Mobile, AI Trends Impact E-mail Marketing

E-mail marketers can expect to ride some positive trends into 2020, according to e-mail pros. While continuing to top other channels in terms of ROI, e-mail marketing in 2019 also showed improved delivery rates, rising open rates and increasing click-through-rates, per UK-based Data and Marketing Association. Digital marketing platform Smart Insights recently turned to several experts to find top strategies to help leverage the positives this year. The impact of mobile usage on e-mail can't be underestimated. In 2019, mobile browsing (53% of traffic) surpassed desktop/tablet browsing (47% of traffic), notes Smart Insights. And while mobile still lags in terms of purchase revenue (32%) versus desktop/tablet (68%), it's growing fast, with a 23% year-over-year increase that has helped accelerate mobile optimization across digital channels. Data from Litmus shows that mobile devices also led in e-mail opens (41.9%) compared with desktop opens (18.2%) by Q1 of 2019. Coding e-mail creative for a mobile-viewing format is only the beginning. Changes to copy, images and overall layout can boost click-through by streamlining presentation to place the focus on quick engagement and CTA links, note experts. Concise copy with enough white space for easy reading is a first goal. Other tips include using image dimensions that are small enough to render well and placing images on the "first fold" to encourage scrolling. Using e-mail design with short copy not only leads to quick scanning but also allows the call-to-action (CTA) to be seen early and avoids excess scrolling that loses click-throughs. Finally, make sure that e-mails are rendering correctly across all types of devices, a testing option offered by most e-mail service providers. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is coming of age in marketing, including e-mail campaigns, with 87% of current AI users say they are planning on using it for sales forecasting and e-mail campaign enhancement, per Statista. Connext Digital foresees seven ways that AI will begin to influence e-mail marketing: 1) applying algorithms and data insights for predictive personalization; 2) analyzing demographics, purchasing patterns and online behavior for smarter segmentation; 3) automating workflow for e-mail triggering, tailored messaging and lead nurturing; 4) using natural language technology to find the best words for response optimization of subject lines and CTAs; 5) improving e-mail timing and frequency by specific recipient;6) A/B and multivariate testing to quickly identify trends and develop predictive results; and 7) developing data to enhance broader analyses, for example to predict potential churn. Privacy regulation is another factor for e-mail. Cold e-mailing, spamming and phishing have tainted e-mail’s reputation among consumers (and marketers), but recent privacy regulations, including the European Union's GDPR and California's CCPA, have spurred the e-mail marketing world to go beyond CAN SPAM to focus on privacy, compliance and subscriber trust. See our full website post at https://www.acculist.com/mobile-ai-highlight-e-mail-marketing-trends-for-2020/

Magazine Business Models Harness Growth Trends

AccuList's many business periodical clients will face challenges and opportunities in the fast-moving currents of publishing in 2020. The good news for printed magazines: Print is not only viable but thriving in many cases, with 64% of printing industry members telling Quocirca’s Global Print 2025 study that print will remain important well into 2025. At the same time, surveys show that digital subscriptions, advertising and content are increasingly necessary drivers of the bottom line. In fact, worldwide news publishers surveyed now say digital publishing subscriptions are their top revenue stream. Given mobile and social audience trends, publishers also say they are increasing efforts to recreate quick-loading content for any device and are using more digital content, including videos and podcasts, to drive audience development--and that includes distribution via social media networks. At the start of the year, a What's New in Publishing post by magazine consultant Mary Hogarth suggested that the best way to navigate the challenges of digital expansion, content innovation and multi-channel audience-building is to develop a solid business model that includes expanding revenue streams across print and digital channels. Here are some of Hogarth's suggestions for boosting revenue streams:

• Brand extensions, such as digital editions, sister publications, books, events, conferences, courses and festivals;
• Advertising sales strategy innovations, for example selling online plus print advertising as one package;
• Expanding sponsorships/promotions and services by facilitating strategic partnerships or third-party sponsorship of in-house events, plus selling design and content packaging services;
• Increased copy sales via digital/print magazines on newsstands, subscription growth, in-house back issue sales, and direct sales to partners/advertisers if appropriate;
• Memberships schemes that can help cash-flow and likely increase audience reach and reader loyalty;
• Online content/paywalls, such as using a micro-payment system to sell additional content;
• Product licensing, such as selling the rights to content to be re-purposed in an existing title, or licensing the brand in terms of merchandising.

For more and a link to the article, see our website blog post at https://www.acculist.com/the-right-business-model-helps-magazines-harness-industry-trends/

Is Your Direct Marketing Ready for Generation Z?

Generation Z is arriving in the marketplace. Gen Z includes young people born in the mid-1990s to early 2000s, who are now graduating and getting their first jobs. They not only make up 25.9% of the U.S. population but will account for 40% of all consumer markets in 2020, with annual purchasing power of $44 billion and growing. But wooing Gen Z will require marketers to amend their playbooks. Oberlo, an e-commerce agency, and IWCO Direct, a direct marketing agency, recently discussed Gen Z marketing challenges in blogs, with similar conclusions. First, Gen Z members have a short attention span; marketers have only about 8 seconds to capture their notice, which is even shorter than the 11 seconds required to grab the attention of the typical Millennial. This means content must be targeted, relevant, to the point and quick to engage. Second, Gen Zers have a higher number of technological devices and are constantly jumping from one device to another. While Millennials bounce between three screens at one time, Generation Z can use up to five screens at the same time. Multi-channel, multi-platform, mobile-optimized campaigns are required. Third, Gen Z young adults have strong opinions and, raised to expect personalization, demand customized experiences. They will be critical of advertising that fails to meet their standards for authenticity and meaningful interaction. For example, Gen Z members want to buy from companies that support their values; 55% of Gen Z chooses brands that are eco-friendly and socially responsible. Yet Gen Z has less brand loyalty than prior generations and is less motivated by traditional loyalty programs, although they can be wooed with interactivity, such as online games or events. And while Gen Zers are definitely social media fans, they use social platforms differently. A study by Response Media found that Gen Z favors Snapchat to showcase real-life moments, gets news from Twitter and gleans some information from Facebook, although they see Facebook as a platform for older people. Market Wired research shows that Instagram is their most popular app for brand discovery, with 45% using it to find new products. YouTube video is another way to reach Gen Z. However, direct mail marketers shouldn't assume only a digital strategy can work with Gen Z. As IWCO Direct points out, Gen Z actually finds print media more trustworthy. An MNI Targeted Media study found that 83% surveyed said they turn to printed newspapers for trusted news instead of the Internet. Gen Z does not trust information on the Internet unless it comes from a website ending in .org or .edu. In fact, since Gen Z is online so often and using multiple devices, the biggest challenge is making a lasting impression, which is where trusted print material, such as direct mail, which can be physically touched and revisited, offers an edge as part of an omnichannel campaign. For more insights, see https://www.acculist.com/is-your-direct-marketing-ready-for-gen-z/

These E-mail Tactics Make Holidays Merry for Retail

The holiday buying season is around the corner, and e-mail is more important than ever in the retail marketing mix for both existing customer lists and prospecting lists. Marketers planning for fourth quarter success may want to check plans against the "Ultimate Guide to Holiday E-mail Marketing" post offered by Campaign Monitor for some basic strategies and examples. Targeted e-mail marketing is positioned to capitalize on three big retail marketing trends: online buying, mobile commerce, and personalization. Four out of five Americans are now online shoppers, per Pew Research, so marketers will want to join the 41% of retailers that use “Buy Now” buttons in their e-mail marketing to link shoppers directly and quickly to online purchase pages. Mobile-optimized e-mails (linked to mobile-optimized landing pages) will also deliver more dollars because half of those online buyers make purchases using a mobile device. Sales on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday in 2018 surpassed $2 billion, breaking the previous record set in 2017, and, according to Movable Ink, 76% of Black Friday e-mails and 63% of Cyber Monday e-mails are opened on a mobile device. Finally, now that personalization is demanded by consumers across channels, quality e-mail list data and segmentation can create the personalized e-mail messaging that delivers six times higher e-mail transaction rates, that converts 202% better than default e-mail calls to action (per HubSpot), and that generates a median e-mail ROI of 122% (per Instapage research). And don't forget that personalized e-mail subject lines generate an average of 50% higher open rates (per Oberlo data)! Indeed, the subject line is the first step in getting an e-mail noticed and opened, and Campaign Monitor has distilled some tips. As noted, personalize the subject line to boost open rates, using list data such as first name, for example, as well as purchase history, geography, site actions, etc. Keep the subject line short but pack in "power words" that tap emotions and drive action, including sales-driven words (deal, promotion, discount, savings, free shipping); time-urgency words (order now, limited time, today only, last minute, exclusive); holiday references (12 Deals of Christmas, Season's Greetings); and gratitude expressions (Thank you, appreciation, your support). Try engaging with a question (Need gift ideas?) or an eye-catching emoji. Brands using an emoji in their subject lines report a 45% increase in unique open rates, per Experian. Including an enticing offer in the subject line can help grab opens, too. For example, a mention of free shipping gains the interest of 74% of consumers, per UPS. For more tips and links to e-mail examples, go to our blog post at https://www.acculist.com/the-right-e-mail-marketing-tactics-can-make-holidays-merry-for-retailers/

Targeted E-mail Expands Museum Direct Marketing

Clean, targeted e-mail data can help museum marketers reach new members, event participants, or donors as well as improve retention and performance of house names. Evidence that e-mail can be a successful player in museums' multi-channel campaigns comes from Constant Contact's March 2019 e-mail statistics for house databases in the arts, culture and entertainment vertical (including museums and galleries), which show overall e-mail open rates averaging 17.54%, and click-through rates averaging 6.81% for the vertical. Those results are better than the all-industries averages of 16.74% open rate and 7.43% click-through rate, plus ahead of all but 13 of the 34 verticals tracked, and far ahead of some verticals, such as technology (e.g. web developers), automotive services, salons, retail and consulting. Marketers can also use e-mail to prospect for new members, donors and event participants. For example, marketers report success with event audience building via a series of e-mails that start with a promotion linked to ticket purchase, RSVP and/or social-sharing request, then follow up with reminders prior to the event, and finish with a post-event thanks e-mail that includes a request for an online review. Other successful e-mail series reward loyalty or re-engage dormant supporters by offering special perks (such as discounts). E-mail automation can make contact strategy even easier with programmed triggers, such as a re-engagement e-mail automatically sent six months after a last visit. Earning response to a house database or prospect list requires a few e-mail basics: 1) personalized, targeted messaging; 2) a brief subject line that inspires opens and CAN SPAM-compliant creative that inspires click-through; 3) mobile optimization of the e-mail with a clear call-to-action linked to a mobile-optimized digital landing page; and 4) an updated, clean opt-in e-mail list to avoid spam filters. AccuList's services especially focus on the last point. For responsive, targeted prospects, AccuList's proprietary research has identified the top choices among opt-in e-mail rental lists (plus telemarketing and direct mail lists), including lists of museum members/donors, lists of museum mail-order buyers, and lists by type of museum and collection. For clean, targeted house lists, AccuList points marketers toward database enhancement and hygiene, including identification of recent e-mail address changes through Electronic Change of Address (ECOA) lists, enhanced targeting by adding demographics from outside lists, and expanded reach by appending opt-in e-mails. Museums also can pair e-mail's advantage in highly targeted and personalized messaging with social media's ability to engage and build brand and web traffic. Social media apps can be used to capture new e-mail opt-in subscribers, for example. With platforms like Facebook, house e-mail data can be matched with the huge social audience to deliver demographics- and interest-targeted ads and promoted posts to existing names and lookalikes. And both social media and e-mail targets can be matched with direct mail for multi-channel power. For helpful links, go to https://www.acculist.com/targeted-e-mail-expands-museums-direct-marketing-options/

2019 Marketing Creative: Simple, Bold, Interactive

A new year brings new marketing creative inspirations for both digital and printed promotions, and some interesting trends are shaping up, per graphics and ad agency experts.The Ballantine and Brand Shouter agencies and the Digital Agency Network suggest some key digital creative trends to embrace this year, including more clean, minimalist designs and less use of borders, bars and boxes to separate elements. At the same time, minimalist doesn't mean drab; more designers are forecast to embrace bright colors and bold color transitions and gradients with black or white text. And speaking of type, Brand Shouter foresees more beautiful, complimentary, brand-consistent typography as well, especially since marketers are shifting toward more text-only designs, while DAN forecasts more use of multicolored vector fonts. Plus, thanks to print technology advances, metallics will rise in popularity to pop in simplified designs, per DAN. Meanwhile, the minimalist flat look, which works well in mobile presentations, also can be livened with the inclusion of 3D elements, as Apple is doing, notes Brand Shouter. And since everything old is new again at some point, several retro trends are forecast. DAN sees use of the bold duotone graphics of the 1970s as well as vintage fonts and motifs, while Ballantine thinks the bright colors and funky designs of the 1990s and early 2000s, which remind many of today’s designers and target buyers of childhood, will reappear to leverage nostalgia. Finally, hand-drawn illustrations will be used to create that feeling of originality and authenticity, predicts DAN. Meanwhile, Ballantine underscores three ubiquitous trends for all creative this year. Video will only continue its impact in marketing, especially in social media, now that 54% of Internet users watch social media videos at least monthly and 65% of ad impressions on Instagram come from video ads, making video a necessary part of most creative budgets. Story-telling over selling is another general trend, especially in social media advertising, where story ads are designed to reflect a platform's personal user experience rather than slick promotion, mimicking a post from a friend. Finally, marketing design must cater to mobile users now that 57% of online searches originate on mobile devices, almost 50% of web page views worldwide occur on mobile devices, and 95% of Americans own a cellphone and 57% own a smartphone. Any creative that is not mobile-optimized is sacrificing a huge market. For more on creative trends, plus a useful infographic, go to http://www.acculistusa.com/2019-marketing-creative-simple-bold-interactive-design/

Is Your E-mail Marketing Optimized for 2019 Trends?

E-mail marketing is constantly evolving and AccuList USA tries to keep our e-mail list and e-mail marketing services clients up-to-date on the latest tactics and best practices. A good overview of trends for 2019 was recently supplied in a Business2Community post by Rohit Munipally. The value of e-mail targeting and list segmentation is so clear that it will be a given for smart marketers in 2019. Munipally cites HubSpot research showing that e-mails that are relevantly segmented and targeted account for 58% of all e-mail earnings and increase profits up to 18 times more. When combined with automation, e-mail content power is further enhanced. For example, if a contact hasn’t opened an email for an extended period, they can be dropped from deployments, while a contact who has visited a web page several times or opened multiple e-mails can receive relevant automated e-mails prompting action. In fact, global automated e-mail marketing alone is expected to account for $2.7 billion in spending by 2025, Munipally reports. Watch for acceleration of the trend away from graphics-heavy e-mail designs in 2019. Research shows e-mail users prefer plain text over HTML-style e-mails because plain text e-mails resemble a personal message that would be sent by a family member or friend. Also expect to see interactivity dominate over product display next year. Response data favors interactive e-mails that encourage engagement through quizzes, surveys, games, contests, GIFs, and call-to-action messaging that lets recipients shop, edit an order, update a wish list, send a shipping confirmation, etc. Story-telling also has proved itself as a content-engagement tool. E-mails that begin with a story that grabs the reader and then leads into value and offers are highly influential when delivered to a relevant audience (again underscoring the value of targeting and segmentation). Mobile optimization also will be essential for success in 2019, with 53% of e-mails opened via mobile devices and 75% of gmail users viewing accounts on mobile devices. And since consumers demand content that is relevant and personalized whether viewed on a computer or mobile device, data use must go beyond first-name inclusion to information unique to the account or buyer persona. Plus, next year should see growing use of AI for everything from targeting, subject line choice, image selection, and more. To illustrate the power of AI, Munipally reports that Adobe recently developed an AI technology with a series of sophisticated algorithms based on e-mail campaigns and audience behaviors, resulting in e-mail users opening nearly 80% of work and 60% of personal e-mails. See our blog post at http://www.acculistusa.com/is-your-e-mail-optimized-for-best-2019-performance/

How B2B Marketers Can Boost E-mail Leads

It's no surprise that close to 90% of B2B marketers use e-mail to generate new leads when the latest data from the DMA shows e-mail marketing delivers an average $43 return for every $1 spent. But that doesn't mean B2B e-mails are a guaranteed success. B2B e-mailers may want to benchmark their efforts against a recent infographic from EmailMonks that offers proven ways to help boost those all-important open and click rates. Start with personalization. Marketers personalize e-mails because 91% get better open and click rates when they do, and that means going beyond using a first name to targeted, personalized content based on demographics, purchase and browsing history, subscriber interests, etc. Achieving that quality targeted personalization requires good list segmentation; blasting a one-size-fits-all message to the whole e-mail list is a recipe for low response. Segmenting by age, gender, preferences, purchase history and more delivers 14.31% higher opens and 100.95% higher clicks than non-segmented list campaigns, notes the EmailMonks infographic. Executing that personal touch also means permission-based e-mail that respects recipient preferences and lets them manage frequency and timing of contacts. Then, as the infographic points out, 35% of e-mails are opened based on the subject line alone. What makes up a winning subject line? Brevity is the soul of subject line wit; with 54% of e-mails opened on a mobile device, a subject line of around three words scores higher since most mobile devices can show only four to seven words across the screen. Personalization counts big, too; personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened than general ones. Once the e-mail is opened, the crafting of a good call-to-action (CTA) will drive more click-throughs. The CTA should be noticeable and "above-the fold"; in fact most brands prefer to place a CTA in the top third of an e-mail, and 48% match the CTA colors to their brand logos. Oh, and make sure the CTA links to an effective, mobile-optmized landing page, too. Looking for specific examples? Go to our onsite blog post for a link to 17 B2B e-mail templates based on actual successful e-mails: http://www.acculistusa.com/how-to-boost-e-mail-lead-gen-for-b2b-publishers-marketers/

How Insurance Marketers Can Improve Digital Leads

Sometimes insurance marketers, used to face-to-face sales and targeted direct mail, struggle to adapt to the highly competitive and noisy digital marketplace for lead generation. So these helpful tips from the Blue Corona web marketing agency should be of interest to insurance marketers looking to improve digital lead results. The natural place to start is the insurance marketer's website, where the majority of potential policyholders will first interact with the marketing message. Basically, the website must grab attention almost immediately. If consumers don’t connect with what they see within 10 seconds of landing on a web page, they’ll move on, per studies. That means up-front contact information, compelling call-to-action, plugins that localize content, etc. But it also means speedy page loading. Studies show that a website needs to load in under 3 seconds (in fact, 47% of people expect a web page to load in two seconds or less, points out Blue Corona). And that speed needs to happen on a mobile device. Over half of all digital searches for insurance information occur from mobile devices; more specifically, 58.6% of average monthly auto insurance searches and 55.4% of life insurance searches are via mobile, reports Blue Corona. How do you get prospects to those fast-loading, compelling, mobile-friendly pages? Search engine optimization is a basic requirement today for driving traffic. Blue Corona lists a few top tactics for getting to that coveted first page of a Google search: optimized title tags and meta descriptions on pages; site security (https vs http); mobile-friendly pages; schema markup; quality content; fast page downloading; social media signals; quality backlinks; and optimized images. But all searches are not created equal. Marketers want high-converting leads not shoppers. So Blue Corona suggests buying pay-per-click ads targeting search phrases that indicate high-commercial intent, such as "buy auto insurance" rather than "do I need auto insurance?" The ad content can then target a top consumer trigger. In most cases, that means competitive rates. A blog is another way to not only build traffic but also establish authority on insurance topics and go from policy hawker to insurance resource in the eyes of potential policyholders. Whether a blog post or a website page, the goal is to help insurance shoppers deal with an often confusing topic. TransUnion’s 2017 Healthcare Millennial Report found that 57% of millennial consumers identified as having "no understanding" or a "limited understanding" of their insurance benefits, while 50% of Generation X and 42% of Baby Boomers said the same. So don’t give prospects too many choices on website main pages, which can overwhelm and drive them away, and focus instead on the key solutions people need from insurance. For more, see http://www.acculistusa.com/these-digital-tactics-can-power-insurance-marketing-lead-gen/

E-Mail Marketing Success Relies on These Basics

E-mail is a key part of most omnichannel marketing strategies, Yet dodging spam filters and reeling in responses from crowded inboxes is an ongoing challenge. A recent Direct Marketing News article laid out some basic tips on how to get the most out of e-mail marketing. First, data matters. Even the most well-crafted e-mail will end up in spam folders if delivered to an e-mail list with too many duplicates, outdated addresses, missing permission hygiene, spam traps, etc. Quality e-mail data is essential to deliverability, which means regular cleaning and updating of house lists, or carefully vetted rental lists (sponsored e-mails) for prospecting. Quality data is also key to the targeting that maximizes response, using segmentation and personalization to tailor offers and messaging to specific audiences and individuals. Once an e-mail lands in the inbox, the subject line, a brand's first impression, impacts open rates. While there are few absolute guidelines, be aware that 50-70 characters in length is the "sweet spot" for readability, per the article. In those few characters, the subject line needs to quickly convey an offer/value and tone that intrigue the audience. Beyond avoiding words and symbols likely to trigger spam filters, A/B testing is usually the best way to find which subject line leads to higher open and click rates, as the article advises. While focusing on a first impression, too many e-mail marketers forget the importance of a closing impression. For example, after gaining response and conversion, marketers can use transactional e-mails (e-mails acknowledging a purchase, donation, sign-up, etc.) to expand customer/donor value by offering a reward (discount on next purchase as an example), a loyalty program, a newsletter, social links and more. When it comes to design, the key to success today is the ability to translate across desktop, tablet and mobile devices. Remember, research shows that more than two-thirds of consumers access e-mail through their smartphones! Plus, e-mail isn't usually the only method for connecting with an audience, or necessarily the channel preference of all recipients. That's why e-mails also should highlight social media buttons, invite readers to share content, or urge them to visit appropriate social pages and profiles, as the article notes. For more tips, see http://www.acculistusa.com/want-e-mail-marketing-success-here-are-some-basics/

B2B Trends Spur Mobile-Friendly E-Commerce

With Forrester Research forecasting steady growth in B2B e-commerce, reaching $1.2 trillion in sales, or 13.1% of all B2B sales, by 2021, smart e-commerce marketing is more essential than ever. A recent bigcommerce.com blog post highlighted many important B2B e-commerce trends, but we’ll focus on three marketing-related takeaways. First, acquisition is the new online focus. The days are gone when B2B online strategy could succeed by putting up a website as a customer service portal, a place for existing account re-orders or a passive catalog display. Online selling is becoming a core part of B2B business and sales strategy, argues bigcommerce.com post author Jillian Hufford, marketing analyst at nChannel, a multi-channel integration provider. B2B marketers should start by profiling customers to better target online and offline promotions to find high-ROI traffic. Note that a robust SEO/SEM strategy, coupled with website search tools, is essential given that 74% of B2B buyers report researching at least part of their work purchases online. Easy, seamless cross-channel ordering is another basic of online customer acquisition now. Plus, an investment in online content marketing, coupled with SEO strategy, can leverage educational and expert content on the website to attract searchers and win Google rank. A second takeaway is the trend to online and print catalogs that work in tandem. Five years ago, more than two-thirds of B2B sellers thought they would stop mailing paper catalogs. That hasn’t happened, but many B2B merchants are using an integrated multi-channel effort to balance smaller or less frequent print catalogs with more interactive online catalogs. For success with print-plus-online, the online catalog cannot merely mimic the print version. E-commerce means investing in interactive online tools that allow customizing, sharing, distributing, ordering and tracking, all supported by integrated back-end technology. Finally, and perhaps most important, mobile-friendly means revenue-friendly for today's B2B e-commerce as ever-expanding mobile device use drives marketing changes. Google and BCG research data from 2017 shows why: 80% of B2B buyers are using mobile at work; 60% of B2B buyers report that mobile played a significant role in a recent purchase; and 60% of B2B buyers expect to continue to increase their mobile usage. B2B retailers who are dragging their feet on mobile-friendly adaptation risk dragging down their own revenues; BCG research found that brands that are “mobile leaders” earn more traffic, more leads and more revenue than “mobile laggards.” For more, see http://www.acculistusa.com/b2b-sales-trends-boost-mobile-friendly-online-acquisition/

Video Wins Key Place in 2018 Marketing Budgets

In supporting our digital marketing clients, AccuList USA has seen rapid growth in online video use, and a recent Forbes magazine article by John Hall, CEO of Influence & Co., cited video as one of six essential trends to include in 2018's digital marketing budget. Why? Researchers forecast that by 2020 online video will account for 80% of all consumer internet traffic. Already over 500 million people are watching video on Facebook every day. If you want a crack at that audience, you'll need to join the video world. That's especially important because video ads are not just good at promoting brand awareness and engagement; they deliver sales. Video creation service Animoto's most recent survey of 1,000 consumers and 500 marketers reinforces online video's clout: 64% of consumers say they purchase after watching branded social videos. No wonder more businesses are jumping on the video ad bandwagon and investing in paid/sponsored video as well as paying to "socialize" or promote videos. Helping the video boom is the relatively low production cost; in fact, 92% of marketers told Animoto they make videos with assets they already have. Meanwhile, a nationwide pricing survey of videographers and photographers found that the average small business marketing video cost less than $1,000 in 2015 and a medium-sized product demo video was around $2,000. Cost is not a barrier; coming up with engaging, targeted content is the challenge. So what platform will best deliver the target audience? Animoto's survey shows where consumers engage with branded videos daily: 49% on Facebook, 32% on YouTube, 24% on Instagram, 22% on Snapchat, and 22% on Twitter. Most brands hedge their bets by using multiple platforms, paying to capture eyes on YouTube and Facebook, for example. The more important goal, regardless of platform, is to optimize for mobile viewing since 84% of online video viewers watch on mobile devices--which is why 81% of marketers are optimizing their social videos for mobile viewership, per Animoto. Timing counts, too. Animoto's survey found 33% of video consumers watch during the lunch hour, 43% during the afternoon, 56% during the evening, 38% before bed, and 16% in the middle of the night. For more on online video trends, including tips on creative, see http://www.acculistusa.com/marketing-with-online-video-if-not-youre-behind-the-curve/

Digital Giving Now Key to Fundraising Mail Success

Here are some key facts for marketers planning fundraising direct mail: 1) 35% of all donors say they like to respond to direct mail by giving online (with 50% of Millennials and Gen Xers saying they prefer online response); 2) 51% of website visits are made via mobile device, and 3) mobile devices are now used by the majority to read e-mail (54% of opens) and access social networks (80% of social time spent). Bottom line, if you want to get the most from your nonprofit direct mail (still the best channel for capturing donor dollars), a multi-channel, mobile-optimized approach is essential. On that point, MobileCause has developed a powerful infographic laying out the case for a nonprofit direct mail-digital marriage. Unfortunately, many fundraisers fail to make an easy connection between direct mail and online response, and are discouraging donations as a result. As the infographic points out, 84% of donation pages are not mobile-friendly, 73% of nonprofits do not offer social sharing, and 65% of nonprofits require three or more digital clicks to donate. At the same time, the infographic data highlight ways to correct that digital lacuna in fundraising direct mail. First, commit to making direct mail part of a multi-channel campaign--because donors are 50% more likely to give when they receive multiple reinforcing messages via multiple channels. Fundraisers can even optimize response by catering to generational preferences: Millennials like text reminders, Gen Xers like e-mail reminders and Boomers like call reminders. But for goodness sake, mobile-optimize e-mails, landing pages and donation pages! Then maximize donations by promoting QR codes, shortlinks and texting keywords across channels (and let the U.S. Postal Service reward that mailer QR code with a discount). For more tips, go to http://www.acculistusa.com/use-digital-donation-to-turbocharge-fundraising-direct-mail/

Science & Tech Offer Event Audience-Building Tools

For an event to succeed, trade show marketers must build attendance before the event and deliver for attendees by the end of the event, whether measured by lead generation, education or networking. There's an art to it, but science and technology impact success today as well. For example, BizBash.com did an interesting Q&A with Ben Parr, author of Captivology: The Science of Capturing People's Attention, in which Parr highlighted research-based conclusions about "captivation triggers" of audience attention. Start with "automaticity," which means using colors and symbols that automatically affect attention, such as the color red. Move on to "framing," setting the value of an event in a context that garners more attention, such as stressing event ticket scarcity. A message or design that offers "disruption," meaning a violation of expectations, naturally grabs attention, as does "mystery," such as an intriguing headline or subject line. Of course, there is the attention-getting "reward" for attendance, either an extrinsic reward (a swag bag) or an intrinsic reward (personal self-improvement). The good reputations of event, exhibitors and speakers really count, too; brain research shows audiences are especially attentive and trusting of experts, for example. Meanwhile, Event Farm, an enterprise event marketing platform, has interviewed event experts to find new technology trends likely to affect event marketing in 2017 and beyond. Among the trends cited is having events bring the internet to life onsite by letting attendees engage with online experiences, such as viral memes or videos. Marketing pros also foresee that the end of an event will no longer signal the end of an experiential marketing campaign, so that marketers engage with attendees (and non-attendees) after the event via tactics such as re-purposing an event presentation or sharing "digital" event memories. More people are expected to use live streaming to complement events via services like Facebook Live, too, not as a substitute for attendance but as an attendee-engagement enhancer. Finally, watch for attendees to seek to engage with the digital and physical landscapes simultaneously, such as using smartphones to help navigate through a venue. For more, see http://www.acculistusa.com/science-tech-can-help-events-capture-audience/

Plan Event Marketing E-mails That Lead the Pack

Event marketers often ask for guidance on event industry response for e-mail campaigns. Now we can enhance data pulled from our proprietary research with Eventbrite's new "2017 Event E-mail Benchmarking Report," comparing survey responses from over 340 event organizers across the U.S. and U.K. for a range of event types and sizes. If you're an event marketer with a fuzzy notion of the basic response measure of click-to-open rate (CTOR), you're not alone. The benchmark report found that 39% of respondents said they didn’t know their average CTOR. That's an ignorance that these event pros need to remedy if they hope to catch up with even average e-mail results. The rest of the U.S. event organizers surveyed reported an average CTOR of 12%. That was higher than their U.K. brethren, who only cited a 9% average, but far behind the enviable 17% in the U.S. who reported a CTOR of 21% or higher! Festivals scored the best average e-mail CTOR (14%), while classes and workshops had the lowest (9%). Event marketers who want to improve CTOR can commit to a number of basic creative tactics for layout, copy, mobile-optimization, and use of engaging images. But as data brokers, we must remind that response is even more dependent on the quality of targeted opt-in e-mail data, whether house or rental lists, and use of professional software and database support for list segmentation, updating and permission management as well as results tracking, testing and analysis. Indeed, regardless of carefully crafted e-mail creative, results measurement and analytics are essential to a direct marketing basic: testing of creative, lists and targeting to find what works best. Automation of event updates and confirmation/thank-you e-mails has also proven its value in maximizing click-through rates and conversions/registrations. And, finally, e-mail gains the most reach as part of a consistently branded, multi-channel effort, including social media and direct mail. For more and a link to the free benchmark report, go to at http://www.acculistusa.com/push-your-event-marketing-e-mails-ahead-of-the-pack/

E-mail Regains Lead in Fundraising Digital Efforts

In 2017, e-mail is expected to regain its lead role in the digital efforts of nonprofit fundraisers, per numerous nonprofit marketing pros. For fundraisers and fundraising consultants to make the most of a renewed e-mail focus, they may want to check the tactics provided in a recent post for thedatabank.com by Michael Stein, a nonprofit consultant and digital strategist. For example, to maximize response, e-mail outreach in 2017 may require nonprofits to reboot, refresh and rethink, says Stein. He urges marketers to address four basic issues before blasting out e-mails: Check to see if your e-mail template or e-newsletter needs a creative refresh; make sure the e-mail works well for mobile viewers; consider a rewrite of your welcome e-mail to new subscribers for better engagement; and develop new creative and messaging ideas to test for boosted e-mail fundraising appeal. Next, he advises marketers to "mobilize," personalize and automate e-mail campaigns. Certainly, mobile readiness is essential for wooing donors, especially given, as Stein cites, the recent Movable Ink report that, across industries, 69% of e-mail opens were on a mobile device. A good mobile experience should extend from the e-mail subject line to the website landing page and, most importantly, to the donation page, advises Stein. Personalizing is another proven way to maximize e-mail response. That means digital messaging with relevant, timely content based on smart e-mail list segmentation, using data such as event attendance, website downloads, and donation amount or frequency. Finally, marketers need e-mail automation, especially for timely engagement of new e-mail subscribers and donors. Automated responses should include key transactions such as e-mail subscription, event signups, and online giving, since these are often the most opened and read e-mails, says Stein. Other suggestions include using more graphics and video to boost e-mail response. For more, go to http://www.acculistusa.com/e-mail-regaining-its-lead-role-in-fundraising-digital-strategy/

Mailers Must Cater to Millennials As Digital Shoppers

With the millennial generation, roughly those aged 18-35, now outnumbering boomers, most marketers want to keep this big batch of younger purchasers in their crosshairs. Yet direct mailers sometimes report frustration that response does not match expectations.  One cause may be failure to take into account millennial shopping and buying habits. A recent article by eMarketer, drawing from its "US Millennial Shoppers 2017" survey report, cited three shopping habits of interest to direct marketers. First, millennials tend to prefer digital shopping, even while in stores. Second, millennials are very comfortable with mobile shopping. And third, millennials have a strong presence on social platforms.  So it's no surprise that Target Marketing magazine's Summer Gould recently cited five reasons direct mail may flop with millennials--and three come back to the clear digital preferences identified by eMarketer. First of all, a direct mail offer that does not include an online purchase option is missing sales, Gould points out. And, per eMarketer reporting, mailers may be losing sales in a big way considering that 90% of millennials, 93% of Gen Xers and even 84% of boomers said they bought online in a June 2016 Berkeley Research Group survey. Next, since millennials clearly embrace mobile shopping, every aspect of the shopping experience should be mobile-friendly (website, landing pages, shopping cart), Gould advises, and it is certainly key if the direct mail includes mobile-scanned QR codes to connect digitally. Then, since social media matters to millennials, a direct mailer lacking a social presence is also snubbing millennial shoppers. Regardless of digital messaging, printed content also needs to seem authentic and friendly if the mailer wants millennials to make a connection with the offer and the brand, per Gould. Finally, millennials expect a company to be up-to-date with technology and to integrate marketing, shopping and sales with technology--whether in-store, in direct mail, or on the website. For more, see http://www.acculistusa.com/direct-mail-woos-millennial-shoppers-by-embracing-their-digital-side/

Magazine Audiences Grow, Increase Mobile Viewing

The good news for publishers is that total audience—across print, Web, mobile and video—grew robustly in 2016, up 6.4% over the prior year, according to the 2016 Magazine Media 360° Brand Audience Report from the Association of Magazine Media (MPA). But there is a challenge for publications within the data: the continued shift to a mobile audience. Although print and digital editions continued to garner the largest audience for magazine media last year, the mobile platform had the most rapid growth rate, per the MPA's trend analysis. Nearly 80% of the brands reporting showed mobile growth, with 79% of those brands up by either double- or triple-digit percentages. More than a quarter of the brands in the report grew their mobile unique visitors by one million or more each. That mobile growth came at the expense of Web (desktop/laptop) users. In fact, the Web audience represented the only magazine media platform to decline as consumers spent more time on portable devices than computers. Meanwhile, though video remained the smallest audience platform in 2016, it also recorded strong growth, per MPA, up by double-digit percentage rates. For more, see our post at  http://www.acculistusa.com/growing-magazine-audiences-continue-shift-toward-mobile/