About Abigail_S

We all know technology has taken over in just about every aspect of our lives. I'm curious what you have seen be the biggest leader directly or indirectly impacting the Retail & Ecommerce industry.    First thing that comes to my mind is how companies are leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) to personalize a unique shopping experience for a customer. AI can learn all the ins and outs of what a customer is searching for, clicking on, and personalizing their shopping carts. Do you have time for a quick read? Check out this Linkedin article that dives into the future of technology for Ecommerce.    And, if you haven't already, be sure to check out our integrations at Constant Contact like Squarespace and Shopify to leverage technology and make for a more seamless experience for you and your customers.  ... View more

Everyone has a passion, a story, and a journey of how they ended up where they are now. I'm curious about your stories and how you got involved in the nonprofit world. What lead you down this path? Who helped you along the way? What continues to inspire you to stay in this industry?    Let's share our stories below!  ... View more

Customers have been asking what kind of content should they include in their company newsletter. Some things I love to see in newsletters is a monthly recap, promotions, images, and any events that the business might be hosting in the coming season. What are some content ideas you put in your newsletter to capture what you've been doing as a business and what you are looking to promote?    ... View more

Happy Monday! Have you heard there’s a couple new Event features that’ll make registering for your event even easier?   Event capacity setting: Set a capacity limit for your event to manage the number of tickets you distribute. Once this limit is reached, ticket sales will be halted and registration will close.       Customize how tickets, add-ons, and contact information are labeled: When selecting tickets, add-ons, or registration fields you can alter their default title to fit the type of event you’re organizing.       So what does this mean for you? If you have multiple ticket types for your event (e.g. general admission, VIP, Kids 12 & Under) you can set a general limit so regardless of how many of each ticket type is purchased, once that limit is reached it will close registration for all types.   Or, when editing the titles for tickets, add-ons, or registration fields you could call tickets “Workshop Sessions” or add-on could be called “Available Upgrades.” Instead of contact information, it could be called “Volunteer Information.”   To learn more about how to create add-ons to an event, visit our Knowledge Base article. ... View more

 What is social media marketing?   Social media platforms provide a powerful means for people to connect and share. By actively engaging on these platforms, your company can effectively raise brand awareness, foster relationships with your audience, enhance customer service, drive sales, and accomplish various other business objectives.   How do you get started with social media marketing?   Before you get started with social media marketing, it’s important to choose the right channel for your business or organization. You can do this by understanding your target audience and then developing a strategy that aligns with your broader marketing goals.   Once you have selected a platform, it’s time to set up your page and make sure it is optimized with your branding, current contact information, business hours, and keywords. Next, connect your platform to your Constant Contact account to start creating and scheduling content! Remember to use a content calendar – this worksheet is a great place to start. Let us know any questions in the comments!   What are the benefits of social media marketing?   It's important to understand how social media marketing can benefit your business. The first step in gaining more customers is making sure they know about your brand.    Social media is a great way to spread the word, grow your brand awareness, and show people what makes your company unique. Continue to market your business on social media and take advantage of all the benefits:   Gain better insights into your target audience – Social media platforms collect data on users, so you can see which demographics are interested in your posts. You can also interact with your audience and learn more about what they care about and like to see. Provide customer service – Customers expect businesses to be available on social media, so you can provide customer service through platforms like Facebook Messenger and Instagram direct message. You can also use social media automation to be available to your customers even when you're not online. Drive traffic to your website or landing page – While not every social media post should be about sales, you can always encourage your followers to click on links that lead to your website. You can share product information, helpful tips, and snippets of your blog content to drive traffic to your site. Rank higher on search engines – By integrating keywords into your social media profiles, you can improve your ranking on search engines like Google. This is important for both your website and your social media presence. Increase sales – As you raise awareness of your brand and drive more social media users to your website, you increase your chances of making sales and gaining loyal customers. You can track your sales conversions by creating landing pages for specific campaigns and monitoring them through Google Analytics. Improve cost-effectiveness – Organic marketing on social media is free, so you don't have to pay for what you post on your business pages. However, you can also invest in paid social media marketing, which involves purchasing ads on the platform. When you target your audience effectively, paid ads can have a good return on investment.   Once you get started, how do you define your goals?    The first step in measuring social media effectiveness is to establish clear goals. When you define your goals, it will help you determine the metrics you need to track. Think about what you are trying to achieve with your social media marketing. Do you want to increase brand visibility, drive website traffic, generate leads, or boost sales?    When setting these goals, it's important to make them SMART. They should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.   For example, if you want to increase your social media following by 10% within the next quarter, set a specific time frame and track the success of your social media campaign using data directly related to that goal. To achieve this, you could run a social media contest on Instagram. This will help increase your reach and attract new followers, ultimately helping you reach your goal.   📣 Have you tried out Campaign Builder yet? Build a multi-channel campaign, including social media marketing, in a matter of moments!   Try focusing on one or two major goals at a time, this way you’ll be able to tackle multiple different efforts. Once you learn how to incorporate your goals into your overall marketing plan, you can break them down into actionable steps or measurable objectives that are specifically aimed at achieving those goals.   Social media marketing is an effective way for businesses to reach new people and build strong relationships with their customers. Social media is always changing and evolving, which can make it tricky for business owners to figure out how to use it to their advantage. But with a smart strategy, you can find success with social media marketing.   Have you run any social media campaigns in the past? Tell us about your experience in the comments and share your wisdom with your fellow community members! ... View more

Which social media platform is right for me? When deciding which platform to use, it's important to consider your industry, available resources, and goals. You don't need to be present on every social media channel, so take the time to evaluate these factors and tailor your strategy to each platform.   As you develop your social media expertise, you may discover more about your audience or recognize opportunities on other platforms. Play around with what works best for your business and customers.   How do I connect my social media accounts to Constant Contact?     Facebook:   With nearly 2.5 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the largest platform and ideal for businesses aiming to increase brand awareness, generate leads, or retarget engaged audiences. It offers a significant return on investment.   To set up your Facebook Page and connect it to Constant Contact, you must connect a Facebook profile to it. You can create multiple Facebook Pages, so when you're ready to create a post, you can choose the pages you want to share to. Keep in mind that Facebook and Instagram do not allow posts to personal profiles through third-party apps.   Instagram:   Similar to Facebook, Instagram is popular among a younger audience and provides more opportunities for organic engagement through features like the discover page, hashtags, and location tools. It's great for industries like food, travel, and museums, and a great place to effectively utilize influencer marketing.   Our social tools connect to your Instagram Business Profile that is linked to your corresponding Facebook account. Once your Facebook and Instagram accounts are connected, you can easily manage your posts through your Meta Business account and create and share posts.   LinkedIn:   If you're a B2B company or in the luxury goods and services or technical sectors, LinkedIn is a must-have platform in your social media strategy. It caters to a professional audience and offers great opportunities for networking and industry-specific content.   Each LinkedIn account can have one personal profile page and multiple Company Pages can be associated with it. Once your LinkedIn account is connected, you can create and share posts. What are some best practices for social media marketing?     Optimize your profiles - Ensure your social media profiles have accurate and up-to-date information about your business. Use relevant keywords to improve search visibility. Share high-quality content - Post interesting and relevant content that aligns with your brand voice. Use good lighting and sound quality for visuals. Consider using Constant Contact's AI content generator for tailored captions. Maintain consistency - Stay top-of-mind by posting regularly and consistently. Plan your posts in advance using a content calendar and schedule them in Constant Contact. Take advantage of important dates and holidays for inspiration. Engage with your audience - Interact with your followers by asking questions and responding to their comments. Use social media as a platform to build meaningful relationships with your customers. Establish guidelines for staff responding on behalf of the company, such as templated responses for common questions or providing contact information for support inquiries. How often should I post?   Determining how often to post on social media can be challenging, but here are some factors to consider:   Audience size - If you have over 10,000 friends or followers, you can post more frequently to increase visibility. For smaller audiences, posting at least three times a week up to once a day is sufficient. Time of day - Post when your audience is active, but also consider your availability to respond. For example, LinkedIn users are active during traditional business hours. Content variation - If your posts cover diverse topics, you can post more frequently. If you repeat the same content, fewer posts are needed. Ensure well-timed posts and vary the wording to maintain reader interest. Engagement - Pay attention to how engaged your audience is. For a smaller group of vocal supporters, post less frequently but engage more in comments. For larger audiences with lower engagement, increase posting frequency and engage when possible. Check your reporting to gauge audience reactions. Sense of urgency - If you have time-sensitive events or need immediate audience response, post more frequently. However, avoid constant urgency to create a meaningful response from your friends and followers. Remember, finding the right posting frequency is a process of trial and error. Regularly assess your audience's response and adjust accordingly.   What should I post on social media?   There are lots of creative ways to engage your audience on social media! Here are some ideas:   Showcase customer feedback by sharing testimonials and positive reviews. Promote your events. For more information on promoting your events on social media, check out this article. Share discounts, freebies, or other promotional offers with your followers. Feature holidays that will resonate with your audience. Provide tips and tricks about your area of expertise. Host giveaways to help grow your list and encourage social media engagements.   📣 Check out our Own the Social Sphere guide. By following these best practices, you can optimize your social media marketing efforts and effectively engage with your audience. Use this free worksheet to help you plan your marketing calendar. ... View more

To transition from relying solely on email, it is crucial to leverage the power of social media. In today's business world, social media has become an essential tool. Prominent platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn offer great opportunities. Social media and email marketing are highly compatible and can work together synergistically. Integrating social media with your other marketing channels, including email marketing, unlocks its true potential. According to a Constant Contact survey, small businesses that promote their business with multiple social channels in conjunction with email reported increases in key metrics:   Customer engagement - 73% New customers - 57% Website traffic - 54% Revenue - 40% Referrals - 39%   If you’re ready to jump into the social media pool, start with sharing your already completed and sent email campaign on your social channels!   How to share an email campaign on social media     After creating and sending your email to your contacts, you can extend your reach by sharing it on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. The post will include the URL for your email by default. You can use the image that is automatically pulled into the post through the link preview, or choose a different image from your library. Give your friends and followers some time to interact with the post, and then check the reporting to see how well it's performing. Don't forget to respond to comments and answer questions to engage with your audience!   📣 Have you tried out Campaign Builder yet? Build a multi-channel campaign, including social media marketing, in a matter of moments!   You don’t have to just share your email campaigns, though. We also have a robust social post tool so you can create, schedule, and monitor your social media activity.   How to use the social post tool in Constant Contact     We’ve made it so you can easily manage your social media channels, create and monitor posts, and respond to comments all in one place. You can create and schedule social media posts that include images, videos, emojis, and hashtags. Once your post is ready, you can share it across all your social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.   Tips for planning the timing and frequency of sharing emails and posts on social media   Whether you're sharing an email or just reaching out to engage with your existing audience, it can be daunting to figure out how long to share information or how often to post on social media. There's no one-size-fits-all approach, but there are lots of factors that can help you determine your strategy:   Size of Your Audience - If you have over 10,000 friends or followers, you can post more often to increase the chance that more people in your audience see it. If you have a smaller audience, posting at least three times a week, up to once a day is plenty. Time of Day - You want to post when your audience is around to see it, but you also want to be able to respond, too! For example, LinkedIn is a networking site for business professionals and they typically visit during traditional business hours. Content Variation - If your posts have lots of different topics you can post more frequently. If you're posting about the same thing over and over, you don't need as many posts to get your point across. If you do post frequently, make sure your posts are well timed to reach your audience and change up the wording a little bit so readers won't skip it because they recognize the content. Engagement of Your Audience - All of your social media connections stand a chance of seeing your post in their feed, but the ones that are most engaged with you will visit your page and look at your posts. If you have a smaller group of vocal supporters and don't hear from anyone else, you can post less, but engage in the comments more. If your audience is larger and they don't engage that frequently, you can post a little more and engage in the comments when you see them. Sense of Urgency - Are you trying to fill seats at an event or need information from your audience on a deadline? You can reflect this with more frequent posts. If you refrain from doing this all the time, it creates a sense of urgency that your friends and followers can respond to.   Over time, you'll get a better feel for what works with your particular audience on each social media platform. And don't forget - the number of times you post is only part of the equation! Make sure you're also checking your posts at least once a day to engage with anyone who has left comments and likes.   📣 You can also create a social post from the Constant Contact mobile app!   After your post goes live, check the reporting to see how it's performing. You can also respond to comments on Facebook or Instagram to stay engaged in the conversation.    When creating posts, you have the option to focus on a specific social platform. It is not necessary to post on all platforms every time. You can choose to post the same content to all platforms or create variations between your posts.    Use the scheduling feature to create multiple posts and schedule them according to your content calendar or social media marketing plan.   📣 Make sure to optimize your images for Social Posts.   By following these steps, you can effectively share your emails on social media and utilize the social post tool in Constant Contact to streamline your social media marketing efforts. ... View more

You don't have to rely on friends and followers to spread the word on social media. Advertising helps you reach the right audience and find new customers. Creating a Facebook Lead Ad, for example, targets new leads based on location, interests, or similarities to your existing contacts. Ads on Facebook and Instagram drive traffic to your website by targeting specific audiences.    If you're looking to reach a younger audience (ages 18 - 29), Instagram will probably be your best bet. Create image-focused content that is fit to inspire! Depending on your business, you can target:   Travel Health Beauty Fitness Fashion Art, or Photography lovers   Instagram users love to be influenced!   If you want to reach an older audience (ages 25 - 64) or are trying to reach an international audience, use Facebook to create entertaining content that you want to be discussed. Facebook users are looking for informative and compelling content, such as:   News updates Informative articles Personal stories Motivational messages Thought-provoking questions   Facebook might not be as visual content-focused, but it doesn’t hurt to include eye-catching images to draw attention.   Create a Facebook & Instagram Ad   Facebook and Instagram ads are fully customizable for your intended audience, and you can target your ad to the demographics that make the most sense for your organization, or to an audience that looks like your current contact list.     Keep in mind, activating your ad doesn't make it go live on Facebook and Instagram right away—it first goes through Facebook's ad review process to make sure it meets their content policy. If you're using a Lookalike Audience, you don't have to wait for your audience to finish processing to click the Activate button. Your ad won't be seen until Facebook has finished compiling your Lookalike Audience. Your ad is then automatically activated for you.     You can check the status of a scheduled ad with a Facebook Lookalike Audience through the Details page for your ad. After your ad goes live, give it a little time and then check your reporting. Your reporting shows you how many times Facebook users have been presented with your ad, how many have clicked on it, and the cost of each click based on the budget and time frame for your ad.   Create a Lead Ad for Facebook and Instagram   When Facebook or Instagram users click on your ad, they're presented with a sign-up form that's pre-filled with contact information that they've publicly shared on Facebook and Instagram. New sign-ups are added to your "Facebook Lead Ads" list, and you can further engage them with targeted content.     View results from Lead Ads   Once you've published a Facebook or Instagram ad, it's time to see how your ad is doing. Your results can help you understand if you're targeting the right audience for your organization, and if you're spending the right amount to attract new visitors to your webpage.   Make sure to check back often over the course of your active ad to see how it's performing and make edits to your ad content, budget, audience, or schedule as necessary. When you find a successful combination that works well for you, use the information to create a new ad.   The general Reporting statistics for your ad show you how many times your ad has been displayed to Facebook and Instagram users, how many times people in that group clicked on your ad, and how much it cost you to get those clicks.   Click Reporting to see a breakdown of your results calculated by Facebook. The Performance section shows you:   Impressions - The number of times an ad is viewed by Facebook and Instagram users through their desktop or mobile feeds. Clicks - The total number of clicks the ad receives, including multiple clicks on your ad from the same Facebook or Instagram user. Click-through Rate - The total number of clicks from unique Facebook and Instagram users. If a single user clicks on an ad more than once, he is only counted once. Cost Per Click - The total is based on the dollar amount you've spent so far divided by your total number of clicks. The amount can change over time as more of your budget is spent and as your clicks increase. Daily Activity -  Shows you how the impressions, clicks, and cost per click, how much you spend, and ad activity change over the course of the ad's life. Activity is marked on the date that you make any changes to your ad's content, budget, schedule, or audience while the ad is running, so that you can see how the changes impact your ad's performance. Audience Statistics - Gives you information about how your ad is performing based on the gender, age, location, and interests of the people who are viewing and then interacting with your ad. Interest -  Shows you how many leads you generated from people based on the interests you chose when you created the ad. You can edit your interests to add new interests or remove those that aren't performing as well. You can also download your stats. This section doesn't appear for every ad - if the people who are clicking your ad don't share their interests publicly on Facebook, the data won't be available from Facebook to share.   Ultimately, utilizing advertising on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram can greatly enhance your reach and help you find new customers.   Have you run ads on social media? What has worked for you? Let us know in the comments! ... View more

When it comes to social media, measuring success is key to understanding the impact of your efforts. In this ever-evolving digital landscape, monitoring and analyzing these metrics are crucial for making informed decisions and optimizing your campaigns.   What are engagements?   Engagements are a key indicator of how well your social media content is resonating with your audience. They include likes, comments, and shares and they provide valuable insights into audience interest and interaction with your content.   Get a sense of how your social posts are performing on Facebook or Instagram by viewing your overall reach and engagement activity for individual posts. The more you use social media, the more your audience and engagement grows.    After you've created and shared a post on Facebook or Instagram, you can check your reporting to see how your post is performing, and see how your social reach and engagement are growing too! Engagement metrics consist of:   Impressions - Each time an individual Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn user sees your post, it's counted as an impression.  Reach - This is the total number of unique people who have seen your post, including your immediate audience and anyone they've shared it with. Reach information isn't available for LinkedIn. Engagements - The number of times Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn users have liked or reacted to your post, shared your post with their friends and followers, or commented on your post. Likes – Likes indicate that your followers are paying attention to your posts. Likes can help you gauge the level of interest and engagement your content is generating. Comments – Comments are a significant form of engagement as they represent conversations and interactions with your audience. They provide an opportunity for followers to voice their opinions, ask questions, or participate in contests. Engaging with your audience through comments helps build relationships and strengthen your brand. Shares – Social shares are like backlinks to your website. They create a network of links that direct traffic back to your business. The more people who share your content, the more visibility and reach it gains. Shares indicate that your audience finds your content valuable enough to share with others, expanding your reach and potential customer base.   Monitoring the conversations that happen on your social media pages and responding to comments helps your engagement and reach to improve. You can respond to comments on Facebook and Instagram directly through your Constant Contact account!     Which tools should you use to track metrics?   Social media marketing offers convenient monitoring and tracking tools on each platform. Regularly check the insights on your business page and utilize the reporting tools in your Constant Contact account to gauge your desired engagement.   Measuring social media success is vital for modern businesses. Use the right metrics and tools to gain insights into your online presence, audience engagement, and brand performance. Remember, success goes beyond numbers and likes; it's about building connections, fostering loyalty, and driving growth.   Review your social analytics   You can view and download an overview of your social reach, audience growth, demographic, and location information for the last 7, 30, or 90 days for your connected social profiles. Your social analytics can help you better understand your audience to inform your social media marketing strategy.   Check your audience growth   Within Constant Contact, the Summary and Audience sections in the Analytics section show you the size of your audience, your reach, and the growth of your audience over time, so that you can see how well your social posts are helping to retain and grow your audience.   The Summary section:   Reach - The total number of unique people who have seen your social posts, including your immediate audience and anyone they've shared it with. Audience - The total number of people who actively like, follow, or connect with your social profiles. Audience Growth - The percentage increase, and sometimes decrease, in the number of friends, followers, and connections that each of your social profiles has during the given timeframe.   The Audience section:   Review your followers over time for each social media platform. (You can add and remove social profiles in the Analytics section and refresh the timeframe in the Summary section above.) You can download the data from this section as a PNG, JPG, SVG, PDF, or CSV file of your report.   Check your audience demographics   The Demographics Gender and Age and Top Locations section round out the picture of what your audience looks like. You can use the information to draft social posts that will have more meaning for the largest portion of your audience.   Gender - This shows you the makeup of your audience by gender. Age - This gives you a breakdown of the different age groups within your audience and also shows you how age corresponds to gender. Note: This feature is only available for Instagram users with 100+ followers.    Scroll down to the Top Locations section and review:   By Map - This shows you where your audience is physically located. Use the + and - to zoom in and out of the map. Click See United States or See World to refocus the map. By City - This shows you a list of all the cities, from greatest population to least, where your audience can be found. Click Show more to review the full list. By Country - This shows you a list of all the countries, from greatest population to least, where your audience can be found. Click Show more to review the full list.   Different demographics matter to different businesses and organizations. We’d love to hear from you! What demographics matter to your marketing efforts? Let us know in the comments! ... View more

I am looking to jazz up my salutations and really engage with my customers. What are some of the best email salutations to use that are professional and fun?  ... View more

I am trying to determine what the best tools are for learning about what customers are saying online! ... View more

You guys are the experts! Has anyone ever approached you and asked how you started a nonprofit? What's the best advice you ever received before starting? What can you share to those who are thinking about starting a nonprofit?    The best advice I ever received before starting my career was to always be authentically myself, learn how to self-advocate, and do what I do best because I already have the tools to do so!    So, what advice would you give to someone who is considering starting their own nonprofit organization? ... View more

Let's talk numbers!    Personally, data can be a little daunting, but in retrospect, it's incredibly helpful in defining business needs. Data and analytics can help you with your goals of increasing profit and reducing costs. It can also help build your customer retention, manage your sales, and let you see the bigger picture for all things related to your business.     Now that we know the importance of numbers, what are some ways you use data and analytics to effectively run your business?  ... View more

  Whether you’re a small business owner or a frequent customer, we all know how small businesses impact our communities. At Constant Contact, we recognize the unwavering dedication, resilience, and bravery it takes to carve out a unique identity as a small business.    In the spirit of spreading love and appreciation, we invite you to join us in sharing your favorite small businesses. We encourage you to recount a story that captures the essence of what makes these businesses truly exceptional. By doing so, we can collectively shine a spotlight on their remarkable qualities and admire their grit and hardworking spirit.  ... View more

My top three goals for this week are: Write and edit 6 articles Do an article audit Spend some quality time outside What are your top 3 goals for the week? They can be work related or some goals you want to achieve in your personal life!   If you're feeling stuck, check out this thread for some ideas. ... View more