Category: Marketing Automation

Have you ever heard the term “analysis paralysis”? It’s the concept that too many choices can inhibit a person’s ability to make a decision. Visitors to your website can experience this too if there are too many places to look or if there’s a confusing design.
When this happens, visitors won’t convert. Therefore, increasing your conversion rate is beneficial to lowering your cost per acquisition.

Below, let’s review how to increase your conversion rate for both your desktop website and mobile site.

How to Increase Conversion Rate on Your Website
1. Use a CRO planner.
Getting started with conversion rate optimization can seem like a daunting task.
The first step to improving your conversion rate? Use a CRO planner.
With a CRO planner, you’ll be able to analyze and develop a strategy for increasing your conversion rate.
For example, with HubSpot CRO planner, you’ll find instructions on how to conduct a site audit, identify areas to improve your conversion funnel, understand users on your site, and go through the process of A/B testing and experimentation.
CRO planners can be helpful because they take through the entire process from A to Z.

2. Shorten your forms.
One reason that users don’t convert is because there’s friction in the process. For example, if you have a long-form, visitors might be hesitant to fill it out.
It’s your job to eliminate hesitation, not create it. By shortening your forms, you’ll create trust among your audience. Plus, it takes less time to fill out so users are more likely to complete it.

3. Include social proof.
Did you know that 89% of consumers check online reviews before making a purchase? The Canvas8 study commissioned by Trustpilot also found 49% of consumers consider positive reviews one of their top three purchase influences. Without a doubt, your reputation and online presence impact your conversion rate. That’s why you should include social proof on your site.
You can link to your Yelp or any other directory page where customers have left reviews.
Additionally, you should also add testimonials and reviews right on your site so visitors don’t have to go to a third-party site.
It should be apparent that your customers have enjoyed using your product or service. If it isn’t, your conversion rate will suffer.
4. Track how people interact with your site.
It’ll be hard to improve your conversion rate if you don’t understand how users are interacting with your site.
But how can you see where visitors are getting tripped up? With website analysis tools, you can see screen recordings of users on your site. You’ll see what they click on, if they skip over an offer, or if they stop filling out a form in the middle.
Additionally, these tools should include heat maps of your site, so you can see what elements stand out and what draws the eye.
A tool like Crazy Egg or HubSpot’s website grader can help you see what you’re doing well and diagnose what areas of your site you need to improve. You should also calculate your conversion rate and analyze why visitors aren’t converting on your site.
5. Add live chat.
When a web visitor doesn’t convert, they might have a question or concern about your product or service.

To avoid losing potential customers, you should consider adding live chat to your site.
With live chat, your customer service or sales employees can alleviate concerns of prospects who are on the fence.
6. Test your offers.
Sometimes it can feel like you’ve checked everything — you’ve written a strong copy, included social proof, and have optimized your forms … but you still aren’t converting.
When this happens, it’s time to check your content offers. Do they align with your audience? Are they creative and compelling? Do the offers make sense for the page they’re on?
Think about your current offers and answer those questions.
For example, offering a free trial or consultation is fairly generic. Instead, you could offer something like HubSpot’s Website Grader. With this offer, the customer is getting a lot out of it. They’re getting actionable advice, for free, and they don’t need to clear out time on their calendar to get it.
Tangible and compelling offers always perform better than a generic offer. To improve conversions, you need to analyze and test your content offers.
7. Conduct A/B testing.
It’s not always easy to know what’s working and what isn’t. When that happens, you should conduct A/B tests.
See what types of headlines, colors, copy, layout, and CTAs work for your audience. Get creative with your experiments.
For example, you can try testing an entirely new type of CTA or completely changing the format of your copy.
8. Increase trust and remove friction.
Users don’t convert if they don’t trust your brand or experience friction in the process.
So, how can you increase trust?
You can use several tactics, including money-back guarantees, updating your site content regularly, avoiding spammy links, and making the site easy to use.
If it looks like you haven’t posted a blog in two years or there are a lot of broken links — that’s friction and it creates distrust.
Additionally, you can include team bios so your audience knows who they’re getting information from.
9. Create abandoned cart email campaigns.
Have you ever been on a site, added something to your cart, but decided not to check out? We all do it and that means it’s probably happening on your site too.
You shouldn’t forget about those potential customers. If someone abandons their cart, they should receive an abandoned cart email campaign.

With this type of email campaign, you’ll email users a reminder about the products in their cart, send a follow-up, and then perhaps include a discount or offer.
If you don’t send this email, you’re losing out on conversions.
How to Increase Landing Page Conversion Rate
10. Communicate your value proposition.
On any landing page, your value proposition should be clearly communicated. To do this, you need to have a solid understanding of who your audience is and your buyer persona.
Write your copy specifically for your target audience. For example, you can address their goals, motivations, and pain points.
Additionally, you should discuss the benefits of your product or service over the features. Benefits will help your potential customers imagine their life with your product, while features are easy to skim and ignore.
Your copy should communicate how your product or service can solve your audience’s problem. If you aren’t converting, you should check and see how well your copy is written.
11. Incorporate multimedia elements into your landing pages.
Have you ever ordered something at a restaurant and when it came out, it looked completely different than what you imagined?
You don’t want this to happen when people download your content offers. To avoid this, include images and videos of your product or service on your landing pages.
Multimedia elements make your site feel more trustworthy. Plus, it’s the preferred way of consuming content.
To improve your conversion rate, try adding images of graphs and charts, or video testimonials to your site.
12. Write strong CTAs.
A huge component of conversion is your call-to-action (CTA). Your CTA could be to download an offer, share a post on social media, or subscribe to your email newsletter.
Whatever it is, you need to include CTAs throughout your website and landing pages. Usually, this means that they’re clear and easily accessible.
“Marketers need to take a Goldilocks approach when it comes to placing CTAs since sometimes, one placement isn’t enough,” explains AJ Beltis, HubSpot’s Senior Marketing Manager. “But it’s very easy to have a CTA appear so often as to appear spammy to website visitors.”
Typically, each landing page will only have one call to action but be incorporated several times on a page. For example, this blog post has three CTAs that lead to one offer. One at the bottom of the page, one in the text in the introduction, and one that pops up after scrolling down the page.
Typically, the sooner a CTA can appear on a page, the better, Beltis says. Otherwise, you run the risk of visitors who don’t scroll down far enough missing the conversion point entirely.
The important thing to note is that you can access the CTA no matter where you are on the page. Removing risk for the visitor (like offering a guarantee) and communicating that message clearly in your CTA will encourage them to take action.
13. Eliminate unnecessary distractions.
Speaking of CTAs … it’s important to remove anything on your landing page that would detract from visitors taking a preferred action. Get rid of any unnecessary links, pop-ups or navigation options that could potentially divert a visitor’s attention away.
A busy or cluttered page is less likely to convert visitors. You only have a few seconds to win them over, and a page that’s hard to navigate will discourage them from sticking around.
Design a page that encourages visitors to click your CTA using visual hierarchy to your advantage.
14. Meet your audience’s expectations.
When someone clicks on your site after reading your meta description on Google or seeing your search engine ad, your landing page needs to follow through.
You have to deliver on the promises that were made in that copy. For example, if a user sees this post in Google, they’re going to expect to find strategies to improve their conversion rate. If they clicked through and this page only had pictures of puppies, they’d be confused.
If a landing page doesn’t deliver on what a user thought they were getting, they won’t convert. That’s why you need to think about the entire process from seeing an ad, going to your landing page, and downloading an offer.
If a landing page isn’t converting, review your social media posts and search engine descriptions to see if you follow through on the promises you made.
How to Increase Mobile Conversion Rate
15. Improve your page speed.
When it comes to mobile conversion, a huge obstacle is page speed. This is the time it takes for your content to appear on the screen.
Did you know that 40% of people abandon sites that take more than 3 seconds to load? On mobile specifically, a one-second delay in page response can result in a 7% reduction in conversions.
If your mobile page isn’t converting as well, analyze your page speed with Google’s PageSpeed tools. This will test your mobile page speed.
To improve your page speed, images need to be smaller and compressed. Additionally, your site should be responsive and optimized for mobile.
16. Optimize for mobile.
Since Google switched to mobile-first indexing, mobile optimization has been more important than ever. If you don’t optimize for mobile, your Google rankings might be impacted, which could reduce conversions.
You might be wondering, “How do I optimize my site for mobile?”
Before you begin, it’s important to remember that mobile and desktop experiences are different.
You can use Google’s mobile testing tool to see if your site is mobile-friendly. With this tool, you’ll get recommendations for how to improve your site’s mobile performance.
For example, you might need to increase your font on mobile, compress your images, or improve page speed.
17. Enhance the purchasing process.
Making a purchase on your phone should be a simple process.
That means you shouldn’t have too many steps in your checkout process and your payment buttons should be easy to see and click.
Additionally, try to remove restrictions on online forms where you gather payment information. Personally, I’m always stopped on mobile forms because the name of my city is too long (22 characters).
Users should be able to check out as a guest and use whatever payment method they want, whether that’s Google Pay, Apple Pay, or PayPal.
Ultimately, this process should be easy and pain-free. A complicated checkout process will reduce mobile conversions.
18. Be creative with your mobile marketing.
When you want to increase your mobile conversion rate, that doesn’t just mean you need to adapt your site to the mobile experience.
You can also start to get creative and run mobile-only marketing campaigns.
For example, maybe you can start an SMS text message campaign, or you can use push notifications on your app.
These creative, out-of-the-box techniques can help increase your mobile conversion rate.
19. Make adjustments to your mobile site.
Since the mobile and desktop experiences are different, your mobile and desktop sites should be different.
For example, your email subscriber form might be smaller or nonexistent on your mobile site.
Additionally, you’ll probably use different CTAs on your mobile site. For instance, when you read this blog, the website and mobile have different types of CTAs. While the offer is the same, the button and the way to access the CTA aren’t.
On mobile, less is more. Your mobile site should be simple and eliminate distractions. This can mean you have simplified navigation and use a hamburger menu so it’s easy to get around your site.
20. Localize your content.
Mobile users are usually on your site because they’re looking for contact information, want to know your location, find directions, or look up reviews.
That’s why you should optimize for local marketing. This means adding location pages to your website, managing your online directory listings, and creating local content.
To improve your mobile conversion rates, consider localizing your content so you perform better in local searches.
Before I sign off, I want to remind you that many of the tactics for improving your website’s conversion rate can be applied to mobile CRO.
Empathize With Customers
At the end of the day, we’ve all been consumers before. Take a step back, look at the bigger picture, put yourself in your customer’s shoes, and think about whether you would make a purchase off your site.
This article was originally published May 25, 2020, and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Did you know Instagram has over 1 billion active users? With so many on the platform, it can be challenging to find one particular person or business. Enter the Instagram handle.

You can think of a handle as the address to your Instagram page. It’s also what people search to find you. An effective handle quickly identifies you while being memorable.
Here, we’ll discuss how to find and change a handle, ideas for creating your own, and whether it deserves a spot on your business card.
It’s easy to confuse an Instagram handle with your Instagram name. However, they both serve different functions. The biggest difference is that an Instagram handle is unique — once you choose it, no one else can claim it. An Instagram name, however, can be the same amongst multiple users.

An Instagram handle has several purposes — first, it’s what people use to tag you in photos, videos, and stories. For example, HubSpot’s handle on Instagram is @HubSpot, which users can type to mention the user in posts.
Second, it creates a link to your profile. If you change your handle, the URL to your profile also changes. Keep in mind that when you pick a new handle, you can’t switch back to your old one until 14 days have passed.

How to Find an Instagram Handle

When you sign up for an Instagram account, you will be prompted to create a handle. While you can let your creativity take the wheel, there are some rules you need to follow:

Your handle can’t exceed 30 characters
It can only contain letters, numbers, and periods
It can’t contain symbols or punctuation marks
It needs to be unique

The hardest task is the last one — and may take some trial-and-error. To help, we’ve included four Instagram handle ideas to get you started.
Instagram Handle Ideas (+ Examples)
1. Keep it simple.
For businesses, a good rule is to keep it simple — usually by picking a handle with the name of your business. But if your business name is unavailable, you may need to do some finessing.
For instance, suppose you run a print shop, Mint Prints. The handle @MintPrints is the ideal option — but if it’s already claimed, you can alter it without changing its meaning. For example, you could add your location (@MintPrintsBrooklyn) or a word that describes your business (@MintPrintsDesign).
Later, we’ll discuss more variations to try if your first-choice handle is unavailable.
2. Relate the handle to your niche.
Whether you’re into fitness, photography, travel, dance, or art, a great tip for creating a handle is to include words that relate to your niche. This also adds personality and interest to an otherwise static profile.
Check out the example below from food author Lizi Heaps:

3. Avoid using extra characters and symbols.
When a user performs an Instagram search, it pulls up a list of profiles with the most relevant handles. Therefore, adding extra characters or symbols to your username could make it harder for others to find your profile.
Although handles have a 30-character limit, keeping it short and concise is better. Long handles are difficult to remember and harder to discover via search. For instance, which handle below is easier to remember?
Option 1: @SophiasFoodBlog
Option 2: @SophiasFoodBlogNYC5746
4. Add “The” or “I’m” in front of your handle.
As we discussed above, sometimes your ideal Instagram handle has already been taken. Luckily there are different variations you can try to craft another one.
One variation is to add “The” in front of your handle. For example, Faire Plaisir, a vintage homeware company, uses the handle @TheFairePlaisir on Instagram. This minor modification allows the brand to still use its company name, which helps with discoverability.

Another variation is to add “Im” in the front of your handle. For example, actor Angela Bassett has the handle @im.angelabassett. This modification is better suited for individual or personal accounts than businesses ones.

How to Change an Instagram Handle
Before you pick a new Instagram handle, it’s important to understand what does and doesn’t change once you make the switch.
For one, your handle is a key part of your profile’s URL. If someone bookmarks or saves a link to your profile with your old username, they will be redirected to a page that reads, “Sorry, this page isn’t available.” The same goes for every tagged post, comment, and “like” from your old username,
Also, if you link your Instagram handle in an email signature, blog post, website, or business card, it’s essential to update this information — which can be a hassle.
If you’re starting to get cold feet about changing your handle, fear not — Instagram gives you 14 days to change it back. That said, there are valid reasons for changing your handle, such as rebranding.

Here are four steps to change your handle:

Navigate to your profile and click “Edit Profile.”
Click on your username.
Delete your old handle and type a new one.
Click “Done.”

After you complete these steps, Instagram will automatically update your profile with your new handle.
Should I include my Instagram handle on my business card?

Image source
While social media was once a way to connect with friends and family, it now doubles as a networking tool. So much so, a number of professionals reserve a spot on their business card for their social media accounts.
But is this the best option for you or your brand? Let’s consider the benefits:

It builds and expands your network. Building your brand often goes hand-in-hand with building your network. Putting your Instagram handle on your business card encourages prospects to find and engage with you.

It puts a face to the name. Providing your Instagram handle gives prospects a chance to know you beyond the surface-level details. Having an online presence is also important to gaining trust and credibility.

It provides an additional communication channel. Having social media info on your business card lets prospects know that you’re open to communicating in different ways and contexts.

Of course, you also run the risk of crowding your business card with too much information — which is why I recommend linking Instagram only if it’s a platform that you actively engage with.
Final Thoughts
Although picking an Instagram handle may feel like a minor detail, it’s a key component of your digital brand. And with millions of users on Instagram, it’s essential to pick one that’s searchable, memorable, and relevant to you.

Before you decline a job offer, ask yourself some key questions:

Why are you no longer interested in the job?
Are your reasons for losing interest short-term, or longer-term reasons that you can’t change?
If you don’t accept the offer, will you regret turning it down?

If you’ve answered all of these questions and still feel like you want to decline, read on to discover the different ways to decline a job offer.

Know exactly what you need? Jump to one of the following sections:

How to Decline a Job Offer Due to Salary
How to Decline a Job Offer via Email
How to Decline a Job Offer Over the Phone
How to Decline a Job Offer You Already Accepted

How to Politely Decline a Job Offer
Politely declining a job offer focuses on three key things: being prompt, showing appreciation, and giving a brief reason. We’ll discuss each further below.
1. Be prompt.
Let the hiring manager, recruiter, or relevant individual know as soon as you know you won’t accept a job offer. Putting it off can cause inconvenience, and they may have other candidates that they want to notify of their acceptance to fill the position as soon as possible.
2. Show your appreciation.
It’s essential to show your appreciation to the hiring manager or team responsible for interviewing you and the time they’ve spent communicating with you throughout the process. Showing this gratitude goes a long way in terms of expressing appreciation, and doing this can leave a positive impression if your paths ever cross in the future.
3. Give a reason, but keep it brief.
There’s no need to go into incredible detail about why you’re declining an offer, but it can be valuable to give a brief reason as to why you’re moving on. So, for example, you can say something like:
“At this time, I don’t think I should leave my current position,” or, “After some thought, I don’t think this position matches my current career goals.”

It’s also not necessary to give a reason all the time, especially if it’s due to something like red flags you noticed in the boss or if you didn’t like the company. If you have a reason like this, it’s best to simply express thanks and say you won’t accept the offer.
How to Decline a Job Offer Due to Salary
Sometimes you’ll decline a job offer because the salary offered is lower than your expectations, which is a valid reason for looking elsewhere.
Follow the tips mentioned above about politely declining a job offer and, when giving your reason, you can specify that it is about salary. Without going too in-depth, you can be short and to the point and say that the salary does not meet your desired expectations. Here’s an example of how you can note salary as a reason when declining a job offer:
“While this position excites me, I, unfortunately, must decline the job offer as the salary doesn’t meet my desired expectations. I appreciate the opportunity, and thank you for taking the time to consider me for the position.”

How to Decline a Job Offer Over the Phone
There is debate about the best medium for declining a job offer. While some may prefer one medium over the other, the most important thing is that you’re expressing appreciation. Below we’ll go over declining a job offer over the phone.

First, call at an appropriate time where you can reach the correct person, like when they’re less busy, like right when a workday would begin or after a lunch break.
Try to speak to an actual person versus leaving a voicemail, but if you can’t get through, you can leave a voicemail asking them to call you back.

It may seem nerve-wracking to decline a job offer over the phone as you have to speak to the direct individual, but it shouldn’t bring too much trouble if you follow this template. Also, it’s likely the hiring manager or responsible interviewer won’t want to spend a significant amount of time on the phone, especially if you clearly state your reason.
“Hi, this is [Your name]. I was hoping to speak with [Name of the hiring manager or DRI].
I’m calling today because I wanted to let you know that I won’t be accepting the job offer due to [Reason]. I appreciate the time you took to interview and consider me for the position and extend an offer. Thank you!”
The hiring manager or responsible person may ask questions, so be prepared for the possibility of more conversation.
If you choose to leave a voicemail, here’s a sample template:
“Hi, this is [Your name], hoping to reach [name of responsible individual]. I’m calling regarding the job offer and wanted to let you know that I can’t accept the offer at this time due to [Reason]. I appreciate the time you took to interview and consider me for the position and extend an offer. Thank you!”
Please note that you don’t have to give a reason; you can simply say you can’t accept the offer.

How to Decline a Job Offer Over Email
Declining a job offer over email follows the same practices: be prompt, express appreciation, and give a brief reason. Also, if you’re using email because you made a phone call but couldn’t get through, mention that and say something along the lines of “I hoped to get in touch with you over the phone, but wasn’t able to get through.”
Here’s a sample template:
Depending on your reason for leaving, you can input your information. For example, if you accepted a job somewhere else, or you’re simply just not ready to leave your company.

How to Decline a Job Offer You Already Accepted
Declining a job offer you’ve already accepted can be a bit tricky, so here are some tips.
The most important thing to do is read the contract you signed to see if there is a clause or statement that dictates how you should decline the offer. For example, some contracts state that you need to make people aware of this within a specific time frame.
The best way to decline the offer is over the phone, so you can speak to someone and clearly explain yourself. State the reason you’re going back on your acceptance, express appreciation, and say thank you.
Be aware that you may put the business in a challenging situation so that the conversation may be extremely brief.
Here’s a sample template that you can use over the phone or via email:
“Hi [Hiring manager or DRI], this is [Your name]. Unfortunately, after giving it a bit more thought, I will have to decline this offer. I’ve realized that [Reason], and I’m sorry for any inconvenience this may cause your business. I’m thankful for the time you spent interviewing me and extending my offer.”
Over to You
Whatever your reasoning is, declining a job offer can be nerve-wracking. If you use our templates and can be prompt and appreciative, you may find that it’s not so bad, and you may even end up developing relationships that can help you with your career further down the line.

Collecting first-party data, or information that is learned about customers based on behavioral analytics, was thought to be the next big thing. But consumers lost trust in their favorite brands after learning that companies were mining information about them without their conscious and explicit consent. Plus, third-party data collected from ad platforms, cookies, and some…
The post How to Collect and Leverage Zero-Party Data to Personalize Your Email Marketing appeared first on Benchmark Email.

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Picture this: you walk into a swimming pool equipment store looking for a new automatic pool cleaner. Even before you talk to the attendant, you overhear a conversation between a pleased customer and the shop attendant: Customer: Hey, the automatic cleaner I bought last week works excellently.  Attendant: That’s great! Did it solve the problems…
The post How to Put Together Case Studies for Your Business appeared first on Benchmark Email.

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Just wondering what people use for tracking and cataloging promotion performance? Such as one off email sales with a coupon etc. Low-tech with spreadsheet or something more advanced? I’ve tried Funnelytics and Wicked Reports — the former doesn’t always work and the latter — while it’s supposed to be able to attribute sales to email blasts — is overly complex. Any suggestions would be great.
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