In today’s world, people can find a business in the blink of an eye. With so many competing — yet similar — products and services to choose from, your brand allows you to stand out from the crowd. With the right tools, you can bring your brand to life and set your business up to get online, get found, and get business.
We recently hosted a webinar where we discussed how to bring your brand online and stand out in a busy online world. A few highlights from the webinar included:
The basics to set your brand up for success
How to get found & manage brand awareness
How to drive business and build relationships
In this post, you can watch the webinar in its entirety and read some of the questions asked by our attendees. Interested in our free, future webinars? Sign up here to stay informed!
Can you talk more about Constant Contact's social media tools?
Social media is a huge part of many businesses’ online marketing strategies. We’ve introduced so many features that it’s hard to keep track of them all! Thankfully, we have a Knowledge Base article that highlights how to use social media with Constant Contact.
Google Ads were mentioned a few times. What is the cost of that service and how do I set one up? Any best practices?
Google Ad payments are not processed by Constant Contact but you can choose how much you are willing to spend while creating an ad. There are certainly ways to optimize your content so it has the most impact on the search results. Make sure you’re following these best practices for Google Ads.
You mentioned that I should only do five hashtags on Instagram when creating a post? The maximum number of hashtags is 30 per post. By limiting them, aren't we limiting visibility on social media?
Yes, you are limiting your views but you're reducing the potential your hashtags will get flagged by others. If you get multiple flags, your content may get removed or fall further down from the main view. Choose the most relevant tags for your business and post. With anything you want to test and analyze and then test again and reassess to see what works best for you. There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to marketing, especially on social media.
Can a business Facebook page follow personal accounts?
No, as a Facebook page is meant to represent your business, brand, and product. Your page lets you share information with the public so you can manage and track your engagement. Depending on personal accounts’ privacy settings, you may be able to engage with their posts.
Why should a company not post the same content across all social media channels?
Each social media channel has a different type of user looking at that content so your voice should reflect those different social media channels. You can have the same content but adjust the verbiage to better represent and fit the channel you are sharing on.
Why should we have a website if we already have a social media presence?
This is covered a little more detail in our webinar (click here for the exact timestamp) but in general, social media algorithms are changing all the time and the information you share may get lost in a timeline or become difficult to search for. A well-designed website that highlights your products or services can effectively promote your brand to customers without them having to resort to scrolling through multiple posts.
Online Marketing
Do you have any marketing tips for my business? Like emails and growing our subscribers and interactions, etc.
The Download is full of tips and hints that any business or nonprofits can use for online marketing. We also have specific industry guides for nonprofits, real estate, and retail stores. Keep an eye out for more in the future.
How do I reply to a negative review?
This blog post may help when dealing with negative reviews. Keep in mind that your response is telling a customer that you listened to their issues and you want to make the experience better for them. It also shows potential customers that you truly care.
Is there a cost to have Constant Contact help build an online shopping page since we do not have one on our website?
Our Support team is happy to assist with the creation of a shoppable landing page but we do not offer any paid service at this time around building either a website or landing page.
Who in an organization is the best person to claim a listing? Would it be my marketing team?
The best person to claim a listing would be the group responsible for keeping your listing information updated, whether it be marketing or another team.
Email Marketing
What is a “master template”? Is this a paid service?
A master template is a draft branded to match your business with your colors, logo, and website/social media links. When you are ready to send an email, you copy the template and fill in your content, saving you time as you do not need to create the email from scratch every time.
Does Constant Contact provide transactional emails? I've looked but I'm not sure if I just overlooked it.
There are a few types of transactional emails that are automatically generated through our system. Our Shopify integration includes the ability to send an abandoned cart reminder email to customers.
What is the ideal amount of emails that a business or organization should send per week or per month?
Each industry and company will have different needs, so knowing your audience is important. Generally, you only need to send out once or twice a month. This will help to have good, relevant content that is fresh. You can send out more if it makes sense or if you have special events or promotions occurring. The idea is to have your contacts take action, so your email should be short and informative, easy to read and with a clear, concise call-to-action.
For someone who has a very small amount of contacts, what's the best way to grow my list?
I work for a business that doesn’t give promotions or discounts. How do you get people to sign up for your email list?
Offering great content that would be important for others to read who frequent your business or organization. Be informative in your emails and offer a special guide that you create on something you feel others would like to receive.
If your business is multi-faceted, offering multiple newsletters, etc., what is the best way to allow your audience to pick & choose which types of emails they'd like to sign up for?
Should we consider using a different email address to avoid recipients classifying my personal email as spam?
Yes, a best practice for From email addresses is to use an email address from your own domain rather than a free address, such as Gmail or Yahoo. Using your own domain helps improve your sending reputation not to mention makes you look more professional.
Other
I really like the advice that the Marketing Advisor gave during the webinar. Can they help me?
Absolutely! Your Marketing Advisor will help you in many areas like email marketing best practices, website optimization, working with social media, and doing marketing ads both for Google and social media. They're here to help you put together your marketing plans with that dedicated expert on a monthly basis.
Use Sections to Build Email Campaigns Faster and Improve Engagement Rates
Using Sections while designing your marketing email not only increases your own efficiency but helps you to deliver a more friendly, organized message. Check out some of the key benefits of using sections in email.
