ENVEJECER CON DIGNIDAD.

Nora Jreige

ENVEJECER CON DIGNIDAD
Cuidarás tu presentación todos los días. Viste bien, arréglate como si fueras a una fiesta, qué mas fiesta que la vida.
No te encerrarás en tu casa ni en tu habitación.
Nada de jugar al enclaustrado o al preso voluntario, saldrás a la calle y al campo de paseo, agua estancada se pudre y la máquina inmóvil se enmohece.
Amarás al ejercicio físico como a ti mismo.
Un rato de gimnasia, una caminata razonable, dentro o fuera de casa. Contra inercia, diligencia.
Evitarás actitudes y gestos de viejo derrumbado.
La cabeza gacha, la espalda encorvada, los pies arrastrándose, no. Que la gente diga un piropo cuando pases.
No hablarás de tu vejez ni te quejarás de tus achaques.
Acabarás por creerte más viejo y más enfermo de lo que en realidad estás y te harán el vacío. Nadie quiere estar oyendo historias de hospital.
Deja de autollamarte viejo y considerarte enfermo.
Cultivarás el optimismo sobre todas las cosas. Al mal tiempo buena cara, sé positivo en los juicios, de buen humor en las palabras, alegre de rostro, amable en los ademanes. Se tiene la edad que se ejerce. La vejéz no es una cuestión de años sino de estado de ánimo.
Tratarás de ser útil a ti mismo y a los demás. No eres un parásito ni una rama desgajada voluntariamente del árbol de la vida. Bástate hasta donde sea posible y ayuda con una sonrisa, con un consejo, un servicio.
Trabajarás con tu mano y con tu mente. El trabajo es una terapia infalible, cualquier actitud laboral, intelectual, artística. Medicina para todos los males, la bendición del trabajo.
Mantendrás vivas y cordiales las relaciones humanas. Desde luego las que se anudan dentro del hogar, integrándose a todos los miembros de la familia: ahí tienen la oportunidad de convivir con todas las edades, niños, jóvenes y adultos, el perfecto muestrario de la vida: luego ensancharás tu corazón a los amigos, con tal que los amigos no sean viejos como tú. Huye del bazar de antigüedades.
No pensarás que todo tiempo pasado fue mejor.
Deja de estar condenando a tu mundo y maldiciendo tu momento. Alégrate de que, entre las espinas, florecen las rosas. Positivo siempre, negativo, jamás. El anciano debiera ser como la luna, un cuerpo opaco, destinado a dar luz.

Six Myths About Affiliate Marketing

 

Six Myths About Affiliate Marketing

Aug 15, 2013 by Amanda DiSilvestro In Marketing Tips 30

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Affiliate marketing exists because it can be very successful. However, there are quite a few affiliate marketing myths that revolve around this topic.
For those who are unfamiliar, affiliate marketing is a way of rewarding other companies and/or business partners who bring you customers because of their marketing efforts. You can also think of affiliate marketing from the flip-side: If you wanted to be an affiliate company, your job is to bring online traffic and/or customers to businesses and then you get paid for it.
It seems like a win-win situation, right?
While affiliate marketing is great, it’s a little bit more complicated than meets the eye. For this reason, there are tons of different affiliate marketing myths out there surrounding all it entails. Whether you’re a company needing help or someone looking to start a business, it’s important to understand these affiliate marketing myths before diving into this marketing method.

Top 6 Affiliate Marketing Myths

Below are six of the most common affiliate marketing myths as well as reasons why these myths might exist. As a side note, most come from the point of view of someone trying to get involved in affiliate marketing as a business (as opposed to for their already existing business).

1. It’s Difficult to Get Involved with Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is something that virtually anyone can do if they put their mind to learning how things work (even learning as they go).
It doesn’t take a ton of money or a ton of experience, just a desire to get involved and the ability to really learn.

2. Affiliate Websites Don’t Require Much Management

This myth actually goes against the last myth (it seems that no one knows what kind of work it takes to be an affiliate marketer). Although it’s possible for anyone, it isn’t as easy as setting up a website, putting some affiliate links and banners on that website, and then letting it sit. Google bots don’t like to see this, which means they could very well penalize your site and essentially bring your business to a halt.
You need to have quality content and make changes to your website to improve it in order to be successful, and this takes lots of management.

3. You Should Always Choose the Niche that is the Most Profitable

Many people believe this because they believe that’s how you will make the most money. Of course certain niches that sell products people buy most often have a good chance of being successful, but that doesn’t mean it’s automatic. Although certain niches might be successful for some, they won’t necessarily be successful for you.
You have to really understand that niche. If you don’t, you’re going to have more success picking something you’re comfortable with.

4. You Only Need One Good Affiliate Program to be Successful

This is an affiliate marketing myth that companies looking to get involved in affiliate marketing seem to find quite often. Joining just one affiliate program could work, but you have to remember that your customers are going to compare as they shop. You want to work with a few different programs that compliment each other.
For example, if you’re a dentist you may want to market toothpaste as well as dental services.

5. Consumers Don’t Like Affiliate Marketing

Sometimes it can seem like affiliate marketing is an extra step and will therefore annoy consumers because they can just go to eBay or Amazon instead. However, it is important to realize that customers want information about certain products and they want to shop around the Web.
In other words, they don’t want to go straight to Amazon or EBay, they actually want to visit your website.

6. Affiliate Marketing Won’t Last Much Longer

Last but not least, this is probably the most popular affiliate marketing myth and it goes right along with the last myth. Because Google algorithms are changing and putting less value on sites that offer more links than quality content, it’s safe to say that affiliate marketing has had better days. Still, it has not lost life and surely won’t for a long time to come.
It’s still successful and still makes sense – and Google sees that as well as consumers.
Do you have any additional affiliate marketing myths to add to the list?
Genie Lamp Photo via Shutterstock

Welcome to Digg Reader!

Welcome to Digg Reader!

Digg Reader is a tool for keeping up with sites and blogs.
Get started by entering a site or blog you like or browse categories.

 

by  Henneke 43 Comments

A 3-Step Formula for Captivating Your Audience With a Few Opening Lines

You’ve worked so hard.
You’ve written an incredibly helpful post.
You know your audience will be delighted, as your tips are easy to implement and you’ve proven they work.
You’ve tweaked and polished until you found the perfect headline. It grabs attention. It arouses curiosity. It’s powerful. You’re happy.
But then a nagging doubt creeps in …
What if your opening is so boring that nobody reads on? What if your opening sucks and everyone clicks away?
The thought can paralyze even the most experienced bloggers.

You can do it

As writers, you and I are battling for attention in a distracted world.
We need to work damn hard to captivate and then keep our readers’ attention. We need to mesmerize them so they ignore the emails popping up. We need to hypnotize them so they don’t hear their phones ringing.
Sometimes it may feel like an impossible task. How can we pull readers into our blog posts so they keep reading?
Well, it might be easier than you think.
In the past two years I’ve studied hundreds of blog post openings and I’ve found a simple 3-step formula that almost guarantees your opening paragraph will be hypnotic.
Sound good?

Lesson from a master seductionist

Let’s look at a quick example first.
It’s from a post by Jon Morrow:

Ever feel like all of the “good” topics in your niche have already been worn out by more popular blogs?
A post about getting more blog traffic or living more frugally may be interesting the first time you read about it. Maybe it’ll even catch your attention the fifth or tenth time you see it.
But what about the 50th time? Or the 100th? Doesn’t it get a little … tired?
Sure, you can go to the content crossroads for new angles and spins, and it works … for a while. If your niche is super crowded, eventually it feels like even the devil couldn’t find you a new angle. And you start to wonder: how are you supposed to stand out, writing about the same old stuff?
You’d think it would be impossible, but it’s not. You just have to be a little sneaky …

Can’t resist the urge to read the remainder of Jon’s post? Just click here. But please do come back to learn how to write an opening paragraph that’s as seductive as Jon’s.
Ready?

Step 1: Empathize with your reader’s struggle

Jon starts with a killer question that addresses you, the reader, directly: Don’t you feel like all the good topics have been taken?
He pulls you into his post because he seems to know exactly what you’re struggling with. And he empathizes with your feelings.
As a reader you find yourself nodding your head in agreement with Jon’s points. Yes, I do feel the good topics have been worn out. And yes, I do get a little tired reading so many posts about the same stuff. And yes, of course, I do wonder how I can stand out in a crowded niche.
When readers start nodding yes, they get into an almost hypnotic state. They can’t help themselves — they have to continue reading, because they feel the post is written especially for them, to solve their problems.
Have you noticed how often Jon uses the words you and your? This is how he makes you feel he’s speaking to you directly.
This type of blog post opening only works if you know exactly what your reader is struggling with. You need to understand the problems he’s facing and you need to offer specific help to solve them. Your opening paragraph will immediately fall flat when a reader thinks I don’t have this problem; this is not for me.
When you start writing your opening paragraph, picture yourself writing to one person only: an imaginary friend, your younger self, or your favorite reader. When you act as a personal coach for one reader, you find it much easier to picture and describe the scene in which your reader is struggling.
You also avoid using a condescending tone, because you’re talking to a friend, a real person. Your writing immediately becomes more conversational, more empathetic, and more seductive. Your writing draws your readers into your post because they feel you understand them and you’re going to help them.

Step 2: Promise your reader a benefit

Why would readers make an effort to read your blog post and follow your advice? Why would they care?
The answer to these big why questions is what Chip and Dan Heath call a destination postcard. A postcard shows your reader where he’s headed: a wonderful holiday with white beaches, sunny weather, and delicious cocktails; or a life where your reader is not struggling anymore with problems like living frugally, finding a good blog topic, or writing an opening paragraph.
In the example above, Jon hints at your destination: you can stand out even if you write about the same old stuff. Jon promises you that he’ll help you. You just need to read his post.
Your opening paragraph opens up a gap between where your reader is now (how to write about the same old stuff) and where he’d like to be (you can stand out even if you write about the same old stuff).
As a blogger, you address your reader’s struggles, empathize with him, and then promise him you’ll help.
Your reader doesn’t want to waste his time reading your post because so much other content is waiting to be read or watched. Your reader wants to be sure that he’ll get something out of your post.
So, you have to tell him his destination: either his problem will go away, or he’ll become smarter or happier once he’s read your post.

Step 3: Provide reassurance

You’ve now learned the two most important steps of writing an opening paragraph.
You know how to empathize with your reader and you know how to promise something good. Now, there’s one more potential issue you need to address.
Quite often as a blogger you touch on issues that seem far too big to solve in just one 1,500-word blog post. Can you really learn how to stand out when writing about the same boring old stuff by reading Jon’s post? Sounds almost too good to be true, doesn’t it?
This doubt may put readers off. But Jon takes it away. He reassures you that it’s not impossible, you just have to be a little sneaky …
We’re all a little lazy. We love solutions that are simple, straightforward, and seemingly effortless. So when your reader starts thinking this sounds too difficult or too much work, you have to reassure him that you’ll offer a simple trick, a secret tip, or an easy formula.
Of course, you can’t just promise it in the opening … you need to deliver it with the rest of your blog post.
Now, let’s have a look at how to apply this formula to your writing.

The 3-step formula in action (plus a bonus tip)

When you next write an opening paragraph, think about your ideal reader. Picture him struggling with the problem you’ll address in your blog post.
Your ideal reader should be so real that you can see him huffing and puffing, and pulling silly faces because he doesn’t know how to solve a problem.
Last year I wrote a guest post about email marketing -— it was the most shared Copyblogger post in 2013. To write the opening paragraph for this post, I imagined one Copyblogger reader sitting behind her desk getting frustrated with email stats:

1. I empathize with her frustration
2. I promise her a destination where she’d be happy with her email stats
3. I reassure her that writing engaging emails doesn’t need to be too hard

I applied the 3-step formula as follows:

We’ve all been there …
You’ve carefully crafted an email. You’ve polished each sentence. You’ve racked your brain for the very best subject line.
You hit publish with a sigh of relief. That’s done.
But when you look at your email stats, you notice that the opens aren’t as good as you’d hoped, and the click-throughs are disappointing. It’s depressing.
Does it feel like a big challenge to get people to open and read your emails? And then to go on to click through?
It doesn’t really need to be so hard. You’re about to learn the most important advice I’ve found for writing emails that get opened, read, and clicked.

This opening paragraph uses one extra trick: it starts with a super-short sentence.
Short sentences are easy to gobble up in one bite. They don’t require any effort from your readers. They only require a glance, then your reader can move on to the next sentence.
By making it so easy to read the first sentence, your opening becomes more seductive. Readers effortlessly glide to your second sentence and then on to the next sentence.
That’s how you seduce readers to keep reading. That’s how you get them to yearn for the tips and tricks you’re promising them.

The art of seducing your readers

You might think you’re a blogger.
You might see yourself as a writer.
But to pull your readers into your posts, you need to become a psychologist.
You need to sneak into the minds of your readers so you know exactly what they’re struggling with. You need to understand their feelings of frustration, worry, and despair.
Writing a good blog post means simply persuading a reader that this post is for him, that you’ll share your best advice to help him, guide him, and comfort him.
And once you’ve given him your best advice, you only need to kick his butt to get him to implement your tips.
So, come on. You can do it. Go write a seductive opening for your next post!

Editor’s Note:

This blog post is based on a chapter of Henneke’s upcoming book Blog to Win Business. Sign up to her list so you don’t miss the book launch.
Flickr Creative Commons Image by doug88888

About the Author: Henneke Duistermaat is an irreverent marketer and copywriter on a mission to weed out boring business blogs. Join her free Enchanting Marketing newsletter to learn how to write fascinating blog posts.

Chris Hexton

Vero Blog

6 lessons you can learn from Amazon’s killer email marketing

February 2013

Amazon.com is a powerhouse.
Jeff Bezos and the team at Amazon have essentially defined how we shop online over the last 17 years. Here are here are a few facts you might not know about Amazon:

• Founded 1994 Amazon.com wasn’t profitable until 2001 with a profit of $5 million on revenues of $1 billion.
• Not only a retail store, now earns over $2 billion per year thanks to it’s cloud computing services known as Amazon Web Services (AWS).
• Their email marketing provider Amazon SES grew out of their ability to manage many millions of emails per day.
• The internet virtually didn’t exist back in 1994! Certainly online sales was a new concept. Amazon lead the charge.

Clearly, these guys know what they’re doing.
The internet is scattered with stories of Amazon’s fantastic email marketing. Spend some time purchasing from or simply browsing Amazon.com and it’ll only be a matter of hours before you experience their email marketing for yourself (just check your inbox).
For years Amazon have understood the power of email to drive real revenue and acknowledged that sending single, ‘statis’ emails to all customers is very rarely the best way to maximise your gains.
Here are 6 lessons you can learn from Amazon’s email marketing program to improve your own.


1. Track everything your customers do
Track absolutely everything your customers do. When it comes to running an online business, data is power.
Amazon has mastered this. Just take a look at their homepage. Yours will look different but this is a snapshot of mine (and I’m sure it’ll be different tomorrow):

The homepage is never the same. With sections like ‘New for you’, ‘More items to consider’ and ‘Recommendations for you in video games’ Amazon are constantly tracking what I’ve browsed and what I’ve bought and adjusting their messaging to me.
We can get a further glimpse at just how much data they’re collecting by looking at their ‘Account’ section. It’s one of the most robust account management sections of any eCommerce store I’ve ever seen! You can view all of your orders (physical and digital), leave feedback, manage your card details, update your personal details, setup 1-click, let Amazon know if you’re a student, sign up for Prime, build a watch list or a wish list and even connect Twitter and Facebook.

Many of these options are powerful data collection tools for Amazon. Why else would they want you to add Twitter and Facebook other than as a means to learn more about you and encourage you to share amongst your friends?
Amazon don’t hide their data collection either. They let you manage your product recommendations yourself, if you want to.
By tracking everything your customers do you can begin to compile email marketing campaigns that really resonate with your customers at an individual level.
This blog post from The Search Guys is a walks through a series of emails send to author Chris after browsing point-and-shoot digital cameras. Although on Amazon.com for just a few minutes after leaving Chris proceeded to get 9 different emails targeting his specific interests over the next few weeks.
Here’s an example of an email Amazon sent Chris:

As you can see they don’t just use their massive store of data on their home page. Every email they sent Chris was personalized in this way. I’m going to use other examples throughout this post as there are some great examples.
Key takeaway: track what your customers do, use this data to determine their interests based on their browsing or purchasing habits and insert dynamic data into your emails based on the products a customer has expressed interest in.
2. Be consistent: email is an extension of your store
Think of email as giving you a chance to bring your store to the customer in their inbox.
I think Amazon nails this. Two things they do really well are:
1. Keeping their email content and templates consistent, not only with each other but with their website itself. Widgets within emails (such as the product recommendation widget below) look and feel just like they would on their website. By keeping their campaign designs and content consistent with their overall store they create a holisitic experience for their customers. This in turn leads to familiarity, which builds trust and trust is always a good thing.
2. Don’t just sent discounts or offers. Your store has a myriad of aspects. Just some of the emails you receive from Amazon regularly include newsletters, cart abandonment reminders, special competitions, requests for reviews, random product recommendations, reminders to sign up for Amazon Prime, etc. In most cases Amazon does not offer discounts – bear this in mind. You generally don’t discount everything in your store, so don’t do so in emails you send out. Consider other tactics, such as those discussed in point five below!

Use series campaigns
Another thing Amazon do well is setting up series of emails.
They’re not afraid to email their customers. Always A/B test your email campaigns for frequency but in general there are opportunities to maxmize your returns if you get the frequency right.
I’ve seen customers achieve 20% conversion on cart abandonment campaigns by adding a second email to the campaign. You should not only send an email a few hours after a customer abandons the cart but another 24 hours after that. This can increase your conversions by 50% or more, just by adding a second email.
As we can see from the example below Amazon doesn’t mind going to town when they think they’re onto a good thing. Each of the emails below is targeted toward DVDs or Electronics Deals.



Similarly, the campaign I spoke about in point one involved 9 emails after Chris browsed for digital cameras.
Key takeaway: experiment with more frequent, series campaigns. This works in eCommerce, SaaS and many other online businesses. Vary the emails, make the content useful and be prepared to reach a ‘maximum’ that you should back away from!

3. Make life as simple as possible: AKA, Don’t make them think
Making the user experience as simple as possible is an important step in maximizing conversions from your email marketing.
What does this mean? Sweat the details! Take every step in your customers very seriously.

This can extend from simply calling the customer by their first name to automatically logging customers in anytime they are required to return to your site. When you visit Amazon.com, no matter which email you receive, which link you click or even if you just visit the site directly, you can always view your shopping cart, add to it, remove from it, etc. without re-authenticating.
This might sound basic but it’s surprising how many stores could benefit from this sort of UX-optimization.
In the case of Amazon, nearly the entire site is accessible without logging in and yet it’s very personalized. They haven’t sacrificed the experience and yet have not put up the roadblock of requiring a password (until they have to).
A single call to action
Amazon’s emails are generally very specific and direct. Take following email which is an example of the sort of email you will regularly receive after making a Kindle purchase. The desired goal is to get you to review a book you’ve purchased and, as you can see, there isn’t much else you can other than click through and review the book!

After clicking the link you’re taken to another simple page that looks like this:

There is nothing on this page except the ability to rate the book. This is a brilliant example of keeping things simple.
Other, non-eCommerce, UX examples
This thinking needs to become part of your entire product and marketing mantra. Email marketing is a function of an overall effective business and it’s important to bear this in mind.
Take the Amazon Kindle. It comes pre-loaded with your name and login credentials (or doesn’t, if you mark it as a gift). This is brilliant.
This example from Visual Website Optimizer is a great example of sweating the details. If you’re logged in they let you know by marking main call to action as ‘Dashboard’ (on the left, below). If you’re not logged in they make sure they give you the option to sign up for a free trial.

Is this a massive change? Of course not! But it is the perfect example of ‘Don’t make me think‘. Don’t give me the option to sign up or login if I’m already logged in.
Another little example I saw this week related to email is from the folks over at GrowHack. They suggest ‘hacking’ the email double opt-in process providing cusotmers a direct link that will search their Gmail account for the exact confirmation email you have sent them. This is a brilliant little hack for Gmail users and is a great example of the sort of thinking you need to apply to all aspects of your product and email marketing campaigns.

Key takeaway: Keep it simple, stupid. Take away as many obstacles as you can when sending emails to your customer. Make their experience rewarding whilst removing the hard work. This takes a long time to get right but it’s best to start now.
4. Retain, retain, retain with clever unsubscribe options
Unsubscriptions are a part of email marketing campaigns. Ultimately you want uninterested customers to unsubscribe. It does you no good to be emailing customers who don’t want to receive your messaging so you should always make unsubscribing easy.
Amazon sends a variety of campaigns from a large number of departments and they attempt to create a win-win experience that makes it easy for customers to unsubscribe from their emails but also increases their chances of retaining customers for emails they are interested in.
When you elect to unsubscribe from an Amazon email they take you to a page that looks something like the following:

This page  lets customers unsubscribe from specific emails by default but also gives them the option to unsubscribe completely.
At first you might think that this tactic only benefits Amazon but it can be beneficial. In my own case I have unsubscribed from a number of Amazon’s campaigns but actually don’t mind being prompted to provide a book review from time to time. As such I am more than happy to continue receiving this campaign. This benefits both Amazon and I and is sensible from a business perspective.
By giving your customers options you also open the door to increase retention. Customers unsubscribe for a variety of reasons. It could be the volume of emails you’re sending, specific content or just the channel. Bear these in mind when thinking about your unsubscribe process.
This also reminds me of this great unsubscribe page from AppSumo (probably my favourite). I mentioned this last week when discussing how to build an email remarketing machine (Gangnam Style!)

They attempt to get you to follow AppSumo on other channels, such as Twitter and Facebook. This is an excellent way to respect the customers privacy and potentially retain them. Nice job AppSumo!
Key takeaway: Unsubscribes are another opportunity to think about your customer lifecycle, put yourself in your custoemrs’ shoes and try to come up with a win-win solution that helps you retain customers win your ecosystem.
…but don’t forget: always have an unsubscribe from all option somewhere easy. You want to make sure you comply with the laws!
5. Use psychology, but keep it subtle
Urgency
Man, urgency is powerful stuff.
I’ve mentioned before how urgency can be used to increase your customer lifetime value and it’s truly powerful.
Amazon is pretty clever when it comes to understanding their customers and they try all sorts of tactics to get conversions.
These are two of my personal favourites. Take this pre-Christmas email. It’s pretty standard for businesses to mention that you should Order now to receive this by Christmas but Amazon always goes one step further and puts a ridiculously specific time and date on when you can place your last order.
This specificity increases the sense of urgency experienced by customers. It adds to the sense of fear that they’ll miss out.

Gregory Ciotti over at HelpScout talks about the different ways in which we can get customers to respond. He mentioned a study on urgency, fear and motivation and the importance of providing specific follow-up prompts in order to actually harness the urgency. Amazon do this well here by specifically linking to the products on offer. Always remember to backup your sense of ‘Urgency’ with specific instructions and a clear call to action.
Another example comes from the same chain of emails I talked about in point one, targeting Chris Schwarz and his search for a point-and-shoot digital camera.
In one of their campaigns, Amazon uses the concept of a sweepstake to encourage customers to enter a weekly competition to win a camera.
What is truly great about this campaign is that it clearly isn’t some random co-incidence. The sweepstake has been custom-tailored just for Chris based on his browsing history.

I love this dedication to detail and data.
Thinking outside the box when it comes to the pyschology of a purchase is always an exciting opporutnity to A/B test winning emails.
Personalization
The pyschology of personalization highlights that personalization can certainly increase your conversions.
The example below highlights that even in the smallest of places Amazon take talking with their customers seriously.

Selling online has a distinct disadvantage over selling in a ‘bricks and mortar’ store: it’s much more difficult to talk with your customers.
There’s no arguing that customers aren’t naive enough to assume these sorts of marketing emails are ‘personal’ but it’s worth A/B testing using personalizations such as using your customers’ names. Some segments will like it and others will not.
Make personalization a part of your testing strategy. Amazon do and it’s clearly working for them.
Cover your bases
All of the emails shared in this post so far  consider that customers may be looking for something other than what they have previously browsed or purchased. The header included in each of these emails contain a variety of calls to action that appear to differ based on the number of emails previously received, the browsing history and your personal details.
Some emails contain links to specific departments (e.g. MP3 in the example directly above), Deals of the Week, an offer to upgrade to Amazon Prime, gift cards or a link to your personal recommendations page.
Trying to put yourself in the mind of the customer is what will drive maximium conversions.
Having a central call to action is king but don’t miss small opportunities to funnel customers in the right direction.
Remember, you can never segment  your customers enough. Testing your way to understanding which cohorts are likely to take one action over another, such as buy a gift card vs. upgrade to Amazon Prime in Amazon’s case, is a worthy use of your email marketing time.
Key takeaway: consider psychology when crafting your campaigns. Try different approaches outside of the usual ‘here are some products you might like’ to mix things up.
6. Consider the case for mobile
The world is going mobile and Amazon’s is heading there with it.
Many of their email marketing campaigns are optimized for mobile devices. Take this cart abandonment campaign, for example:


By optimizing for your customers’ browsing habits you can dramatically increase opens and click-throughs.
This case study from MarketingSherpa talks about MedScape. After launching a mobile-specific template for their five most common emails. This immediately led to a 53% increase in their unique opens.
That’s a really impressive lift, just by considering mobile! It’s important to remember that when developing mobile emails you should also optimize your landing pages to ensure they are mobile-friendly.
Amazon nail this as their entire store is mobile-optimized. It’s clean, simple and, although not as robust, it’s certainly relatively easy to checkout at any time.

Key takeaway: consider using templates that are responsive or designing mobile-specific templates where useful. This can dramatically increase your opens, clicks and conversions.
So…next time, think What would Jeff do?
Jeff Bezos has built an inspiring company that is scientific and customer-focused in everything they do. We can all learn so much from the email marketing tactics employed by Amazon when crafting our own campaigns.
The six points above are just some of the great ideas you can extract from their campaigns.
How to get going?
You might wonder how you can get setup with emails like Amazon’s? I’d recommend the following tools are worth investigating:
1. Analytics and tracking: Google Analytics, Woopra and KISSmetrics.
2. Dynamic landing page optimization: Spinnakr.
3. Product recommendation engines: Directed Edge or LiftSuggest.
4. Email marketing: Vero, of course!
If you want to start considering campaigns like this feel free to write me an email or signup for a free trial, I’d love to help!

What other campaigns have you seen from Amazon? How are you implementing similar tactics in your own campaigns? Let me know in the comments!

10 Email Marketing Campaigns Analyzed to Increase Email Conversions

Chris Hexton
Vero Blog

10 Email Marketing Campaigns Analyzed to Increase Email Conversions

April 2013 

 

It’s time for some email marketing examples from the real world.
I’ve selected 10 emails that came through my inbox recently and am going to focus on conversions and how each campaign performs.
For each of the campaigns listed I’ve pulled together a screenshot as it arrived in my inbox, a list of things the campaign does well and a series of ideas or hypotheses the creators could test in order to improve conversions.
These examples should give you some inspiration for your next campaign.
Each of these campaigns was sent to me publicly. No email is perfect and there are always things to test. The best way to get better is to try and try again!

1. KISSmetrics’ blog update

Thoughts

This email is short, sweet and gets to the point. It’s a good email: it gives enough of a flavour of the blog post to leave you wanting more.
There are lots of reasons this is a good campaign yet it also feels a little ‘cold’. The KISSmetrics blog is full of genuine, quality posts and this blog update email doesn’t to a great job of conveying this.
The primary call to action (to read the post) could also be bolder: it is overpowered by the call to action to sign up to KISSmetrics.

Testing ideas

1. Add a button: Try making the “Click to continue reading…” a button.
2. Highlight the blog post: Make the font-size of the heading and the blog post text larger than the font-size of the surrounding links by a few points.
3. Conflicting CTAs: Move the ‘email us any time’ into the footer – right now there are really three competing calls to action in the middle of this campaign.
4. Include an image: Include an image from the post (if there is one). Many of the posts on the KISSmetrics blog feature great images and examples so why not include one of these in the email?

Site: KISSmetrics

2. DealsDirect

Thoughts

As far as ‘sale’ emails go this is a fantastic one.
Usually they are cluttered, mention 1,000 products in the one email and, as such, have no clear call to action.
This campaign does focus on a primary CTA (“Shop Now”) and ensures the entire image is clickable. You can’t see it up above but the ‘alt tags’ on their images are superb: the email is navigable even without loading the images.
Finally, I really like the use of the social call to action under the “Shop Now” link.

Testing ideas

1. Target the iPhone CTA: I’ve never opened a DealsDirect email on my iPhone so it looks as though the bottom link is being shown to everyone. It would be interesting to test only showing the ‘Download the iPhone app’ to primarily iPhone users. Why? This would obviously increase the CTR for that particular link (more targeted) and may also increase the CTR on the primary call to action to “Shop Now” by removing the iPhone app link for irrelevant users. Here’s a great case study where this held true:
2. Remove the second CTA: Remove the secondary CTA (the link to the rugs). Would the overall effect on sales be bigger if this were removed? There is a possibility this secondary CTA is affecting overall CTRs – but, then again, it might mean the total sales from this one email are higher.
3. Smaller footer: Tidy up the footer. There is a lot of relevant information in the footer but it is a bit cluttered / long-winded. Remove some of the clutter!

Site: DealsDirect

3. Scottevest

Thoughts

Every day Scottevest do a sale. I like that the email shares the technical aspects of the clothing, exactly what Scottevest is known for.
The header, the body image and the footer link all point to the daily sale page, meaning there is less ‘link leak’ as customers can click-through to the place you want them to see.

Testing ideas

1. No real CTA: A big red button would be much better than the subtle ‘Daily Sale’ link at the end of the email. Sure, it’s hard not to click something in this email but we all love a good button – it’s UX 101 – so why not include one!
2. Whitespace: There are only two paragraphs but they look daunting: they’re chunky. Despite telling a good story I’d shorten or split up these paragraphs. It might also make sense to include some of the images up top throughout the body, to break things up. Using bold and italics goes a long way too.
3. Make the header smaller: Get straight into the action! Regulars will see this email every day, there isn’t a need to have such a large ‘branding’ section at the top of each email. Get to the content.

Site: Scottevest

4. OkCupid

Thoughts

It’s pretty hard to critique this campaign. It is a simple automated email and it’s purpose and call to action are very clear. The includsion of the re-assuring pionts at the bottom of the email is an excellent idea. This ‘Question and Answer‘ format has worked wonders for people in the past.
Including the face of the girl/guy in question is always a solid conversion strategy: people relate to people. Making the face, name and button clickable is also a solid move.

Testing Ideas

1. Button colour: OkCupid has very strong branding colours (pink, blue and light blue) but it’d be worth testing the colours of this button. Would green work better than blue?
2. Re-iterate the CTA: Make “Go get ‘em” clickable at the bottom of re-iterate the CTA by including a second button / some other link.
3. Language on the button: Perhaps ‘Check her out’ doesn’t resonate with everyone. This could even be inferred from the questions each user has answered. By building individual profiles based on what answers customers have provided the CTA could be changed on a customer-by-customer basis. This would be very powerful.

Site: OkCupid

5. Slideshare

Thoughts

Like the OkCupid email I imagine this email is effective at increasing engagement for Slideshare as it is triggered by a distinct event and has a solid goal: to get customers to follow other customers.
It’s short, simple, to the point and the inclusion of the face / display picture is, again, effective. Rock on Slideshare and trigger-based emails!

Testing Ideas

1. That button: Slideshare could test both the size and colour of the button. They could also test the copy, e.g. ‘Follow Fernando’ or ‘Follow them back’. Follow is logical copy but encouraging click-throughs by highlighting the benefits or influencing psychology is always worth testing. In this case, including the name or suggesting reciprocation would play on our guilt!
2. Clean up the template: The spacing on the template is a little weird as is the inclusion of ‘The Slideshare Team’. Sometimes the inclusion of a footer that signs off ‘The Team at XYZ’ can in fact seem colder than not including one at all. This can have a negative impact.
3. Make the benefit MORE obvious: Why should I follow Fernando back? Has he done something for me? Is his content good? The primary motivator in this instance is likely to be ‘guilt’ – i.e. wanting to return the favour. Another example might be highlighting his followers. If Fernando has 1,000 followers it’s highly likely I will want to return the favor: this is someone with influence!
4. Secondary CTA: I’m never a big fan of multiple calls to action but the inclusion of the very small ‘Follow your LinkedIn contacts on Slideshare now’ is an extremely interesting idea. This is actually a very powerful feature for Slideshare / LinkedIn. They should consider testing this CTA as the primary CTA in different versions of the email.

Site: Slideshare

6. Warby Parker

Thoughts

A smooth email from the gang at Warby Parker. Lots done well here: a clear call to action, individual links to both male and female glasses / ranges, repeated CTA, a simple footer and a beautiful, on-brand image at the top. THe template is very clear an structured as well. On the whole it’s hard to suggest too much here.

Testing Ideas

1. Male vs. Female: Having two separate versions of this campaign could lift click-throughs. Although there are male and female versions of each pair of frames WP could test the images (colours) shown and the links would be more direct.
2. Move the ‘View in browser’ link: Something across the board, having this link at the top can be useful but can also lead to this, at least in Gmail:…not always ideal, it’s worth considering if the trade-off is worth it for you.
3. The image map is not ideal: Due to the way they’ve used the images in this email, when images are turned off you see the following:…this could be avoided if individual images were used and ALT tags were applied. In this way the user has a chance to understand what the email is about even without enabling images.

Site: Warby Parker

7. Canon

Thoughts

On the whole this email feels a bit ‘salesy’. The colours, the quality of the image and the style of the product image all feel like something fresh out of a brochure.
There are positives here too. The email has one, clear call to action, you can click all of the images as well as the CTA button at the bottom. I also like that the footer is kept reasonably clean by linking to the T&Cs rather than trying to cram the contest conditions into the footer (though this does depend on your local laws).
Having an image of what I can win is also very clear and a great way to display the benefits of entering, always important when trying to get customers to engage.

Testing Ideas

1. False personalization: I’m all for personalization, on many fronts, but using ‘Chris Hexton’ (first and last names) feels wrong and is clearly false personalization. This articles gets into detail on better ways to personalize emails using event-based rules to give you ideas outside of using your customers’ names!
2. Add urgency: It’s great that Canon include that the deal ‘ends by midnight’ but they don’t make a big enough deal of it! Have some HUGE numbers saying “XX Hours To Go” or similar. Include this at the top and the bottom.
3. The image at the top: Experimenting with the image used at the top might be worth while. Including a smaller version of the product could still get across the prize in question whilst including an image with people might lead to a more relatable campaign and, in turn, higher click throughs.

Site: Canon

8. Hipmunk

Thoughts

Hipmunk have a great brand, so it’s great to see them using their mascot in the title. This familiarity is important for brand building and for driving engagement with tis email. If there was ever an implementation of ‘big buttons’, this is it. The calls to action are really clear in this email and that is something we don’t see enough. I also like that they re-link to each of the platforms when they mention the names of each social network underneath the icons.

Testing Ideas

1. An explanation: This email felt like it came ‘out of the blue’ a little. I have no real idea why I received it at this particular time, what triggered it, etc. For this reason I think the success of the email might be enhanced by providing a reason to follow Hipmunk. A contest, some announcement I want to engage with, a tip or trick, etc. Give me a reason to convert.
2. Too many options? Having a single icon such as ‘Follow us on Facebook’ might lead to a higher level of engagement. It’d be worth testing each platform (against a clearer benefit) and seeing which gets the highest response in this form of email. It would also allow them to drive engagement on each platform independently by sending more emails over time. Don’t confuse the customer.

Site: Hipmunk

9. CafePress

Thoughts

Another good example of the sort of email campaign that is usually extremely cluttered, over the top and confusing. This email is effective at conveying the 80% off sale (on top of already reduced prices), it has a good quality image featuring real people that are just like me and the colours are all very ‘friendly’.
Again, most of the images and buttons (i.e. 80% of this email) are clickable. The inclusion of the social links is also savvy.

Testing Ideas

1. What is in the footer? It feels like there is wayyyyy too much text down there. Keep it simple!
2. Make the button more distinct: The button ‘Shop Now’ could be in higher contrast with the rest of the image. Although the entire image is a link buttons really ‘anchor’ the call to action. Embrace this.
3. Two deals feels confusing: It feels confusing to have the second link and mention of ’10% off’ at the bottom. 10% off what? On top of the 80%? On top of the already reduced prices? I think this detracts from the email and goal. The same goes for Cafepress groups. It’s not a bad idea to include this, but it’s quite unclear what it is, if I’m not already familiar!
4. A/B test popular searches: The popular searches is a quality and logical set of links to include here: it provides a shortcut to the items on sale. It would be interesting to A/B test this with specific images of products or, even better, with unique HTML / product listings per-user.

Site: CafePress

10. Mixbook

Thoughts

A long-form email, these can be tricky to get right. What I really like about Mixbook’s campaign is that the template is very clear and structured and the call to action is obvious. THe big ’30% off everything’ is excellent and each of the sections clearly outlines a different product to which you can apply this offer.
The ‘gift guide’ concept is actually helpful and a great reason to use the long format. Plus there are people’s faces EVERYWHERE. This is fantastic. The use of urgency with ’5 days only’ is also clear, having used big font, though perhaps it could be a more legible color.

Testing Ideas

1. More obvious individual calls to action: The little arrows next to each product in the gift guide could be bigger, to encourage click throughs.
2. CTA text: “Get Started Now” is quite clear but could perhaps be clearer and focus more on the benefits: “Get your Mom something great” or “Make your Mom’s Day” for example.
3. Test the subject: I wonder if a subject with a higher focus on the benefits would work more effecitvely. Similar to the CTA, focus on ‘Get your Mom something awesome this Mother’s Day’ might work better than focusing on the included gift guide with ‘Mother’s Day Gift Guide’ which is a ‘feature based’.

Site: Mixbook

What do you think?

What would you test on these campaigns? What do you love?
Reviewing the work of others’ email marketing campaigns gives lots of great ideas for testing your own so always be on the lookout!

•  

• Facebook launches Twitter-like 'reshare' feature with new 'FB Paper' app

  Friday, January 31, 2014 - 11:20 IST | Agency: ANI
   

Facebook has reportedly introduced a Twitter-like feature that would allow users to share a particular post again with friends and followers.

Similar to the 'retweet' feature, Facebook's 'reshare' button has been rolled out with the social networking giant's new app that is part news feed and part news reader, dubbed 'Paper.
According to The Verge, the 'reshare' button is placed at the bottom of any post inside Paper and users can tap an arrow symbol to bring up a Share dialogue and tap on 'reshare' to share the post again.
The feature is similar to the 'Share on your own Timeline' option on Facebook's website and the 'Share Now' option in Facebook's mobile apps, but is different because of its one-tap simplicity and its use of the familiar retweet symbol.
Facebook has been borrowing ideas from rival Twitter for tweaking its own site like launching 'hashtag' and 'Trending Topics' feature.
The company said that it has 'no current plans' to roll out the 'reshare' feature on all platforms yet.