept.”
  • “Selling a cure is a lot easier than selling a preventative.”
  • “When trying to solve problems, don’t assume constraints that aren’t really there.”

Others are more practical tips, intended to help copywriters keep readers engaged throughout the entire ad. I've transcribed these engagement tips below, along with some context that’ll help you apply Sugarman’s proven wisdom to your next article.

1) “The sole purpose of the first sentence in an advertisement is to get you to read the second sentence.”

The Law of Inertia also applies to copy. Conventional wisdom says that the more time you spend reading something, anything, the more likely you are to finish it. An engaged reader is like a train, hard to stop.

But trains are also slow to start, meaning the copy has to create a big upfront push.

Your first sentence is your article’s most important. If it fails to engage the reader, then you’ve lost everything that matters.

TAKEAWAY: Addictive articles open with a compelling sentence.

How to Craft Your First Sentence

Your article’s first sentence doesn’t need to have anything to do with the topic. It only needs to capture attention, like a gunshot. To do so, make your opening sentence:

  • Brief: “If you look at many of my ads, you’ll notice that all of my first sentences are so short they almost aren’t sentences,” writes Sugarman. “No long multisyllabic words, either. Keep it short, sweet and almost incomplete so that the reader has to read the next sentence.
  • Spoken: Dialogue implies present action, which is compelling.
  • Coy, obscure, or unsettling: If your first line draws a question, incites curiosity, or creeps out the reader, there’s a good chance he or she will move on to the next line.

2) “Every communication should be a personal one, from the writer to the recipient, regardless of the medium used.”

Why should something written for the masses read like a personal message? Because people crave connection. It’s a basic human need, even in writing. Readers want to feel like they know the person behind the words.

Personal copy tears down barriers, giving an individual reader the impression that the article was written solely for her consumption, her benefit, which is engaging on its face.

TAKEAWAY: Addictive articles sound conversational, like an email from a friend.

How to Write Conversationally

Here’s some practical advice:

  • Use active voice because it’s easy to read.
  • Use white space because it commands the reader’s attention.
  • Use contractions because they make copy sound informal, light.
  • Use simple words because nobody is impressed by your vocabulary.
  • Use second person because you want to make the reader feel included.

Also, when writing an article, don’t visualize your audience as a nondescript crowd of people. Instead, when you write, imagine a single person in that crowd, your Ideal Reader. Give her a name, an age, and an occupation. Give her eyes, a nose, and hair. Maybe she looks like someone you know and care about? Imagine her face as she reads your work.

Now write to her. She is the crowd.

As the saying goes, Never write for anyone, always write for someone.

3) “Get the reader to say yes and harmonize with your accurate and truthful statements while reading your copy.”

As a teenager, I sold magazine subscriptions door-to-door. At first it was hard and I was unsuccessful. Then I picked up a trick. I started getting the prospect to agree with me:

“Good afternoon,” I said. “I’m Eddie. Nice day out, huh?”

“It is,” said the prospect. “How can I help you?”

“Of course,” I said. “Let me ask, do you read magazines?”

“Yes.”

“Have one in the house?”

“Sure, I do.”

“Did you, by chance, buy it off the shelf, individually?”

“I did, actually,” said the prospect.

“I bet it cost about six bucks, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well I can sell you TWELVE issues of the same magazine for less than twenty bucks,” I said. “If you sign right now, I’ll throw in a free tote bag so you can bring all your magazines to the beach.” Then I’d smile.

Sure, lots of people still declined: “No thanks, kid.”

But lots of people also smiled back and took my pen: “Hell, why not? If I don’t I’ll end up spending full price on the next issue!”

This technique is called harmonizing. It warms the prospect up, getting him or her in the mood to buy. It’s a manufactured feeling -- and it works as well on the page as it does in person. In other words, harmonizing with your readers will warm them up, getting them in the mood to read.

TAKEAWAY: Addictive articles keep readers nodding.

How to Keep Readers Harmonized with Your Message

People nod at statements they perceive to be:

  • True: something accurate, like a fact.
  • Interesting: something captivating, like a story.
  • Informative: something valuable, like instructions.

That said, the better you understand your Ideal Reader, the easier it is to harmonize her with honest, interesting, or informative copy. So do your research. Know your audience like you know yourself.

4) “Keep the copy interesting and the reader interested through the power of curiosity.”

Most copy goes through ebbs and flows of engagement. Some parts you can’t read fast enough while others slow you down to a crawl. This is normal. Even so, it’s why so many people abandon what they’re reading. The thrill dissipates and they get bored.

Boredom kills copy. But that's OK because there's an antidote: curiosity. The trick is knowing how to plant it …

TAKEAWAY: Addictive articles use ‘seeds of curiosity.’

How to Plant These Seeds

“One way to increase readership is by applying a theory I call ‘seeds of curiosity,’” writes Sugarman. “It goes like this. At the end of a paragraph, I will often put a very short sentence that offers some reason for the reader to read the next paragraph.”

For example:

  • “So read on …”
  • “Let me explain …”
  • “But there’s more …”
  • “But I didn’t stop there …”
  • “Now here comes the good part …”

These phrases nudge the reader forward, subconsciously, through the sludge. It’s a neat trick, but nothing drives engagement like this next concept …

5) “The ideas presented in your copy should flow in a logical fashion, anticipating your prospect’s questions and answering them as if the questions were asked face-to-face.”

While direct response copywriters can sell many people at once, they can’t always be there to answer questions. When you’re face-to-face or on the phone, you can field questions as they come up. That’s an advantage salespeople have over copywriters.

“Since we copywriters do not have the benefit of having the prospect in front of us to ask the questions,” writes Sugarman, “we must craft our ads in such a manner that they literally lead our prospects to ask the question we want to answer.”

TAKEAWAY: Addictive articles stay a step ahead of the audience.

How to Anticipate What Your Readers are Thinking

This process breaks down into two steps:

  1. Write your article’s headline.
  2. Based on the headline, anticipate and answer your Ideal Reader’s questions.

Let’s use this article as an example:

  1. Headline: How to Write Addictive Articles
  2. Q1: “Sounds up my alley, but do I really want to read this whole thing?”
    A1: “Maybe not this minute, but you should at some point.”

    Q2: “Why?”
    A2: “Because it’ll teach you how to write articles like Joe Sugarman.”

    Q3: “Joe who?”
    A3: “He’s one of the best direct response copywriters ever.”

    Q4: “Oh yeh? What makes him so good?”
    A4: “Well, he’s got these axioms …”

Sound familiar? This process will help you develop your article’s outline, too.

6) “In the editing process, you refine your copy to express exactly what you want to express with the fewest words.”

I spent a long time editing this piece. In fact, you wouldn’t believe how much time I invested in its post-production. But I did, in part because I like the work. I like tinkering with the words, cutting and shifting them, experimenting until the language clicks. I get lost in it, but I digress.

The real value of editing is evident in the final product: a clear, concise, and hopefully, addictive article for the reader.

“This axiom holds one of the most valuable secrets to effective and persuasive copy,” writes Sugarman, “for it is in the editing process that you turn that raw emotional outpouring of thoughts and ideas into a polished, harmonious, resonant tuning fork that will vibrate perfectly with your prospect.”

TAKEAWAY: Addictive articles are concise.

How to Trim the Fat

Here’s a quick blurb about the benefits of shorter copy:

The truth is that in copywriting, less is more. Why? Think of it this way: copy with fewer words will get read more because the length is less intimidating to readers. It also enables readers to finish the copy much faster.

Now here’s that same message, trimmed up:

In copywriting, less is more. Not only is shorter copy less intimidating, but readers will finish it faster, too.

Same message, half the words. Here’s how I did it:

  • By combining sentences: you can save a few words this way.
  • By removing needless words: you can omit most of the adverbs.
  • By seeking out “that” instances: you can often omit everything up to and including the word “that” in the beginning of a sentence.

Now imagine if you halved the word count of an entire article: same message, delivered twice as fast. Now that’s valuable to both the reader and the author.

Here’s the Bottom Line

“Your reader should be so compelled to read your copy,” writes Sugarman, “that they cannot stop reading until they read all of it as if sliding down a slippery slide.”

If you read this article, you already know how to achieve this.

Now it’s a matter of practice, effort. Start soon.

10 of the Best Ads from October: Spooky Retargeting, Amazon Reviews, and a Lost Panda

I'm obsessed with fall and I don't care who knows it. Give me a deliciously divisive seasonal latte, a freshly fallen leaves scented-candle, and ask Alexa to turn up the "Spooky Sounds," because fall is here and I am here for it.

Brands also love fall. It gives them the chance to use all those skeleton puns they've been eagerly saving up (I would make a skeleton joke here, but you wouldn't find it very humerus.), and send us lots of emails with "More treats less tricks!" in the subject line.

This month's ad round-up isn't all spooky and pumpkin-based (for the sake of your sanity), but it does feature some clever spins on traditional Halloween marketing, as well as some creative print ads and tear-jerkers. Read on to see what made the cut.

10 of the Best Ads from October

1) Svedka

If you're a consumer in 2017 with internet access, you've probably been haunted by the ghost of a late night online window shopping spree. But instead of a regular old revenge-seeking ghost, this particular brand of haunting comes in the form of targeted ads. Spooky.

In a valiant seasonal attempt to transform targeted ads into more of a treat than a trick, Svedka Vodka teamed up with the folks at Toronto-based agency Bensimon Byrne to unleash a spooky curse on vodka devotes. Lured by the promise of seasonal cocktail recipes, those who dared to click were actually shown the video below:

 

2) Common Sense Media

There have been plenty of cautionary articles and ads warning that our phones are turning us into zombies with rapidly declining attention spans, but none of those had Will Ferrel in them. To highlight the havoc our favorite devices can wreak on family time -- especially family dinners -- Common Sense Media enlisted Goodby Silverstein & Partners to create a funny series of PSAs featuring the comedian as a phone-addicted dad.

 

3) Mars

Trick-or-treat anticipation typically leads candy companies to up their ad budgets with some pretty formulaic, chocolately close-ups, but Mars decided to think outside of the jack-o-lantern (sorry) with a series of satisfyingly weird short films.

In the spot for Skittles below, Floor 9.5, director Toby Meakins and writer Simon Allen built the creepy short around the concept of being followed from the front.

 

4) Bud Light

To introduce American BBQ-favorite Budlight to UK consumers, Anheuser-Busch InBev created the ultimate millennial lifestyle ad -- with a refreshing twist of self-awareness. The SNL-esque parody features every trope we've come to expect from beverage ads, plus some absurd add-ins sprinkled in for good measure, like a pet rabbit and a bearded guy in a Bud Light-branded kimono.

 

5) La Cimade

In these simple, stunning ads from French human rights organization La Cimade, the struggle of refugees to survive is strikingly juxtaposed with Olympic athletes' drive to win. The series of ads, created and directed by Josiane Paris' Valentin Guiod and adam&eveDDB London’s Min-Hyung Choi, were developed after Paris won the bid for the 2024 Olympics. The goal was to raise awareness of the ongoing refugee crisis, and remind the French people that preparing for the Olympics is hardly the biggest challenge they currently face.

 

6) Tile

In their debut ad campaign, Tile offers an emotional (and adorable) take on the true value of their Bluetooth tracking system. In the spot, a bedraggled and clearly beloved stuffed panda toy wanders the streets, seeking out his lost owner. After a long and melancholy journey, Tile's tracking system saves the day (of course). The charming campaign was produced by Deutsch and Smuggler director Mark Molloy.

 

7) Kansas City

In a unique effort to pitch Kansas City, MO as the location for Amazon's second HQ, the mayor of Kansas City, Sly James, purchased and reviewed over 1,000 Amazon products. The hilarious stunt was orchestrated by Kansas City-based agency Barkley, with help from the Mayor's own communications team. Whether or not it helps Kansas City make their case to Amazon, the spot was undoubtedly a quirkly way to set the city apart from the pack.

 

8) L.L.Bean

To promote their new brand facelift and "Be an outsider" tagline, Maine-based retailer L.L.Bean worked with The VIA Agency to develop a campaign that encouraged people to go outside -- literally. They took out a full-page ad in the New York Times that could only be viewed in outdoor sunlight, thanks to some very special ink.


Image via: Adweek

 

9) KLM Royal Dutch Airlines

Flying coach or economy class is effective and cost-efficient, but we all know it's a far cry from luxurious. To coax travelers over to the more comfortable (read: expensive) side of air travel, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines distributed VR headsets to economy class airline passengers. The virtual reality experience gave passengers the opportunity to see how their flight could have been on a KLM plane.

 

10) eir

Irish telecom company eir pulled a delightfully oddball stunt to illustrate their "no more black spots" promise to mobile users. With help from agency Rothco, they replaced every single dot in an issue of The Daily Mail Magazine with a brightly colored dot.


Image via: Adweek

 

Friday, October 27, 2017

Gutenberg: Concepts for integrating Yoast SEO

Gutenberg is the new editing experience coming to WordPress. We’ve talked about it before. While we have some hesitations, we do see Gutenberg as a major step forward and are thinking about how we will integrate Yoast SEO into Gutenberg. In this post, we’ll share some of the ideas we’re excited about.

Gutenberg introduces new concepts, like blocks, and new places where we could potentially integrate. The premise behind our integration is that we need to give you feedback as soon as we can, in the right spot. Feedback is most helpful when you can actually do something with it immediately.

Inline is where it’s happening

We started by breaking down all our features, and seeing where we could integrate them into Gutenberg. We don’t think holding on to a single, massive box below the editor will best serve our customers. We’d much rather integrate right where the action happens, and Gutenberg offers us that chance. Let’s take a closer look at what we mean.

For instance, if you don’t fill out an alt text for an image you included, we don’t want to show that bullet point way down below in our metabox, in a long list of possible improvements. No, we want to show it to you right below the field where you can input the alt text.

Same for the featured image. Say you upload an image that is too small for Facebook to accept – you don’t want to have to find out about that when the whole post is finished, and you happen to wander into our social media preview editor. No, we tell you right then and there.

Connecting cause and effect

By working inline as much as we can, we’ll create a tighter connection between what you do and what effect that has on SEO. You’ll get actionable feedback in context. You don’t have to scroll down to a meta box to see the advice and scroll up again to the place where you should implement it. If we give feedback per block, you will get a better understanding of all the factors that influence SEO. And you’ll be able to anticipate them in advance once you’ve been working this way for a while.

Here’s another example: our primary category selection, of course, will be right there in the categories meta box.

The primary category, from Yoast SEO, integrated into Gutenberg

And another: the readability analysis, at the block level – just another section in the paragraph block settings, naturally.


The concept of blocks, in general, will allow us to give much more fine-grained feedback. For instance, you won’t have to look for the best place to add a link; we can scan all the blocks for you and let you know exactly which one is best for a certain link. Link suggestions don’t even have to live in a separate meta box. We can just insert them in the inline suggestions that the link UI offers.

Internal linking suggestion in the link popup

But what if we dream a little bigger?

Some people are working on bringing collaboration to Gutenberg. If it pans out, you won’t need Google Docs or something else to draft articles and leave editorial feedback; you can do it all from within WordPress. Of course, an essential part of a collaborative workflow is a commenting system. But we’d like to think that not all comments have to come from humans, per se.

Something we’ve been exploring is adding our SEO and readability feedback as comments to text. That would put our biggest feature inline as well, right where you need it. You can immediately identify problem areas, respond to feedback with your own comments, or dismiss the ones you don’t want to fix. It becomes an interactive and fun process. We won’t have to use sweeping statements like “50% of your sentences are too long”, no, we can break it down for you block per block.

We know you may not always want instant feedback on every word you type, so you could filter out the comments that Yoast SEO generates. This way, you can keep the writing and editing processes separate.

Working off of that idea, we might even build a full SEO mode into Gutenberg. What it will do exactly is something we are still thinking about, but it could take the shape of a site-wide wizard that guides you through all the relevant SEO optimization steps in an actionable and customizable way. More on that soon.

Yoast SEO + Gutenberg = ?

Gutenberg offers lots of opportunities to take our plugins to the next level. The great thing is: all WordPress plugin developers will be able to do that too. It’s a brave new frontier for all of us, and we’re very much looking forward to it!

What sort of features would you love to see us make for Gutenberg, or for an SEO mode in general? Let us know in the comments.

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