Tag Archive for: SMB

5 Biggest Mistakes Email Marketers Make

Did you know that email marketing is 40x better at acquiring new customers than social media? It’s true. As Research Director at Litmus, Chad White writes, “[email marketing] is the channel where people want to receive communication from brands. Consistently for many years now, the number one channel where people want to hear from brands — it’s not Snapchat, it’s not Twitter — it’s email.”

Therefore, a top-notch email marketing campaign is essential for growing any business. We’ve compiled a list of the five biggest mistakes that email marketers make so that you can avoid them and derive more revenue out of your email campaigns.

#1 Sending emails too often

One of the biggest mistakes that email marketers make is sending too many emails. A survey found that the #1 reason why people unsubscribe from emails is that they are emailed too often; moreover, it shows that people prefer receiving less frequent emails that include valuable and informative content. In fact, a survey from Marketing Sherpa shows that subscribers prefer receiving emails at least once a week or once a month; therefore, f you’re sending out emails daily, you’re probably going overboard and may risk alienating your customers. Don’t  give them a reason to categorize your emails as spam. Instead–put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Think about the vast number of emails they are probably receiving every day–they are not just from your company.

#2 Neglecting a call-to-action link

Another one of the biggest mistakes that email marketers make is neglecting to include a call-to-action link. Every email you send should include a call to action.  It should include links to a landing page that continues the message within the email. Without a call to action, your email viewers won’t know what to do next. After all, the whole purpose of sending the email is to get them do something else, whether it be purchasing your product or setting up an appointment. Campaign Monitor provides a good list of call-to-action examples and offers a few useful call-to-action tips.

#3 Taking the one-size-fits-all approach

Customers are humans, which means they are not all the same, and therefore, cannot be treated the same way. The mistake that many marketers make in email campaigns is sending the same blanket email to all their customers. Personalization is always the way to go when it comes email marketing campaigns. According to Campaign Monitor, marketers who use personalization in their subject lines see 26% more opens. So, the next time you send an email, try to get personal.

#4 Sending lengthy emails

We’ve all received an interminable email that instantly makes us want to dump it in the trash. It’s another big mistake email marketers make – they send out emails that are too long. Marketing emails should make the point quickly and should be easy to read. It should not take your readers several minutes to read your email. If you want to provide your customers with more information on a topic, consider directing them to a specific page on your site where they can read the information in its entirety.  That also means that they might take the time to explore your site further, which can only help your business.

#5 Forgetting to optimize emails for different platforms

There is another big mistake that email marketers make – they forget to preview their messages on different devices and browsers before pushing the send button. According to Nate Kristy, the vice president of marketing at Automational, “Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo, etc., all display emails slightly differently, and all look different on the desktop.,” A study by Litmus in 2015 showed that the greatest number of emails were opened on mobile devices. To avoid the dreaded trash folder, make sure that your emails render correctly, Kristy suggests using an “Email service or marketing automation provider that has responsive design technology built in.” It will definitely help your email campaign in the long run.

This is the age of the customer, and you need to tailor every marketing effort toward keeping your customers interested in your brand. Sending personalized, thoughtful, optimized emails is one way to do that.

Need more marketing tips and help with growing your business? Why wait? Become a Commercient Partner today.

Tips de SEO para atraer más tráfico a tu página web

Una de las primeras cosas que notas en un período de vacaciones (feriados, verano, etc.) es la baja en los números que te da Google Analytics respecto a tu página web. ¿Qué puedes hacer para revertir esta tendencia? Dado que el 80% del tráfico de un sitio web empieza con una búsqueda, lo primero que puedes hacer es revisar tu estrategia de posicionamiento SEO.

De hecho, si actualizas y mejoras tu estrategia SEO puedes aumentar considerablemente el tráfico a tu sitio web. Aquí hay algunos tips que te ayudarán a aumentar tu tráfico en vacaciones:

Elige palabras clave ganadoras

Las palabras clave son muy importantes porque son una herramienta que te sirve para atraer visitantes a tu web -de manera gratuita. Hay herramientas gratuitas que pueden ayudarte a investigar palabras clave que están siendo utilizadas por tus competidores. Aquí hay algunas opciones gratuitas o de bajo costo:

Dado que estamos hablando de palabras clave es importante mencionar el uso de palabras clave “long tail”, normalmente frases, con buen posicionamiento en buscadores. Por ejemplo, si tu empresa comercializa sistemas de gestión de clientes o CRM’s, hay diferencia en intentar posicionarte con la palabra clave “CRM” a que lo hagas con la frase “uso de CRM en las empresas”. Las probabilidades de que tu posición suba en buscadores con esta última aumenta, pues la competencia es menor a que si utilizas la palabra más general.

Yoast.com explica con mayor detalle por qué deberías enfocarte más en las palabras clave “long tail”.

Crea y publica contenido actualizado con más frecuencia

Si quieres incrementar el tráfico a tu sitio en estas épocas “lentas” necesitas un sitio web vivo y activo, lo cual significa que deberías enfocarte en producir y publicar contenido fresco y de alta calidad regularmente. Los buscadores como Google mejorarán tu posicionamiento cuando actualices tu sitio con regularidad. Adicionalmente, mientras más contenido publiques, más palabras clave utilizarás y vendrán más visitantes a tu sitio.

Información recolectada por Hubspot indica que las compañías que publican más de 16 veces por mes atraen 3.5 veces más tráfico que otras empresas que publican 4 o menos blogs cada mes.

Según Jayson DeMersm, CEO de AudienceBloom, “tu estrategia de contenidos es la médula de tu estrategia SEO porque alimenta tus campañas de redes sociales (que sirven como amplificadores de tus mensajes). Con eso, mejoran tus posibilidades de conseguir de conseguir enlaces entrantes”.

Asegúrate de incluir enlaces internos y externos

Si quieres que tu tráfico aumente en estos períodos, deberías también considerar el uso tanto de enlaces internos como externos. Los enlaces internos son aquellos que conectan a otra página dentro de tu sitio web. Por ejemplo, si hablas de un tema relacionado a otro post publicado anteriormente, puedes incluir un enlace, o incluso a otras páginas de tu sitio como productos.

También puedes mejorar tu posicionamiento en buscadores incluyendo enlaces externos. Cuando enlazas a otros sitios de autoridad dentro de tu nicho, no sólo construyes confianza sino que, como dice Moz, “construyes incentivos con los Linkerati (bloggers, influenciadores, periodistas online, constructores de sitios web y participantes de foros”).

Todas las compañías compiten por la vista -y el dinero- de los visitantes. Usa analíticas web, contenido interesante y una estrategia inteligente de palabras clave para asegurar que tu sitio destaque entre toda tu competencia.

 

Is Your ERP The Right Fit For Your Business?

ERP software is an expensive investment and any decision to implement a new ERP system should be thought out carefully. This is especially true for small and midsize businesses who have been kept out of the enterprise software industry until recently, due to complex systems that required an insane amount of cash.

However, ERP software vendors realized the value in targeting small and midsize businesses and now everything from cloud-hosted ERP to industry specific software is available for SMBs at a friendlier price.

But how and when do you know if the ERP you’re using is the right fit for your business? We hope we can help you figure that out. Keep reading for four questions that will help you determine if your ERP is the right fit for your business.

 

  • Are Data Errors Increasing Or Decreasing?
    Excel spreadsheets may have done the job when you first started your business but since you’ve started growing, your accounting team has found they just can’t keep up. That’s not a bad thing!

    What’s bad here is if data entry errors are piling up. If that’s the case it’s past time to start looking at incorporating a (new) ERP system and integrating it with your CRM. Every small business reaches a point when they need an ERP that offers powerful financial capabilities. With this also comes the need to maintain your data integrity.

    So, if you’re investing in an ERP system it should be a system that can keep up with your business. You should also be investing in a solution that reduces the risk of data entry and duplication errors.
  • How Much Is ERP Costing You?
    ERP cost has been one of the most restrictive factors holding back small businesses from implementing enterprise resource planning software. Luckily, as ERP becomes more mainstream for SMBs, prices are coming down.

    There are more ERP software options than ever available to SMBs now. If you combine a cost-effective ERP package with a careful implementation strategy and risk planning initiative, you can relax knowing you’ve made a smart investment that will save you money in the long run.
  • What’s The Benefit Of Investing In Cloud ERP?
    The emergence of cloud ERP has practically eliminated the concern of additional costs like on-site installation and server space that once plagued SMBs. Now, small businesses can host their ERP through a cloud provider, who takes care of all the server space and maintenance for you.

    Cloud ERP results in a much more budget-friendly option than an on-premise solution. It’s also a lower total cost of ownership for businesses who want a robust ERP system minus all the robust hardware that comes with it.
  • How Cluttered Are Your Business Processes?
    The way things get done is constantly evolving as your business grows. Using the right ERP system can help you unclutter your business processes and model how tasks should be completed. With the right ERP, you’ll be able to establish successful workflows throughout your business.

    Implementing a (new) ERP system for your business will help you fine tune how things run and manage them for a long time. Taking this a step further, you can enhance this even more once you get your ERP right by integrating your ERP software with your CRM.

ERP software has diversified into a more customizable range of options and SMBs are no longer left out of the conversation. There’s an innumerable amount of options out there for small businesses who want to streamline the way their company operates.

Speaking of streamlining, we mentioned how you can take that even further by integrating your ERP (once you have the right system for your business) with your CRM software. If you’d like to learn more about integrating your ERP software with your CRM, contact us today and let’s talk!