It's no secret that the digital landscape is constantly changing. With the start of the new year, now is the perfect time to look at new digital strategies for 2013.
A recent panel titled "In the Year 2013: Email Marketing Technologies & Tactics for the Near Future" at last year's Marketing Sherpa Email Summit discussed 2013's “future buyers.” The panel included social media and email experts from across North America and looked at the changing buying habits of 2013's consumers. These five tips will help you adapt your digital strategies for 2013 and increase sales:
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Go Mobile!
Morgan Stanley estimates that by 2014, mobile internet usage will surpass desktop internet usage. The Marketing Sherpa panelists revealed a study that mobile specific versions of emails received a 64% higher click-through rate. Make sure you are catering to your mobile users and make sure that your emails touchscreen friendly! Larger fonts and bigger links are critical for tiny touchscreens.
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Go Local!
The increase of smartphone users have also increased the the number of geo-location apps such as Foursquare and Facebook Places. Leveraging geo-location tools allows you to drive traffic of consumers who are in your neighbourhood. -
Go Real-time!
Sites like Groupon and Teambuy have increased the visibility of daily deals and flash sales. While these kind of promotions are strong, the Sherpa Summit panelists revealed that emails are actually opened two days after they're received! A countdown placed within the body of your email provides consumers with a sense of urgency to make any purchasing decisions. -
3-2-1 ... Action!
Show your product in action. Images demonstrating products being used – such as lifestyle products – have received a 63% higher click-through than images of products being displayed by themselves. Consumers are more likely to picture themselves enjoying a product if they see others enjoying the product. Monkey see, monkey do!
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Unsubscribing made easy!
While it may seem counter-intuitive, making it easy to unsubscribe from your mailing list may be the best thing you could do. Instead of users just sending unwanted email to their junk box, providing an easy way to unsubscribe provides you with trackable metric to find out why your emails aren't being read; it's win-win!
Is your unsubscribe link visible? How many steps are in the process? By allowing customers to easily opt-out of any mailings, you also allows them to opt back in just as easily!
As you face new challenges with your digital strategies in the future with email marketing and social marketing, I hope these five tips will help you you increase sales in 2013!
