Author: Franz Malten Buemann

  • 16 Content Marketing Analytics Tools That Finally Do What You Need

    To have a winning marketing strategy, you need to understand the analytics behind that strategy — analytics that highlight important things like: 1) the metrics you care about most, 2) how your current strategy is doing, 3) how close you are to reaching your goals, and 4) areas for improvement.

    Content Marketing Analytics
    There are a number of marketing analytics tools available with customizable metrics, a variety of visualizations and dashboards, and integrations to help you measure the impact of your marketing strategy. Let’s dive into 16 options.

    1. HubSpot Marketing Analytics and Dashboard Software

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    Today, the most effective marketing is powered by a combination of customer insights and data that show you what you’re doing well and what needs improvement. However, identifying these insights and data isn’t always a straightforward process.
    Enter: HubSpot.
    HubSpot’s Marketing Analytics and Dashboard Software makes it easy to access all data and insights from a single location in just seconds (no SQL required!).
    With HubSpot…

    Your marketing and CRM data are organized in one, central location.
    There’s no code necessary to access or pull business insights.
    It’s an exceptionally easy tool to use and navigate.

    HubSpot’s Marketing Analytics and Dashboard Software also offers attribution reporting (including granular, contact, and revenue attribution reporting) so you can connect every customer interaction to the associated record and revenue generated.
    Attribution reporting also pinpoints the channels that are hitting and surpassing goals as well as which ones need to be revisited or reconsidered — this provides the necessary insight to allocate your budget effectively.
    HubSpot comes with pre-built, beautiful, and customizable dashboards to display your data (you’ll have access to different dashboards based on the Marketing Hub plan you select). These templates are easy to personalize thanks to the drag-and-drop editor.
    The Custom Report Builder provides access to your data in one place including contact, company, deal, marketing email, landing page, and blog engagement data. Custom Objects capture data that’s unique to your business and combine it with your CRM, custom data (e.g. inventory data), and contact data so you can create segments and build custom reports, campaigns, and workflows.
    Use Behavioral Events to trigger or schedule touchpoints, track custom interactions that are unique to your business, and indicate when a customer is ready for another stage of the buyer’s journey.
    Lastly, use Account Based Marketing (ABM) — which bridges the gap between Marketing and Sales and helps close your target accounts — to identify highly-valuable accounts as the tool surfaces prospects that match your customer profile criteria.
    Price
    There are four Marketing Hub plans with different analytics features and flexibility rangingin price from free (forever) to $3,200 per month.
    2. Buffer
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    Buffer’s content marketing analytics offers the option to build reports according to your goals. Add or remove custom metrics about the performance of numerous social media accounts. You can export those reports to share them easily.
    Reports are updated daily so you can be sure you’re receiving timely data. Buffer’s analytics are designed to help you see channel performance at a detailed level on one dashboard.
    The software also offers engagement metrics for each account individually. This helps you gain an intricate understanding of how customers are interacting with social content. Measure stories, posts, and hashtag performance as well as access the demographics of your audience across channels.
    Price
    Buffer’s Marketing Analytics product, Analyze, has two payment options with different features and flexibility that cost $35 per month or $50 per month.
    3. Google Analytics

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    Google Analytics has an expansive system of tools for content marketing analysis. The intuitive interface is easy to navigate and can be used to understand the performance of your content across multiple platforms. The analytics tool integrates with Google’s array of business software so you can access all of your insights in one place.
    Price
    Google Analytics offers a free and a paid plan. The free plan is ideal for SMBs and you can get started using it immediately. Meanwhile, the paid plan, called Analytics 360, is ideal for enterprise-level companies and requires you to speak with a sales rep for a quote.
    4. SimilarWeb

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    SimilarWeb provides traffic and engagement industry standards and tells you where your website stands among them. This information is useful for discovering how performance stacks up against the competition.
    With SimilarWeb, break down your daily active users, sessions per user, use-time, and rank. Discover more information about your audience — such as repeated behaviors or interests — to improve your acquisition strategy.
    Price
    SimilarWeb offers two plans, one of which is free and another that’s meant for enterprise businesses and requires you to contact a rep for a consultation.
    5. Moz

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    Moz measures the impact of your search-engine-optimized content. Gain insight into how your work is ranking among others in your industry and which keywords are the most effective to use in your strategy.
    Moz’s software tracks your site’s keyword rank and how visible it is overtime to learn what is and isn’t performing well among audiences. Additionally, track how competitors rank on search engine results pages (SERPS) — this allows you to spot areas for improvement and the parts of your campaign you can use to target them. To help with this, use Moz’s detailed reports to see how your content is reaching audiences and what you can do to improve.

    Price

    There are two main Moz solutions, Local and Pro. Both Local and Pro have different plans ranging in features, flexibility, and price. Local ranges in price from $129-299 while Pro ranges in price from $99-599 per month.
    6. Hotjar

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    Use Hotjar to track sessions on your site. Hotjar provides heat maps about how and where customers spend their time while on your website. In fact, there are real-time videos that capture how visitors are navigating and using your website. This allows you to hone in on the content that’s catching your customer’s eye. You can also track conversions and make inferences about which stage of the buyer’s journey customers might be entering or leaving.
    Price
    Hotjar offers three types of plans. There are two options for those who want a Personal plan that are either free or $39 per month. These options are ideal for personal and low-traffic websites.
    The Business plans range in price from $99-$989 per month depending on the number of sessions per day you receive. Lastly, the Agency plan requires you to contact a rep to chat about a plan for your team and clients.
    7. Semrush

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    Semrush is used for search engine optimization (SEO) tracking and helps you track keyword performance in your content as well as monitor brand mentions cross-platform.
    Additionally, the tool tracks Google rankings and which of your web pages receive the most traffic. This is helpful because discovering what drives visitors to your site allows you to adjust the content you’re presenting accordingly.
    Price
    Semrush offers three plans that range in price from $119 to $449 per month.
    8. Quintly

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    Quintly provides you with the insight necessary to analyze your content marketing campaigns. It also helps you make smarter decisions when it comes to social planning by equipping you with customizable metrics so you can better understand how your marketing strategy is working.
    Quintly does a deep dive into all of your accounts to uncover metrics that matter to your teams and goals, and you can sort and share reports by team so everyone gets the information they need. Reports can also be automated and measured by impact using Quintly’s machine learning system. Users can access the API, integrate with popular software like Google Search, and overcome data silos.
    Price
    Quintly’s custom plans start at $300 per month.
    9. BuzzSumo

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    View and analyze marketing trends in real-time with BuzzSumo by topic so you’re able to create content that’s likely to be relevant to your audience. Trends can also be filtered by location — this way, you’ll have an understanding of what’s popular by region.
    BuzzSumo lets you customize your feed so you can get the data that matters most to you. Identify relevant keywords to include in your campaigns, access examples of content proven to be successful on BuzzSumo’s site, and use the data you obtain through the tool to discover how you can drive the most traffic to your marketing content.
    Price
    BuzzSumo offers four plans that range in price from $99 to $499+ per month.
    10. Kissmetrics

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    Kissmetrics allows you to spot a customer’s journey across multiple devices, analyze their behavior on your website, and review conversion metrics (e.g. bounce rate and time on-site).
    Kissmetrics focuses on behavioral analytics which is helpful if you want to learn about how customers react to and interact with your content. This will also provide insight into what’s most valuable to users and how to keep visitors coming back.
    Price
    Request a Kissmetrics demo or check out the payment plans for their two main products, one of which is meant for SaaS and one for ecommerce. The SaaS plan comes with three payment options — those plans are $299, $499, or a custom price (based on your custom plan). Ecommerce also has three plans that cost $299, $499, or a custom price (based on your custom plan).
    11. Databox

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    Databox is a business analytics and KPI dashboard platform that offers insight into the state of your business. The tool organizes all of your business data — from any source — into a single location for accessible performance tracking.
    Over 70 available integrations make the process of bringing your data into the tool — as well as displaying, analyzing, and sharing it — simple. There are a number of metrics to choose from as well as custom views that you can apply to your data to display it in a way that works for your team.
    The Goal Tracking feature allows you to track progress towards your targets by assigning and focusing on SMART goals within the tool. Scorecards are a feature that notifies you (daily, weekly or monthly) of any updates to your KPIs. There are also other alerts you can receive the moment your data is looking off so you can efficiently resolve the issue before it gets worse.
    Price
    Databox offers a regular version of their product and an Agency edition. The regular version costs anywhere from free to $248 per month. As for the Agency version of Databox, there’s a free plan but if you need more flexibility, contact a rep for billing details.
    12. Supermetrics

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    Supermetrics is a business analytics tool that you can use to pull marketing data (e.g. SEO, PPC, social media, and web analytics data) from any source and move it into Google Sheets, Google Data Studio, Microsoft Excel, Google BigQuery, or Snowflake. Use Supermetrics as a reporting, analytics, and data storage tool.
    Bring your favorite metrics and dimensions into Supermetrics. Then, organize and filter your data within Supermetrics to analyze the success of your efforts and identify areas for improvement.
    Price
    Supermetrics offers multiple plans for all seven of their products, some of which require you to contact a rep and some of which list pricing on their unique web page.
    13. Demand Sage

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    Demand Sage is a tool used to bring all of your HubSpot datainto Google Sheets. There are one-click, customizable reports to help you understand your marketing and sales success and which areas to focus your efforts. Demand Sage offers one-click data sync and one-click, flexible reports.
    Within your spreadsheet, create granular, record-level reports and use the table builder to display your data with any view you’d like. Additionally, attribution and revenue reporting connects marketing and sales data in your reports for greater internal alignment and insight into how your pipeline is working as well as what’s driving revenue.
    Price
    Demand Sage is free.
    14. Grow.com

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    Grow.com is a business intelligence platform that allows you to import and transform your business’s data from a number of sources and create dashboards with the metrics that matter to you.
    Once your data is imported into the platform, it keeps your most relevant data at your fingertips. Build custom metrics, bring disparate data sources together, and select from a number of chart types to visualize your data however you want to. You can also easily share metrics and dashboards with team members to ensure everyone knows where to focus their efforts.
    Price
    Get a free Grow.com demo and talk to a rep about the price of the right plan for your business.
    15. Plecto

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    Plecto is a dashboard data visualization platform ideal for discovering real-time insights from an unlimited number of sources you pull your data from. Filter across the sources you integrate with Plecto and display data on your dashboards with different variables as needed.
    Display data with pre-built KPI dashboards in Plecto or customize your own. There are also gamification features to increase employee engagement and motivation as well as keep team members focused on their goals.
    Price
    Plecto offers three payment options depending on which plan you choose ranging from $200 per month, $350 per month, or a custom price (based on your Enterprise plan).
    16. Adverity

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    Adverity is an intelligent marketing data analytics platform ideal for data-driven marketing. The tool automates data integration from hundreds of different sources to give you a single view of marketing performance.
    Adverity makes it easy to remove any data silos you may have and provide easy access to centrally-located marketing data so your team members can identify and analyze the information they need. Adverity comes with augmented analytics, meaning it uses AI to identify trends, areas for improvement, strengths, and new insights in your data. It also automates the process of creating marketing reports and data visualizations to save you time.
    Price
    Contact Adverity to get a custom quote on the right plan for your business.
    Editor’s note: This post was originally published in June 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

  • Whiteboarding: What It Is & How to Use It In Your Meetings

    Do you remember those old school projectors they used to have in school? Whenever the projector was pulled out in class, I knew I was going to have fun. Teachers would allow us to go up and write on the projector, and it just felt more collaborative.

    That’s kind of what whiteboarding is like in business. As marketers, you probably have a lot of brainstorming sessions where you’re laying out landing pages, writing copy, and creating a strategy for a campaign.
    And brainstorming sessions and whiteboarding go together like peanut butter and jelly.
    In this post, we’ll dive into whiteboarding and learn how you can use this process to improve your brainstorming sessions.

    Whiteboarding Session
    While whiteboarding sessions are great, it’s easy to lose control over a brainstorming session. To conduct a successful whiteboard session, we’ve gathered a few tips.
    Whiteboarding Techniques
    1. Be creative.
    One of the best parts of a whiteboarding session is that it allows your team to be creative. People can share documents, put up sticky notes as reminders, and share their ideas with the team. When you’re in person, it’s fun to let all your team members use the whiteboard, so everyone has a chance to write down notes and share their thoughts.
    2. Stay focused.
    With any brainstorming session, it’s easy to lose track of what the goal is. To stay focused, we suggest writing out your goal at the top of your whiteboard, so everyone can see and knows what they’re supposed to be doing. When ideas that are off-topic are brought up, write them down in a section on the side for ideas to follow up on.
    3. Encourage meaningful conversation.
    Brainstorming sessions also allow teams to have meaningful conversations about different ideas. No idea is too small, and everyone should feel confident speaking their mind. The whole point of a whiteboarding session is to engage and collaborate with members of your team. It’s supposed to be interactive. These sessions also help people feel heard and like their ideas are being taken into consideration.
    4. Keep the board organized.
    When you’re running a whiteboard session, it’s important to keep the board organized. Even though it’s brainstorming, your ideas should be labeled in sections, so everyone knows what idea pertains to what topics. This is also where you can add a side section just for “off-topic” ideas. You’ll still want to write those down, even if it doesn’t have to do with the topic at hand, so you can come back to it later and keep the meeting focused.
    Now that we know what whiteboarding is and how to be successful when you’re running a meeting, let’s review some remote whiteboarding tools to help you be successful in a virtual brainstorming session.
    Remote Whiteboarding
    As we’ve discussed above, whiteboarding can be done remotely as well. This doesn’t need to be an in-person activity. In fact, remote whiteboarding meetings can be just as effective because everyone can use the whiteboard at once, and have full visibility of it at the same time.
    Below, let’s review some whiteboarding tools to use in your video conferencing meetings.
    Remote Whiteboarding Tools
    1. Zoom

    A great thing about Zoom is that a whiteboarding tool is built into the video conferencing software. If you use Zoom for your remote meetings, then you don’t need to look any further for a whiteboard tool.
    To access the Zoom whiteboard, click the Share Screen button, and then click Whiteboard. One of the features we like about this tool is that other participants can annotate and participate in writing on the whiteboard (if allowed). It’s also nice because you can turn that feature off if you want as well.
    2. Microsoft Whiteboard

    If you aren’t using Zoom, or would rather use another whiteboard tool, Microsoft has an excellent option. With this tool, all team members can edit and comment directly on the screen in real-time.
    The whiteboard is also infinite, meaning you can draw, type, or add sticky notes as much as you need. You can also save your whiteboards, so you can continue using the tool as much as you want, while also going back to old sessions.
    3. Conceptboard

    Conceptboard is another remote whiteboarding tool you can use during your meetings. With this tool, you can see live cursors, and everyone can collaborate at once.
    Additionally, this tool has video conferencing capabilities, so you can talk to your team while you’re brainstorming.
    4. Limnu

    Limnu is an online whiteboard tool that’s realism is the biggest seller. It feels like a real whiteboard, but it has the features of online whiteboarding such as collaboration. Anyone can edit in real-time, but you can also limit permissions if need be. Additionally, there’s a chat box function which is helpful for those who don’t have editing permissions to give their point of view.
    Whiteboarding is a great way to collaborate and brainstorm with your team. And the best part is, you don’t need to be in-person to have collaborative meetings. With remote whiteboarding tools, you can hold a brainstorming session just as easily.

  • 9 Effective Call Center Strategies to Implement This Year

    It’s easy to get complacent in the call center, taking customer queries one after the other.
    The Executive Guide to Improving Call Center Metrics
    If this sounds familiar, it’s probably time to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. By revisiting your business’ goals and values, you can make a much-needed pivot to improve the impact your call center has on your company — and more importantly, your customers!
    The good news is, we’ve done the heavy lifting and rounded up the best strategies to implement in your call center.
    1. Make data-driven decisions with KPIs
    Let’s start with the basics. Most call centers track industry-standard metrics, such as Average Hold Time (AHT), Abandonment Rate, and First Call Resolution (FCR).
    But are you leveraging this data to make necessary changes to your operations? If not, this is a great place to start.
    The Complete Guide to Call Center Metrics
    2. Prioritize agent satisfaction
    If your agents have high job satisfaction, they’re more likely to pass those feel-good vibes on to your customers. So, it’s in your business’ best interest to ensure your team is well-trained, equipped, and motivated to make the most of each workday.

    It’s not rocket science: If your agents have high job satisfaction, they’re more likely to pass on those feel-good vibes to your customers. It’s in your best interest to ensure your team is well-trained, equipped, and motivated. #cx #cctr…Click To Tweet

    Put the focus on employee engagement and find out what would make them happier in their daily work. By maintaining their job satisfaction, you’ll also lower agent attrition, saving you loads on additional hiring.
    3. Eliminate hold-time for your customers
    Eliminate hold time? Can it be done? While it’s impossible to stop customers from swamping your call center all at once, it is possible to give them a better experience by offering them a call-back.
    How to Eliminate Hold Time in Your Call Center
    During periods of high call volume, they won’t have to wait in the queue, and they’ll receive updates on their queue status in real-time. Not to mention your agents will rest easy knowing there aren’t a dozen fuming callers waiting on the line.
    4. Provide self-service options
    Today’s customers are more tech-savvy than ever. Why not use that to your advantage? Complement your call center technology with self-serve databases, AI chatbots, and blogs. This helps connect them with the information they need without tying up your phone lines so your agents can spend their time handling more complex customer interactions.
    5. Establish a comprehensive training & coaching program
    Learning shouldn’t be a one-time gig, especially when it comes to a service role. To help them do their roles with confidence, train and coach agents regularly. That can be in the form of assigning coaches, a mentorship program, and even regular refreshers. The industry is ever-changing, so make sure your team can keep up!

    15 Powerful Call Center Training Methods

    6. Empower your agents to make decisions
    Suppose your agents are repeatedly asking for the same customer information, transferring calls over and over, or worse yet, needing several calls to resolve a single issue. In that case, there’s a good chance your agents aren’t adequately equipped to deal with their customers properly.
    That can stem from several sources — they may require more training or more clarity about when it’s appropriate to escalate a case. But the verdict is clear: agents who have the power to help your customers will do so.
    7. Create a supportive (not competitive) culture
    In the call center’s earlier days, competitive culture was quite common. Despite their intentions to motivate agents to outperform each other and increase productivity, it often left their team members burnt out and exhausted.

    Today, the best call center managers know that providing support and a nurturing environment is the best way to boosting agent performance #cx #cctr Click To Tweet

    Today, the best call centers know that providing support and a nurturing environment is much more useful for boosting agent performance. And if your agents feel valued for what they bring to the role as a person, they’re sure to create a better customer experience!
    8. Have a crisis plan ready
    If there’s one thing the past year has taught us, it’s that disaster can strike anytime, anywhere.
    Call centers are still feeling the lingering effects of the pandemic, so it’s wise to have measures in place the next time your agents are faced with an onslaught of customer queries.
    How to Make Your Call Center More Resilient

    9. Audit your systems regularly
    Regularly reviewing your procedures can help you avoid unnecessary headaches down the road. Something as simple as conflicting messaging can create huge challenges for your call center. Take the time to review your IVR messaging, ensure that your channels are set up correctly, and evaluate your tools and technologies to ensure they’re in working order.The post Blog first appeared on Fonolo.

  • Avoid the clown suit

    How to get better at graphic design…

    There are more amateur and semi-pro graphic designers working today than at any point in human history.

    Presentations, instagram posts, websites, the cover of your kindle book or the logo for your podcast–anyone who’s touching a phone or a computer is called upon to do design, and most of us could get better.

    Understand the difference between good graphic design and simply putting ideas on paper.
    Acknowledge that you want to get better and realize that you can.
    Improve the picture in your head.
    Learn the skills of making that picture real.

    Understand the difference: Simply throwing type or a picture up will definitely put the information in front of people, but it won’t carry with it all of the care, insight and professionalism you want and need.

    We don’t tolerate typos in commercial products, and the market has the same feeling about design that’s lazy or out of place.

    Graphic design represents an emotional commitment to the work. Long before we read the words or understand the images, we see the layout. Kerning and color and weight and form arrive in our brains before we have decided what the words on the page actually mean. You wouldn’t wear a clown suit to a job interview, and yet people dress up their ideas in clown suits all the time.

    Getting better: If you are sure that you’re already good enough and that feedback is simply annoying, you’re probably not reading this. For the rest of us, there’s the chance to say, “I’m going to move to a higher level, and that means leaving this level behind.” Don’t defend your work with the generous critic. The entire point of getting better is to eagerly abandon the approaches you were taking on your way to gaining new skills that are more effective.

    The picture in your head: This is a huge step. If what you’re designing looks right to you, then it’s never going to improve. The leap here is to go shopping. Find ten websites that succeed by whatever measure matters to you. Go to a bookstore and find ten book covers that represent the level of authority and professionalism you seek. Go to the Dieline and compare 40 package designs. Check out the difference between the photos you’re taking and the ones that are on the most successful online retail sites. Find some heroes. Understand the genre you’re working in.

    Make the picture real: And now–copy them. Step by step, learn what you need to learn to make something as good as your heroes. A direct copy is not what you’re going to publish, but at least you’ll understand how to add the level of care and signalling and understanding of genre that’s needed to get the emotional element of your point across.

    Once you know how to do good lighting, color choice and typography, you are welcome to abandon it. But it certainly pays to know how and to make it your choice.

  • 7 Ways to Improve Customer Experience with Email Marketing

    A happy customer is a loyal customer. And loyal customers are important. In fact, the chances of selling to an existing customer are between 60-70%. Which drops to a mere 5-20% for new customers. But what is the key to keeping customers happy? 64% of customers state that experiences are worth more to them than…
    The post 7 Ways to Improve Customer Experience with Email Marketing appeared first on Customer Experience Magazine.

  • Marketing Automation Tools in 2021

    Hi Marketers, We’re trying to find the right marketing automation software or software stack with good integration but after several months of research, we’re yet to find a system that will do everything we need. Most systems are really good at their “thing” but only do 70% of what we need. We sell travel insurance so we have 3 main phases: Nurturing (transactional) User responds to an ad -> hits a relevant landing page -> gets a quote -> is emailed a quote specific to them -> added to a remarketing list (FB, Adwords, Youtube etc) -> added to a quote follow up sequence (email, SMS, scheduled call). Sale (transactional) User buys a policy -> added to a date triggered email sequence for delivery of the product (sale confirmation, reminders, event warnings, friend referrals) Rebuy (campaign) Regular campaign sequences triggered by sales, important dates, world events, etc. The features we need: – Journey builder – with decisions based on page visits, email opens/clicks (both transactional and campaign) – Campaign builder that supports complex sequences – Email builder (Marketing and Transactional) with split test and dynamic text – Transactional email system that supports complex sequences and multiple transactions for the same customer – Able to connect sequences with Google, FB, SMS & other remarketing – Landing page builder / pop ups – SMS / WhatsApp – Tracking of repeat site visitors with ability to launch a sequence based on this – Split testing emails and landing pages in a sequence – Attribution reporting We have our own custom CRM and have devs that can do any integration work required. I hoping someone out there has solved this and can suggest a tool or stack of tools that has worked well to solve the above. Any suggestions greatly appreciated! Cheers, Dean
    submitted by /u/Dean_ve [link] [comments]

  • Shared or Dedicated IP Configuration: Which is Right for Me?

    If you’re considering whether a shared IP or dedicated IP environment is better for your business, this quick guide will help you decide. We explain the differences between the two and how your IP reputation can impact your sender reputation and email deliverability.

  • Top 6 Must Try Marketing Automation Software

    What are the Best Email Marketing Software out there for your business? Getting the appropriate Marketing Software product is as straightforward as comparing the features and terms offered by these six software that I personally use and recommend. (HERE) I suggest that you take some time to review their unique features and determine which one is the better alternative for your organization. What’s more remember to take into account your company’s or industry’s special circumstances, for example, a multilingual app for a global company or a mobile platform to help you work in the field. I collected The 6 Most Useful Blog posts about them: Read more here. I also wrote a blog about the Top 3 Best Email Marketing Tools– Check It Out HERE And about the Top 2 Best Landing Page Software Comparison– Read It HERE And The Nr.1 Shopping Cart Software That I Personally Use– Take a look HERE Try Them FREE
    submitted by /u/szdebrecen1 [link] [comments]

  • Giving Compliments

    In Dale Carnegie’s book How to Win Friends and Influence People, he talks about giving compliments as being like leaving beacons of light. The world is a very small place and before you know it, you’ll do a full circle and meet people again, and they will remember you for the small compliments that you…
    The post Giving Compliments appeared first on Customer Experience Magazine.

  • Lights, Camera, Action: How to Record a Webinar Worth Replaying

    How often do you find yourself running late to a webinar or missing it entirely? Too often to admit? You’re not alone. On average, 260 people register for a single webinar. However, only about 60% of people actually attend the webinars they register for.
    If you’re on the other side of the aisle hosting the webinars, you’ve probably felt let down when you realized nearly half your registrants found something better to do for an hour. Don’t take it personally. The people you’re targeting for a webinar are busy and might find it burdensome to carve out an hour for a live event. Think about it in terms of opportunity cost — would you rather spend an hour attending a live webinar about the future of digital advertising on social media or creating a couple of Facebook ads to go live that day? Let’s be honest, producing results will almost always come first on our list of to-do’s while learning about the future will come later.

    The disparity between those who attend live and those who don’t gives marketers an opportunity to explore a more flexible approach to sharing interactive video content. In this article, I’ll show you how to turn your live webinars into evergreen video content that is worth replaying.
    Why Record Webinars?
    Webinars can be a dynamic addition to your content marketing toolkit. Though they take time to plan and produce, the reward is worth the work. According to ON24, conversion rates of webinars have increased 6% in 2020 compared to 2019.
    For example, this webinar is a short yet insightful discussion about how to manage a remote sales team and has received over 4,000 views in six months.

    You might want to consider recording your webinar for a couple of reasons. First, recorded videos can be edited. If this is your first time hosting a webinar, you’ll find it helpful to host with no audience, so you can make small tweaks.
    Recorded webinars are also a practical choice for marketing because they’re accessible. If you decide to host yours during a time your audience can’t attend, recording the webinar ensures they can still catch the information on their own time.
    Next, let’s learn exactly how to turn that live webinar into evergreen, interactive video content.
    1. Choose proper webinar recording software.
    After the plans to record a webinar are set, the next step is choosing a platform. A lot of platforms offer similar features, but choose one that will let you record and export..
    Some recording tools are only built for certain operating systems, so make sure yours operates on multiple different systems. Most platforms you’ll find work on both Mac and Windows devices, but keep a watchful eye as you’re researching.
    Ultimately, choose one that will let you do everything you need. If you have to share your screen or ask for audience participation, make sure your software has those capabilities.
    2. Decide where you will record.
    The background of your webinar shouldn’t be distracting. If you’re distracted by your surroundings, your audience will be, too. Choose a place to record your webinar that is quiet and professional.
    Alternatively, if you decide your space isn’t camera-ready, you don’t have to show it. Turn your camera off and let the presentation be the only visual. If you go this route, though, you’ll likely need an animator or designer to make sure your presentation is engaging enough to keep the viewer’s interest.
    3. Perform a practice version to catch mistakes.
    Before you officially record, practice using the software. Familiarize yourself with how to record, export, and upload a video so you’ll be comfortable when showtime comes.
    Practicing the full motions of the webinar helps with presentation and flow. When you play it back, you can gauge your body language, tone of voice, and impact of the lesson. Additionally, you’ll work through technical difficulties.
    If you’re thinking that you won’t have time to fit in multiple test runs, don’t worry. You won’t need the full hour to practice your presentation. Instead, record the section you’re most unsure about — that way, you can hone in on what needs the most work.
    Alternatively, maybe your test run tells you that you need more help creating your presentation. If that’s the case, head on over to this guide for making a compelling webinar.
    When you’re comfortable with your setting and presentation, you’re ready to record the real deal.
    A quick note about audio/visual delays: Virtually every webinar program will have a delay during a live recording. It’s just in the nature of how broadcast works. Don’t let this deter you from choosing a webinar recording software! Simply check the reviews to see how long of a lag you can manage compared to the other features you’re looking for.
    4. Record your webinar.
    The truth is, you have many alternatives for recording a webinar. If you’re a Mac user, QuickTime Player is a popular, free software. Zoom is a convenient, no-cost solution for either operating system. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to record your webinar using each program.

    QuickTime Player

    Launch QuickTIme Player on your Mac by finding it in the applications folder or by simply clicking the search icon in the top right corner of your toolbar and searching “QuickTime Player.”

    Click File > New Movie Recording

    Click View >  Float on TopYou should see yourself on camera now. Resize your camera window and position it on the screen you want to record. Make sure you’re floating on top of the content so your audience can see you.

    Click File > “New Screen Recording”Take some time here to play with the settings. You can record all or part of your screen by selecting “record entire screen” or “record selected portion” to get the perfect shot.

    Click the record button when you’re ready to record your webinar. Click the square stop button when you’re done.After clicking the stop button, you’ll see your video appear on screen immediately.
    Click File > SaveName your webinar and save it to your desired folder.

    Your webinar recorded on QuickTime Player is now ready to be uploaded to YouTube, social media, or your website. Keep in mind, this video might be very large and could slow down your website, and some social media sites may not allow you to upload a file that large. Don’t worry, you can compress your file to make sure it’s website ready.
    Zoom
    Zoom is another great option for quick webinars, and if you record it in under 40 minutes, you can use the free version of the app on both Mac and Windows computers. To record a webinar using Zoom, follow these instructions:

    Launch Zoom by finding it in the applications folder.

    Click “New Meeting”You’ll see your camera appear. If you don’t want to appear on camera during your webinar, click the camera icon to turn your video off.

    Click “Share Screen”This enables you to display your presentation, videos, images, and any other visual aids you’ll be using throughout your webinar. You’ll notice that there are different options for screen sharing – displays and browser tabs are the main two used for webinars. Sharing your display is helpful if the presentation is on your desktop. Sharing your browser tab is helpful if you’re using a cloud presentation software like Google Slides and you only want to share that tab.

    When your presentation, audio, and video are show-ready, click the circular “Record” button to start your webinar. (If your screen is smaller, you may see three ellipses, click those then select “record” from the drop down menu.) 

    You’ll get two options to record – either to the cloud or to your computer. Recording to the cloud works well to keep large MP4 files off of your computer. Recording to your computer works if you need the MP4 at the ready to edit and upload to a website later.

    Keep in mind, Zoom doesn’t have a countdown like some other webinar programs do, so make sure you’re camera-ready before clicking that button.
    If you’re working from home, you might have some mishaps happening in the background. You can easily pause your recording by clicking the “Pause Recording” button. When you’re ready to start again, simply click the “resume recording” button.
    Once you’re done with your webinar, click the “stop recording” button.
    5. Edit your presentation for professionalism.
    Small mistakes, like fumbling words or technical difficulties, are normal. If you come across them, don’t feel pressure to edit them out — after all, humans slip up every day. However, glaring mistakes, like starting the recording too early, should be edited.
    The great thing about recorded webinars is that you do have the option to edit. And, if you’re not recording for a live audience, you have more room to tweak the final version. Look at your work before it goes up for the world to see so you and your company are represented professionally.
    Download your webinar recording.
    QuickTime Player
    To find your QuickTime Player recording on your Mac, follow these steps:

    1. Immediately after ending your recording, click file > saveYou’ll see a dialogue box appear that looks like this:Rename your file to a title that makes sense. “webinar – 01.12.2020″ is a good example that will be easy to find later.
    Next, change the “Where” dropdown. This is where you’ll save the video file on your computer. The default is set to your documents folder, but you can change this by clicking the drop-down arrow:

    Now, your folders are displayed and you can navigate to the folder that will house all of your webinars or create a new folder for them. I’ve chosen to save my webinar in the desktop folder. 

    If you need to find this webinar later and you can’t remember where you’ve saved it, search your Mac for “webinar – 1.12.2020” and it’ll come right up.

     
    Zoom
    To find your recording, follow these steps:
    If you recorded to the cloud:

    You’ll receive an email once your recording is ready and in the cloud. Click the link to access and download your recording.

    If you recorded to your computer:
    The default setting of Zoom recordings on your computer are as follows:

    Windows: C:Users[Username]DocumentsZoom
    Mac: /Users/[Username]/Documents/Zoom
    Linux: home/[Username]/Documents/Zoom

    Now, you’re ready to share your recording! You might have a plan for how you want to distribute it — especially if it’s an event for your customers. But, if you need a little creative help, here are some ideas for sharing.
    1. Website Landing Page
    If you use your webinars for lead generation, an effective way to get traction is to have a dedicated landing page. Whether you’re using your webinar as a stand-alone lead generation piece or as part of a campaign, a landing page will collect valuable information about your webinar viewers.  Include  a brief description about what they’ll learn in the webinars, and add an enticing call-to-action to capture the data..
    2. Social Media
    A webinar report by GoToWebinar found that social media brought in more webinar registrations than blogs, newsletters, SMS notifications, or sales teams. Although every business is different, there are social media platforms available for nearly every type of consumer. Promotion on social networks should have a place in your go-to-market strategy for your webinar. LinkedIn is a popular social networking site for webinars because of its unique emphasis on professional content. If your audience includes B2B decision makers, this may be a great route to go. On the other hand, if you’re targeting consumers interested in online shopping, Facebook and Instagram might be the platform for your webinar. Meeting your followers where they are on the web gets your webinar in front of them when they’re ready to engage.
    3. Email Marketing
    Email is the number one promotion channel for webinars and will carry the bulk of signups. The secret to this platform’s high registration rate lies in how people interact with email messages in their inbox. Our audiences expect to see emails in their inboxes everyday, and they’re conditioned to receiving email reminders and confirmations after they sign up for something. With email, webinar hosts have more flexibility to increase the frequency of informational and reminder emails about their webinars without appearing spammy. This works, too. GoToWebinar tells us, “Promoting at least four weeks in advance of the live webinar results in 12% more registrations on average.”
    4. Blog Posts
    If your recording was about social media marketing, and you have a blog post on the subject, consider embedding a snippet of the webinar into the post. Doing this can help you snag a video featured snippet in the SERP.
    For example, check out the embedded video in our post about how to create a webinar.
    Here, we see the webinar added to the blog post to make it more engaging. Readers who want the full run-down can follow along with the post.
    5. Paid Media
    Your audience isn’t limited to the people on your email list or those who follow your business on social media. Targeted advertisements on social media and on the web (think Google and Bing) can expand your network of potential customers.
    Facebook and Instagram have a unique paid ads feature that allows you to reach people who have similar interests and buying habits as your current customer base.
    Paid ads that show snippets of your webinar can be a fantastic way to drive traffic to your webinar landing page. By giving the audience a taste of the content, interested prospects will click through to your site to watch more.
    While paid advertising might sound expensive, it doesn’t have to be. You can get started with just a few dollars a day and pause the ads at any time. What makes this promotion method work is that your ads are only being shown to people who are likely to have an interest in your content.
    7. Partnerships
    Collaborating with other content creators or marketers on your webinar (or even just for the promotion of it) grows your reach potential. Seek individuals who are respected in your industry and have expertise in the topic of your webinar. 
    Partnerships can be executed in a few different ways:
    Content Collaboration
    Having a subject matter expert appear on camera with you or offer quotes for the presentation can lend credence to your webinar. If the person you’re working with is excited to create the content with you, they’re probably happy to promote it, too.
    Promotion-only Collaboration
    Not all partnerships need to be content collaborations. If you know an industry expert with an audience similar to yours, they might be interested in sharing guest content – you being the guest. This may or may not be free, so set aside some funds for this in your influencer strategy budget.
    Organizational Partnerships
    If your company works with an industry trade group (like the American Advertising Federation or Beer Institute), partnering with them can position you as a thought leader to your audience. On the backend, your webinar content provides them with industry knowledge they can use to better serve the trade association. It’s a win-win for both organizations.
    We’ve covered the benefits of recording webinars, how to record webinars, how to download them after you’ve recorded them, and how to promote them. Now, let’s talk about the recording software options you can use for your next webinar. Here are a few of our favorite webinar recording software platforms.

    Choose a Webinar Recording Software
    Before you can begin recording your webinar, you’ll want to choose the best webinar recording software for your marketing needs. There are a ton of software options available, but we’ve narrowed down the essential features and functions.
    A sophisticated webinar recording software will do the basics like recording, exporting, and screen share. However, to turn your webinars into evergreen content, you’ll want a few more features. Reporting is a must-have for measuring KPIs. After all, if the webinars are lagging behind your goals, you’ll want to assess why and determine a solution. Another type of feature that is critical to successful live and recorded webinars is an engagement tool. Whether this comes in the form of a chat box or emoji reactions, this interactive feature helps you gauge your attendees interest and get feedback about the webinar.
    1. WebinarGeek

    WebinarGeek is an all-in-one webinar marketing solution if you want to broadcast individual webinars or a webinar series in real time. With on demand, automated, and hybrid webinar options, your webinars can be accessible when you need them to be. Give your audience the experience they want by pre-recording webinars and airing them live or having a recorded presentation available on your website 24/7.
    Pros:
    Webinar Geek offers live, on-demand, and hybrid webinar options that make for an engaging user experience. You’ll also have the ability to analyze viewing the behavior of your audience which means you’ll know which types of content and engagement tactics work and which ones are a snooze fest.
    Cons:
    There are so many customizable features that the initial configuration for WebinarGeek can be tedious. Plan an hour or so to modify your webinar settings ahead of your first practice round for a smooth recording process.
    2. ClickMeeting

    ClickMeeting is not just for webinar recording  – this program brings video conferencing and online meetings to your customers and team members. It expands the definition of webinar recording software to include product demos, online courses, and even virtual events.
    Pros:
    You’ll see all the features of a sophisticated webinar recording software in ClickMeeting including screen sharing, polls, and analytics. As a bonus, you can even host paid webinars directly through the platform’s PayPal integration.
    Cons:
    Some customers report there is no way to control the audio of participants, but if you’re using the software to record webinars without an audience and share them later, this shouldn’t be a problem.
    3. Loom

    Video messaging, screen share, recording, oh my! Loom helps you instantly share expressive and effective content with your team or an audience. This tool is all about collaboration and knowledge-sharing which makes it perfect for the agile group who needs to share information fast.
    Pros:
    Loom checks all the boxes for an adequate webinar recording system  – it supports screen recording, exporting, and hosting all in one place. And, for on-the-go presenters, Loom can be used on mobile devices that run iOS.
    Cons:
    When it comes to live webinars, Loom won’t be your best option. This tool is better suited for pre-recorded slideshows or screen recordings that will be embedded on your website or landing page for on-demand replay.
    4. QuickTime Player

    Recording and editing video is QuickTime Player’s claim to fame. The Apple feature comes pre-installed on Mac computers so there’s no additional cost, software, or set up required. You’re probably aware that QuickTime Player can be used to share and record your screen. But did you know that you can record yourself talking through the content on your screen, too? This hack is quick and takes just a few clicks.
    Pros:
    QuickTIme Player is free and simple to use. Recording and exporting video is what this tool does best. If you use a Mac, you can record a webinar right now and share it anywhere in just a few minutes.
    Cons:
    If you use a Windows computer, QuickTime Player won’t be an option for your pre-recorded webinar needs.You’ll also need to share and host this webinar on a platform you already have so your viewers can access it.
    5. Zoom

    By now, if you haven’t used Zoom, you at least know someone who has. This multipurpose tool is used to host small and large meetings, but it has powerful webinar recording software capabilities, too.
    Pros:
    With a paid account, you can host up to 100 interactive participants and 10,000 view-only attendees on a live webinar. Screen Sharing, recording, exporting, interactive feedback polls, and chat are among the features included.
    Cons:
    Reviews for Zoom are overwhelmingly positive, and you’ll likely have nearly all your needs met with this tool. However, you won’t be able to keep your webinars on the Zoom platform for playback later, so be sure to have a home for your recordings once you’ve exported your video file.
    6. Movavi Screen Recorder

    A paid tool, Movavi Screen Recorder adapts to your marketing needs whether you’re looking to record a live webinar you’ve been invited to or looking to record your own webinar to share with others. Movavi Screen Recorder works on both Mac and Windows computers.
    Pros:
    In Movavi Screen Recorder, you can record, edit, and save your webinar all in the same tool. Another unique capability of this software is the ability to convert videos without using an additional tool.
    Cons:
    Customers say the Movavi-provided tutorials and customer service could be more supportive. Having some video editing experience might help you use this tool effectively, although they say you’ll likely get the hang of it after a few days.
    7. WebinarJam

    WebinarJam is an all-in-one webinar platform. The name speaks for itself – webinar recording software is their jam. High definition broadcasting and up to 30 frames-per-second are just a few of the notable features in this tool. Share your screen with confidence knowing your attendees can read every word in your presentation. (Even though we know your presentations keep text to a minimum anyway.)
    Pros:
    On desktop, the user interface is easy-to-use and intuitive to configure. You can also stream your webinar to YouTube or Facebook thus expanding your reach to your audience on those platforms and potential new audiences.
    Cons:
    If you’re broadcasting your presentation to audience members on a mobile device, they may have trouble seeing it the way you intended. Customers have noted subpar user experiences for those on mobile devices.
    8. Cisco Webex

    Webex prides itself on seamless collaboration and hybrid work experiences. This platform integrates with apps and software like Microsoft Outlook, Google Drive, and Zendesk to help you do exceptional work.
    Pros:
    Webex meetings are secure. The software company keeps your data and privacy protected while you present to the world. Like Zoom, Webex has breakout rooms and virtual backgrounds to keep your presentation on brand and professional.
    Cons:
    Initial set up of Webex might require assistance from your IT team in order to prevent issues with starting your webinar. If you don’t have the help of IT, check out Webex’s help center for assistance before you start recording your webinar.
    9. BigMarker

    BigMarker is a browser-based webinar recording software that doesn’t require you to download any applications. From product demos to online courses, this tool delivers much more than beautiful webinars. It supports invitation, reminder, and thank you emails, and could serve many purposes within your marketing tech stack like demand generation.
    Pros:
    BigMarker is built with marketers in mind, so everything from registration to analytics is accounted for in his webinar recording software. And if you’re a HubSpot customer, you’re in luck! BigMarker integrates flawlessly with our CRM.
    Cons:
    Stability and video clarity on this platform can be hit or miss if your internet connection is unstable. A high-speed internet connection has helped some customers overcome this hurdle.
    10. Google Meet

    You might know Google Meet as a video chatting app similar to Apple’s FaceTime. However, it packs a much bigger punch. Google Meet is a powerful tool that can be a free alternative to expensive webinar recording software.
    Pros:
    Google Meet uses smart AI enhancements that can detect and adjust to your network’s speed so that your meetings are always clear and reliable. All webinars are encrypted to ensure your data, and your audience’s data is protected.
    Cons:
    Google Meet doesn’t have a robust brand customization feature, so you’re stuck with Google’s UI. However, you can use custom backgrounds which give you some control over the look and feel of your meeting.
    11. WorkCast

    Another cloud-based webinar recording software, WorkCast supports live webcasts, virtual events, and webinars. You can track lead generation efforts and audience engagement all in the same platform.
    Pros:
    You can see attendee engagement in real time which means more flexibility for you to switch up speed, cadence, or even presenters if the audience is getting distracted.
    Cons:
    Some customers have shared that the features are not intuitive to use, so you’ll want to practice your webinar a few times before you begin recording.
    12. GoToWebinar

    As an extension of the conference call system GoToMeeting, GoToWebinar supports marketing efforts by providing demand generation tools like automated email invitations, a webinar library you can use as a landing page, and integration opportunities to connect your content to existing properties within your tech stack.
    Pros:
    If you configure your webinar as a course, you can issue certificates of completion to your attendees directly through the platform.
    Cons:
    Users and external presenters must download the software onto their computers to use GoToWebinar which can negatively affect the user experience if they don’t download it ahead of time. Tackle this issue by reminding attendees and external presenters to download the software beforehand in your invitation and reminder emails.
    Start Recording Your Webinar.
    Webinars diversify the content you offer. Recorded ones are great for accessibility and extended value. Long after the initial recording, you can still earn leads from them.
    Every day on my lunch break, I have a recorded webinar queued up and ready to go. The next time I’m scouring the internet, looking for the next winner, will I see yours among the rest of the amazing content?