Category: Marketing Automation

This year, brands are increasingly bringing shopping experiences online.
But, as businesses develop online strategies, they might find that launching a fully-fledged ecommerce website is easier said than done. While many tools make this process easier than it was in past decades, launching a successful online store still requires time, money, a web strategy, and a handful of other resources that smaller businesses might not have.
Luckily, tech giants like Facebook are actively launching tools that aim to help smaller brands convert social media followers into customers.
One of the Facebook corporation’s newest ecommerce tools is called Facebook Shops. According to Facebook, Shops enables businesses to easily create a “mobile shopping experience for their audiences.” But, what exactly does this experience look like?
In this post, I’ll walk you through what Facebook Shops is and how marketers can leverage it to boost social media-driven sales in 2020 and beyond.

According to Facebook, setting up a Shop is simple and can be done on a desktop. Once a Shop is created, Facebook or Instagram Business Page followers on desktop or mobile platforms can visit the same universal store and make purchases from the app’s they’re on.
On top of linking to business pages on Instagram and Facebook, Shops can also be integrated into a Facebook Business account’s Messenger or a WhatsApp Business account so audiences on all major Facebook platforms can make purchases.
Below is a short demo video that highlights what a Facebook Shop looks like to customers on a Facebook-owned platform and how they can use it to make purchases.
Why Facebook Launched Shops
Before 2020, brands were already looking for ways to scalably make sales online. But, the need for digital transformation grew even stronger during the COVID-19 pandemic when many brick-and-mortar stores were forced to close or move their offerings online.
According to a Facebook announcement, the 2020 landscape was a motivating factor in the launch of Shops.
“Right now many small businesses are struggling, and with stores closing, more are looking to bring their business online. Our goal is to make shopping seamless and empower anyone from a small business owner to a global brand to use our apps to connect with customers,” Facebook noted in an announcement. “That’s why we’re launching Facebook Shops and investing in features across our apps that inspire people to shop and make buying and selling online easier.”
Now that you know what Facebook Shops is and why Facebook launched the tool, you might be interested in using it for your own business.
If so, below is a quick step-by-step guide for setting up your first Facebook Shop.
How to Use Facebook Shops
1. Make sure you’ve fulfilled all the Facebook Shops requirements.
Although creating a Facebook Shop is free for all businesses, Facebook Shops still has a few requirements. To set up a Facebook Shop for your brand, you must:

Have a Facebook Business Page and/or an Instagram Business account that you have Business Manager admin privileges for.
Have manager privileges for your brand’s Facebook catalog.

One thing to keep in mind is that while you do need to admin either an Instagram or Facebook Business Page, you can have one or the other and still create a Facebook Shop. This means that you don’t necessarily need a Facebook Business account to take advantage of this tool.
2. Go to Facebook Commerce Manager to access Facebook Shops
To start setting up your Facebook Shop, go to Facebook Commerce Manager and click the large “Get Started” CTA at the top of the page. From there, you’ll be given a few settings-related questions, such as, “Choose how you want customers to make purchases.”

 
 
At this point in the process, you can link an ecommerce website or API you’ve already set up and direct customers there to purchase your items or have them make buy items directly through Facebook, Instagram, or direct messages.
3. Add business information.
In this step of Shop creation, Facebook will ask you a few questions about your business, such as what category it belongs in, its location, and your preferred contact information. During this step, you’ll also be able to include an overall business description.
4. Add your products and shipping information.
As you continue to follow the simple prompts given by Facebook Shops, you’ll be asked to add products either one by one via a simple product listing form or in bulk with a spreadsheet list upload:

 
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After you add products, you’ll be able to add or update product descriptions, images, or other important information. You can also enter shipping information as well.
While Facebook Shops will prompt you to add products before launching your store, you can still add, remove, or edit product listings later on.
5. Add banking and tax information.
If you don’t have an ecommerce store and want to do all of your sales through Facebook or Instagram, you’ll be prompted to give information about the bank account where your purchase revenue will go.
You’ll also have to give your company’s tax information and agree to Facebook Shops policies before setting up your shop.
6. Customize your Shop.
Once all of the logistical information is filled in, you can take the fun and creative step of designing your mobile store. Facebook Shops allows you to make basic tweaks to the layout and style of your Shop. As you make edits, such as adjusting text styles or button colors, you’ll see them on a mobile preview screen to the right.
Here’s a look at the Shops customization page. As you can see, it’s simple and easy to understand, even for marketers with less design experience.

 
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7. Edit products or group them into “Collections.”
Made a mistake with one of your product descriptions or need to add a new product shot? Facebook Shops allows you to edit or remove product listings, even after your mini-store is launched.
Additionally, If you have products that were launched together or with a similar theme, such as a summer line of clothing, you can group products as “Collections” on Facebook Shops. To add a “Collection,” simply click “Layout” on the Shops customization page, then click “Add Collection” under the Featured Collections sidebar.
Once you create a Collection, you can add products to it from its Collection page or by editing the product’s listing.
8. Launch and promote your Shop.
When you feel like your Shop is ready for business, publish it. When you do so, be sure to share about it on Facebook, Instagram, or other social media platforms to ensure you gain initial visitors.
What Brands Should Keep in Mind With Facebook Shops
Facebook Shops might be a great option for brands that want to dabble in ecommerce for the first time or expand their strategy to major social networks.
In fact, in the case study video below, a small printing brand called Ink Meets Paper shares how Shops helped them expand their ecommerce strategy while getting sales from Instagram and Facebook followers, with a small amount of effort required.

While Facebook Shops and other ecommerce platforms might be beneficial to your brand and revenue, there are still a few things you’ll want to keep in mind before launching any online store or service:

Promote the shopping experience: If audiences don’t know about your products or your brand, they might not find your Facebook Shop or ecommerce platform. That’s why it’s important to promote your Shop, product deals, and brand as you would with any other online store.

Prepare for high demand: If you have a great listing of products, people might rush to buy them. But, if your team can’t respond quickly enough to customer demand, delayed orders or other snags could cause shoppers to avoid your Facebook Shop in the future. Prepare to respond to good purchasing outcomes and high demand, as well as poor outcomes.

Brand consistency is still important: Although Facebook Shops exists on a social media platform, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stay on-brand. If your Facebook Shop’s style, images, and layout look unprofessional or inconsistent with your website or Facebook Business page, people might distrust it or be less willing to give your Shop their payment information.

If you’re building or revamping your overall ecommerce strategy, bookmark this ultimate guide to ecommerce. If you’re interested in learning more about how brands are pivoting to ecommerce in 2020, check out this piece.

In a time when in-person networking events are being canceled, marketers and sales professionals are focusing on engaging with prospects digitally to sustain lead nurture and generation. This tactic isn’t necessarily cutting edge. Digital networking has been used for quite some time, but it’s especially fantastic to build and sustain connections with your leads during…
The post 4 Digital Networking Faux Pas That Will Cost You Leads appeared first on Benchmarkemail.

Note: This is the quarterly update sent to Buffer shareholders, with a bit of added information for context. We share these updates transparently as a part of our ‘default to transparency’ value. See all of our revenue on our public revenue dashboard and see all of our reports and updates here.

Before I get into the numbers, please join me in celebrating a pretty big milestone this season — Buffer’s 10 year anniversary!
In late 2010, Joel launched the first version of Buffer and has led the company from that early twinkle of an idea to building a company that is now generating over $21,000,000 in annual revenue.
It’s wild to reflect on the different checkpoints, successes, and challenges that have been experienced over the past decade. The experiences, growth pains, and learnings have really shaped where we are today and where we’re headed next. We’ll be sharing more reflections in the very near future.
We have another piece of exciting news to share as well. As you may know, we’ve been looking for an experienced product leader to join Buffer for quite some time. We are thrilled to welcome our new Chief Product Officer, Maria Thomas, to our team. We look forward to partnering with Maria to expand on a unique strategy that helps us serve customers, differentiate Buffer, and continue to realize solid, sustainable growth over the next several years.
Let’s take a look at our financial results for Q3 and end of year outlook.  
Financial results from Q3 2020
Q3 2020

Total net income: $700,996
EBITDA margin: 16%
MRR: $1,761,962 (up slightly from $1,705,370 MRR at end of Q2)

We’re projecting an overall end of year ARR at just over $21.1M. This projection is an overall ARR downturn compared to 2019 ARR and we can attribute it to a few factors:

Our Q1/Q2 decision to sunset Reply and focus those resources on building a product more complimentary to the overall Buffer experience for SMB customers.
Our Q2 response of extending payment relief to customers struggling to adapt to the detrimental impacts of the pandemic on their businesses.
The volatility of financial markets due to the economic effects of the pandemic on U.S. businesses and global businesses. Businesses represent a significant portion of our customer base and revenue. We’re all adapting to a new normal, experiencing uncertainty in this next wave, and this certainly impacts consumer behavior even in the social media space.

We have a number of initiatives in motion expected to have a positive impact on new business and retention metrics. We’ll share more about those product features in our Q4 report.
*Our drop in bank balance is due to us paying off a bank line of credit balance.
Looking ahead
As we head into the final weeks of 2020, the senior leadership team is solidifying our company objectives for 2021 and setting down shorter term OKRs across all areas. We’re so happy to welcome Maria to the team and to continue to build on the endless learnings from the past decade.

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I’m evaluating platforms for a project at work and wondered why people love the platform they currently use. I’ve heard pros and cons for so many but specifically, what is it that your platform offers that makes you stick with it? Is it functionality? Automations? CRM? Stackability? Customer support? Which platform do you use and why do you love it?
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As of March 2020, over 804,390 businesses in the U.S. were less than one year old. Combine that with the 31.7 million small businesses vying for customers, and the competition seems even more fierce. So how can you possibly create a marketing strategy that stands out? Diving into a specific niche is the way to set your business apart.

Let’s look at how a handful of businesses use niche marketing to their advantage, before walking through the steps to create your own growth-generating strategy.

5 Examples of a Niche Marketing Strategy
1. Flylow Gear
With 9.2 million skiers and snowboarders in the U.S, the pool of potential customers seems wide enough for all to share. But popular brands like Patagonia and The North Face can be found in almost every sports shop, making it hard to convince customers to seek out smaller brands with fewer offerings.
Flylow Gear figured out how to fight through the noise. Instead of targeting all customers interested in winter gear, their niche marketing strategy focuses on backcountry skiers looking for no-nonsense, quality gear. Their products are featured in all the right places — like Powder magazine — to reach their ideal buyers. Even their confirmation emails share that they’re a small, mountain-based crew of dedicated skiers.

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2. Octavia Elizabeth Jewelry
For ethically-minded consumers searching for jewelry, the most important factor is knowing about raw materials sourcing and product creation. That’s because this $300 billion dollar industry has come under fire for using child labor and causing extensive environmental harm.
Octavia Elizabeth understands the need for responsible jewelry. The company’s commitment to fair working conditions, legitimate living wages, and ethical production are clearly stated on its website.
Not only has Octavia Elizabeth honed in on customers looking for sustainably-sourced, handmade jewelry who are willing to pay a higher price, the brand has also elevated its niche offering by associating itself with celebrity clientele.

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3. Natural Dog Company
Research estimates Americans will spend $99 billion on their pets in 2020 alone. So how can a pet-focused business stand out amongst the thousands of memory foam beds, custom carry-on bags, and dog-friendly ice creams saturating the market?
Natural Dog Company caters to a very specific kind of pet owner: the eco-conscious consumer who pampers their pooch. By giving their organic and all-natural skin care products names like PAWdicure Pack and offering discount codes for free dog treats, they put pups first — which is exactly what their customers do.

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4. Pimsleur
Learning a new language can be a struggle, and the options for doing so are definitely overwhelming. Will you really be speaking like a Parisian after spending $1,000 on a program?
Rather than making promises of perfect grammar and flawless accents, Pimsleur focuses on learners who need to improve their speaking and listening skills. The program includes a 30-minute audio lesson every day, with each conversation building off the previous ones. While not the most innovative language-learning app, its audio-first approach is great for customers looking to improve their conversational skills.

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5. Photographers Without Borders
It’s one thing to entice people to buy a product, but it’s another thing entirely to attract donors for a nonprofit. While this type of organization may not seem like the right fit for a niche marketing strategy, it’s essential for bringing in donations and volunteers.
Photographers Without Borders has partnered with major organizations like Adobe, Sony, and Patagonia by honing in on a particular marketing technique: storytelling.
By prioritizing ethical storytelling, whether in a social media post, email newsletter, or online webinar, the organization has built a reputation for producing high-quality work that address the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals and UNDRIP. Plus, their Code of Ethics makes it clear what type of community members and partners they’re aiming to attract.

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Developing a Niche Marketing Strategy
Now that you have a better grasp on how brands from all types of industries create strategies that drive growth, it’s time to shape your own.
Step 1: Know your competition.
Developing a niche marketing strategy is impossible without scoping out your competition. That’s because it’s crucial to understand your unique selling proposition — what you do differently that makes customers choose your company over another.
Maybe you design ceramic dishware that can’t be found anywhere else, or maybe you’ve developed a tool that makes it easier for marketers to send emails. Whatever is it, find your speciality and craft a story around it.
Step 2: Narrow down your niche market.
Airbnb Co-founder Brian Chesky is famous for having said, “Build something 100 people love, not something 1 million people kind of like.” Put simply, it’s better to reach a small group of people who sing praises about your company, rather than a large group who thinks it’s just okay.
You can do this by honing in on the right niche market for your business. While this takes time and thought, it’s worth the effort to find loyal customers who will gladly choose you over competitors.
For instance, Thirdlove is the first underwear company to offer bras in half-size cups. Through their inclusive sizing options and emphasis on body diversity, they’ve built a loyal community of over 327,000 Instagram followers.
Step 3: Go where your buyers are.
If your ideal customer spends all of their time scrolling on Facebook, it wouldn’t make sense to develop a niche marketing strategy around email campaigns. Enter market research.
You already know who your buyers are, but research helps you go deeper to find out where they shop, how they find products, and what influences their purchase decisions. Once you have that information, you’ll get the most return for your marketing dollars.
Step 4: Listen to the word on the street.
Everyone has problems that need solutions. If you listen to people’s thoughts about a certain product or service, you can find opportunities to fill in the gaps.
David Barnett did just that when he engineered a solution for constantly tangled headphones. What started out as two buttons glued to the back of a phone case quickly turned into Popsockets, a company that brought in $169 million in revenue just seven years after its founding.
Step 5: Create a unique brand.
Once you’ve defined your unique selling point, outlined your buyer persona, found out where to reach them, and listened to their problems — all that’s left is to build a brand identity. A well-defined brand will help you develop a niche marketing strategy that’s authentic to you and attracts ideal customers.
For instance, Etsy’s position as the marketplace for independent artists has attracted more than 138 million buyers. In a 2020 TV commercial, the brand touched on the pandemic and used emotional marketing tactics to encourage support for small businesses that sell through the platform.
Creating a niche marketing strategy that drives growth for your business is more than creating a social media ad or sending a weekly email promotion. If you take the time to learn about your customers and differentiate your brand, you can develop a strategy that attracts the right buyers and helps you hit your growth goals.

Wouldn’t it be great if your leads could do some of the work for you when it comes to getting more eyes on your email marketing content? Well, they can, as long as you put the right prompts into place. While many marketers focus most on the number of click-throughs to their website their emails…
The post How to Get Your Leads to Share Your Content appeared first on Benchmarkemail.

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Email features reduce send anxiety allowing clients to test links at scale and simplify the process to create custom-designed templates.
Campaign Monitor, a provider of powerful yet intuitive email marketing software, today announced two significant feature releases, Link Review and My Branded Templates.
Link Review notifies customers of any broken or missing links to be updated for all outgoing email campaigns. My Branded Templates provides users an easy way to set up custom designs featuring their logo and colors by simply inputting their organization’s URL. Together, these two releases improve customers’ confidence in their email sending and saves precious time, while also creating a higher quality customer interaction with their audiences.
“Link Review allows me to double-check all links before sending. This is a big help, especially since we send a large number of emails with different links. It has brought a lot of confidence in sending emails,” said Jasmine Thomas, Email Marketing Manager at Lulu Press.
Now, more than ever, when businesses are balancing increased workload during the holiday season, Campaign Monitor sought to solve common challenges relating to email send anxiety. Link Review helps customers identify missing, broken, and incorrect links in an easy-to-edit panel. This powerful tool reduces error and saves time, while also ensuring accurate emails are sent out. 
Many businesses are looking to improve their brand consistency as they rely on email as a vital communication channel with their audiences. My Branded Templates does the work for customers. The feature automatically pulls in logos and colors from a company’s URL allowing businesses to not only get started quickly, but also ensure their brand stays consistent. 
“Our customers have been heroic in 2020, communicating with their audiences during stressful times, adapting quickly, and managing with strained resources. We are thrilled to release the Link Review and My Branded Templates tools to help customers get started quickly and reduce errors, offering a boost of confidence as so many of our customers expand their digital strategy,” said Kalyn New, Director of Product and Customer Marketing at Campaign Monitor.
About Campaign Monitor
Campaign Monitor, a CM Group brand, is a global technology company providing a powerful yet intuitive email marketing platform. Founded in 2004, Campaign Monitor’s mission is to provide customers with the tools they need to create meaningful connections with their audiences. Over 250,000 customers worldwide use Campaign Monitor’s easy-to-use design, personalization and automation tools to create and deliver stunning emails that drive real business results. For more information about Campaign Monitor, or to try it for free, visit campaignmonitor.com
About CM Group
CM Group is a family of global marketing technology brands including Campaign Monitor, Emma, Vuture, Delivra, Liveclicker, Sailthru, and Selligent. By joining together these leading brands, CM Group offers a variety of world-class solutions that can be used by marketers at any level. Headquartered in Nashville, TN, CM Group has United States offices in Indianapolis, Los Angeles, New York City, Pittsburgh and San Francisco, and global offices in Australia, Belgium, United Kingdom, New Zealand, France, and Uruguay.
The post Campaign Monitor Releases Email Link Review Tool and My Branded Templates appeared first on Campaign Monitor.