Category: Marketing Automation

submitted by /u/marilynsmith521 [link] [comments]

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

submitted by /u/marilynsmith521 [link] [comments]

When I talk with most marketers about how they generate leads and fill the top of their sales funnel, most say outbound marketing.
However, a lot of innovative and successful businesses are actually embracing the art of inbound marketing.
So, what’s the difference between inbound and outbound? This post will walk you through it along with the benefits and drawbacks of each strategy.

From email blasts to outsourced telemarketing, I call these methods “outbound marketing” because marketers push their messages out far and wide hoping that it resonates with that needle in the haystack.

I think outbound marketing techniques are getting less and less effective over time for two reasons.
First, your average human today is inundated with at least 2,000 outbound marketing interruptions per day and is figuring out more and more creative ways to block them out, including ad blocker browser extensions, caller ID, email spam filtering, and more.
Second, the cost of learning something new or shopping online using search engines, blogs, and social media is now much lower than going to a seminar at the Marriott or flying to a trade show in Las Vegas.
Inbound vs. Outbound Marketing
Inbound marketing is a strategy where you create content or social media tactics that spread brand awareness so people learn about you, might go to your website for information, show interest in your product, and potentially make a purchase.
While some outbound strategies take lots of time and effort and may yield no leads, inbound strategies allow you to engage an audience of people that you can more easily qualify as a prospect of lead.
The best analogy I can come up with is that traditional marketers looking to garner interest from new potential customers are like lions hunting in the jungle for elephants.
The elephants used to be in the jungle in the ’80s and ’90s when they learned their trade, but they don’t seem to be there anymore. They have all migrated to the watering holes on the savannah – the internet in our case.
So, rather than continuing to hunt in the jungle, I recommend setting up shop at the watering hole or turning your website into its own watering hole.
Transforming Your Marketing from Outbound to Inbound
Rather than doing outbound marketing to the masses of people who are trying to block you out, I advocate for inbound marketing, where you help yourself be visible to people already interested in your industry.
To do this, you need to set your website up like a “hub” for your industry. One that attracts visitors naturally through search engines, blogging, and social media.
I believe most marketers today spend 90% of their efforts on outbound marketing and 10% on inbound marketing, and I advocate that those ratios flip.
To do so, follow the “Attract, Engage, Delight” model.

Image Source
To attract your audience, develop a strong content strategy.
You want to have content for every stage in the marketing funnel. For consumers in the awareness stage, social media and ads will work great to introduce users to your brand and product.
Blogging will position you as a credible and trustworthy source within your industry and allow your target audience to find you.
During this process, it’s also important to develop an SEO strategy to ensure your website is optimized for search.
Once visitors turn into leads, you can nurture them through email marketing, conversational chatbots, and automated workflows.
In the “Delight” stage, your goal is to ensure your audience can easily connect with your sales and service teams, and resolve their issues quickly.
Inbound marketing is all about meeting your audience where they’re at. You’ll quickly find that your marketing efforts are performing better and helping your brand grow.
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in 2010 but has been updated for comprehensiveness.

My social media feeds are made up of 90% memes.
They’re usually posted by people I follow but every once in a while, a brand will post a meme and add their own spin on it. When it’s done right, those are the brands whose content I engage with the most.

What was once considered a trend reserved for Millennials and Gen Z has now evolved into an effective way for brands to engage with their audience. 
Let’s talk about what meme marketing is, how you can leverage it, and see examples of brands getting it right.   
A quick background on memes – they’re concepts, behaviors, or ideas that spread on the internet. A meme can be any type of media format, including a GIF, video, text-post, or basic image.

The truly successful memes spread like wildfire. That’s exactly why marketers want to leverage these already viral pieces of creative for their own marketing.
Another benefit to meme marketing is that it’s low effort. Most of the work has already been done: It’s being shared all over social media and it has a clear concept. All you have to do is fit the meme to your brand and hit “post.”
Furthermore, memes help bring communities together. Not only are users tempted to like and comment on them, but they also want to share them.
Now that we know the benefits of using meme marketing, let’s get to a few examples of brand memes in the wild.
Meme Marketing Examples
1. Kai Collective

Image Source
Black wojak memes started spreading on the interwebs in the fall of 2020. It wasn’t until December of the same year that it went viral, with users creating their own version of the hilarious meme.
Kai Collective was one of them.
The concept behind this particular meme– I say particular because there are multiple variations of this meme – is simple: One Black girl meets another Black girl, they bond over something and become friends.
Kai Collective made its own version of this meme to highlight its product, a print top. Instead of simply adding the text, they took it one step further by adding their clothing and making it a truly custom meme.
2. The Living Potion

Image Source
When rapper Drake released the cover for his “Certified Lover Boy” album, it instantly went viral.
The artist had accomplished his goal of creating a meme-able cover and the public took no time to create their own versions.
This perfume brand not only included its product in the meme but also labeled each one for even better recall.
It’s a great example of how to use a meme that is fun but also ties back to your brand.
3. Netflix’s Strong Black Lead

Image Source
One thing Netflix’s social media team is great at? Creating their own memes.
The brand will often take the concept behind a popular meme and recreate it with their own image.
Netflix leverages its extensive media library to (re)create relevant, funny memes like the one above.
4. Ruka Hair

Image Source
A meme list wouldn’t be complete without Oprah Winfrey.
This one came from from the highly viewed special “Oprah with Meghan and Harry.”
In addition to the iconic line – and quite possibly best follow-up interview question of all time – “Were you silent or were you silenced?” this image quickly made its rounds on social media.
It shows Winfrey raising her hands up in disapproval and looking away.
Haircare brand Ruka Hair created its own version of the meme to point out a major pain point for gel users.
Memes are so popular because they’re relatable. If your brand is brainstorming meme ideas, think of your user persona. What are some challenges they deal with? How are they approaching those challenges?
You’ll probably find a humorous, meme-worthy answer.
5. Diamond Express Travels

Image Source
The rapper Drake has been the face of quite a few memes. That’s likely what inspired his latest album cover, as referenced above.
The original meme shows him avoiding or disliking something he’s presented, then agreeing with the new option he’s presented.
In actuality, this was taken from a music video the artist shot as he was dancing. But we’ll save the meme origin stories for another time.
Travel agency Diamond Express Travels uses the meme to highlight a pain point many travelers may have: The burden of planning and booking your own vacation.
Another thing to note is their logo addition.
Because of how shareable memes are, brands are encouraged to add their logo or name on a meme to ensure they remain top of mind when their post spreads.
6. Hydrop.io

Image Source
I’ve seen this meme die down and come back to life many times over the past few years.
One look at the picture and you understand exactly what’s going on: The man featured in the middle is distracted by someone who walks past him while he is with someone else.
Hydrop.io, a water company based in India, created this meme to depict how its target audience views various types of water. And, they dive further into this idea in the caption by highlighting the benefits of alkaline water.
Sometimes, the meme speaks for itself. In this case, you can use it to supplement a message you want to share to your audience.
7. Black Rooster Taqueria

Image Source
Sometimes, one Oprah meme isn’t enough.
Here’s another example of how the interview that attracted 17.1 million viewers resulted in multiple memes for our enjoyment.
In this case, Mexican restaurant Black Rooster Taqueria took a simple approach to share its value proposition: Why deal with bland, cold flour tortillas when you could get fresh, authentic corn tortillas?
If you’re just discovering this brand, this meme tells us a little bit about them while garnering a quick laugh.
8. Mypsomagen

Image Source
The Met Gala is the unofficial meme generator.
Every year, you can expect to see dozens of memes created from celebrity looks at this star-studded event.
This one features sisters Kendall Jenner and Kim Kardashian and works in multiple contexts, before-and-afters, light and darkness, positives and negatives.
Biotech company Mypsomagen cleverly promoted its product kit Gutbiome+ with this meme.
When done right, a meme should get your audience laughing and interested in engaging with your brand.
9. Clean Skin Club

Image Source
Another popular figure in memes is none other than politician Bernie Sanders.
When he’s not floating around the internet for seeming completely unenthused at the 2020 presidential inauguration,
I’m not quite sure what caused this meme to go viral, but once it did, everyone was changing the end of this sentence to match their own demands.
For brands, it works as a fun way to speak directly to your audience and ask them to take a particular action.
10. Purity Coffee

Image Source
Memes can emerge from just about any image, no matter how old or high-quality it is. If one social media user creates something funny from it, it has the potential to spread and be used worldwide.
This meme came from the 2002 Star Wars film, “Episode II – Attack of the Clones.”
It shows a conversation between two people as one says something that brings happiness and excitement to the other. That is until they realize it may not be so great after all.
Coffee brand Purity Coffee not only educates its audience on an issue they may not be aware of but also boosts its own value in the process.
As shown in this example, memes offer a great opportunity to highlight issues that your brand helps resolve or address.
11. Yappy

Image Source
This meme is an oldie but a goodie.
From solving cliffhangers from TV dramas to developing conspiracy theories, this meme works in many different contexts.
In this example, pet store brand Yappy pokes fun at its core audience, likely animal lovers who have a constant desire to adopt pets.
When you know and understand your user persona, you can create memes that really resonate with your audience, leading to higher engagement rates.
12. Telfar

Image Source
If you can’t find a meme that fits your brand, make one. That’s exactly what luxury purse brand Telfar did.
They took two still frames from the 2004 movie, “White Chicks,” and replaced part of the original line with its own.
It fits perfectly in this case and is a great example of how to leverage existing media for your own use.
13. Anima Iris

Image Source
The phrase, “How It Started…How It’s Going” took over Twitter for the better part of 2020.
The great thing about it is that it ages pretty well, unlike most memes which have a short shelf life. It’s a trend that brands can take part in to share their origin story.
Luxury purse brand Anima Iris shared pictures of its CEO in the early stages of the brand to where it is today.
This type of trend allows your brand to connect with your audience and invite users to learn more about you.
Meme marketing is a surefire way to build community and potentially grow your brand awareness. With this in mind, you want to make sure you’re doing it right.
1. Stay on brand.
As with any marketing strategy, you want to make sure your meme feels authentic to your brand. The thing with trends is that everyone wants to jump on and make sure they don’t miss the train.
The thing is, not every viral meme will be a good fit for your brand. Be selective about which memes you create and which ones you let go of.
2. Don’t be offensive.
On that same note, make sure your meme isn’t offensive.
Brands can get themselves in hot water when they join in on the meme fun without thinking through the implications. Here are a few questions to ask before you join in. Does the meme:

Make fun of a particular group or community?
Include insults, slurs, or charged words?
Rely on the use of suggestive imagery or language?

If you answer “yes” to any of these questions, you may want to reconsider its use.
3. Follow the unofficial meme rules.
There’s nothing worse than a meme done wrong.
It’s like when parents use teenage slang in the wrong context, it’s cringy and makes you stand out like a sore thumb.
Here are the guidelines to keep in mind:

Keep it short and sweet.
Use easy-to-read, large text.
Make sure your meme is still recognizable after customizing it.
Don’t try to change the meaning of the meme, that may confuse users.
Avoid including CTAs in your meme.

4. Strike while the iron is hot.
Ideally, you want to share your meme as it peaks, not when it’s already made its rounds.
Because once interest has died down, you may not get the traction you want from your audience.
Whenever it makes sense for your brand, use meme marketing. It’s a simple but creative way to share your brand narrative while engaging your audience.

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

A quick roundup of Mailchimp alternatives for those who are looking for an ESP, or looking to make a switch.
When it comes to growing your business, there’s perhaps no medium more important than email. With an ROI that can reach $44 for every $1 spent, email is an incredibly effective medium when it comes to customer acquisition.
But, starting and growing a business is a lot of work, and often, email marketing can be buried at the bottom of a too-full plate. And priority #1 for an email service provider (ESP) is something powerful, but easy to get started with.
Mailchimp can be a great option for some businesses. With a suite of online marketing tools, they can be a great one-stop-shop for businesses, it can also be overwhelming. And marketers who need a powerful, but easy-to-use email marketing tool may find that getting started with Mailchimp is a bit too much work.
Here are a few Mailchimp alternatives to help you make your decision.
Top 10 best Mailchimp alternatives

Campaign Monitor
GetResponse
Constant Contact
Emma
Aweber
ActiveCampaign
MailerLite
Klaviyo
Drip
SendGrid

How we sourced our data
To get an accurate picture of the tools covered in this article, we visited unbiased review sites like G2 and Capterra to get a good first-hand look at how users were experiencing each platform, not just how they were talking about themselves on their websites.
We visited each competitor’s site as well, but only for up-to-date information on features and pricing.
1. Mailchimp vs. Campaign Monitor
We acknowledge that we could be a bit biased here, but we feel that Campaign Monitor is a top solution for those looking for a Mailchimp alternative.
Campaign Monitor is an internationally trusted email provider with over a decade of experience giving customers the tools and support they need to feel confident in their email marketing strategy.
Customers get the most out of our responsive template library, as well as our drag-and-drop email builder. These tools make it easy to start sending beautiful, engaging emails to your audience quickly.

Plus, our visual journey builder makes advanced automations much more approachable, giving time-strapped marketers the ability to create sophisticated campaigns they might not be able to do otherwise.

And with offices around the globe, customers in any timezone are able to connect with our support team — a frequent complaint among Mailchimp users — and resolve their issues.
If you need an ESP to serve as an all-in-one marketing platform, Campaign Monitor might not be the best fit for you or your email strategy. Similarly, if you have intricate and complex automation and personalization needs for a wide and varied audience, one of our partner enterprise solutions might be a better tool to help you reach your email marketing goals.
But if you want to get the most out of your email strategy, receiving features and support from teams focused on and dedicated to email first and foremost, Campaign Monitor is your way to go.
Curious what it would take to migrate from Mailchimp to Campaign Monitor? Here’s everything you need to know.
Reviews from Campaign Monitor customers
Comprehensive Email Marketing Platform. I’ve tried a lot of different email marketing platforms over my 15 years in marketing and Campaign Monitor is hands-down the best option out there. I would waste hours of my time fiddling around on other platforms to get things to display properly. In other platforms, everything would look great until I send out the email and then the HTML would be all jumbled and things wouldn’t display properly. This is not the case with Campaign Monitor. When I send emails they look exactly the same as they do in the preview. Finally, I can get hours of my life back!
— Jessi N, Director of Marketing & Business Development
The best email marketing software. Campaign Monitor is so far the easiest to use in its field. Creating beautiful emails and managing campaigns cannot be easier, even if you have never done it before.
— Luca M, CEO and founder
Great User Support and an Accessible Platform. Campaign Monitor is easy to use and accessible for every employee regardless of their skillset. The client service team responds quickly when there are issues to be resolved.
— Administrator in Public Relations and Communications
2. Mailchimp vs. GetResponse

A screenshot of GetResponse’s website in 2021.

 
While GetResponse offers services for both small and enterprise businesses, they thrive when providing email marketing solutions to small businesses.
They boast over 500 responsive email templates and have a drag-and-drop email editor that’s both easy to use and appreciated by their customers. Though it’s important to mention: The ability to create emails through the drag-and-drop email builder isn’t as robust as when customers edit emails through the code.
While they supply many great CRM and eCommerce integrations, GetResponse limits many of its advanced features to lists of a certain size. These limits might make it difficult for small business email marketers to grow their email strategy over time.
Reviews from GetResponse customers
One of the best programs to send emails. Getresponse is an incredible tool to do email marketing, in our company we use it to manage our entire list of clients and distribute in an organized way all our informative and promotional emails, usually the emails arrive or inbox or promotions which is very good and shows great quality in this tool, the percentage of reading and opening emails, Getresponse has a very intuitive and advanced email editor with good templates to create our emails, we usually use it to create promotional emails, you can also manage your contact lists and possible customers, I have imported them from any other data collection tool, on the other hand, regarding the price Getresponse is very kind because their plans in quality and price are excellent and they offer us a large amount of monthly emails for a really accessible price.
— Maria S, Marketing Specialist
It is a very reliable tool for email marketing. GetResponse is a very powerful tool, one of the things that I like the most are its reporting and statistics functions since they are very detailed, easy to understand and provide enough data to understand what works best for our landing pages and which campaigns need a readjustment in the strategies to generate more conversions. On the other hand the templates offered have good designs and allow me to create very fast campaigns and easily readjust them.
— David B, Web Designer
Mailchimp vs. Constant Contact

A screenshot of Constant Contact’s website in 2021.

 
Constant Contact is a good option for nonprofits that need an all-in-one solution. The ability to create a website or landing page and add a donate block to emails can be a big help in fundraising efforts. But they can be a good choice for small businesses, too, with educational offerings like webinars and training, as well as a website builder for small businesses seeking out a one-stop-shop.
However, customers say it’s hard to customize their templates, and advanced features are lacking. While customers are happiest with this ESP when they’re sending basic batch-and-blast newsletters, if you’re looking for more advanced capabilities and more design control, this ESP might not be the email marketing solution for you.
Reviews from Constant Contact customers
Effective and easy to figure out. As the title of this review suggests, I think Constant Contact is a really straightforward software suite that even the most tech-averse clients will be able to figure out and use to its fullest extent. There are many organizations who are simply looking to keep in regular contact with clients or potential donors (as in our case), and Constant Contact is a simple, clean interface that allows us to communicate with volunteers and donors on a regular basis.
— Stephanie H, Foreign Language Teacher
Easy to use email tool with a good email editor. The email editor makes building emails very easy compared to many other email marketing tools. For the most part, emails you build in the editor will look exactly the same sent. Reporting is good as well.
— Alyssa F, Content Marketing Manager
4. Mailchimp vs. Emma

A screenshot of Emma’s website in 2021.

 
Emma offers specific solutions to multi-location businesses and franchises like gyms, universities, restaurants, etc. Emma HQ was designed in partnership with Orange Theory, one of their customers. They found themselves spending too much time approving (or not approving) emails from some of their franchises, so Emma streamlined the entire process.
Emma HQ allows you to save time by simplifying the approval process and even locking templates so your hundreds—or even thousands—of locations can only use the fonts, images, or colors that you’ve approved in advance.
However, Emma doesn’t send transactional emails out of the box or include a survey tool. If getting quick feedback or transactional emails are top priorities in your email marketing strategy, Emma might not be the tool you need to reach your goals as efficiently as possible.
Reviews from Emma customers
Easy tool with massive impact. Emma’s easy-to-edit templates are a breeze to use and are a great way to start a mass mailing. Plus, their ability to test multiple subject lines (and see the results for which ones lead to the most clicks) makes it certain that your email will get the greatest engagement possible.
— Dakota R, Resident Director
Reaching our client base with Emma. I love the ease of use. The ready-to-go templates save me time and brain power. Our clients get a beautiful, professional-looking communication from us. I can integrate and customize the look of my Eventbrite events into my emails with no trouble.
— Trista B, Marketing Manager & Maxwell Health Champion
5. Mailchimp vs. Aweber

A screenshot of AWeber’s website in 2021.

 
Aweber serves small businesses by providing a simple email marketing tool with great support. More advanced features include an API for Google’s AMP email. They also offer many live demos of their product to help customers get the most out of the technology, in addition to a library of help articles. So if support and educational resources are your top priority, this could be the best ESP for your needs.
On the other hand, users report they often have difficulty with the email editor and would like more (and better) email templates to get their email designs started. Similarly, customers report that the provider feels outdated when compared to the features offered by newer ESPs.
Reviews from Aweber customers
High quality service for a premium price. The service that Aweber provides is top notch. All the tools that it gives, the deliverability of the emails, reporting and analytics all is perfect.
— Liudas B, Owner
The best platform for email marketing is incredible. I like how it provides our company with a means to automate the response to personalized emails, I like how it is integrated into each ecosystem of programs, it integrates with other platforms without problem, the delivery capacity is impressive fast, besides it is extremely easy to use and your customer support is effective.
— Maiker L, General Manager
6. Mailchimp vs. ActiveCampaign

A screenshot of ActiveCampaign’s website in 2021.

 
If you’re a small business looking for an affordable product with plenty of features, ActiveCampaign is worth investigating. They offer an all-in-one platform for customers and enable multi-channel messaging through email and SMS that some marketers will find powerful and effective for their audience. Plus they have a solid automation feature—like Campaign Monitor, they offer an automation builder that many other ESPs lack.
If price is the most important factor in your search, this provider could be a good fit for you. However, if support and ease of use are equally important, you might be better off with a different ESP.
Reviews from ActiveCampaign customers
ActiveCampaign – Great for Solopreneurs & Small Biz Too. I am a fan of MailChimp – but switched to Active Campaign because it merges the capacity for email newsletters and mass mailings with the need for one–to-one messaging and automation. Usually solutions for larger businesses are overkill for micro-businesses, but AC is a great solution for both.
— Mary M, Principal
Affordable and functional software for Marketing Automation. The Automation Builder is simple and clear to use, and the storage of previous campaigns for use as templates is incredibly helpful! The help guides available online from Active Campaign are also clear and concise.
— Gemma P, Director
7. Mailchimp vs. MailerLite

A screenshot of MailerLite’s website in 2021.

 
MailerLite offers both a drag-and-drop editor as well as a custom HTML editor for their customers, many of whom are authors. In fact, they have specific integrations to help authors make the most of their email marketing, so if this is you, this ESP could work for your needs.
While many customers appreciate the affordable pricing, others report the low price came with strict limitations that prohibited them from executing their email marketing strategy. Many online reviews say the limits were too small for their list and caused them problems.
If price is your main consideration, give this ESP a look, but be sure you understand the limits imposed by the low price so you don’t wind up unable to send to your full list.
Reviews from MailerLite customers
Mailerlite is an amazing application for email marketing which makes marketing easy. With MailerLite I have the chance to arrange everything related to email marketing in moments. Their templates are rather versatile, together I will completely personalize my campaigns, they are rather striking and favorable. It’s good integration with third-party tools which produce perfect comments together with the tool. And to complete they maintain continuously innovating so, there’s an inclination to improve.
— Mamta B, Social Media Manager
Amazing tool for email marketing. With MailerLite I have the opportunity to organize everything related to email marketing in seconds. Their templates are quite versatile, with them I can completely customize my campaigns, they are quite striking and friendly. Your A / B tests are satisfactory, we use them a lot. It has good integration with third-party tools that make a perfect feedback with the tool. I can compare the results that I get with regards to email marketing campaigns. And to finish they keep constantly innovating so, there is a tendency to improve.
— Ken C, Ingeniero de software
8. Mailchimp vs. Klaviyo

A screenshot of Klaviyo’s website in 2021.

 
If you’re an eCommerce store, Klaviyo could have just the integrations you need. In fact, Klaviyo does a good job of helping new customers set up their integrations upon first logging into the product. If you need a little bit of guidance when choosing integrations and connecting your store to your email platform, this can be helpful.
However, if eCommerce isn’t your very specific area, the tailored focus is probably unhelpful. Similarly, if you’re sending a large volume of emails, like newsletters, this provider might not be the best tool for you.
Reviews from Klaviyo customers
Blown Away. The simplicity of the system and its ability to track performance. The pitch was 30mins long but within about 5 mins we already knew we wanted to use this system for our email. We love the ease of using an A/B test and how easy it is to set up flows. Excellent product.
— Andrew J, Digital Marketing Manager
With Klaviyo I can categorize my clients and send them strategic emails. One of the aspects I love about Klaviyo is being able to segment my customers. I can distinguish them based on the interests they have shown on my website. For example those who interacted with my product and bought it and those who decided not to buy it. In this way I can create specific and strategic emails for the corresponding customers. I like the templates that the platform offers me and I can also create my own to give more identity to my email marketing campaign. Klaviyo’s automated tools such as responses, thank yous, and welcome messages work correctly and help me save work time.
— Bonnie P, Sales Manager
9. Mailchimp vs. Drip

A screenshot of Drip’s website in 2021.

 
Drip is another ESP that focuses on eCommerce CRM functionality, as opposed to devoting itself solely to email marketing. While these broader capabilities might help you optimize your customer’s journey across channels, it could also mean your email marketing options aren’t as robust as they would be with another ESP.
Drip could be the platform to help you understand your buyers’ behaviors from “inbox to Instagram” as they say on their site. However, customers report the analytics for the email marketing campaigns aren’t intuitive or simple to understand.
In fact, some customers report having problems with their automation workflows, saying their contacts get stuck and the automation doesn’t send emails when it’s supposed to. If email capabilities are the most important factor when you choose an ESP, another platform might serve your goals better.
Reviews from Drip customers
Wonderful customer support. Drip is an extremely well thought out, intuitive email tool. It has advanced features that have allowed us to build triggered onboarding campaigns based on actions taken in our customer dashboard, and now that Drip has rolled out split testing we have the added bonus of being able to launch A/B tests easily to improve our open rates. I have nothing but glowing things to say about the support I have received as a Drip customer. Whether it’s through chat, email, or scheduled video calls, I’ve always had prompt, friendly, helpful interactions with the Drip customer success team and walked away with great feedback and new ideas to try.
— Juliana C, Head of Marketing
Super robust and user friendly. Drip is the only platform that could handle the complex automated workflows I wanted to build. The UI is easy, fast, and functional. The variety of options for sorting contacts, setting up rules and triggers, and performing bulk operations is exceptional. The visual builder is better than any other that’s integrated into an ESP, that I’ve seen, and supports conditional formatting and dynamic content. Last but not least, support from our account manager is easy to access and always extremely helpful!
— Rose H, Email Marketing Director
10. Mailchimp vs. SendGrid

A screenshot of SendGrid’s website in 2021.

SendGrid allows designers, developers, and marketers to come together in-app to design and send transactional emails. Traditionally built more specifically for developers, they’ve recently launched drag-and-drop tools to allow non-technical email marketers to send basic newsletters and create simple automations like welcomes.
They offer a free plan that allows customers to send 12,000 emails a month, which might be a good replacement for Mailchimp’s free plan, depending on your needs and sophistication.
Reviews from SendGrid customers
A great email platform that helps maintain a professional image. I like that SendGrid can help us create and deliver sharp and professional marketing emails for weekly or monthly promotional campaigns. We can load new contacts easily or connect them to our website database to add and remove contacts more seamlessly. I like that we can use SendGrid to view metrics and analytics that help us refine our promotions and offers to our existing contact base or new leads. The email design tools are mostly easy to use with drag and drop features. We can also fill in content in preset fields.
— Hanna Y, Senior Producer
Distribute your marketing emails on a large scale with SendGrid. I like how SendGrid is easy to manage and configure, it allows me to give a more organized look to my client directory and classify them into different types. Thanks to this tool my online marketing campaigns are much more effective since it guarantees me that increasing the opening rate of my sent emails, when you get your message to the inbox you will get an impact due to its delivery technology and the defense of the Service provider will help you get there. It really is an intuitive, fast and more important software that is easy to master in order to take advantage of the need to meet any need.
— Sean C, Computer Engineer
Find success by switching from Mailchimp to Campaign Monitor
Started by email marketers for email marketers, Campaign Monitor lives and breathes email. And we won’t leave you behind in a quest to grow our own business.
It’s free to create an account and import your list, so you can test out the features and capabilities before you start paying. 
And we’ve made it easy to migrate your audiences from Mailchimp. For step-by-step instructions, check out our guide on migrating from Mailchimp to Campaign Monitor.
You’ll be surprised at how easy it is to choose a mobile-ready template and customize it in the drag-and-drop email builder, and you’ll be surprised at the time you’ll save creating an automated series in the visual journey designer.
Find success with Campaign Monitor.
So try it out for free, and see how efficient and powerful your email marketing can become.
Migration from one ESP to another can seem intimidating, but our team is eager to walk you through it. Not sure where you should even begin? Check out this detailed guide on how to migrate your audience from Mailchimp to get an idea of what you can expect from the process.
Editor’s note: This post was updated for accuracy and freshness in 2021.
The post Top 10 Best Mailchimp Alternatives appeared first on Campaign Monitor.

submitted by /u/bigodudo05546 [link] [comments]

Find out how you can get started with online marketing, and which GetResponse plan is right for you. This article features some of the digital tools that come standard within each plan!

“We have a 9 a.m. meeting? Hold on — let me scour the internet to find content for the morning tweet.”
Sound familiar?

Scrambling for social content is nothing new. We have meetings. We miss deadlines. Things come up. And it’s really hard to get any meaningful amount of work done when you have the next social media update looming over your head every 30, 60, or 90 minutes. Social media content moves so fast that you might occasionally feel thrown for a loop, which is why a pre-scheduled social media content calendar should be your new best friend.
To make social media content easier for companies to plan and schedule across the accounts they manage, we created a social media content calendar template. And because this field moves so quickly, we’re always updating this template with the latest social platform features to help you share your content strategy at a tactical level.

Use the Above Template to Plan Out Your Social Media Holiday Posts

What’s in this social media content calendar template?
Every social media content calendar is different and should be customized to fit your unique social media strategy. In this one, you’ll find a schedule tab, your monthly planning calendar, a repository for website content, and updates for each of the top social media platforms:

Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
Instagram
Pinterest

The great thing about this template is that as new social media platforms become popular and part of your content strategy (looking at you Tik Tok and Clubhouse), you can simply copy the spreadsheet and repurpose it for that new channel.
This blog post will walk you through exactly how to use a social media content calendar template to stay on top of your social media content planning for each channel.
Pro Tip: HubSpot customers can also schedule content through HubSpot’s Social Media Management Software, or use this spreadsheet to organize and upload content. Detailed instructions for doing this can be found in the cover sheet of the template.

How to Create a Social Media Content Calendar Template
When you open the social media content calendar template, you’ll notice the bottom of the Excel spreadsheet has several different tabs, most of which are dedicated to a specific social network.

Since each social media network is a little different, you don’t want to craft a generic social media post and use it across LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Instead, it’s best practice to create a different worksheet for each platform.
Why?
A few reasons. Image sizes vary across all platforms, the types of content that work well on Facebook might tank on Twitter, and external links are great for Twitter but nearly impossible to use effectively on Instagram.
You can certainly promote the same piece of content across those networks, but that doesn’t mean you’ll craft your update the same way for each of them. In fact, you may want to add additional tabs if you’re active on other networks, like Quora or YouTube.
How to Use this Template
The following subsections will show you how to fill out each of the tabs you see in this template — Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest. But before we get to that, let’s start with the Monthly Social Calendar.
Monthly Planning Calendar
The tab Monthly Planning Calendar provides an overall snapshot of your monthly social media campaigns. It’ll help you coordinate with other stakeholders and keep all the moving parts in order. Here’s what it looks like:

There are three sections to take note of when you edit this template. First, the color-coding key. Each color represents a type of content or campaign you might coordinate, like ebooks, webinars, blog posts, product launches, and so on. Though only some of these might be relevant to you, they’re just the beginning of what you may want to include here — so be sure to add and remove categories that align with your own types of content.
The other two sections you’ll need to edit are the Month and Year at the top of the calendar, as well as the cells below each day of the week. In those cells, you should enter the type of content you’ll be promoting that day and color-code it to align with the campaign it’s supporting.
Instead of deleting all the content in this spreadsheet each month, I recommend copying this worksheet twelve times over and creating a separate sheet for each month. (If that gets to be too overwhelming, you can always save those tabs as a separate workbook.)
Planning Your Social Media Content Calendar for Twitter
Alright, now let’s get to the social media content part of the calendar. This section will be the longest because all subsequent sections will draw on the instructions we go through here. If you only read one section in this whole post, make sure it’s this one.
Let’s say you want to add some tweets to your scheduling template. Scroll over to the Twitter Updates tab in the content calendar spreadsheet, where you’ll see this:

The first four columns, Day, Date, Time, and Date & Time are there for your convenience, and if you choose to use a third-party app for pre-scheduling your tweets (like HubSpot’s Social Media Management Software), then these columns will be useful. For now, just fill in the date for when you’ll publish updates to Twitter, and the time at which you’d like them to go out. The Date & Time column will automatically change based on what you type in the previous two columns.
Now, let’s move over to the Message column. Here, input the copy you’d like to appear in your tweet, bearing in mind you should cap it at 217 characters to allow enough room for a link. (Read this blog post for a full character count guide.) This spreadsheet will auto-calculate the number of characters you’ve entered to keep you on-point, turning yellow and eventually red as you approach 240 characters.
After you’ve composed your tweet, paste the URL you’d like to include in your tweet in the Link column. Be sure to include UTM parameters so you’ll know whether these tweets are driving traffic, leads, and customers. This is an important step to remember if you’d like to demonstrate ROI from social media. You can also use the Campaign column to add an associated campaign which helps with more detailed tracking and reporting.

Finally, in the Image column, attach the tweet’s image (if you have one). For Twitter, we recommend images that are 1200 x 670 pixels.
(Click here for a full cheat sheet of social media image sizes.)
If you’re having trouble attaching your image to the spreadsheet, follow these steps:
Step 1: Click on the cell where you’d like to place your image.

Step 2: Click Insert in the top row, then click the Image button, and finally, click Image in cell to choose your image.
Step 3: In the Insert image window, choose the option your photo will come from. In this example, we uploaded an image from our computer.

Step 4: You’ll now see the image appear in the cell.
Pro Tip: This process is just for organizational purposes. If you decide to upload the spreadsheet to your social media publishing software, it will not attach — you’ll have to do that manually. If you’re a HubSpot customer, details for how to bulk upload your Twitter content to the HubSpot Social PublishingTool can be found within the downloaded template.
Planning Your Social Media Content Calendar for Facebook
Now, let’s talk about how to plan your Facebook marketing content with this template. First, navigate to the tab in your template labeled Facebook Updates.

The first three columns, Day, Date, and Time are there for your convenience. Scroll over to the column labeled Message and input the copy you’d like to appear in your status update, corresponding to the days and times you’d like those updates to run. Then, move to the Link column and input the link that’ll be included in the update. (Don’t forget that UTM parameter.) If you’d like the update to be tagged to a certain campaign, include this in the Campaigns column. Finally, attach an image just like you did with your Twitter updates — if you’re using one. (These images should fit the dimensions of 1200 x 628 pixels.)
Planning Your Social Media Content Calendar for LinkedIn
LinkedIn Groups let you start conversations with your Group members and share company updates on your Company Page.

To begin, fill out the first column, Message, for every post you create, including those for a Company Page or a Group. Simply enter your copy into this column, and then navigate to the next two columns, Link and Campaign. Here, you’ll add your URL with a UTM parameter that you’ll use to track activity. Then add the campaign in the Campaign column, if you’re using one. If you’d like to use an image for an update, attach one using the instructions we shared earlier. We recommend uploading the image in the dimensions of 1200 x 1200 pixels for a clear, professional-looking post.
Planning Your Social Media Content Calendar for Instagram
Now, let’s move on to setting up your Instagram photos and videos. Scroll to the tab in your template labeled Instagram Updates.

The first three columns, Day, Date, and Time are there for your convenience. Head on over to the column labeled Message, and input the copy you’d like to appear in your post’s caption, corresponding to the days and times you’d like those updates to run. Keep in mind that although Instagram captions can be up to 2,200 characters long, they cut off in users’ feeds after three lines of text. The exact length of these three lines depends on the length of your Instagram handle. (Read this blog post for a full character count guide.)
Next, move to the Link for Bio column and input whichever link you plan to put in the bio when you publish the accompanying Instagram post. Oh, and don’t forget the UTM parameter.
If you’d like the update to be tagged to a certain campaign, include this in the Campaigns column. Finally, attach an image just like you did with your other social media updates — we suggest you edit it to be 1080 x 1080 pixels. (Here’s the cheat sheet of social media image sizes.)
Pro Tip: Even though you can’t schedule Instagram stories automatically, you can still add them to your social media content calendar. Stories also support links once your account has over 10,000 followers, so you can include specific links for these types of posts in your content calendar. The dimensions for Instagram Story posts are 1080 x 1920 pixels.
Planning Your Social Media Content Calendar for Pinterest
Next, let’s go over how to set up your Pinterest Pins in advance with this template. Navigate over to the tab in your template labeled Pinterest Updates.

For your convenience, we’ve added Day, Date, and Time columns, but you can skip them if you don’t need them.
Next, go to the column labeled Message, and enter the information for the pin’s description. Then, scroll to the Link column and add the link you’ll be including in the update. (And seriously, don’t forget the URL Parameter.)
If you’d like the update to be tagged to a certain campaign, include this in the Campaigns column. Finally, attach an image the same way you did with your other social media updates — we suggest you edit it to fit the dimensions of 1000 x1500 pixels. This is the standard size, but Pinterest Pins can be much longer if your audience responds to longer content. Just make sure your Pin fits the aspect ratio of 2:3.
Content Repository (Or, Where to Source Social Media Content)
This template also provides you with a tab called Content Repository, which should help you keep track of all your content and maintain a healthy backlog of fodder to make sourcing social media content easier.

As you create more assets, you’ll likely want to resurface and re-promote those pieces down the line, too. To ensure you don’t lose track of all of that content, record it on this tab so you’re never at a loss for what to publish on social media. If the content you’re promoting isn’t evergreen, be sure to include an expiration date in the column marked Expiration so you don’t promote it after it’s out of date.
This tab will also help you maintain a healthy balance of content. Here you can include a mix of original content, curated content, various formats and types, and lead generation content vs. MQL-generating content.

Perfecting your social media content calendar doesn’t have to be a chore. With these essential components, you’ll have a foundation to organize your social media strategy at a tactical level.
Key
As you noticed in earlier sections, your stakeholders will appreciate having an easy-to-read key that they can use to understand the information in the calendar. We’ve color-coded our example here, but you don’t have to go that extra step if you have fewer channels and types of content to differentiate between. As long as your key is clear, just about anyone in your organization can view your social media content calendar and understand exactly what’s happening on all platforms.
URLs and UTM Parameters
We’ve harped on these UTM parameters throughout this post for good reason. They’re critical to tracking the success of your campaign. Without them, you won’t know what’s working and what isn’t.
URLs and UTM parameters are similar, but they’re not one and the same. URLs are the links you’ll want to share from your website (or even another website if you’re curating content) on your social media platforms.
On the other hand, a UTM parameter is an extension of your URL. It’s a string of tracking code that’s appended to the end of the URL and it helps social media marketers track how well their posts are driving traffic to their website. By tracking and analyzing UTM parameters, you’ll be able to see what content is meeting your conversion goals and what content is better for engagement on social media platforms.
Date and Time
If you have stakeholders or other teams that rely on your social media content, you’ll quickly see the benefit of including dates and times in your social media calendar. When teammates can view the calendar and identify exactly when a post was or will be scheduled, they’ll be able to quickly proceed with their workflow which is beneficial for you, too. That means you won’t be interrupted to give status updates about every Tweet on the docket for the day.
Message
Transparency and context are invaluable when it comes to social media content calendars. Giving a brief synopsis of the message or even sharing the caption for a post can go a long way in helping others within and outside your team understand what the intent of the post will be.
Pro tip: If you’re adding a video to your social media content calendar that isn’t finished, consider adding a short Loom video that gives an overview of what the video will be about.
Campaign
When it comes to tracking, it’s too late to start when the campaign is over. Start tracking your social media campaigns in your content calendar. You can make this prescriptive by having a dropdown list of predetermined campaign names, or if your campaigns are few and far between, simply copy and paste the names next to the corresponding content.
Pro tip: Align your campaign name with the campaign section of your UTM parameter for seamless tracking.
Image
Your social media content calendar will become just another spreadsheet without some imagery. Since much of your social media content will probably be visual, add a thumbnail-sized version of the image that will be included in the published post. Coupled with the message, stakeholders who view the calendar images will have a pretty good idea of what will be shared and when. To make editing your images for each platform easier, check out this cheat sheet for ideal image dimensions on each platform.
Don’t Forget to Interact With Your Followers
Whether you use this spreadsheet to plan your content or upload it to a third-party app, you’ll still need to supplement these updates with on-the-fly content. Breaking news hits? Whip up a quick update to share it with your network. Did someone in your network tweet something interesting? Give it a retweet with some commentary. Got a fascinating comment on one of your updates? Respond with a “thank you” for their interaction.
Coming up with and scheduling your social media content in advance is a huge time-saver, but it should go without saying that you still need to monitor and add to your social presence throughout the day.
Finally, we encourage you to experiment with your social media publishing. This template provides publishing dates and times for each social network, but you may find those are way too many updates for you to fill, or perhaps too infrequent for your booming social presence. If this is the case, you should adjust your social media publishing frequency as needed.
Now that you’ve got the ins and outs of a social media content calendar, download the one below for free and start planning your content.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in January 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.