Content Marketing Archives - Act-On

How Many CTAs Should I Use?

Act-On — Tue, 03 Oct 2023 07:00:00 +0000

How many CTAs should I use? It’s a simple question that reveals some sticky issues in your approach to marketing. Should you include multiple and frequent calls-to-action (CTA) on a web page? What about in an email? Should you use more CTAs in some channels than others? It’s one of the oldest and most heavily disputed questions in digital marketing. But, first things first.

What is a CTA?

A call-to-action (commonly abbreviated to “CTA”) is a prompt to continue your journey as a customer. In B2C marketing, common CTAs include language like “Buy Now” and “Create Your Account.” In B2B, where the sales cycle is usually considerably longer, CTAs usually reflect the prospect’s position in the funnel. The purpose is to move them to the next stage of their journey. In either case, the goal is always to drive the audience to take up your call to action and do just that: act!

Common CTA Examples

Some of the most popular CTAs, mapped to the stages of the sales funnel, include:

Awareness: Learn More
Consideration: Download Your eBook
Decision: Book a Demo
Retention: Become a Rewards Member
Advocacy: Tell Us What You Think

Getting back to our initial question: The truth is, it’s not as simple as asking “How many CTAs should I use?” It’s more helpful to look at each channel individually. Let’s break down a few CTA best practices by marketing channel!

^{In the dead of night marketers ask themselves eternal questions like: How many CTAs should I use?}

How Many CTAs on a Landing Page?

Typically landing pages contain 1-3 CTAs. However, different pages have different objectives, so let’s start with the homepage and narrow down to the more granular pages.

Homepage CTAs

Your homepage will likely have between 3-5 CTAs because it often serves as your visitors’ initial introduction to your brand. Maybe these users want to learn a bit more about your products and services, so you should have an easy path to help them navigate to your most common and lucrative offerings. Or, they might not even be sure of what they’re actually looking for yet — customers at this point only know that they have a problem and have just started their search for a solution. These prospects might be interested in downloading an eBook or viewing a product overview video, so you should create a compelling CTA to get them to do so.

Then there’s the ultimate goal for any B2B marketer: the “Handraiser.” You’ll want to direct these hot prospects to complete a “Contact Us,” “Talk to an Expert,” or “Book a Demo” form on your homepage. This way, your sales team can follow-up directly (and, ideally, immediately) or at least push the lead back to marketing to be entered into a nurture campaign until they’re in a better position to discuss their needs and a potential purchase.

Product Page CTAs

Most product pages will have 1-3 CTAs because there are usually two types of visitors. On the one hand, you could have a prospective buyer who’s a little further down the sales cycle and ready to speak with a salesperson. You need to have a prominent call-to-action that gets these handraisers (see above) where they need to go.

On the other hand, as I’ll continue to stress throughout this blog, not every visitor is ready to make a purchase. In fact, some aren’t even close to doing so and have just begun the research phase of the customer journey. These people need content, not phone calls. So give them what they want in the form of an eBook, webinar, podcast, etc. and make sure that you have a strong CTA that clearly instructs them about what will happen and what they will receive if they click on your button.

Dedicated Landing Page CTAs

This one is a no-brainer and not really disputable in my mind. The purpose of a dedicated landing page is to get your audience to convert. That’s it. That’s all. So you do not want to confuse the issue by asking them to do more than one thing. Thus, these dedicated landing pages should only have a single CTA.

What’s more, you shouldn’t include any navigation on these dedicated landing pages. You’ve likely put in a lot of time, effort, and even money to get your users to arrive on this page, so why would you give them the option to go browse on your website for five minutes and then bounce? And since your landing page should be focused on a very specific conversion action that your users inherently asked for by clicking through to the page, your conversion rates on these pages should be significantly higher than other channels.

Support Page CTAs

Support pages will likely have 1-2 CTAs because your prospects will likely have several different questions that you might be able to answer without a phone call or through a chatbot. These pages are a great opportunity for you to present all your great content square in front of your audience.

For instance, if someone has a question about a specific product line, you could provide a link that allows them to download an ungated datasheet about that offering. Or if they’re not even sure how or why they might need your services, you could include a link to download a high-level thought leadership piece that is designed to educate prospects who are new to your industry.

How Many CTAs Should an Email Have?

Any discussion on the number of CTAs an email should begin and end with intentionality. Most emails contain 1-2 CTAs, but. What do you want to achieve with this email? Much like webpages, emails often serve different purposes, but there are still email call-to-action best practices to keep in mind.

A trigger-based email might thank a user for joining a webinar and then take that opportunity to place a single handraiser CTA button at the end of the copy inviting them to book a product demo. Alternatively, a lead nurturing email might have a primary CTA that asks the reader to download an infographic and then a secondary button to get them to schedule a call. As long as you’re motivating your users to take action and providing a tangible benefit if they do so, you’re probably on the right track.

Marketing Automation for Management Consulting

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How Many CTAs Should I Use in a Blog?

Blogs are a bit unique because they represent a golden opportunity to further educate your audience. Most blogs contain 1-2 CTAs. However, we recently updated our blog template to create more opportunities for additional content. In this new version, we have at least seven calls-to-action, although most of them are fairly obscure and benign to prevent distracting the reader.

On each blog page, we have:

4 pieces of recommended content in the sidebar
Newsletter subscription field in the sidebar
One piece of sticky content in the sidebar
And then the same piece of content that is in the stick is also placed as the primary CTA at the end of the blog

As I said, this is a new approach for us, so we don’t have a ton of data outlining our progress so far, but adding related and relevant content to blog pages is always a good idea. Think about it: you’ve already secured an interested audience, so why wouldn’t you want them to keep learning more about pertinent content that is both educational and presents your organization as a true thought leader in your space.

Furthermore, when you create awesome industry reports or are featured in an analyst report, you have to get this information in front of prospective buyers. And since blogs are often one of the leading traffic sources for organizations of all sizes, they can be a terrific place for subtle self-promotion as buyers move from the top of the funnel toward the middle. Blogs are meant to educate your audience and build brand awareness, so keep serving up awesome content, and you’ll keep moving them through the sales funnel.

^{Across industries, marketers find themselves asking, “How many CTAs should I use?”}

10 B2B Newsletter Ideas Your Audience Will Love

Act-On — Mon, 14 Aug 2023 22:09:36 +0000

We B2B marketers are notorious for hopping on the latest bandwagon (hello Threads, so long Clubhouse). But we also know how to hold onto a solid channel when we find it — like email marketing. Specifically, good old-fashioned newsletters. However, B2B newsletter ideas are tougher to dial in than most expect.

According to the Content Marketing Institute, nearly seven out of ten B2B marketers rely on newsletters to distribute their content.

That said, we don’t always make time to give our trusty workhorses the attention they deserve — and it’s a short leap from tried-and-true to tired-and-boring.

So we’ve compiled ten B2B newsletter ideas to get your content looking better than ever. (Spoiler alert: making a listicle is not one of them.)

Our first B2B newsletter content idea is all about organization and it’s a no-brainer. Adding a table of contents at the top of your newsletter lets your readers know what you’re covering “below the fold”, which helps them find their way to articles or links that might otherwise be buried or easily missed.

As a bonus, using a table of contents keeps you accountable for presenting an array of engaging, relevant content within your email. Writing that summary can be a helpful hint if your newsletter is getting stale — or if it’s a totally random mishmash of unrelated topics. (Not that we’ve ever seen B2B emails running into those issues…)

Here’s how marketing agency Foundation handles their table of contents: bullet points and emoji:

Mix up your content types and customer journey steps

Sometimes the hardest part of brainstorming B2B newsletter content ideas is figuring out which articles or links to include from your vast library of content. (Or maybe we’re just projecting.) Developing a “recipe” can help make that process less daunting.

Here at Act-On, our demand gen manager Kelsey Yen sends email marketing newsletters with the explicit goal of moving prospects along the marketing funnel. So she layers a few different tactics within each email to bring this to life:

Using a mix of content types, such as two blogs, one ebook, and one webinar per newsletter
Offering content within each stage of the buyer’s journey, so there’s something for everyone
Considering content priorities — what’s new, what needs to be promoted, and what’s seasonally relevant

This B2B newsletter content framework — mixing a certain number of content types and customer journey stages — automatically narrows down the content selection process. Three cheers for self-imposed constraints.

Kelsey also has a pro tip for her fellow demand gen marketers: select your content with lead scoring in mind. She hand-picks different pieces of content that will reveal the recipient’s purchase intent, such as a buying guide or demo message, to help move warmer leads closer to their SQL threshold.

Especially if you don’t have an extensive content library, curating third-party articles and videos is an easy way to beef up your content marketing newsletter.

No-code website builder Webflow handles their curation by including a “Cool things” section with links to external articles their primary audience — designers, creatives, and marketers — are likely to find interesting.

In the example on the right, they even manage to highlight their partner Flow Ninja by linking to their Twitter thread on generating inbound leads.

Answer a question of the week/month/etc.

Partner up with your customer success or sales team for this simple, three-step process. (In other words, delegate! Less content creation for you!)

Step 1: Regularly source a question that real customers or bottom-of-funnel prospects ask about the problem you solve.
Step 2: Come up with a concise, engaging answer (or an abbreviated version, and a link to the rest on your website).
Step 3: Add this as a regularly rotating feature in your email marketing newsletter (weekly, monthly, etc.).

Bonus step: Invite readers to submit their own questions, because delegating B2B newsletter content creation to your readers is a next-level marketing move.

If you send your email newsletter frequently, this might be a way to spruce up your content rotation. Once a month, pick something related to your business and make a roundup of the best examples you’ve come across. (Or, if you don’t want to devote a whole newsletter to this concept, add a “best of the week” section to your regular edition.)

Here’s how the email marketing agency AlchemyWorx does it. They select six of the best emails from last month, add some commentary, and then publish the round-up as a blog post.

And don’t forget to notify everyone who made your best-of list. Often, they’ll share it with their audiences, or sign up for future editions.

Advertise your top-tier content

Keep one spot in your B2B newsletter set aside to “advertise” your highest-priority content, usually at the bottom or midpoint of your email.

If you have a designed template, treat this placement like a banner ad. If you use a text-only approach, think of it as an important sponsored link. Only in this case, the content you’re advertising is your own.

It’s the perfect way to regularly promote the latest ebook, research report, whitepaper, or webinar you invested significant dollars into. Or, look at your engagement reports to identify a blog post that isn’t seeing a ton of traffic but has great engagement or conversion rates. That’s a valuable asset you want to get more eyeballs on, so give it prime placement in your newsletter.

In the example to the right, data observability platform Monte Carlo uses their email “banner ad” to promote their original “State of Data Products” research report.

Include quizzes, polls, and surveys

We all like to share our opinions and see how we compare to others. That’s why quizzes, polls, and surveys tend to get great engagement. (They’re especially effective if you don’t show the results until someone has participated.) Include the poll directly in your email, or consider linking out to a LinkedIn poll for some multi-channel marketing action.

Just don’t make the polls too self-serving, or always business-focused. They’re supposed to be entertainment for your readers, so keep things light.

Try trendjacking (with caution)

Know how every brand sends out emails that reference the “Big Game” the week before that one Sunday in February? That’s trendjacking — hopping on the latest monoculture moment to drive engagement with your brand’s quasi-related content.

It works, if you do it right. But it’s really easy to do it wrong.

We like the trendjacking matrix Amanda Natividad lays out on the Sparktoro blog: zeroing in on the moments that align with your company’s core value proposition, or on the opportunities where you can move faster or go deeper than anyone else. That’s when you catch your audience’s attention in a meaningful way — rather than making them cringe.

For a very meta example, check out the excerpt from SparkToro’s audience research newsletter. Right at the moment when everyone was talking about Barbie, SparkToro chose to highlight how everyone was talking about Barbie — and link back to the article we just recommended on trendjacking.

Trendjacking a massive pop culture moment in order to talk about trendjacking? Now that’s playing three-dimensional chess.

Highlight customer stories at every possible moment

While your B2B newsletter content ideas shouldn’t be overly promotional of your product, it is a great opportunity to highlight the amazing customers you work with. Case studies and customer profiles are just one way to subtly convey how many smart and successful brands choose to work with you.

For example, product design agency MetaLab has a simple “Clients in the news” section within their newsletter to name-drop impressive brands and fundraising numbers. MetaLab’s contributions to these companies isn’t the point — but by celebrating their clients’ latest wins, they create a strong association between their own brand and massive success.

Promote (a little) company news

This item comes last for a reason: it’s way too easy to over-index on product releases and award announcements. And the majority of your audience, frankly, isn’t going to care all that much.

For instance, our lifecycle marketing manager Jennifer Blanco uses the Act-On customer newsletter to share important product updates — but only if the release is relevant to all customers, rather than a niche feature that only a small subset of our audience will care about. And while events like webinars and educational power-ups have their own dedicated invitation sequences, Jennifer also uses the newsletter to cross-promote any events relevant to the majority of our recipients.

Jennifer and Kelsey both recommend treating company updates as a small part of your B2B newsletter content mix. In fact, Kelsey estimates only 10-20% of the content in her marketing emails are actually promotional for the Act-On platform.

Remember, newsletters are educational resources, not advertisements for your product.

Looking for more B2B email marketing inspo? Learn how you can use AI as an email brainstorming partner or check out our recent webinar on getting your email marketing mojo back. It’s full of practical ideas from real-life marketers who are reinvigorating their pipeline through email.

Marketing Automation for Management Consulting

Create, execute, and deliver personalized initiatives at scale with Act On’s marketing automation for financial advisors.

Learn More

SEO FAQ: Your Most Common Search Engine Optimization Questions Answered

Act-On — Fri, 04 Aug 2023 22:14:57 +0000

Search engine optimization, or SEO for short, has become one of the most important elements of a modern marketing strategy. But as search engines continually update their algorithms, and AI moves quickly to the forefront of new developments in search, it’s normal for even the most seasoned marketers to have questions. We put together this SEO FAQ to help answer the most frequent questions we hear from customers about search engine marketing. Whether you’re an SEO whiz or still learning the ropes, use this as a quick reference to answer those burning SEO questions.

^{Stumped on SEO topics? Staring at the screen won’t help. Reading these SEO FAQs will.}

SEO FAQ: What does SEO stand for?

SEO is an acronym for search engine optimization. It refers to the manipulation of online content and website code in ways that align with the expectations and behavior of search engines and online searchers alike.

SEO is often described as “organic search” because it supports businesses and brands’ ability to rank naturally within search engines based on their relevance and authority, as it pertains to the online user’s search intentions, and on the level of visitor engagement, without payment of any kind.

SEO FAQ: What is SEM?

SEM stands for search engine marketing. Generally, it refers to the paid side of search engine marketing. SEM primarily involves gaining website traffic by placing advertising on search engines. It’s often referred to as paid search. This often takes the form of text ads that look much like organic search results.

SEO FAQ: What is PPC?

PPC is short for pay per click. It’s a payment method for paid search advertising and other types of online ads. Pay per click ads are one way to pursue SEM, or search engine marketing. It’s common to use PPC and SEM in conjunction with SEO, especially to drive traffic from keywords that would be too difficult (or expensive) to rank for organically.

SEO FAQ: What is on-page SEO? What is technical SEO? What’s the difference?

On-page SEO refers, unsurprisingly, to the content you put on your webpages. On-page SEO includes techniques like keyword strategy and optimization, readability analysis, internal and external linking, and creating helpful content that will rank well on search engines.

Technical SEO refers to all the elements on the back end of your website that contribute to SEO. Technical SEO encompasses everything from how your pages and URLs are structured, elements like page speed and overall web performance, the metadata you include on each page, how images and video are crawled by search engines, and the list goes on.

We’ll get into elements that contribute to both technical and on-page SEO in this SEO FAQ. We won’t always identify them as such, but a quick rule of thumb: If you would assign something to a creative or content person, it’s probably on-page. If you need a web developer or coder to get it done, it’s most likely technical SEO.

SEO FAQ: What are the most effective on-page SEO techniques for better visibility?

On-page SEO forms the foundation of your search visibility. Ensure your website’s title tags, meta descriptions, and header tags are well-optimized with relevant keywords. Create valuable, informative, and engaging content that keeps users on your site longer. Don’t forget to include internal links to improve user navigation and crawlability for search engines.

SEO FAQ: What is a SERP?

SERP stands for search engine results page. When you enter a search query into Google or other search engines, the list of results you get is the SERP. You might also see the term “SERP features” used in your SEO tools to refer to parts of the SERP that aren’t part of the ranked search results, such as image carousels, “people also asked” queries, and knowledge panel features.

SEO FAQ: How do search engines make money?

Search engines make money by getting searchers to click on ads. These ads are displayed both on the search engine results pages (SERPs) and on ad networks they are associated with. Just as with any other medium, the more people that use a specific search engine, the more advertisers are willing to pay for their ad to run. Search engines are extremely vested in providing the best, most relevant organic search results – every single time. It’s the only quality that makes them sticky, and the only competitive edge that matters in their business model.

SEO FAQ: What are search crawlers?

Search engines use automated programs called bots or spiders to scan websites in their entirety, including the copy itself, the code, and the sitemap. These “crawlers” are how the search engines evaluate and index all the content on the internet to make it available to anyone who wants to search. You might see the word “crawl” used in your SEO tools to describe a single scan by a search engine’s bots. (For example, you can request a new crawl of your site from Google after you make important updates or fixes that will better reflect your website’s structure).

Any time someone searches online, search engines interpret the terms they use and pull indexed content from various crawled websites. The search algorithm determines what content to display on the SERP (search engine results page). What content ultimately gets displayed depends on all the factors we’re discussing in this SEO FAQ.

SEO Audit Tools

SEO FAQ: What’s a keyword? What’s a key phrase?

A keyword is a word that gets typed into the search bar on a search engine. Marketers spend a lot of time, money, and resources researching what keywords their prospects and customers are using when they look for products and services. SEO tools such as SEMRush, Ahrefs and Moz house massive lists of keywords that marketers can access to make this research easier.

A key phrase is a keyword that contains one or more words. The terms keyword and key phrase are more or less interchangeable, at least in B2B marketing, where it’s uncommon that any product can be searched using just a single word.

A keyword can be broken down into three parts: the head, modifier and tail. The head is what the search is about; the modifier adds detail and narrows the search, without changing the intent of the search. The tail adds clarity and further narrows the search. In the example below, Apple is the keyword, tablet is the modifier, and white is the tail.:

Apple | Apple iPad | Apple iPad black refurbished

When marketers or other content creators write SEO content for the web, they start with a primary keyword and a few secondary keywords. Based on their research, they identify the keywords most likely to be input by the buyers they want. For example, the primary key phrase for this blog is SEO FAQ. And just there, we managed to fit it into our copy one more time in hopes that the search engine gods will smile upon us.

SEO FAQ: What’s a long tail keyword?

A long tail keyword is a keyword that contains multiple words. People looking for something specific tend to use long tail keywords. For instance, “What is the best marketing automation platform?” is a long tail keyword for the keyword “marketing automation.” (Pro tip: No need to search this particular question on your own; the answer is Act-On).

SEO FAQ: How do I conduct keyword research to target the right audience?

Keyword research is a critical step in SEO. Use keyword research tools to discover relevant keywords with a good search volume and low competition. Consider user intent and long-tail keywords to better understand what your audience is looking for. Tailor your content and optimize your pages based on these insights to increase your chances of ranking higher in search results.

SEO FAQ: How does page speed contribute to SEO? What about page experience?

Google uses factors like page speed and overall page experience to evaluate a website’s overall crawlability, which can promote or demote that site’s search results. This is an aspect of technical SEO that marketers ignore at their peril. You can use Google tools like Search Console to see which pages are delivering a good experience for users, and which need improvements to factors like load times and plugin speeds. The thinking behind these factors contributing to SEO is simple: Google wants its search to be a good experience for its users. If you search something on Google, but it takes too long for the page to load, you might bounce from the page and abandon Google Search in favor of another provider.

If your speed and page experience needs work, there are things you can do to improve it. Compress images, leverage browser caching, and minify CSS and JavaScript files to reduce page load times. Choose a reliable hosting provider and consider a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to distribute content efficiently across the globe.

^{Any time someone searches on the internet, they’re a potential audience for your SEO content.}

SEO FAQ: What are 404 errors?

Usually when you see some version of “Sorry you’re seeing this, but it appears the information you’re looking for no longer exists,” it’s a 404 error.

The HTTP 404 Not Found error indicates that the server could not find the page you tried to reach. This indicates that a specific page may have been removed, or it may have been relocated, but its URL was not changed accordingly. This type of error can also appear if you accidently type in a wrong URL.

This can happen when you replace a product or service with something else, information is repurposed, and/or content is relocated to other sections of your website. It’s not a great experience for your user, but you can control the formatting of the 404 pagers, so you can soften the effect. You can add attractive graphics, for example, and provide links to pages the visitor might like to see.

SEO FAQ: What are 301 redirects?

301 redirects are communications between your website and search crawlers, which indicate that content has been moved but can still be found in another location of your website. You set them up when you have a reason to redirect the visitor to a certain page.

Redirects preserve the equity of your content so that you can maintain the type of online visibility you’re used to. And since the redirect is not obvious, most visitors will have an uninterrupted user experience and continue to engage with your brand.

SEO FAQ: What is an XML sitemap?

The best way to think of XML sitemaps is to view them as blueprints of your website that search engines can use to locate specific forms of information, as soon as possible.

While search engines are able to crawl any website on their own, being able to connect with an XML Sitemap allows them to quickly, completely understand:

What your website represents
- What specific forms and categories of content you have
- Where your content is located
- What level of priority each category of content represents in terms of:
  - How often they should be crawled
  - What type of visibility they should have
  - Which landing pages should be accessible to online users

When websites do not have this type of sitemap to reference, search engines essentially are left to make their own decisions about your site.

SEO FAQ: What is a Robots.txt file?

Webmasters and site owners create robots.txt (robots) files in order to offer specific instructions to search engines as to what areas of their website should be crawled and indexed, or accessible to online users.

Basically, when search crawlers want to pull content from your website, they refer to the robots file to see whether or not you, as the site owner, want users to be exposed to particular forms of information.

Depending on the purpose of your website, these files can vary in the types of information they protect and preserve. Most of the time, areas of a website that require users to submit a username and password are included in the robots file in order to prevent this specific type of information from being indexed or engaged by general online users.

SEO FAQ: What does “search authority” mean? Domain authority? Page authority?

“Authority” is how trustworthy and expert your domain or page is considered to be, as evaluated by a search engine’s algorithm. Many factors, such as the use of language, richness of syntax, links from high-ranking sites, etc., factor into perceived authority to a greater or lesser degree.

SEO FAQ: What is link building?

Link building (or link earning) refers to the act of attracting or acquiring external links from other websites. These links signal to search engines that the content on your site is unique, meaningful to online users, and is authoritative within the digital space you occupy. The higher the authority of the sites that link to you, the more value these incoming links have. They are also known as backlinks or inbound links.

Building authoritative backlinks takes time and effort. Focus on creating exceptional content that naturally attracts links from reputable websites in your industry. Engage in outreach to relevant influencers, partners, and websites to build mutually beneficial relationships. Remember, quality matters more than quantity when it comes to backlinks.

SEO Audit Tools

SEO FAQ: What is “duplicate content”?

Duplicate content is material that appears on the web in multiple locations or URLs. This could be on your own site, or it could be duplicate content across two or more disparate sites.

Duplicate content can confuse search engines, leading to potential ranking issues. Implement canonical tags to indicate the preferred version of a page and consolidate duplicate content under a single URL. This ensures that search engines attribute the content properly.

SEO FAQ: How often should I use keywords in my content? What should I know about keyword density?

Keyword density (SEO) is the number of times a keyword or key phrase appears on a web page as a percentage of the total number of words on the page. There’s really no optimal keyword density for your content, but if it’s so dense as to look like you’re stuffing keywords into your copy for the sake of optimization, you might draw a penalty. Some experts peg between 0.5% and 2.5% as good percentages to strive for and something as high as 4% as likely to draw a penalty, but that’s not what really matters.

What does matter is that you write for your reader, not for the search engine. It’s good if your keyword is in your headline and SEO title, and a few of your subheads, but never distort natural copy to accommodate a keyword. If you’re writing naturally, you’ll tend to use synonyms and vary your phrasing, and Google (among other search engines) has begun to look for this. They’re getting better at understanding context – and you can help them by using well-written, informative content that includes words they would expect to find in that context.

SEO FAQ: How can I monitor my website’s success or understand how well my SEO campaign is performing?

There are literally hundreds of paid programs that offer various details around your website’s performance, as well as the extent of your SEO success. However, it is important to know that each paid platform gathers data slightly differently. Google Analytics is a baseline tool. The platform is free, as long as you have a Gmail account, and can be easily installed by even the most casual of marketers. With Google Analytics, you can gain critical insight in real time, as well as over historical periods, about

Total traffic
Organic traffic
Direct traffic
Referral traffic
Mobile traffic
Top landing pages
Conversions

You will also want to set up Google Search Console, and Bing Webmaster Tools in order to stay up-to-date with the technical health of your business’s website. With these free platforms, you can review the following details that relate to your website’s overall performance:

Broken links – 404 errors, soft 404 errors, 500 server errors
XML Sitemap status and ability to submit new ones
Landing page appearance within search listings
Rich snippet implementation and appearance within search listings
Warning messages that relate to hacked servers, duplicate content, and other possible penalties related to manipulative SEO tactics

SEO FAQ: How long does it take for search engines to recognize when content is published or when edits are applied to my website?

It depends on what actions you take. If you were to publish a new landing page or blog article today, and take no other action, search engines would probably take about three days to a week to find and index your content. If you want search engines to recognize new content and understand how it relates to your overall website, as well as how it supports your overall SEO efforts, you should create and implement a new XML Sitemap and submit it to your Search Console and Webmaster Tools profiles.

SEO FAQ: How many links should I have on each landing page or blog article?

A general rule of thumb is to have no more than one link for every 400–450 words. Use external links only when citing an external source, such as for a statistic. if you’re offering multiple citations within a small amount of text, forego a few of the external links and just name the source.

Too many links may lead Google and other search engines to conclude that you’re creating an excessive amount of links as a means of increasing your keyword rankings. Worse, they can be distracting to the reader. Make sure the links are relevant, and add value.

^{It takes a lot of research and critical thinking to devise SEO strategy.}

SEO FAQ: How does word count affect SEO?

Google and other search engines do not require websites to have a tremendous amount of text in order to achieve superior visibility. However, there are plenty of studies that show a direct correlation between lengthier content (content that has 1,500 words or more) and increased engagement and visibility.

This doesn’t mean you have to make sure that every page on your website has that much content. But when you have relevant information your target audience is looking for, in rich detail, that will go a long way in supporting your website’s overall SEO goals – partly because it’s more likely to satisfy your readers.

SEO FAQ: How does mobile usability impact my SEO?

“Mobile SEO” or “mobile optimization” describes the effort of applying search engine optimization elements that help increase your website’s visibility in mobile search queries.

Consider that search is the leading web-based activity performed on mobile devices. Mobile SEO can have a profound impact on your retail business by attracting on-the-go consumers. For B2B, remember that people looking for business information are also increasingly using smart phones

and tablets to get it. Make sure that their questions can be answered by your website –however they choose to access it.

Google recently finished its transition to mobile-first indexing, meaning it will index sites according to their mobile version, not the desktop version. The most effective way to ensure that your entire website can be found and engaged by mobile searchers is to have a responsive website.

SEO FAQ: What is responsive design?

This is a fluid-grid design that determines what type of device is accessing it, and responds by displaying the most appropriate layout for that device. This results in high-quality, interactive experiences, and allows readers to:

Easily read copy
Immediately navigate to the most desired web page
Easily scroll without having to adjust screen settings
Easily pan in and out

The page layout does not shrink; it changes, leaving out many elements that would display on a larger screen. Responsive websites align with the parameters of each and every single type of smartphone, tablet, and desktop device, ensuring that your website will display as your prefer in each instance.

SEO FAQ: How can I tell if my website is mobile-friendly?

Mobile-friendliness is crucial, considering the increasing number of users accessing the web from mobile devices. Employ responsive design to ensure your website adapts seamlessly to different screen sizes. Optimize images for faster loading and minimize server response time. Conduct mobile usability tests to identify and fix any issues that could hinder the mobile user experience.

You can enter your website into Google’s mobile-friendly testing platform to see how well it displays on mobile devices and how search crawlers view your website. Use Google Search Console for more in-depth results on each of your individual pages.

SEO FAQ: How can I improve my website’s organic search rankings?

To boost your website’s organic rankings, focus on producing high-quality, relevant content that resonates with your target audience and aligns with their search intent. Conduct thorough keyword research to identify valuable opportunities, optimize your meta tags and on-page elements, and build authoritative backlinks from reputable sources. Remember, patience and consistency are key in the ever-evolving world of SEO.

^{Using the right tools to pull your SEO metrics and KPIs is crucial to mastering search engine marketing.}

SEO FAQ: What are some common mistakes to avoid in SEO that could harm my website’s rankings?

Avoid black-hat SEO tactics such as keyword stuffing, cloaking, or buying links. Duplicate content can also negatively impact your rankings, so ensure proper canonicalization. Focus on creating user-centric content and providing an excellent experience for your visitors.

SEO FAQ: What are the implications of AI and machine learning on SEO strategies?

The search providers are going all in on upgrading their platforms for AI. Earlier in 2023, Microsoft integrated ChatGPT into Bing search. Soon after, Google rolled out a beta of Bard AI for Google Search. Search engine optimization and search engine marketing tools are quickly following suit, with a variety of tools now available to leverage AI for keyword research and content composition, among other functions.

It’s still early days, and even the experts haven’t fully wrapped their minds around the transformative potential of AI for SEO. Here’s a way to test it. Use the AI results for Google or Bing to search “SEO FAQ” on Google. Was this page the first result? If it wasn’t, we at Act-On still aren’t sure about the full implications of AI on SEO.

SEO FAQ: What are the SEO implications of moving to a new domain or redesigning a website?

Migrating to a new domain or redesigning a website requires careful planning to maintain SEO equity. Implement proper 301 redirects, update sitemaps and robots.txt, and monitor search console for errors. Communicate the changes to search engines to avoid significant ranking fluctuations.

SEO Audit Tools

How to Write a Great Creative Brief + Template

Act-On — Wed, 19 Jul 2023 22:41:22 +0000

What is a Creative Brief?

A creative brief is just a fancy word for a plan. It’s a document that describes the goals and specifications of your marketing project. And a good creative brief is worth its weight in gold. Without one, goals are missed, details are overlooked, and deadlines are blown.

Engaging videos start with scripts. Well-structured articles are based on outlines. And the best marketing deliverables and campaigns are built on solid creative briefs.

But how do you write a creative brief for a successful B2B marketing project? We’ll give you seven simple steps to execute a killer brief — plus some “why you should care” context, just in case you need to make the case to others on your team.

^{Wondering how to write a creative brief? And why? It’s the first step to a team effort.}

Creative Brief in Advertising: Why it Matters

In advertising, marketing teams heavily rely on creative briefs. They communicate the needs and specifications of a stakeholder (or, often, many stakeholders) to a creative team tasked with producing assets. This could be a freelance writer working on a blog post for a content team, a production company filming a video marketing asset for a brand, or an agency developing an end-to-end campaign with tons of moving pieces.

In each scenario, a good brief helps keep everyone on the same page and gives the creative team what they need to produce the best possible content for their stakeholders.

But bad briefs are out there. Take it from Marc Moran, who literally teaches a class on building creative briefs. He told us, “A bad brief will result in bad work. It’s really that simple.” Marc specifically cautions against the “lazy brief” (copy-and-pasted content from some other resource that doesn’t actually relate to the project at hand) and the “catch-all brief” (an info dump that makes it impossible to find anything useful).

Think of a Google doc with a handful of SEO keywords and a due date, or a link to a 20-page strategy overview with a few campaign concepts sprinkled throughout. These bad briefs may happen because the marketing team doesn’t understand the true value of a good brief, or because developing a strong brief doesn’t seem worth the time or resources.

Briefs aren’t for creatives — they’re for marketers

The very act of developing a creative brief can bring clarity, alignment, and strategic value to any team, especially in the fast-paced world of advertising. Here’s why creative briefs are worth your time:

Briefs force strategic thinking

When you have to document the goals and business case for your content or campaigns, you avoid box-checking behaviors and connect the dots between individual projects and big-picture outcomes. “We’re writing this blog because we write a blog every week” just doesn’t cut it in a brief.

And as a marketer, you may know your product, your value prop, and your positioning statements like the back of your hand. But unless you create all your content and campaign assets with that same single hand, it doesn’t matter. You need to extract that knowledge from your in-house brain, distill the most important components for the project at hand, and communicate it in a way other collaborators can understand. (Which is basically the whole point of marketing, and will probably make you better at your job.)

Briefs save time — and budget

Quality creative work comes with a price tag. And spending extra hours revising content or reshooting video that doesn’t meet your expectations is not a good use of your precious marketing resources (especially if you’re marketing in a recession).

Briefs help you specify exactly what you need and expect from the outset, and help your creative team identify any gaps in direction or unclear instructions before they start working on your project. Yes, you might spend a few hours building a brief (or days, or even weeks, depending on your project’s complexity). But that is time well spent compared to the extra rounds of revisions, or even scrapped projects, that can happen due to a bad brief.

Plus, in the rare case that a project goes awry due to circumstances beyond your control, having a good brief can serve as proof to the powers that poor planning isn’t to blame.

Briefs improve your employee (and freelancer) experience

Have trouble keeping reliable writers or designers on your payroll or in your freelance stable? Lackluster briefs might be to blame. Good briefs make it easier to produce good work. And the most talented and in-demand creatives tend to prioritize working with teams that make their jobs easier, not harder.

Who’s Responsible for Creating the Brief?

While you can outsource some things to AI marketing assistants, writing a creative brief takes some human oversight. That said, the ownership of the brief process depends entirely on the project and the players. For example:

If a marketing department hires an agency to produce a video, the agency’s account manager and creative director will likely complete the brief, with input from the client. The marketers may have their own internal project brief, but the agency knows the creative specifications its team will need, so they’ll gather and document all the information.
When an in-house creative team is asked to produce content assets for a business unit, the creative team usually has a brief template they’ll work with the business unit’s project manager to complete. This is a team effort, including decisions about prioritization compared to other creative requests from other departments.
If a content marketing manager hires a freelance writer to complete a blog post, the manager usually takes care of completing and sharing a brief. In some cases, their SEO agency may produce it—but the marketing manager will be responsible for strategic and messaging input (more on that in a minute). The writer may ask questions or suggest additional information to include, and some freelancers even supply their own brief templates to ensure they receive everything they need.

In every case, one common theme pops up: collaboration. The brief is complete when both sides agree everyone should have everything they need to work on the project.

According to Jamie Roberts, CEO/CCO of Rock That Creative Job (and a lovely podcast guest), the collaborative nature of a creative brief is its secret sauce. Because while nothing in marketing is set in stone, the brief acts as a shared foundation for building alignment throughout the project. “Goals will shift, dates will change, scopes will creep,” she told us. “Getting the right people working on the right projects at the right times — while keeping it all on track and on budget — is not possible without a solid brief.”

How to Write a Creative Brief: 7 Steps

Now that we’ve covered the why and the who, let’s get into the fun part: how to write a creative brief. Follow these seven steps to write a creative brief that gets results.

^{Projects like video production have so many moving parts, writing a creative brief is one way to keep everyone involved on the same page.}

1. Define your goal

Writing a great creative brief starts here — you’ve gotta know your why.

What’s the business case for creating this particular campaign / whitepaper / billboard / email sequence / sales deck? Are you trying to drive webinar registrations? Increase brand awareness? Launch a new product?

Articulating your marketing goal cements your own strategic thinking, and gives your creative team the additional context they need to go from hired hands to highly valuable partners. When your writers and designers understand your overall goal, they can make well-informed decisions — or even suggest ways to enhance your project you wouldn’t think to ask for.

2. Describe your audience

With your goal in mind, move onto step of writing your creative brief: identify and document your target audience.

For example, if your goal is to launch a new product, who’s the ideal buyer on the receiving end of your marketing materials? Maybe your content is laser-targeted at an existing customer who will be likely to upgrade. Or maybe your best bet is to reach an audience that’s currently working with a competitor that lacks your shiny new feature.

Additionally, you’ll want to describe where in the buyer’s journey this audience will likely encounter your content. Are they likely coming to a top-of-funnel term through organic search, and probably aren’t yet aware you exist? Are they conference attendees who may or may not have visited your booth at a tradeshow?

In the best-case scenario, you have detailed buyer personas and a customer journey map that you can share with your creative team to educate them about your target audience. If you don’t, you’ll need to provide some basic information.

Firmographic: What kind of company does the target audience work for?

Company size(s)
Industries

Demographic: What are the personal details about the target audience members?

Job title(s)
Needs/pain points
Stage in the buying journey
Role in the buying decision

When it comes to the intended audience, the more detail you can give, the better. That allows your creative team to tailor messaging, visuals, examples, and language to your ideal customer — and the more personalized your content, the better it will perform.

3. Pinpoint your key messages

Now, let’s move on to a step that’s often missing from creative briefs: pinpointing the key messages you want to include in your content.

What’s the point-of-view you want to put forward? What are the key value propositions you want to articulate? What are the key takeaways you want your readers or viewers to walk away with after consuming your content?

This is especially important when you’re working with outside agencies or freelancers who don’t have your in-the-weeds perspective on your product’s messaging and value proposition. And it matters for every brief. Even if you’re creating a “simple” SEO article or webinar recap blog post, you as the marketer should have an idea of the actual point you are trying to make with your content. (And if you don’t, revisit your goal and audience to figure out why you’re doing this work in the first place.)

When key messages are missing, you leave an awful lot up to interpretation for your creative partners. Especially when there’s technical nuance or industry-specific pain points involved, it’s easy for messaging to become muddled or watered down.

This one can feel a little abstract, so here are a few different suggestions from real-life marketers on how to summarize key messages in your briefs:

Our pal Jamie Roberts recommends including a Messaging Hierarchy section that pinpoints “What is the single most compelling message?”
Product marketing consultant Bria King asks clients to answer, “What organizational values are you trying to convey in the content?”

Depending on your project, articulating your key messages could mean telling creatives what product features to highlight or which talking points from an interview are most compelling to your audience. Getting that strategic insight from the brief, rather than in a round of feedback, will help your creatives save time and deliver more focused, impactful content.

^{Remember: a creative brief isn’t an order form. It’s a rallying cry to inspire the creative team to do their best work.}

4. Share available resources

If efficiency is important to you, don’t skip this section of your creative brief. This is when you give your creative partners a significant leg up by pointing them to the existing resources they can use when producing new content.

Here are a few examples of existing resources and how your creative team might use them:

Audience insights to hone in on pain points and challenges
Original research to back up claims with unique statistics and examples
Market research (internal or external) to understand the competitive landscape
Existing and related content to shortcut research and understand preferred positioning
Images, graphics, or video footage to repurpose
Relevant case studies to add real-life examples from your own customers
Webinar recordings to spice up written content with expert quotes

Additionally, include in your brief if any internal SMEs should be interviewed or consulted during the creative production process. For example, customer success managers can add valuable context to a writer producing a case study, while a product manager can fact-check technical content or provide a relevant peek into the product roadmap.

5. Document all the specs

Time to get specific. Literally. Answer all of the logistical questions a creative may have about your requirements for their work. This will depend on the deliverable, but may include:

The project manager/point person available to answer questions
Deadlines and due dates
Review cycles (who will review content, and when)
Byline or author bio
Word count or video length
SEO keywords
Internal links to include
External competitors to avoid linking to
Link to the relevant section of your brand guidelines (voice and tone, style guide, visual design, etc. depending on the type of content being created)

This is a part of your creative brief that will take some time to perfect. It’s usually easiest to create a brief template that you copy for every project, so you aren’t reinventing the wheel and repeatedly missing key details or specs.

As you work on projects, pay attention to where hiccups happen, and see if any vital information was missing from the brief. Add it to your template and keep refining over time.

Show your creatives what they’re trying to match or beat in terms of quality. Include links to your top-performing blog posts, highest-converting ads, or internally beloved content within your briefs.

And if you don’t have any internal content to hold up as an example, don’t be afraid to share inspiration from other companies. This is especially valuable when:

You want to land a specific look-and-feel for a visual product like a video
You’re ready to experiment with a new tone of voice
Your CEO wants to dip their toes into ghostwritten thought leadership

Nobody likes a copycat, but experienced creatives understand the difference between inspiration and imitation. And they’ll appreciate the guideposts along your company’s uncharted creative path.

7. Determine your CTA

Coming up with a CTA that converts by guiding your audience to the next step along their customer journey isn’t usually a decision your freelancer, agency, or in-house creative studio will make. In most cases, you’ll need to let them know the specific CTA for your deliverable: signing up for a newsletter, downloading a gated asset, requesting a product demo, or something else altogether.

Now that you’ve read through seven steps to develop a killer creative brief, you’re probably inspired to flex your creative marketing muscle.

And if you just can’t get enough, follow us on LinkedIn for more marketing mastery.

Download a FREE Creative Brief Template

No need to start from scratch: we’ve put together a free creative brief template leveraging all our recommendations. Just download below and start making your campaign dreams a reality!

Download Creative Brief Template

(Note: The button will automatically start your creative brief download in a new browser window, so make sure you allow the popup to open in your browser).

Content Remix: 5 Brilliant Strategies for Repurposing Content Like a Pro

Act-On — Thu, 15 Jun 2023 07:00:00 +0000

Not enough time in the day.

That’s how it feels, doesn’t it? When your marketing team is tasked with doing more with less, meeting your marketing goals can be challenging.

Sure, content marketing can help you reach those goals, but it takes a lot of content, and if you’re creating all that content from scratch, it adds up fast.

That’s why so many marketers have turned to repurposing content.

But if you haven’t repurposed much in the past, you might wonder:

Is it OK to repurpose content?

Repurposing content isn’t just okay — it’s actually really common. Research shows that 94% of marketers repurpose their content, and the remaining 6% are considering doing it in the future. What’s more, 65% of marketers say that repurposing content is more cost-effective than building new content from scratch.

No surprise, right?

But here’s one more thing to keep in mind. Not every person who needs your content saw it the first time, which is why repurposing isn’t just efficient, it actually helps your audience.

So how do you repurpose successfully?

Ways to Repurpose Content … 5 Strategies You Can Steal

With so many repurposing options, how do you know where to start?

We’re going to make it simple by sharing our favorites. But here’s the trick: You don’t have to do them all at once. Pick one strategy, implement it, and measure the results. Once you’ve mastered it, move on to the next and watch your results multiply.

https://act-on.com/learn/e-books-guides/map-your-content/

Webinars to blog posts

You just created an amazing webinar. The feedback was great. You could do what many companies do, which is post it on your website and move on. Or you could do what a repurposing-content boss does, which is spin it into another piece of content, like a blog post.

Here’s an example of how we used this strategy recently.

^{Repurposing content from your webinars into blog posts packed with videos is a great way to extent the life of content.}

Our team created a webinar featuring top experts about how to market during a recession. The reaction to the webinar was great, so we repurposed it to get even more mileage from the content.

We used the transcript to create a blog post, inserting video clips of the best points to create a more in-depth experience.

And you can do the same. Plus, if you want to get even more out of your webinar, capture all the best expert quotes and turn them into social media posts, linking back to the webinar or the blog (you choose!).

Repurposing blog content to eBooks

Do you have superstar blog posts? Do they get lots of web traffic, social shares, and comments? Gather a list of this content and look for themes so you can spin the posts into an eBook.

For example, maybe you have several blogs related to industry trends. You could pull together an eBook about the biggest industry trends of the year; write an introduction, a conclusion, and transitions for the content. Once the content is repurposed, you can go back to the original blog posts and use the new eBook as a lead magnet to fill your funnel with fresh new leads.

And while we’re on the topic of spinning old content into something new, we can’t not talk about AI, right? Consider taking your eBook content and finding opportunities to integrate it into personalized email campaigns. Once you find where it fits best, you can leverage tools like Act-On AI to generate email content and subject lines fast and get even more out of your repurposing efforts.

Case studies to blog posts

As a marketer, you know that stories are powerful.

But what’s surprising is how powerful they truly are.

Your audience is 22 times more likely to remember information if it’s presented in a story. What’s more is that storytelling can increase conversions by as much as 30%.

But here’s the best part. It’s likely that you already have stories in your content inventory just waiting to be retold.

Ahem … case studies, anybody?

Consider leveraging your case studies into a blog post with a common theme.

For example, we wrote the post “How 3 Insurance Companies are Leveraging Marketing Automation,” in which we told stories about how our clients improved email deliverability, successfully implemented automated segmentation, and increased conversion rates, using case studies as the basis of the content.

^{Repurposing content from your case studies into listicle blogs can help your best customer stories find more readers.}

Pick stories that speak to your audience’s biggest pain points, and create content that leverages those stories to more effectively connect with your audience.

Statistics to social media posts

Statistics live in much of your content, right? These numbers create foundations for your stories, which is why you sprinkle them throughout your various assets.

Review your highest-performing content because it reflects your audience’s proven interests. Then gather stats from these assets and turn them into tweets, LinkedIn updates, and other bite-size pieces of information.

Plug the content into your social media calendar to multiply content distribution like wildfire. And, of course, link back to the original asset (which should be stacked full of lead magnets).

Podcasts to blog posts

“We don’t have a podcast,” you say? No worries! We have a strategy for that too (hold tight).

But first, if you do have a podcast, here’s what you can do. Plug that podcast audio file into a transcription service and get yourself some rough copy. Create an eye-catching headline, edit the content into body paragraphs, write a quick introduction and conclusion — and you’re done!

But what if you don’t have a podcast?

You can leverage someone else’s.

Now … this strategy crosses into influencer marketing, but it’s crazy fun, so we thought we’d throw it out there.

Make a list of podcasts your target audience listens to. Go big. List the most well-known ones you can think of.

Visit a podcast, and find a topic that you think your audience will love.

Listen to the episode, outline the lessons you learned, and then create your own unique perspective as a response to the podcast. Then create a title like “X things I learned from {INFLUENCER NAME} about {TOPIC}.”

Give the influencer credit, link to their podcast, and then tag them when you promote your content via social media.

And, of course, you can go a step further. Send the podcast host an email explaining why you loved the episode and how it inspired you to write on the topic. With any luck, they’ll share it.

https://act-on.com/learn/e-books-guides/map-your-content/

Bonus tip: Repurpose your well-performing older content

You likely already have content on your website that performs well. Don’t let it bask in its glory. Squeeze it for all it’s worth.

Because here’s what we know about content that performs well …

Your audience loves it.

Consider updating it once a year. Now, be careful about SEO here. You don’t want to get crazy and change the URL or well-ranking keywords. Instead, enhance it, update it, and make it even better.

Consider creating an infographic.

Pull quotes from it.

And then promote all those bits of content to drive more traffic and interest to your company.

How will you leverage your content?

The reality is that you only have so much time in the day. You’re one person. Sure, you might work on a team, but time and resources are finite. When you master repurposing content marketing, you get so much more out of each day.

And when you take it a step further to repurpose content and leverage marketing automation … watch out. Results will happen even faster. If you need a quick cheat sheet for getting started, we put together one for you.

4 Benefits of Video Marketing That Will Make You Rethink Your Marketing Plans

Act-On — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 21:59:34 +0000

Customers want to view your content. It might not seem like it when your marketing gets passed over again and again with little to no engagement, but the problem isn’t you. It’s that customers are picky. They want to consume content in their preferred format, and if you miss the mark, it can be nearly impossible to cut through the noise. And, of course, one of the most preferred formats right now is video. The benefits of video marketing production are too good to ignore. Read on to learn more, and for some great video marketing case studies.

^{Producing your own video marketing content can yield many benefits for your brand. Photo by Brands&People via Unsplash}

People spend an average of 84 minutes a day viewing videos—almost an hour and a half. And that number is rapidly growing.

And do you know what else?

Consumers don’t just “like” videos. They love them, with 91% saying they want more videos from their favorite brands.

Why?

Video leverages the power of sound, vision, and storytelling to bring your products and services to life. Or as MarketingProfs explains it, video has the 4 Es, which are:

Engaging: We’re hardwired to pay attention to storytelling.
Emotional: Video provides an opportunity to trigger stronger connections.
Educational: We process video faster and retain it longer.
Empathetic: Viewers can see themselves in stories, helping to forge meaningful bonds and trust.

If you’re considering adding more video to your content strategy, here are five benefits of video marketing and some tips for successfully leveraging it.

Benefits of Video Marketing: Lead Generation

Leads .. who doesn’t want more of them, right? Sure, you’ve got plenty of marketing strategies you could deploy, but there is a really good reason to pull the lever on video marketing: It gets 66% more qualified leads annually.

Nice, right?

Plus, 93% of marketers say they’ve landed new customers due to videos posted on social media. Improved lead generation can be attributed to video content being educational and engaging and helping build trust and authority.

Benefits of Video Marketing: Higher ROI

Jay Baer of Convince and Convert recently quoted the old adage that states: “Half of the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”

92% of video marketers reported that video provides them with positive ROI
Wyzowl’s State of Video Marketing 2023

Of course, we’re discussing marketing, but we could argue the same thing. Marketers diligently measure results, but it’s often difficult to figure out which strategy will give you the greatest impact for your spending. And the surest way to hedge your bets on a winner is to jump on a strategy that is already performing, which is why video marketing is so impactful.

For example, a survey found that 92% of video marketers report that video provides them with a positive ROI. And one of the reasons why, which we’ll discuss shortly, is engagement.

Benefits of Video Marketing: Improve Engagement

https://act-on.com/learn/e-books-guides/b2b-multi-channel-marketing

Video content, by nature, is highly engaging. It leverages the power of storytelling, instantly making your message more “sticky.” Research shows that the human mind is 22 times more likely to remember information when told in a story.

A fantastic example of a video marketing case study is GoPro leveraging video to discuss real-world issues that resonate with its target audience. The company’s videos have captured an audience of over 10 million subscribers on YouTube. They feature average people doing amazing things through user-submitted videos and campaigns.

For example, when the world was locked indoors during the pandemic, GoPro found a way to embrace it.

The outdoor-focused brand invited its audience to submit videos to their #HomePro challenge. The videos showed all the cool things people were doing indoors, and the top videos were awarded cash prizes.

And here’s something else to consider when creating videos. Any time you boost engagement, it has the potential to create positive impacts on SEO. When a user spends more time interacting with videos on your website, Google’s algorithm takes note, potentially viewing you as more relevant and worthy of rising in the search rankings.

Benefits of Video Marketing: Build Authenticity

Customers love authenticity. They want to feel like your brand is honest, authentic, and relatable, and video helps create that connection. Another great video marketing case study to consider is Everlane. It’s a brand that has developed quite the following thanks to its message of “radical transparency.” The company has adopted Instagram Stories as one of its main vehicles to convey this mission, building its customer base and engaging consumers.

^{Q&A-style videos are one of the easier formats for video marketing production. Try them to enjoy the benefits of video marketing. Photo by
visuals on Unsplash}

In its series “Transparency Tuesday,” staff members answered questions from their followers regarding the company’s mission, corporate responsibility efforts, and upcoming product releases. This strategy might be what is fueling the organization’s growth, since research shows that 88% of consumers report authenticity is a critical factor when deciding which brands they prefer.

Video Marketing Case Study: “Show” Rather Than “Tell”

The old quote “Tell me, and I will forget; show me, and I may remember; involve me, and I will understand” is at the heart of why video is so impactful.

A video can show and involve viewers through storytelling. For example, Columbia Sportswear is not only claiming that its products are designed for those who live an active lifestyle, but it’s also using video marketing to show you exactly what makes the company unique. The brand has created a variety of YouTube series, such as “Directors of Toughness,” to tell exciting stories that motivate its target audience to adopt an active lifestyle while also showing you how Columbia’s apparel and accessories hold up in extreme situations and climates.

^{Columbia’s “Directors of Toughness” series shows its apparel in action, but puts the content first, a great video marketing case study.}

Creating a Successful Video Marketing Production Strategy

Whether it’s your first time experimenting with video marketing production or you’re a seasoned pro, there are always ways for you to improve your efforts and enjoy the benefits of video marketing. Here are a few tips for creating videos that boost results.

^{Check out our video marketing production tips. Photo by Malte Helmhold on Unsplash}

Capture your audience’s attention. Don’t assume your audience will stick around until the end just because your video pops up in their feed. To keep viewers engaged and get your message across, ensure your video’s content captivates them right from the beginning. Storytelling is a great way to accomplish this task.
Create the right video length. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all strategy when it comes to creating a great video, but there are some general length guidelines. Research shows that videos around two minutes long seem to get the most engagement. Therefore, keeping things short and sweet for your next video project might be a good idea.
Determine the best platform to showcase your video. Regarding video length not being one size fits all, not all platforms are created equal either. Think about what you are trying to accomplish with your video and the best place to reach your audience with it. For example, if you plan on live streaming a music festival, Facebook or Instagram Live might be the best place for you to get engagement. But if you’re creating a video customer success story, YouTube might be a better choice.
Realize that timing is everything. Did you know that the day and time can determine engagement levels? Statistics show that Tuesday between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. is the best time for B2B companies to get the most views. However, as with any rule, checking your analytics to see what time frames work best for your target audience is always a wise idea.
Don’t forget a call to action. Like other content marketing efforts, your video should include a call to action. You can ask your users to subscribe to your channel, view a product page on your website, or sign up for your email list. Just make sure to ask them to do something that encourages them to continue to engage with you in the future.
Leverage analytics and adapt your strategy. Once you’ve published your video, determine which videos your target audience engages with most. Which platforms are generating the most views? When are viewers dropping off? You’ll want to answer these questions for maximum ROI and to guide future content creation.
Use interactive elements. For example, in-video links, quizzes, and surveys can boost your video’s effectiveness and engagement levels.

Using Video in the Future

Successfully integrating more videos into your content marketing yields benefits, including helping to foster deeper engagement with your customers. But when creating content, it’s important to continually ask, “Why are we doing this?” and “Why do my customers care?”

Because at the end of the day, you’re in the business of solving pain points. And when you leverage video and storytelling to bring content to life, you can more effectively connect with your customers, make them feel understood, and build the loyalty and connection required to fuel better results.

Video marketing and a multi-channel strategy go hand in hand.

Do you want tips for making yours more successful? If so, we’ve got you covered. You can download the complete guide here.

5 Easy Ways to Extend the Life of Your Content Through Video Marketing

Rikki Justin — Thu, 12 Aug 2021 18:22:16 +0000

These days, you only have to scroll through social media for a few minutes to know video is dominating the content sphere for brands. But if you are new to the video marketing game, getting started can feel daunting.

Lucky for you, there’s no need to start from scratch. Whether you plan on starting a YouTube channel or have your sights set on increasing the organic reach of your brand’s social feeds, the best way to begin is by repurposing your existing content.

Creating videos from your existing content is easier than you might think. And it’s a highly effective way to increase your marketing reach.

Why video is a must-have for all marketers

Before we jump into repurposing different types of content, let’s spend a minute talking about the treasure trove that is video marketing. Why is video so important for brands?

Video increases engagement

When it comes to likes, comments, and shares, video content consistently outperforms images. We see this a lot with ads, but it holds true across the board. Even organic video posts outperform image posts in the likes department by up to 45.95%.

Video increases engagement

Breaking into video-only platforms like YouTube gives you access to audiences that may not be on other social sites. Most social media platforms see a sharp decline in users in the 40-plus age bracket, but not YouTube. In America, 70% of people between the ages of 46 to 55 and 67% of people over age 55 use YouTube.

Video is persuasive and memorable

72% of customers say they prefer learning about a product or service by way of video. And it’s no wonder why. On average, people retain 10% of a message when reading it in text, compared to 95% when they watch it in a video.

The bottom line: video marketing is powerful. And it’s high time you get it working for you. You’re already sitting on a gold mine of tried and tested content. Extend the shelf life of your content and break into the video marketing game with these five easy ideas.

1. Turn glowing reviews into testimonial videos

You probably already have a good amount of customer testimonials in written form. This is perfect fodder for video content. Testimonial videos can populate a YouTube channel and then be used across different platforms like websites, emails, and ad campaigns.

And they are incredibly easy to make .

When most people hear the term “testimonial video”, they imagine a labor-intensive process of filming customers in person and cutting together a video montage. But in reality, you can create effective testimonial videos in a matter of minutes.

First, pick your top five testimonials and winnow each down to one or two lines. Next, combine stock background video footage with these written testimonials to create compelling visuals. Include slick transitions and a soundtrack and you are in business.

2. Create effective how-to videos

How-to or explainer videos are some of the most popular video types made today. When learning a new skill, video is unmatched at conveying instructions. In fact, people process visual information 60,000 times faster than text.

No matter what industry you’re in, imparting instructions to your customers is probably already a part of the service you provide. How-to videos can be about physical tasks like “How to use our milk frother with nut milk”. They can be technical, teaching viewers a skill like “How to add a cover image to your profile”. Or they can be educational, showing your industry expertise such as ‘How to make eCommerce YouTube ads that really work”.

If you ever find yourself explaining how to do something in your business, jot it down and turn it into a how-to video. You’ll even save yourself time in the long run by linking to your own video instead of explaining things over and over.

How-to videos are easy to create. Just map out the steps, clearly number the order of everything, and at the end, finish with a CTA that encourages viewers to reach out if they have any more questions.

As a final tip: If you post these on your YouTube channel, always include the search term “How to” in the video title. This improves your SEO by mimicking the way users type queries into YouTube.

3. Use blog content for awareness videos

An awareness video is anything you make simply to familiarize people with your brand. Your blog is the ideal hunting ground for this type of video, because blog pieces already have a well-developed narrative.

The aim of the game with awareness videos is to keep the audience watching and have your brand make an impression. That’s it. It’s not even about engagement metrics. These videos perform the essential task of building subconscious trust through repeated exposure.

This is why blog content is perfect for awareness videos. Just like with your testimonial videos, you can use text along with stock footage to create simple content without shooting an ounce of footage. Condense the blog’s written content down to about one line of video text per paragraph of blog text.

Try to follow the same narrative flow as the original blog, but lean heavily on music and transitions to recreate the emotional resonance of the story. Use upbeat music and short, snappy cuts for fun blog stories and slower music with gentle cuts for more meaningful stories.

4. Design an FAQ series

FAQs are a great format for video because your audience know exactly what to expect and, even better, they set the agenda by asking the questions in the first place.

FAQ videos are also ideal for serializing. That is, make a new video for each individual FAQ. Create a standard template and follow it for each video in the series. Post the entire series on your website’s FAQ page, unveil one each week on your social media feed, or create a YouTube playlist for easy reference.

Whatever you do, don’t try to cram more than one FAQ into a single video, as you get the best results from viewers if you keep videos under two minutes long.

As you would for written FAQs, pay close attention to your wording. If it’s a technical question or a question that covers legalities, people will follow along closely and fixate on individual words. Be precise with your language. If your video involves a “talking head”, include on-screen text to underscore the most important information.

If it’s a technical question, also include screen grabs or recordings that walk the user through how to solve their problem.

Once you’ve accumulated a few FAQ videos, pop them into a playlist and link to it on your website or in your customer service comms — it’s a great resource to concierge customers without lifting a finger.

5. Repurpose written or audio interviews

For a long time, marketers primarily carried out interviews in written format. It was much too expensive to produce video content when an interview could be turned into a blog on the cheap. But that’s all changing with the advent of inexpensive, easy-to-use video making software.

Video interviews are back on the menu. But does that mean you have to crack out the camera and set up a slew of new interviews? No! If you’ve already interviewed people for your blog, social media, or emails, you can easily turn that content into a video.

If you have a quality audio file, cut that up into short snippets. The goal isn’t to recreate the entire interview as it happened. Instead, break it down into interesting sound bites that revolve around a theme. With a voice-over in place, all you need is some b-roll footage either provided by your interviewee or taken from stock footage databases.

If the interview took place over email or you don’t have the audio file anymore, you can still pull interesting quotes and include them as text in your video. If it feels right, you can even batch these quotes into a listicle style video (like “Five things Clark Kent said to us that we can’t stop thinking about”).

No matter which of these video ideas you tackle first, remember this: video marketing is effective. And it’s easy. All you have to do is review your existing content and get started.

Great Content Drives Great Email Engagement

Wed, 20 May 2020 00:00:00 +0000

You’re relatively new to email marketing. You know the basics, and you’ve already fired off a few internal tests through your shiny new marketing automation platform. Now all you need is to develop and deploy a brilliant email engagement strategy that produces immediate and sustained results.

But how?

The first step in any successful email marketing strategy is to create compelling content that reaches the inbox, generates opens, and drives engagement through clicks and conversions. At first, this can feel like a complicated mystery — but by following these simple steps, you can increase your knowledge in short order, modify and optimize your efforts, and leverage email marketing as the centerpiece of a brilliant customer experience.

It Starts With Strategy — Plan Ahead

First of all, you should gather all relevant stakeholders to determine what you’re hoping to accomplish. Every aspect of your email marketing strategy (from your subject line to your signature) should work in unison toward your defined goals and objectives at every stage of the customer journey as you guide them through a well-manicured funnel.

Next, you need to plot how every email you craft will fit into that strategy. Every subscriber should represent a specific buyer persona who is at a different stage in their purchasing journey. So, you need to make sure that every email you send is tailored for and targeted to a relevant grouping of subscribers. More importantly, each of these emails should be focused on persuading your subscribers to engage with your communications and convert to a qualified lead.

Watch Your Tone!

Craft your email so that it stands out. Be friendly, and try to avoid jargon or overused language. Studies show personalization can significantly increase click-through rates, so make your email as relevant as possible. With Act-On, you can leverage our easy-to-use personalization features to make the most of the demographic and behavioral insights you collect and import.

And of course, never ignore the subject line — or take it lightly. The subject line is one of the most vital aspects of any email, as it’s your first and best hope of enticing the recipient to engage with your content. Therefore, it should always be clear and concise; you have about 3 seconds to capture your readers’ attention, so make the most of it by conveying the who, what, where, when, why, and how of what’s inside. You can also add humor with a clever turn of phrase or intrigue with a compelling statistic. And since research suggests that the optimal character length for successful email subject lines is 41, keep it short.

Oftentimes, the best evidence is already in our inbox. If you’re not sure what works best, think about which emails you’re most likely to open and which you’re most likely to ignore (or, worse yet, send to the Spam folder), and go from there.

What is Marketing Automation and Why Should You Care?

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Match the Subject With the Body

Immediate and long-term engagement is built on trust and clarity, so the body of your emails must reflect the subject lines. If your subject line says one thing, but the body discusses something entirely different, you risk damaging your relationship with your subscribers who might then unsubscribe from your communications or place your emails in the Spam folder. Build trust with your subscribers early to encourage further engagement, which will strengthen your email reputation — in turn creating further email inboxing and engagement.

Clearly Express the Value of Your Offerings and Content

You have a valuable product or service that you’re proud of and want to share with your prospects and customers, but how do you convince them of the value of your offerings (especially when compared to your competitors)? For starters, you have to grab their attention quickly — and then captivate them throughout the body of your email. To do so, tell your audience exactly who you are, why they’re receiving your email, and what you have to say within the first paragraph. If you want to embed images, make sure they don’t confuse the issue or cause any problems with readability. And when it comes to color, iconography, and other design elements, maintain brand consistency so that your emails are instantly recognizable.

Empower Your Audience to Take Action

Most importantly, you need to maintain control of that engagement. Be concise and stay focused on the message with direct language free of any filler or fluff. Provide valuable information that is easy to absorb and make sure your call-to-action (CTA) is strong, commanding, and easy to identify — even to (and especially for) someone who quickly scans your email. If contacts are interested, they should know where to click almost immediately.

Anticipate Spam Filters

Every organization configures its Spam filters uniquely and can block an email due to even the smallest details. You know that your email is valuable and that you’re sending to contacts who are seriously interested in what you have to say and offer. So, follow these tips to ensure that your emails hit the inbox on time, every time.

All of your internal links work and lead to sites secured with SSL
The image-to-text ratio is balanced and every image contains alt-text
The email renders correctly on both desktop and mobile
The email has no emojis in the subject line and body content
The subject line does not include “red flag” words for Spam filters — such as “purchase,” “free,” or “great offer”

Finally, edit and proof every email and send internal tests for quality assurance and accuracy. Send each communication to a colleague for a second opinion and carefully consider any suggestions they might have.

A/B Test Your Email Content for Continued Improvement

Once the testing process is complete, you’re finally ready to send a great email — but that’s not the end of your journey. Continue to A/B test various elements of your emails and campaigns, gather and collect the data, and optimize your future efforts based on behavioral and engagement insights. And as you continue to sharpen your skills through trial and error and success and failures, you’ll continue to improve email reputation, deliverability, and return on investment.

Contact Act-On for All of Your Email Deliverability Needs

If you need help along the way, Act-On is here to turn you into an inboxing pro. Our Email Deliverability Team brings years of experience, a wealth of knowledge, and several innovative strategies to the ever-changing world of email marketing. If you’d like to learn more, please follow this link or click here to schedule a free demo.

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Voice Search Is the Future of SEO

Act-On — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Achieving top search position for dozens of keywords is the ultimate goal for many content marketers, but Google keeps throwing curveballs our way to make that quest even more difficult. One of these recent updates that is shaking up how we optimize our websites for SEO is voice search.

So what is voice search? Voice search makes it just a bit easier for us to find the resources and answers we need to make purchasing decisions by allowing us to input our searches audibly instead of typing them up. And because of this added layer of convenience, this won’t be going away any time soon. Organizations will have to consider this factor when optimizing their websites and webpages for SEO.

Voice search is still new, so many of us marketers are still trying to wrap our heads around how it works and its vast potential. The good news is that getting ahead of the game now will put you one step ahead of your competitors. Optimizing your website for this new search medium will give your SEO a huge boost and provide a more enjoyable customer journey and user experience. Most importantly, your sales and revenue could potentially skyrocket.

What Is Voice Search?

Voice Search enables users to use voice commands instead of typing to search for what they need. Users can search by opening their browser, clicking on the microphone icon to the right of the search bar, and recording whatever phrase they would type otherwise. These search terms can be as simple as “coffee shops” or “coffee shops in northwest Portland open Monday at 7 AM.”

With this feature being available on both desktop and mobile, the voice search option is quickly increasing in popularity.

Here are three best practices for optimizing your keyword strategy for voice search.

Consider How People Talk When Developing Your Content

Very few of us talk the same way we write, and we should expect to see that difference reflected in the way our target audience looks for information via voice search.

For example, while you might type in “Los Angeles restaurants” and then proceed to narrow down your search, you might voice search “What are some good restaurants near the Los Angeles Arts District?” Again, individuals who voice search are using this method because it’s convenient and probably don’t want to spend the additional time scrolling and narrowing down their search. You can optimize your content for voice search by including:

Questions: Incorporate “Who, What, Where, When, and Why” language into your content. Think of the information your target audience is looking for and how they’ll voice that question when speaking instead of typing. This practice will also drastically improve your chance of earning a featured snippet, which we’ll cover in the next section.
Location: Try to be as narrow and descriptive as possible when it comes to describing your location. Make sure to mention the neighborhood you’re in and nearby attractions in your content (whenever it makes sense to do so; don’t force it).
Related Products or Services: Is there a related product or service that your audience is constantly searching for? If so, you probably want to mention them in your content to ensure they can find you more easily. For example, marketing automation users often want to know if our platform integrates with the CRM they are using, so we make sure to include phrases such as “Does Act-On integrate with Microsoft Dynamics?” or “What are the benefits of integrating SugarCRM with Act-On?” throughout our website.
Highlight Your Competitive Advantages: The last thing you want is for your target customer to voice search “What is the best [insert product or service here]?” and have your company not appear in the search results. To prevent this from happening, make sure to mention what makes you stand out from the competition and feature plenty of positive customer reviews throughout your website.

How to Attract More Prospects

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Focus on Earning Featured Snippets

You’ve probably scrolled through your search results and noticed that many times there’s a featured preview with the answer to the question you were looking for. And, as a marketer, you might be wondering how this company managed to get a bit more than just their website name and meta description featured in search results.

These highlighted posts are called featured snippets, and companies can earn them by offering what Google deems a thorough answer to commonly asked questions. As we previously mentioned, the introduction of voice search means that more individuals will be searching for more specific questions instead of generic terms. So you can kill two birds with one stone by structuring your content to answer frequently asked questions — you’ll improve your ranking in search results and increase your chances of earning that featured snippet spot.

Securing a featured snippet can help you do more than get your content front and center in search results. Better search positioning means better web traffic and more customers. And since securing this spot establishes your company as a thought leader, a featured snippet can also help you build trust and credibility with your audience early on in the sales process — providing added leverage over the competition.

If you’d like to learn more about how to earn a featured snippet on Google, check out this blog post we wrote on the topic not too long ago.

Sticking to SEO Basics Can Go a Long Way

You have to learn how to walk before you can run, and that same concept applies if you want to optimize your website for voice search. In other words, the two tactics we mentioned will go further if you have a solid SEO foundation to start with — and that means having good keywords, meta descriptions, and little-to-no errors. And by errors, I don’t mean just looking out for typos; you should ensure that your page is indexed, the meta description is the correct length, you are using the correct headings (H1, H2) with the proper keywords, and that your page doesn’t take too long to load.

If you’re completely new to SEO, it can be a very difficult concept to grasp — and you might not know where to start to make sure you’re on the right track. Thankfully, there’s a wide array of tools available to ensure your webpages are optimized. Act-On’s SEO audit tool, for example, checks your web and landing pages to verify that you’re following best practices with effective keywords and zero errors.

Guide Customers Through a Targeted and Effective Customer Journey With Act-On

As any good marketer knows, SEO is only one part of the lead generation and growth marketing process. There’s so much more to creating an awesome holistic strategy!

If you’re ready to learn about the digital tools you can use to enhance your marketing strategy, please schedule a demo with one of our marketing automation experts.

If you’re not quite there yet, please download the eBook below to learn how to optimize your funnel!

How to Attract More Prospects

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Tips for Creating a Landing Page That Generates Conversions

Act-On — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 00:00:00 +0000

If demand and lead generation is a top priority for your organization, you know that capturing critical contact information is key to making sure your leads don’t slip away. Knowing who your contacts are, what industry they work in, and what is driving them to explore your solution empowers you to continue to engage with them through personalized marketing efforts. After all, the point of having a robust demand generation program is to attract leads that you can nurture and convert into customers down the road.

Making sure that your messaging and content are right on target will help you build credibility with these leads, keep them moving through the sales funnel, and convince them to choose you over your competitors.

But you’re probably wondering how to go about collecting key information, especially when it’s challenging enough to even get people on your website.

In some cases, landing pages allow you to kill two birds with one stone. The right landing page will help drive people to your site by offering original content and information and offer these individuals valuable content gated behind forms to entice them to hand over their information. However, if your goal is to generate conversions, you can use dedicated landing pages without any extra navigation to focus on the goal at hand.

The information you collect using landing pages allows you to build a thorough customer profile to help you determine the best marketing strategy to keep each customer interested. As you uncover more information about who your customers are, you can segment them into the appropriate campaigns and send them the right content and information to help them inch closer toward making a decision.

It’s important to keep in mind, however, that not all landing pages are created equal. Having a well-designed landing page can help you stand out from the competition and generate conversions. Today, we’re outlining a few best practices to help you make sure you’re creating landing pages that are visually appealing, easy to read, and motivate your customers to complete your call to action.

1. Make Sure Your Headline Is Clear and Catchy

Your headline is the first thing that people see when visiting your landing page. Many times, that’s all they need to decide if they want to continue to engage. It can also be extremely disappointing for visitors to visit a webpage that doesn’t offer what it said it would. So, it’s extremely important for your headlines to not only be catchy, but also clearly state what you have to offer.

If the headline is the title of a content asset (such as an eBook), you should use titles that directly address the kind of information your visitors can expect to find. If you need a little more room to make your offer easy to understand, you can always use a subheadline to further explain the purpose of your landing page. In addition to providing your visitors a clear idea of the offer they can expect from your landing page, your headline also provides a great opportunity to use popular keywords that resonate with your audience and will drive more traffic to your landing pages.

2. Keep Your Copy Brief and to the Point

A landing page should serve as an introduction of what’s in store for your visitors if they decide to exchange their information. Having too much copy on a page can overwhelm the user and make them bounce from your landing page before filling out a form.

To avoid this scenario, keep your copy brief and to the point. A short paragraph and a few bullet points is all you need to provide your audience with a sneak peek of what they’ll get when they fill out a form and download your asset or sign up for an event.

Because you’re keeping your copy short, you need to ensure that your message is clear and resonates with the pain points and interests of your consumers. Using high-ranking keywords and language that pertains to your visitors industry, preferences, and stage in the sales funnel can help ensure that your prospects remain interested in what you have to say.

3. Always Include Important Information

If you’re using your landing page to promote a piece of content such as an eBook or video, you can get away with including a few bullet points describing what your visitors can expect. If you’re hosting an event or webinar, however, you should also include a date, time, location, and presenter information.

Doing this will help your leads remember to clear time on their schedule to attend, helping you reap the rewards of interacting with in real time.

4. Use Design Best Practices to Make Your Landing Page Visually Appealing

A landing page that is too busy and hard to read will hurt your conversion rate. If you want to prevent your audience from bouncing before converting, you need good and simple design as a foundation.

Keeping things simple doesn’t mean that your landing page should be plain. Using eye catching graphics and images that complement the purpose of the landing page and give more context to your copy are a great way to capture your audience’s attention.

Another good rule of thumb is to keep key information above the fold. While you can include information on your landing page that allows your visitors to learn more about your brand and what you have to offer, you don’t want to distract them from your call to action. Keeping elements such as summaries and CTA buttons at the top of the page will help your visitors know what to do to receive their offer and make it easy for them to do so.

You don’t have to be a graphic designer or know HTML to design a visually appealing landing page. A marketing automation platform with easy-to-use templates will have a variety of features to help you get started.

5. Make It Easy for Individuals to Sign Up

A form with too many fields will scare away potential leads. Using an adaptive form with minimal fields allows you to ask customers for only the information you need to continue to build their profile. So, for example, if you already have their email and name, you can ask them to indicate their industry and topic of interest. This helps you collect the information you need and eliminates your lead’s frustration of having to fill out the same information each and every time.

6. Include a Clear CTA That Is Easy to Find

For your landing page to generate conversions, you have to make sure that you have a clear call to action. Whether it’s downloading an eBook, registering for an event, or signing up to receive more information, your customers have to know what to do and how to do it. Placing a prominent button at the end of your form will indicate that you want your visitors to fill out a form — and what they’ll get if they do it.

7. Feature Key Customer Logos and Reviews

Many times, a prospective customer’s first impression of your brand is your landing page. So, you want to show your audience who you are (beyond an eBook or a webinar). An easy way to do that is by showcasing a few top customer reviews and notable logos at the bottom of your page. This will allow your prospects to gain a sense of the type of customers you serve and learn why they choose you over your competitors, while also helping you establish credibility and trust in what you do.

8. A/B Test Elements to Optimize Your Efforts

Even the best landing pages can use a refresh every now and then. That is why you should make A/B testing different elements of your page a priority. A good place to start is by testing different versions of your headline to see if it’s helping drive traffic to your page. Once that is optimized, you can venture on to test other elements — such as design, CTA placement, and so on.

Act-On Can Help You Build Engaging Landing Pages That Spark the Customer Journey

Landing pages are one of the most powerful tools at your disposal because they allow you to collect that information you need to deliver personalized marketing efforts. But creating compelling and effective landing pages shouldn’t require you to invest more time and resources. Act-On makes it easy to build engaging landing pages and adaptive forms that appeal to your audience and generate conversions.

Additionally, our platform can empower you to do so much more than build great landing pages. We give you the tools to launch innovative and personalized multi-channel campaigns that help you attract leads, convert customers, and improve retention. It’s your true one-stop shop for lifecycle marketing!

To learn how Act-On can help you transform your digital marketing strategy, please schedule a demo with one of our marketing automation experts. They’ll be thrilled to show you the many ways Act-On makes it easy to innovate your marketing strategy at scale.

Content Marketing Archives - Act-On

How Many CTAs Should I Use?

What is a CTA?

Common CTA Examples

How Many CTAs on a Landing Page?

Homepage CTAs

Product Page CTAs

Dedicated Landing Page CTAs

Support Page CTAs

How Many CTAs Should an Email Have?

Marketing Automation for Management Consulting

Create, execute, and deliver personalized initiatives at scale with Act On’s marketing automation for financial advisors.

How Many CTAs Should I Use in a Blog?

10 B2B Newsletter Ideas Your Audience Will Love

Add a table of contents to your newsletter

Mix up your content types and customer journey steps

Recommend curated content

Answer a question of the week/month/etc.

Share the “best of” your industry

Advertise your top-tier content

Include quizzes, polls, and surveys

Try trendjacking (with caution)

Highlight customer stories at every possible moment

Promote (a little) company news

Marketing Automation for Management Consulting

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SEO FAQ: Your Most Common Search Engine Optimization Questions Answered

SEO FAQ: What does SEO stand for?

SEO FAQ: What is SEM?

SEO FAQ: What is PPC?

SEO FAQ: What is on-page SEO? What is technical SEO? What’s the difference?

SEO FAQ: What are the most effective on-page SEO techniques for better visibility?

SEO FAQ: What is a SERP?

SEO FAQ: How do search engines make money?

SEO FAQ: What are search crawlers?

SEO FAQ: What’s a keyword? What’s a key phrase?

SEO FAQ: What’s a long tail keyword?

SEO FAQ: How do I conduct keyword research to target the right audience?

SEO FAQ: How does page speed contribute to SEO? What about page experience?

SEO FAQ: What are 404 errors?

SEO FAQ: What are 301 redirects?

SEO FAQ: What is an XML sitemap?

SEO FAQ: What is a Robots.txt file?

SEO FAQ: What does “search authority” mean? Domain authority? Page authority?

SEO FAQ: What is link building?

SEO FAQ: What is “duplicate content”?

SEO FAQ: How often should I use keywords in my content? What should I know about keyword density?

SEO FAQ: How can I monitor my website’s success or understand how well my SEO campaign is performing?

SEO FAQ: How long does it take for search engines to recognize when content is published or when edits are applied to my website?

SEO FAQ: How many links should I have on each landing page or blog article?

SEO FAQ: How does word count affect SEO?

SEO FAQ: How does mobile usability impact my SEO?

SEO FAQ: What is responsive design?

SEO FAQ: How can I tell if my website is mobile-friendly?

SEO FAQ: How can I improve my website’s organic search rankings?

SEO FAQ: What are some common mistakes to avoid in SEO that could harm my website’s rankings?

SEO FAQ: What are the implications of AI and machine learning on SEO strategies?

SEO FAQ: What are the SEO implications of moving to a new domain or redesigning a website?

How to Write a Great Creative Brief + Template

What is a Creative Brief?

Creative Brief in Advertising: Why it Matters

Briefs aren’t for creatives — they’re for marketers

Briefs force strategic thinking

Briefs save time — and budget

Briefs improve your employee (and freelancer) experience

Who’s Responsible for Creating the Brief?

How to Write a Creative Brief: 7 Steps

1. Define your goal

2. Describe your audience

Firmographic: What kind of company does the target audience work for?

Demographic: What are the personal details about the target audience members?

3. Pinpoint your key messages

4. Share available resources

5. Document all the specs

6. Share your creative brief examples, results — or aspirations

7. Determine your CTA

Download a FREE Creative Brief Template

Content Remix: 5 Brilliant Strategies for Repurposing Content Like a Pro

Ways to Repurpose Content … 5 Strategies You Can Steal

Webinars to blog posts