September 13, 2024
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This Week's Top Marketing News

How to Let Customers Know About a Price Increase (Without Losing Them)

It’s no secret that the cost of doing business is increasing, and you’ve finally had to bite the bullet and pass along the price increases to your customers.

The key is communicating the increase effectively while maintaining customer trust.

Here are some tips to help you raise prices without losing customers:

• Be transparent: Explain why the price increase is necessary, such as rising operational costs or enhanced services.
• Give advance notice: Let your customers know ahead of time, giving them space to adjust or plan.
• Highlight added value: Emphasize the improvements, upgrades, or benefits your product or service offers that justify the higher price.
• Offer options: Consider providing different pricing tiers or discounts for long-term clients.
• Thank your customers: Acknowledge their loyalty and express gratitude for their continued support.
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Fish Food

Transparency and authenticity are key when communicating changes like price increases. HubSpot’s article includes templates to help you strike the right tone and real-life examples from other companies. Use these resources to guide your communication, to maintain trust while highlighting the value your business provides. Remember, clear communication and a customer-centric approach will go a long way in retaining loyalty.

How Smokey Bear Comes to Life Online

Contrary to the popular song, it’s “Smokey Bear,” not “Smokey the Bear.” For over 15 years, Michael Bellavia and his team have managed Smokey’s social media, keeping the wildfire prevention icon relevant across platforms like Instagram and Facebook. Smokey’s social media presence has embraced viral trends, with one video reaching nearly 100,000 likes. Bellavia’s approach mixes modern slang with Smokey’s classic message, so he can remain approachable without being out of touch. Consider engaging with your followers by showing up unexpectedly in comments where relevant to build a more authentic connection with your audience.

The Psychology Of Choice Closure

The psychology of choice closure refers to the feeling of satisfaction and confidence that comes when a decision is finalized, especially through a physical or symbolic act of closure. We can use this in our marketing to improve the post-purchase experience for customers. Here are some practical ideas:

• Create distinct experiences: Use different colors before and after the purchase to signify a transition, while staying on brand.
• Engage with buyers: Ask post-purchase questions to make customers feel like they’ve entered a new phase with your product.
• Change communication: Consider sending post-purchase messages from a different sender or offering exclusive access to create a sense of being an insider.
• Visualize the experience: Help customers imagine life after their purchase through imagery and messaging.
• Update CTAs: Use calls to action that reflect a transition, like changing “Buy Now” to “Welcome to the Club.”

By making buyers feel they’ve closed the door on their decision and entered a new experience, you can enhance their satisfaction and loyalty.

Australia Plans Minimum Age For Social Media Use

Australia becomes the first country to consider legislation that would limit social media use to children until they reach a certain age. The move aims to address the mental and physical health of children and is first being explored through a trial. At the moment, the age restriction appears to be somewhere between 14 - 16 years old.

Improve Your Email Click-Through Rate With These 14 Simple Tweaks

Improving your email click-through rate (CTR) is crucial for driving action and boosting your return on investment. While open rates matter, CTR is where the real impact happens—turning opens into clicks and, ultimately, sales. Here are some key tips to increase your CTR:

• Design for simplicity: Use a single-column layout that's clean and consistent with your brand.
• Focus on your goal: Each email should have one clear goal and a strong call-to-action (CTA). Use HTML buttons to make CTAs stand out, even with images disabled.
• Optimize for mobile: With nearly half of users opening emails on smartphones, responsive design and compressed images are a must.
• Create urgency: Use limited-time offers or scarcity to compel immediate action.
• Include social sharing and a postscript: Social links encourage further brand engagement, and a P.S. can reinforce your message one more time.
• Test and optimize: A/B test email designs and try different send times to find what works best for your audience.

These small adjustments can help raise your CTR above the 2.62% average and hopefully turn more clicks into conversions.
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Fish Food

Improving your email click-through rate doesn’t require a complete overhaul—just a few strategic tweaks can make a big difference. By focusing on clear goals, mobile optimization, and testing what works best for your audience, you’ll see more engagement and better results from your campaigns. Remember, the goal isn’t just to get your emails opened; it’s to drive meaningful action.

8 Ways To Ensure That Your Content Is Accessible

You’ve published your website, but is it accessible to your users? Here are a few tips to reach a wider audience and stay compliant with accessibility laws. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines emphasize four principles: operable, perceivable, robust, and understandable. To make your content more accessible, try these tips: optimize title tags and headings, use descriptive alt text for images, create accessible tables, and add a public sitemap. Don’t forget to use free tools like Accessibility Checker or Google Lighthouse to assess and improve your site’s accessibility regularly.

How To Grow Your Email List By 75 People a Week Through LinkedIn

We aren’t going to be so bold and throw out guarantees like “you will grow your email list by 75 people every week”, but it’s a great way to get started! Your email list is one of the best ways you can own your marketing. No one else controls the list - you do. Having an email list gives you control and access to your customers. You can build stronger relationships than a social audience - since you're not at the mercy of an algorithm which can lead to more engagement and conversions for your business. Start by creating a simple guide or offer where you can help solve a problem. Build a signup page for your offer. Then, add your offer to your LinkedIn profile. Once the potential lead opts in, start nurturing your list by sending them valuable content.

Future of AI in Content Marketing: Key Trends and 7 Predictions

AI is reshaping how business create their content marketing offering new ways to connect with their audiences. From generative AI to predictive analytics, hyper-personalization, and enhanced customer experiences, the possibilities are endless. The best way to leverage AI in your content marketing is to feed it the best prompts and current content so it begins to understand your voice.

Here are 7 trends on the horizon for AI and content marketing:

1. Media Democratization - Self-publishing platforms coupled with the use of social media for content distribution have leveled the playing field allowing smaller brands with limited budgets to compete with larger brands in the content marketing space.
2. Raising the Bar in Content Generation - AI has led to a huge increase in the amount of content published making it more important than ever to focus on quality content creation to stand out in a saturated market.
3. Generative AI Will Take Over Some SEO Traffic - The addition of Generative AI results in the SERPs will have an impact on organic traffic. This highlights the importance of quality content and a strategy that expands beyond simply targeting keywords.
4. AR/VR Support in Marketing - Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) provide unique opportunities to brands that can find a way to connect to audiences adopting these technologies.
5. The Rise of Chatbots and Social Bots - Streamlining redundant tasks and customer interactions can be leveraged using AI technology with chatbots and social bots that communicate to customers by teaching the machines how to act like you.
6. Mobile Content is King - Deliver hyper-personalized experiences to users by analyzing their behaviors. This allows you to put the right message in front of them at the right time.
7. Changing Job Roles in Marketing - Routine tasks like data analysis, creating basic content, and organizing customers by segments will be automated by AI allowing marketers more time for strategy and creativity.
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Fish Food

As AI continues to evolve, marketers and business owners must focus on creating high-quality, personalized content that stands out in a saturated market. AI will start to help with brainstorming and handling repetitive tasks, leaving business owners free to build stronger relationships with their customers.

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