Category: Marketing Automation

A lot of the data you enter into your Google Sheets tables may be repetitive, like tracking whether an influencer you’ve reached out to for a partnership has agreed to working with you or not.
It can get tedious to go in and type each yes or no as time goes on, which is where a critical tool, the drop-down list, becomes your best friend.
In this post, we’ll go over how to add a drop-down list to your own Google Sheets data set to help save time.

How to Add a Drop-down List in Google Sheets
As mentioned above, a drop-down list can help you easily change elements of a cell when the content is repetitive.
The example data set for this walkthrough (as shown in the image below) is tracking the progress of marketing campaigns on different channels and the stage they’re in; not yet started, in progress, or completed. I want to create a drop-down menu so I can easily go in and change the status of the campaign as time goes on.

Before going through the steps, it might be helpful to see what a drop-down menu looks like so you can contextually understand each instruction. The gif below shows a final drop-down menu and how it applies to the sample data set.

Let’s go over how to add a drop-down list to your Sheet.
1. In the toolbar header, click Data.
2. In the drop-down menu, as shown in the image below, select Data validation.

3. In the Data validation dialog box, enter the range of cells you want to have a drop-down menu in Cell range. For this example, I’m entering B2:B10 for cells 2-10 in column B.

4. The next step is to enter the data range that you want to be included in the drop-down menu. Select List of items, and add in your menu values. For this example, this is where I would input Not yet started, In progress, and Complete.
Once you’ve entered your values, click save.

5. Each of your cells should now have a clickable down arrow, as shown in the image below.

For the example table, I can click on each down arrow and change the status of my campaigns as time goes on.

How to Edit a Drop-down List in Google Sheets
If you need to make changes to your drop-down menu, the process is rather simple.
1. In the toolbar header, click Data and then Data validation.
2. In the Data validation dialogue box, simply input the changes you want to make. For example,

If you want to change the items in your drop-down menu, navigate to Criteria, and make your desired changes.
If you want to change the column the drop-down menu is in, change the cell numbers in Cell range.
If you want to delete your drop-down menu altogether, select the column the menu is currently in and click Remove validation.

Always click save after making all changes.
Color Code a Drop-down List in Google Sheets
Color coding is helpful when it comes to interpreting results at a glance. You can do this with your drop-down list by creating conditional formatting rules, and below we’ll explain how.
1. Select the cells your drop-down menu is in and click Format.
2. Select Conditional formatting from the dialogue box, as shown in the image below.

3. In the Conditional formatting rules sidebar on the right-hand side of your screen, navigate to the Format rules section.

4. In the Format cells if menu, select Text contains…

5. Enter the first element in your drop-down list that you want color-coded. In the image below, I’ve entered Completed as my value and set the color to Green.

6. To set a color for each of your list items, select + Add another rule and repeat step 5 for each value. For my chart, I’ve set In progress to Blue, and Not started to gray.

7. After you set each of your rules, changing the drop-down menu item to a different value will automatically change it to the correct color. For example, if I change Not yet started to In progress, it turns from gray to blue.

Once you’ve created your drop-down menu and color-coded it for easy interpretation, you can continue to track the progress of your different marketing activities and save time while doing so.

How many times have you received emails and SMS messages from your favorite brands this week? If you are into online shopping, you know what I am talking about. SMS and email marketing are two of the most powerful mediums eCommerce companies use to market to their audience. Each has its unique advantages, and when…
The post Is Combining SMS and Email Marketing the Secret Sauce to Ecommerce Domination? appeared first on Benchmark Email.

I do web design & SEO for clients in the healthcare sector. Recently one of my clients wanted to move from a Landing Page Plan to a Full Website Plan as her advertising costs are rapidly increasing due to competition, her hopes are to reduce patient acquisition by investing in SEO efforts. That will be taken care of without problems. The issue is that she’d like to implement some automation strategies to improve patient communication/retention. What I´m thinking of doing is: Setup Amelia Booking on the site and integrate bookings with Google Calendar Automate appointments confirmation via Whatsapp (once a patient books an appointment, 2 hrs before the system/crm sends an automated message with a link so the client confirms his assistance) Once the patient leaves his appointment, a follow-up automated email is sent with a link to provide feedback. 2 Weeks afterwards another follow-up automated email is sent to greet the patient & inquiry about his general health status. That’s it. How would you go about setting this up? Which tools would you recommend? (CRM, Whatsapp Chatbot, Feedback management, connectivity between apps). I’d be looking for a very cost-effective solution. Thanks! submitted by /u/blackswanmx [link] [comments]

There are ZERO actual directions for how to use this tool. All the help section tells me is what the tool can be used FOR…not HOW to use it. Please help!! submitted by /u/ContentDinner1494 [link] [comments]

submitted by /u/seabrite03 [link] [comments]

While it’s fair to say most marketers are on-board with the importance of content marketing, there’s still an aspect of marketing that doesn’t get as much love: context marketing.
Whether you know what context marketing means or not, I’m willing to bet you want to deliver the right campaigns to the right customers at the right time. That’s what context marketing is all about.
Here, we’re going to introduce the concept of context marketing and dive into strategies you can use to implement it into your overall marketing strategy.

My favorite context marketing definition is delivering the right content, to the right people, at the right time.
Let me explain what I mean by context a little more, though. When you have context around something, you have a larger, more telling picture — you know, those little details that lend more clarity to things that would otherwise be pretty general, unspecific, and, well, uninteresting.
The best marketers leverage context about their audience, leads, and customers in their content marketing. They create audience profiles and buyer personas and use that information to create more effective marketing and advertising campaigns.
Now that we have a basic understanding of context marketing, you might be wondering what the difference is between content marketing and context marketing. Let’s take a look below.
A marketer using context would know more about a lead than her first name. They might also know what industry she works in, what kind of content she likes best, through which channel she prefers to consume content, whether she’s currently using another solution to meet her needs, and whether her company has budget at this time of year.
As a marketer, if you were asked to “market” to someone, and all you were given was a first name and the type of company your lead works at, wouldn’t your first question be … what else do we know about her? Probably, if you want to do your job way better.
That’s the idea behind context marketing: Using what you know about your contacts to provide supremely relevant, targeted, and personalized marketing.
Why is context marketing important?
Context marketing is important for many reasons, but there are two top ones that make its importance even more salient. Let’s go over them below.
Context marketing converts better.
When you’re creating marketing that’s targeted at people’s point of need, it stands to reason that marketing will perform much better for you, because you aren’t delivering marketing content that’s misaligned with their interests or stage in the buyer’s journey.
Think about it: If you know that a B2B lead is getting a new budget in January and it’s December, you’re able to send her insanely targeted content that addresses her needs — like, say, an offer for a custom demo of your product with a rep that specializes in the finance industry. That’s content that she’s pretty likely to convert on, especially if she’s downloaded a buying guide and visited your product pages.
Hot tip: Keeping track of your prospect’s activity using marketing automation software will make context marketing easier. You’ll know which products your prospect is most interested in and how many times they’ve visited your website.
Context marketing increases retention.
When you have context around your relationship with a contact, you’re able to provide more personalized and relevant marketing content that’s targeted to their needs.
This is great for two reasons: Personalized and relevant marketing is the foundation for creating content people love and engage with. What’s more, personalized and relevant marketing is typically not the kind of marketing that annoys people into clicking “unsubscribe”. If they feel like you’re out to solve their problems specifically, customers are much more likely to stay with you.
Why not use the context around your relationships with your contacts to create marketing that they love and convert on? Let’s take a look at how you can get started.
How to Start Context Marketing
Alright, how does this “context marketing” theory manifest itself? What would it look like for you, as a marketer? With the help of marketing automation software, here are some examples of where you’d actually use the principle of “context” in your marketing.
1. Create specific offers for specific posts and pages.
One easy way you can start context marketing? Create offers that extend the value of your website. Bonus points if these offers answer a specific pain point or problem that a customer is trying to solve for when visiting that page.
Most blog posts in HubSpot’s library feature an offer that’s directly related to the topic of the article. For instance, in our blog post about creating a marketing plan, you can download a marketing plan template — which is something that someone wanting to create a marketing plan might need.

Come up with content offers that will benefit your readers and website visitors depending on the page they’re visiting. For instance, if you sell hiking shoes and you’re writing a blog post about going on a solo hiking trip, you might feature an offer for downloading a solo hiking checklist.
2. Add smart calls-to-action (CTAs) to your website.
You can take personalized offers to the next level by featuring smart calls-to-action. Let’s say you have a variety of offers you want to use to convert traffic into leads, leads into qualified leads, and qualified leads into customers.
To increase your lead conversion rates, you probably don’t want leads visiting a case study webpage (typically an action you’d perform further along in your buyer’s journey), and finding a CTA leading them to a blog post (which is meant for people earlier in the buyer’s journey).
However, not everyone who visits a case study page on your website is necessarily ready to talk to a salesperson. You don’t want to turn them away, either, by offering a CTA that’s too pushy.
Fortunately, with smart CTAs, you can actually surface a CTA that automatically aligns with the visitor’s stage in the sales cycle … or any other host of criteria you want to set. Think industry, business type, location, and past activity/behaviors.
For instance, if you have already downloaded an offer from HubSpot, you might see this CTA on certain social-media-related posts:

But if you haven’t downloaded an offer before, you’ll see the default CTA:

This type of smart content can help you capture your audience’s information at all stages of their buyer’s journey.
Hot tip: HubSpot’s marketing automation software lets you easily create a smart calls-to-action with little technical knowledge.
3. Create smart forms that shorten the conversion cycle.
Smart forms know if someone has already filled out the form fields you’re asking for. If you use smart forms, for instance, your site visitors won’t see “First Name” and “Last Name” every time they fill out a form — instead, they’ll answer those questions once, and then never again.
This will help you glean new information about your leads each time they fill out a form, instead of just more of the same stuff. It also helps you create a more seamless, personalized user experience that leverages prior interactions with your website as context.
Here’s one example from HubSpot Academy. This is what I see when I’m logged into the HubSpot CRM:

The form knows I’m a current HubSpot customer and doesn’t require me to create a new account. I only have to click one button: “Start the Course.”
But this is what I see when I’m not logged in:

Ultimately, smart forms will help you gather even more context about your visitors, leads, and customers, and help increase conversion rates over time.
Hot tip: You can easily create smart forms inside HubSpot’s marketing automation software.
4. Leverage dynamic email content and workflows.
Your forms and offers aren’t the only things that need to be smart. Your email database — especially if you want to maintain your space in people’s coveted inboxes — needs to be segmented into highly targeted lists, as well.
I happen to be subscribed to Grammarly emails on both my work and personal emails. Because I only use the Grammarly Chrome extension at work, I receive emails like this:
In my personal account, however, I use Grammarly’s web app regularly and review thousands of words for a personal project. Here’s the email I get:
Throughout the email, Grammarly prompts you to upgrade to the premium version and take advantage of its other tools. Because I don’t use the Chrome extension in my personal email account, it includes a call-to-action to install the extension. It’s delightful to receive an email that uses my account activity as context.
Beyond email segmentation, your email lists need to be smart enough to know when to pull in a contact, and certain information you have in your database about that contact, into your email marketing campaigns.
Remember, a great context marketer delivers the right content, to the right person, at the right time. So to send emails that are contextually relevant, you need to use their activity and background to deliver personalized content that delights them and prompts them to convert.
Context Marketing Examples
While context marketing may sound complicated, it’s actually quite simple in practice. In fact, as a customer, you may have seen or enjoyed context marketing yourself. Let’s take a look at some examples.
1. Google’s Product Ads Carousel

Have you ever looked up a product on Google and see a carousel at the top (as opposed to just the plain search results)? The products you see are typically ads for the exact same thing you searched for.
This is a prime contextual marketing example. Google uses your behavior and search query to deliver ads that are contextually relevant. Imagine if, when searching for instant coffee, Google delivers ads for french presses instead. While you might be interested in French presses and even searched for them before, you’re looking for instant coffee right now.
That’s why it’s important to answer for your customer’s specific pain points and queries, and to do so at the right time. And you don’t have to be a highly sophisticated search engine to do so. Remember those offers we spoke about in the previous sections? That can function in the same way as Google’s product carousels.
2. Asana’s New Feature Pop-Up

There’s no more powerful place to carry out contextual marketing than right within your own product, website, or store. Asana’s example shows that you can upsell customers easily by marketing a new feature and prompting them to try it for free.
This is an excellent example of contextual marketing because you wouldn’t be interested in trying this new feature unless you were a current Asana user. For instance, if Asana had placed this pop-up on their homepage, they likely wouldn’t have much success with it. But because it pops up after you log in, you’re more likely to say, “Sure, I’ll try it.”
You can achieve something similar by instituting a website personalization campaign. When people visit your product page, for instance, they might see a popup to schedule a meeting with a salesperson. But when they’re on the blog, they might see a popup to subscribe. These simple changes can help you capture more leads and use the context from their activity to deliver an offer they won’t resist.
3. LinkedIn Company Page Sidebar Ad

When you visit a company page on LinkedIn, it provides a little sidebar ad that prompts you to find roles at that company that match your skills.
LinkedIn does this because it knows that you might be open to opportunities even if you don’t list it on your profile. And if you’re looking at a company page, you might be interested in working at that firm. LinkedIn uses this context to deliver a relevant ad that you can’t help but click on.
Another reason this is such a great example is that it also lists a job title that relates to yours. So if you’re a financial advisor and are looking at JP Morgan Chase’s company page, LinkedIn will automatically advertise financial advisor roles at the firm.
Context Marketing is the Next Evolution of Content Marketing
Without context, you risk reaching the wrong people at the wrong time. Begin using context in all of your marketing and advertising campaigns, and you’ll see an exponential increase in conversions, helping you exceed your lead acquisition goals and increase revenue at your company.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in March 2013 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.  

There are many resources out there telling you how to optimize your Facebook ads to scale your business’s growth. And while I’m sure they can help in some aspects, you’re probably optimizing your campaigns based on the wrong metrics.
In 2022, Facebook has 1.79 billion daily users. There are plenty of opportunities to create Facebook ads that will drive impressions, link clicks, leads, and more. However, these metrics only scratch the surface of how much impact your Facebook ads can truly have on your business.

As more industry experts focus their media buying on incremental gains, marketers can better measure their Facebook ads’ positive, negative, or neutral impact on their business.
What is incrementality in Facebook Ads?
Incrementality allows marketers to understand how Facebook ads impact their business. Often, advertisers make optimizations to campaigns based on certain metrics, which can dramatically affect the end goal.
It’s crucial for businesses to identify what’s working and what isn’t — especially since Facebook’s ad revenue worldwide was $84.2 billion in 2020. Whether you have a large or small Facebook advertising budget, you want to make sure it’s generating results.
Advertisers can measure incrementality by using control tests and comparing the results from those exposed to an ad versus those who have not. Once the tests have been completed, the results can help your business make smarter decisions on your Facebook ads and optimize your campaigns accordingly.
Why should marketers track incremental return on ad spend (iROAS)?
One minute you’re a marketer, and the next, you’re a data analyst. All jokes aside, information overload is very real in 2022. With all of this data available, there’s the assumption that it should be easy for marketers to pinpoint the best audience to target, understand what point they are at in the Facebook sales funnel, and the best methods to convert them.

However, data dumps and compiling all of this information is incredibly time-consuming. And as digital marketing continues to expand, time is not always on our side. Businesses need to refocus their efforts from heavy reliance on data collection to doubling down on finding the right data—that can assist in smart optimizations and actionable insights to fuel your Facebook campaign’s bottom line.
How to Calculate Incremental Return on Ad Spend
The method for calculating iROAS is different for every publisher. The most methodical approach is by applying a holdout to your Facebook campaign. The holdout on your campaign will act as a control group for Facebook users that will not see your ads. The remaining group of users will be the test audience for your Facebook campaign.
After the test is complete, marketers can compare the results from the test group to the control group. The difference in the results will be your conversion lift, representing the incremental impacts on your conversions.
iROAS is calculated similarly to ROAS, which is revenue divided by cost. However, this measurement allows your business to understand which Facebook campaigns are working and which aren’t. The calculation for iROAS is Incremental Revenue / Ad Spend = iROAS.
In the YouTube video below, HubSpot details how to determine ad spend by understanding the bidding system used by ad networks.

3 Simple Ways to Increase Your Facebook’s Ads Incrementality in 2022
Frequently data dumps fail due to the sheer amount of information available. Marketers may find many valid insights, but the delivery of this information can get lost in translation — especially if there is no clear direction. Brands looking to increase their Facebook ads incrementality should work with a leading marketing agency with proven experience.
However, if you’re looking to get started on your own, below we’ll walk you through the top three ways to increase your Facebook ad’s incrementality to exceed your 2022 growth goals.
1. Audience Targeting
Facebook users at the top of the funnel versus the bottom will yield very different incrementality results. For example, you will see very different results if you’re using a 5% lookalike audience of customers who purchased in the last month vs. remarketing to customers who purchased in the last few years.
Targeting new customers should be your most incremental audience segment since they would not have converted and made the purchase had it not been for your Facebook ad.
This can also affect your bid strategies and budgets for remarketing audiences. For example, a customer who has purchased from you recently may not need a Facebook ad to prompt another purchase — this will depend on your product or service buying situation.
Three Class of Buying Situations:

Routine decision-making: involves purchases that require very little thought after the original decision has been made. Such as gum, a chocolate bar, or a soft drink.
Limited decision-making: involves purchasing products that require a moderate amount of time and effort to compare models and brands before making a choice. This could be comparing which phone you are planning to upgrade to.
Extensive decision-making: involves an extensive consumer decision regarding whether or not to purchase a product. Examples include cars, homes, and education.

2. Ad Creative
I’m sure every marketer has heard about the study that found that the average attention span has decreased from 12 seconds to 8 seconds—while a goldfish holds a 9-second attention span. There is so much noise and clutter on social media that often, consumers will scroll right past your ad.
Advertisers need to create Facebook ads that grab the viewers’ attention and drive action. Facebook ad creative is one of the top ways to increase your incrementality.
Learn from the best! We’ve collected the 50 best Facebook ads to inspire your next campaign. Check out this exclusive lookbook to get a head start on crafting the perfect ad to drive incremental revenue.
3. Facebook Placements
There are several placements for advertisers across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Audience Network. But, not every placement works with every type of campaign.
For example, an ad on audience network may spark brand awareness or interest but not drive an immediate conversion. The same goes for device targeting, often people are in discovery mode on mobile but complete the transaction on desktop.
Most advertisers still recommend combining placements to maximize the results, but it is beneficial to understand where your most incremental audience is.

Which is the best scheduler to make social media posts? submitted by /u/obsidiancult [link] [comments]

Email marketing has the best return on investment of all marketing channels. On average, every dollar you spend on email marketing can bring up to $36 in ROI.  However, driving such a high return is easier said than done. You have to grasp the nuts and bolts of email marketing and strive to get every…
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Last Updated on March 1, 2022 by Rakesh Gupta Big Idea or Enduring Question: How to cancel In-Progress Flow Orchestration? Objectives: After reading this blog, you’ll be able to:  Cancel in-progress Autolaunched Orchestration (No Trigger) Cancel in-progress Record-Triggered Orchestration Business Use case Jestilla Zetkin is working as a System administrator at Gurukul On
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